The sun., 1897-12-05

identined. law OF the ranges Il that borsos.
cattle. hogs or sheep found unmarried are the
6avo Become weilto-do cattielnon and horse.
men by finding and branding calves and colts
that haro wandered away from the herds.
cnttlemcn because he was not ovorcarofut TO
identify brand on " steer, mule or horse
in his zeal to RcS rich by claiming strays.
The modern cowboys ore hired quite as much
for memory and business sense Rs ability 10 on
anrG days 2t rough riding t9 drive bunch Of
pcdo OF hundreds of snorting cavorting stecrs.
Columns ms haze ,;, been written written Go, ,concernins their
work the cowboys, do. when they 60 eastward
in Kansas City and Chicago. y. In In this day S'o Of
specialists there has been evolved class OF
Know Know hundreds Of branded hiorogiypSics" "on on
cattc's furry sides haye the best pay. Tho
AGs ca' hS' elias"
the others. Some OF them no East with overy
trainload of cattle, and several Of them know
the thousands OF cattle. bearing moro than 400
different brands. in the stockyards at Chicago
man. knows tho brands OF about 800 different
firms ana indiyIdyols In the Southwest; These
ccrs fS o "a az bs Ana sse rngng from
criss-Cross stripes on tho beasts backs. Some
cattle men have two, three. and oven fvo letters
brands are licroglyphics. Sonc have Arabic
figures and some Roman; 4 great many cat
nOrsr6,
hearts, crcscenis, and all manner OF goomctri.
cal forms as their brands. More than 5000
scpnrnte and distinct brands OF cattle are reg.
istorcd In the stockyards ut Chicago.
When n cattlcman or company in tho Terri
tories ships cattle to market, a cowboy must
go along TO see that the animals are watored
and fed two or three times day. The laws re-
quirc that every twenty-fGur hours the beasts
shall he freed from their close confinement and
rested in n cattle yard at some railroad station.
On the Santa FG Railroad the rest stations are
At Albu9uerque, n; NJ; La Jqnta, Col; Dodge
Often o as many as ooo % cattle are on the WAY 0 al
one time on a single rarond in the West, and
MS many rs fifty different brands OF cattle are
frsky steer or n vaulting cow leaps or bounds
from it, mates in the transfer to and from tho
must be done rapidly. and SO there are some
mix-ups Of cattle bearing different brands
almost every trip to market. When the hrutes
Chicago thousands of other cattle are there.
The miy.ups caused by impetuous animals hap
pen daily. When the sale takes place a day or so
who hayc brought tho animals there keep sepa-
rate tallics of the cattle bearing the brands as
they pass out of the chute. Then 1t is that a
consignment of steers or cows may bc short or
over y few The animals are always restive,
and often run mady about h they are driven out
cowboy must know at glance the brand on
each Of the animals hurrying past or dartirg
manner of strange signs in flash. Many
times a beast will have half-dozen brands on
its b. back. some old and others new. 4 decision
in moment, II the tally Of the stoclyard men
agrees with the cowboy IL charge of the cattle,
goes abou. among tho thousands Of other cattle
there there from m az parts 1f the West and finds
Sands is %s
that an expert reader Of brands win eiiis save his
employers, 800 in one consignment of catt'e.
men, who do not have expert brand readers,
stand by the tally OF the stockyard mon.