Evening star., 1900-10-06

probably never been within horns leng
| OF any cattle before. huddled in an alarm
group, gazing dismally at the tossing hor
and laboring backs as the angry anims
are driven by tens into the pens.
| quiet to be tied up" shouts the forema
handing to each of the tyros a small cir
''Gwan in, wot's the matter with your
Dinicuit and Dangerous.
Fortunate are the stiffs II one of the
number is experienced enough to take Il
| lead and show them what to do. Such
struction as they may expect from the for
| man will be mainly kicks and blows The
duties are to jump into the pens and q
the steers heads up TO the headboards,
that the foreman and his assistants can
them. To one unaccustomed to cattle er
try into one of these pens seems despera
venture, and, indeed, 1t is dangerous enoug
| have seen new cattleman crushed int
insensibility by the first rush OF the catt
when he entered the pen, and l once helpe
TO drag out man who was so badly tran
pied that he was crippled for life Ofte
the terror of the "stiffs'' at the prospect
entering the pens is almost ludicrous / RI
member gigantic young Englshman VIII
cast himself upon the deck and fairl
howled with fear when ordered to go
among the beasts.
"'Ow do hi know they won't bite me?
he walled.
Once inside among the steers he used hi
club and his great strength valiantlj
! that they were soon subdued, and beforI
the end of the voyage a position as assist
ant foreman was offered to him. In tn
first handling of the cattle the best way
they are turbulent, is to vault on the bach
or one OF them and resort to clubbing ant.
tail twisting. 1t sounds brutal but il Is
the only way. Above ALL the cattlemarI
must keep his seat. Heaven help him if nd
falls among those sharp hooves. After the|
work hpcnmaS NUa
tering and feeding and cleaning the pensj
are the regular duties of the stiff" Cat
tie are much better sailors than huma n
beings. For day or so, until they.get their|
sealegs and learn to accommodate them
selves TO the action of the vessel they ard
liable to sickness, but usually on the second
gay o out appetite returns and they grow
steadily fat throughout the trip. The en1
tire morning is given up to feeding and wa !
tering.
The Easiest Job.
On my trips as stiff / have always.
when / had the money, bribed the forema nj
to make me night watchman, a position
which exempts one from the other duties
The night watchman makes hourly trips
during the night to see that the animals
are all right Ordinarily there isn't much
10 DO. but occasionally the imp of the per-
verse takes possession of the pens and then
It's bad times for the watchman. In sleep
ing the steers lie down in q most intricate
anu cOntrlNe to get the
fastening ropes inextricably interviewer.
Then one of them. becoming suddenly
smitten with desire to get up and see
how the ship is heading. chokes all the
other cattle whose ropes cross his, well
as himself This process causes a wild
racket. which summons the watchman. He
must go III and solve the nsouble problem
of the ropes. If he is killed, as he is G c1ite
likely to be, 1t doesn't much matter, but IL
any of the live stock choke to death there
l.. q terrible to do.
Part of the stiff's duty is to keep the
scuppers clear of straw and refuse. During
storm the seas shipped wash through
the pens, sweeping everything before them
The refuse stops the scuppers, and as a
result the decks fill until cattle and cattle
men are waist deep in the water. This, of
course, menaces the safety of the vessel
also Again the poor stiff must work his
way behind the frightened brutes to a small
4x6 hole the range of which is invariably
covered by four five pairs of hooves
that have been made effective by long
practice and a lack of refinement in the
nature of the hoof's owners. When the
scupper is reached he must clear it up, all
the time lodging the flying hooves. Dodg
ing the hooves is the exception; it is most
generally the case that he is carried out
and laid in his bunk for repairs. If a
record of injuries of a stormy trip across
the ocean on cattle ship were to be had
it would compare favorably with the report
of a city emergency hospital / have heard
of cases where men were actually trampled
down and drowned in the scuppers.
Terrors of a Stampede.
Far away from land the cattle are very
quiet but soon they catch Whit Of
a land breeze they become restless, and ex-
traordinary care is required to prevent a
general stampede. in which pens are
bl oxen, the loosened cattle charging those
that are tied, and when the latter are
freed, the whole mass surges all over the
dan bn cafa Of hn
ship itself and is one of the pet bugaboos
of the experienced cattlemen. In cases Of
this kind the poor stiff is called upon for
the hazardous work Of restoring order.
He must go among the wild brutes, under
hoofS, over backs, lodging kicking feet and
long, dangerous horns, beating with his
club and screaming at the top of his voice
in an effort to force into submission, one at
a time, the animals, whose only will is to
break away from all restraint and to create
as much havoc and damage as possible in
doing it. AS he forces a horn-protected
head near the most convenient headboard,
the dangling rope around the brute'S horns
be grabbed and a turn is taken around the
nearest stationary object. The plunging
and kicking animal Is held here until he
makes move that will permit of his being
fastened permanently. Then another one is
caught and fastened in the same way until
the stampede is stopped.
This is another fruitful source of casual
ties. More than one death, officially la
BILE to what the cattlemen call the 'land-ho
panic"
Wretched Accommodations.
Through all these perils and hardships
the cattle stiff supports life on the worst of
food and sleeps in a cabin compared to
which, in size, ventilation and cleanliness,
a Bowery lodging house compartment
would be palatiaL On my first voyage /
lived for half of the trip on bread baked
on the sly from dough stolen from the
cook. The stiff must work whether he IS
sick well, or be beaten by the foreman.
L have seen a man suffering from fever
hauled out of his bunk in freezing weather
and swashed with Pailful after pailful Of
water by the foreman. while the second Of
ficer of the ship looked on and laughed. FL
nally. the stiff is likely not to be put
ashore penniless at some port other than
that for which he shipped originally. and
left to shift for himself. The warning of the
American embassy in London will find an
echo in the heart of every man who has
ever been a transatlantic cattle stiff.