The Houma courier. (Houma, La.) 1878-1939, 1897-01-09
CONSERVATIVES As SHEPHERDS!


Nany 7 How the Occupation IN Calf
fornih.
The California shepherd is an indi-
vidual almost entirely unknown to tho
rest Of the world. Even the residents
Of the state hardly know of his exist
n while the cowboy has a world
wide fame. The reason for it is not
hard to find. It IS because the men are
different in almost every way, partic-
ularly in disposition. And, after all.
the difference is to a large extent caused
by the animals they care for.
The villainous cowboy who would
rather fight than eat and thinks that
the noblest things in the world are
forms of dissipation can get no salts
faction for his nature in earingfor such
gentle creatures as sheep. He wants
something that he can swear at, like n
vicious steer, that would be only too
glad to gore him to death if he would
let him. He wants to dash wildly yer
the range on q pony as vicious as the
steer, or himself, for that matter, and
ride through small settlements like a
demon. The beasts in his care r not
easily hurt, and he can abuse them as
much as he feels like by lhssoing them,
throwing them down and branding
them. There is nothing gives a cow
boy as much pleasure as branding a
bull that has given him considerable
trouble. He likes to see the creature
squirm in agony as he presses the hot
iron into its flesh. To kill one. that IS
d~emoralizing to the herd is the height
of his delight.
In marked contrast to this individual
is the sheep herdcr-that is, the ma
| iority of sheep herders. To be sure,
there are some almost as bad as the
cowboys, but they are for the most part
men who are employed by ranchers for
so much u month and are delegated to
the work as they might be to any other
work on the ranch. But they don'tlike
it. The real sheep herdcr, and he is
largely in the majority, is the man who
follows it in preference to anything
else. A man who is attached to the
work would rather watch sheep on the
hills than be the president of a bank.
Another class of men who watch sheep
are those who do it for their health.
Dozens of men claim to have been curel
of consumption simply by putting IN
several months at watching sheep. The
work gives what is most required in
The deadly disease-plenty of fresh air,
moderate exercise and employment that
- not wearing on the brain, but is still
enough to keep it occupied and prevent
nervousness. OF course, if a man has
plenty of money he can get these things
without herding sheep, but there are
many men who need them badly who
have no money, and all who have taken
advantage of this knowledge have sure
" been benefited. A number of men
who have taken up sheep herding have
become so fascinated with it that they
stuck to it long after they got over thg
trouble.
OF course, it is not an easy matter to
get employment of this kind, but if the
owner of the range knows the appli-
| cant he will be almost sure to give hin
work, az he lznnws he is likely to get
good service. The pay is small, about
$25 a month and provisions, which tbs
man must cook himself, except wher
the sheep are close to the ranchhonse
But this does not happen often. It i
70 matter whether the sheep herder i
an old or a new hand the work expected
Of him win be the same under any cir
cumstanccs.
Sheep ranges in California are scat
tered all over the state, but the create
number of them can be found in tn
foothills of the Sierras all the way from
Siskiyou 20 Tehachapi and on the othe.
side of the mountains. The work o
looking after them lasts all year, al
though more must be done at one tim,
than anothcT-SaQ Francisco Call.