The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1895-09-26
THE CowgoY's COSTUME.
1t Is Intended as a Protection IN His
Dangerous Work.

Dangerous Work.
The cowpuncher's legs must be
Tended from the thorny miles of the
Rio Grande, the thousand rlongreI
shrubs that lace their bristles together
stiff over the Countrywide mesquite,
the shin oak, the cats claw, the Span
ish dagger, wide-spreading, from six |
inches to ten feet high; every veg
etable vicious with an embroidery Of !
teeth and nails; a continent of peevish |
thicket called chaparral, as we irdis- |
criminately call a dog with too many |
sorts of grandfathers cur. Into tins
sawmill dives the wild steer through
paths and passages known to himself,
and after him the pursuing man must
also dive at q rate that would tear his
flesh to ribbons if the blades and
points could get hold Of him. But he
cases his leg against the hostile
chaparral from thigh to ankle in
ckaps-leathern brooches, next door to
armor; his daily bread is scarcely
more needful to him. Soon his bar
barrie pleasure in fnery sews tough
leather fringe along their sides, and
the leather flap of the pocket
| becomes stamped with a heavy rose.
Sagging in slant upon his hips leans
his leather belt of cartridges buckled
with jaunty arrogance, and though he
| uses his pistol with murderous skill it
it pretty, with ivory or mother-of-pearl
for handle His arm must be loose
to swing his Topped rope free and drop
its moose over the neck of the animal
that bounds in front Of his rushing
pony. Therefore he rides in loose
flannel shirt that will not cramp him
as he whirls the coils; but the hand
kerchief knotted at his throat, though
it is th~re to prevent sunburn, will in
time of prosperity be chosen for its
color and soft texture, a scarf to draw
the eve of woman His heavy splendid
saddle is. in its shape and luxury of
straps and leather thong, the com
pletest instrument for night and day
travel, and the freighting along with
you of board and lodging that any
nomad has SO far devised. With its
trappings and stamped leather, its
horn and high cantle, we are well ac-
quainted 1t must stand the strain of
eight hundred sudden pounds of live
beef tearing at it for freedom; it must
be the anchor that shall not drag
during the furious RACES of such d
typhoon. For the cattle of the wilder
ness have often run wild for
three, four and FIVE years,
through rocks and forests, never
seeing the face of man from the
day when as little calves they were
branded. And some were never branded
at all. They have grown up in COM
pany with the deer, and like the deer
they fly at the approach of the horse
man. Then, if he has ridden out to
gather these waits from their remote
untenanted pastures and bring them
in to be counted and driven to sale, he
: must abandon himself to the headlong
: pursuit. The open, easy plain with its
: harmless footing lies behind, the steer
: valley narrows up to an entering
, wedge among the rocks, and into these
!. untoward regions rush the beeves.
- uhe sslaalee and derritus of shelving
r1andslides, the slippery knobs in the
beds of brooks. the uncertain edges o.
) the jumping-off place, all lie in the
5 road of the days necessity, and where
the steer goes goes the cow-puncher
: too-balancing, swaying, doubling up
: on his shrewd pony. The moose un
5 coiling flies swinging through the all
: and closes round the throat-or per
, haps only the hind leg-of the quarry
In the shock of stopping short or O
, leaning to circle, the riders stirrup
: must be long, and his seat "a forkeC
: plant poise on the horses back; ~
. grip of the knee will answer in thes'
contortions; his leg must have it
straight length, lever of muscle anC
sinew to yield or close vise-ike on thu
: ponys ribs; and when the steer feel
: that he is taken and the rope tighten
q from the saddlehorn, then must tn
i gearing be solid, else, like fisherman
: laundering with snapped rod AM
Q tangled line, the cOw-puncher vii
: have misfortunes to repair and nothin;
J, to repair them with.-Owcn Wister, i
q Harpers Magazine.