Evening star., 1900-10-06
Life of the Stiff is One of Hardship
and Danger.
WAYS OF ENTRAPPING TIE TYRO
Once on Board He is at the Mercy
of the Foreman.
TERRORS OF A STAMPEDE

written TOT Inc ENening star by Raymond bail
some weeks ago a poor. half-starved lad
presented himself at the American embassy
in London and told a story of extreme
cruelty and inhuman treatment which he
claimed to have experienced on board
cattle ship sailing between New York anu
London. This story resulted in the issuing
Of warning by the embassy to American
parents to keep their boys away from cattle
ships. That there was some truth In the
boys allegations nobody who has had any
experience on cattle ship can doubt
Four steamship lines out OF New L ork
two out of Boston and one out Of Phladel-
phia send an average of 200 head of cattle
to European ports each week. The cattle
are confined in pens on two decks of these
vessels. Approximately $50 head compose
each shipment. Men must be taken along
to feed and look after the cattle on the
voyage
Formerly the cattle shippers supplied the
extra men to take care of the cattle, paying
them from $S to $40 for the trip. These
men are called "stiffs." Because of the in
temperate habits OF the only class of men
who could be induced to ship. this detail
Of the business became such a nuisance
that the shippers decided to give it up. In
late years there has grown up in It's place
an arrangement with an agent at the port
OF shipment. who agrees to furnish a quota
OF stifs for each shipment. He is called
a stiff catcher" According to this agree
ment. the agent receives 50 for each man
secured and for each man short of the
number called for he pays the shippers a
hne OF S2o. Besides receiving 81 a man the
stin catcher" retains the privilege of swim
onng the unfortunates whose circumstances
make travelling in such manner necessary
out OF as much as he can.
First Catch Your "StfR.'
In order to secure his material the stiff
o6u
the western papers. reading: Wanted
Men to work the passage to Europe on cat
tie steamers: steamship work" Un-
happy is the lot of the man who is lured by
such an advertisement to cross the ocean In
one of these ships. Not only will he be de-
frauded out of all the money he can be in
duced to give up, but the hardest and most
dangerous kind of work will be his and If
ne shrlnks from 1t, or because of inaptf-
tude or unfamiliarity does it ILL., abuse and
brutality, both verbal and physical will be
his portion His duties are to look after the
cattle in every way and his foreman holds
him responsible for any harm to them
whether the fault is his or not
The larger portion Of the men who answer
the stiff catcherS" advertisement are the
poorer class of Europeans who desire ia re
turn nome In an economical way MANY
OF them cannot understand the English
language These are the ones upon whom
the most abuse is heaped and to whom the
most dangerous work is given There is
reason in this. for there is far less danger
OF complaints being made by these men
whose spirits have been crushed by early
training and whose lack of knowledge of the
language makes it almost impossible for the
abuse to have any revolutionary effect Occa-
sionally Young America selects this method
OF crossing the ocean. The latter is usually
treated better than the first named class
Tor the reason mentioned.
Deceived and SwfndIed.
ha
answer to the advertisement the "stiff''
catcher" paints the delights of voyaging in
cattle ships in roseate hues. According to
him 1t Is mercy a sort of yachting excur-
SION no work to speak Of good food and
plenty of 1t: fine sleeping accommodation
altogether. life of ease and plenty Verv
commercially he explains that the extra
men aren really taken along to do any
work at ALL but merely to fulfill insurance
terms. which require certain number of
handlers for the cattle. Next the agent
tries TO hnd out how much money the pros
pective stiff has. If he succeeds he de-
mands about 10 per cent of the amount
The cattle foreman aboard the ship gets
whatever remains. If he doesn't it's be-
cause he doesn't know his business
a word about the foreman From tha
moment the stiff steps aboard the shin the
foreman is the arbiter of his destiny. as
much his master as If he were a slave In
deed, L believe that the cattle foremen as
Simon Legrees of slavery times There NAV
be cattle foremen who have instincts of
humanity and decency. but l have never
had the good fortune to sail under one All
the consideration l ever got from that class
was Yalue received for bribe money prompt
ly and literally paid down. The nature of
the business seems to kill out all kindly
qualities. The cattle foreman gets a small
salary, which he usually contrives to dou-
BILE by "squeeZing' the unfortunate stiffs;
If not, so much the worse for the stiffs
Getting Acquainted.
Up to the moment Of his boarding the
vessel the new cattleman is we'll treated
because the stiff-catcher fears he will es-
cape. Commonly his Introduction to his
duties and his foreman comes in the form
of a torrent of profanity and threats from
that worthy, followed by a knock down
blow If he doesn't move smartly. This is
the proper and approved method of i'm
pressing a stiff" His work is all cut out
for him, the most trying work of any that
he has to do. Ranch-bred steers are not
blessed with particularly amiable disposi-
tions at best, and when they have just been
loaded from lighters into the ships pens
with much prodding and jabbng and
humping, they are more than likely to be
somewhat out Of temper. Observe. now,
the half dozen "stiffs," most of whom have