The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-05-20

OF the person whose registered marks
ana uranus they bear
About 1870 cattle trade between the cat
Lle ~ % OF Florida all purchasers lu CUBA
began IL continue until about laea. - men
q ceased, because 80 many Stock cattle
ld4 eeen shlpped over, t4at me it-1e-
lu Cuba had become So well supplied -lat
they could furnish the market.
Ihat period Of twelve years was one
Of this state. Vessels were being con-
tnuauy loaded w--l the live stock al
funta Rassa. Mauatee, Tampa Cedar
Key and St Andrews Bay. and, in fact,
az any other point where 20 was conFe-
u-cnL A number Of loads were obtained
a. 81 Augustine, on Lle east coast. As
lisa d0ublOOus were counted out 10 the
shipper. and thus 10 was that during that
period the Spanish gold became a. COM
mon ln business TRANSACTIONS ~ llls par
Of the state as If one were IN cuba Ire
cattle men cannot think OF those times
without sigh Of appointment tAal tney
should have passed away so speedily.
They were the most prosperous Tunes ln
their knowledge. for thousands or dollars
were set in circulation by the sallsIac-
tory trading. Cattle that now bring from
s. to Sl2 at that time were worth from
SIS 10 50 in gold.
Since the abandonment Of the trade,
the ranges have been comparatively quiet,
but now they are on the Threshold OF an
era Of excitement, which may lead 10 the
The Peace river runs through the agi-
tatcd country. ON its east side are the
ranges Of DeSoto county, ana on the vs.
side are those OF Aauatee county Inc
trouble first began ga DeSOtO county four
or five years age, when strange brands
no one claimed, began appearing on tne
cattle. Owners would find their STOCK win
these unknown brands raced or pun
over the original brand. This soon Gre
ated a great deal Of confusion. ~ Wa
against the law 10 FACE any Drahu' Dut
IL one bought from another the Two
brands must not overlap. Thus by tne
brands alone, one could read the nus ~
a.
grew worse until the old brands We're
faced by regular registered prauds, Dut
when the owners Of such nranas were az
preached they denied any knowledge OF ~
and expressed the greatest Innocence. III
ally, whole droves that had been running
together had their titles clouded IN ms
way and the owners of the latest brand
would have the stock driven away anu
sold to some innocent purchaser. II asked
where they obtained the stock the seller
would give the name OF some man uIS
known as cattle owner, OF the name OF
one who was in the game and TINS party
In The last six months droves of 300 and
| 400 have been driven away. W men re
captured by the owners and driven BACK
| to their ranges the thieves Would soon
| again take them away. About -FOUR weeks
| ago the men employed by ZlDa King Jhe
/ largest individual stock owner IN Soulh
Florida, went to another man S past uIe
| and secured 200 head, which King claimed.
| The owner of the pasture said that ne had
| not put the cattle there and knew nothlng
| know that the cattle We're in his pasture
Within the past few montAs some IN
! known parties have been driving THESE
| burnt" cattle from the ranges on the
east side Of the Peace river 10 the West
| side, In Manatee county Up TO tnat time
| the ranges on the west side OF the river
| had never been mOlested by the catte
| thieves, or had any other troubles, ana
| consequently the people in that region be-
came very angry about the intrusion INTO
their territory. No one knew VINO drove
! there.
| brands upon them were unknown, there
| was no way of ascertaining. THESE ca
| tie mixed in with the others on that side
| of the river. and it was not long before
| the stock-Owners began missing STOCK.
| The way the thieves have conducted their
! business is about in this way: They would
burn a number on the east side, and rush
them over to the west side, so that they
/ might be lost to their real owners till they
| could be sold, and the cattle stolen from
| the west side are taken over TO the east
side and afterward sold.
| These thieves have developed a shrewd-
| ness that has puzzled the cattle men. For
| instance, a cattle owner has a brand OF
| triangle. A new brand appears called
the doll baby" The triangle forms the
dress Of the doll. This is surmounted by
| a little circle, forming the head, and
| at the lower part of the triangle are two
| marks representing the legs. Another way
! OF defeating the purposes of this brand is
| by placing circle around it, making, in
| stead of a triangle brand, triangle brand
| with circle. Quite difference in the
| stoekman' S vocabulary. Those who have
! different letters of the alphabet as brands
are discovering their old brands with the
| Inflated circle around them.
| The stock-owners on the east side about
/ six months ago held conference. and de-
| cided upon plans to protect themselves.
| Then il was that thieves began using the
| west side. When this was discovered, the
| people on that side met and decided that
| they would gather up all of the burnt cat
| Ito and drive them back to the east side
| and have them inspected and returned to
/ y Nan arfr~ r0fa1 Il Il.
/ claimants were to be sold and the pro-
I ceeds, after paying the expenses, We're to
| go to the innocent buyers, if there were
| any. They asked the cattlemen of the east
| side to meet them and sign an agreement
not to buy or handle any of the burnt"
| cattle.
The meeting was held at Arcadia on the
| 9th inst, and all Of the prominent cattle
! men attended it. They decided that owing
| to the complicated condition of the stock
| 1t would be better to make an arrange
| burnt stock, accordingly Zlba King was
| designated as the future owner of all the
| that wherever a party could prove owner
| snip to one of them, King was to make
| certain allowance for it. 1t was agreed
| that they We're all to help locate the
| thieves, not to go on any bonds to keep
| them out of jail, and to do all in their
| power to convict them. The most infiuen-
| agreement.
| Since then the men on the west side have
| gathered up some of the objectionable cat
| Tie and driven them to the river to ford
| them over to the east side A man met
! them at the river and objected in a most
| vigorous manner, in which a gun played
| a prominent part. At this show of fight.
! the west siders. who wished to avoid trou-
| bile and who thought that 1t was impOs-
! stble to arrange the matter in an AMIGA
| BILE manner, desisted In their attempt but
! perned the cattle to wait further delibera-
! tions. Fifty out of fifty-three of these had
| the original brand of Ziba King BURNT
| over. About this time it was reported that
| a crowd from the east side had gone over
into the ranges on the west side to drive
| out cattle.
This report caused the cattlemen of the
| west side 10 start out, about forty in num-
| Der, armed with Winchester rifles. revolv-
! ers and plenty of ammunition. Ostensibly
| they have gone out to inspect the ranges
! and overlook the stock generally but il is
! known that they have gone out with but
| one purpose, and that was to see that the
| crowd from the east side did not take
| away any cattle. or If they attempted to
| do so to give them very warm entertain
ment The men on both sides are known
| to be of great determination and grave
! trouble is expected if they meet. 1t is a
| conflict between the honest and dishonest
| cattlemen. The west-siders are consider
| ed perfectly honorable, while the east side
/ is divided. Al the last term of the oOt1rt NJ