The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-11-15

| Such instruction as they may eXpeC
i from the foreman will be mainly kick
! and blows Their duties are to juml
into the pens and get the steers heads
| up to the headboards, so that the fore
! man and his assistants can tie them
! To one unaccustomed to cattle entry
| into one of these pens seems desper
| ate venture, and, indeed, it is danger
| Gus enough. ! have seen a new cattle
man crushed into insensibility by the
| first rush of the cattle when he entered
! the pen, and l once helped to drag out
a man who was so badly trampled that
| he was crippled for life. Often the ter
ror Of the "stiffs" at the prospect of en-
tering the pens is almost ludicrous,
remember a gigantic young English
man who cast himself upon the deck
and fairly hoWled with fear when Or
dered to go in among the beasts.
low do hi know they won't bite
me?" he walled.
Once inside among the steers he used
his club and his great strength so val
iantly that they We're soon subdued,
and before the end of the voyage a po-
sition as assistant foreman was Of
fered to him. In the first handling OF
the cattle the best way, if they are
turbulent, Is to vault on the back of one
of them and resort to clubbing and tail
twisting. 1t sounds brutal but it is the
only way Above ALL the cattleman
must keep his seat, Heaven help him
If he falls among those sharp hooves.
After the ship starts the work becomes
easier Watering and feeding and
cleaning the pens are the regular duties
of the stiff" Cattle are much better
sailors than human beings. For day
or so, until they get their sea legs and
learn to accommodate themselves to
the action of the vessel, they are liable
to seasickness, but usually on the sec
ond day out appetite returns and they
grow steadily fat throughout the trip
The entire morning is given UP to feed
ing and watering
On my trips as a "stitt l nave al
ways, when I had the money, bribed
the foreman to make me night watch
man, q position which eXempts one
from the other duties. The night
Waterman makes hourly trips during
the night to see that the animals are all
right. Ordinarily there isn't much to
do, but occasionally the imp of the per-
verse takes possession of the pens, and
then it's bad times for the Waterman.
In sleeping the steers lie down In
most intricate tangle, and occasionally
contrive to get the fastening ropes in
extrcabIy 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 as well as him.
self This process causes a wild racket
which summons the Waterman. He
must go in and solve the insOluble pro-
blem of the ropes. If he is killed, as he
is quite likely to be, it doesn't much
matter, but if any Of the live stock
choke to death, there is terrible to-do.
Part of the stiff's duty is to keep the
scuppers clear of straw and refuse
During a 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 eattlemen 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
four by six hole, the range of which is
invariably covered by four or five pairs
of hoofs that have been made effective
by long practice and lack of refine
ment in the nature of the hoofs' own
ers When the scupper is reached he
must clear it up, all the time lodging
the flying hoofs. Dodging the hoofs is
the exception; 1t Is most generally the
case that he Is carried out and laid in
his bunk for repairs. If a record of in
juries of a stormy trip arcoss the ocean
on a cattle ship We're to be had it would
compare favorably with the report of a
city emergency hospital. I have heard
of cases where men were actually
trampled down and drowned in the
scuppers.
Far away from land the cattle are
very quiet, but as soon as they catch
whiff of land breeze they become rest
less, and extraordinary care is required
to pevent general stampede, in which
1ens are broken the loosened cattle
charging those that are tied, and when
the latter are freed, the whole mass
surges all over the decks. This endan-
gers the safety of the ship itself and is
)ne Of the pet bugaboos of the expert
anced cattlemen. In cases of this kind
he poor stiff is called upon for the haz-
lrdous work of restoring order.
He must go among the wild brutes,
lnder horns, over backs, lodging kick |
ng feet and long, dangerous horns, |
beating with his club and screaming at |
he top of his voice, in an effort to force !
nto submission, one at a time, the ami
mails, whose only will is to break away |
rom all restraint and to create as |
much havoc and damage as possible In |
Icing it. AS he forces horn-protected !
read near the most convenient head
BOARD, the dangling rope around the
lrute's horns must be grabbed and a
urn is taken around the nearest sta
ionary object The plunging and kick
ng animal is held here until he makes a
move that will permit of his being
astened permanently. Then another
ne is caught and fastened in the same
way until the stampede is stopped.
This is another fruitful source of cas-
alties. More than one death, officially
abeled pneumonia or fever" is at
ributable to what the cattlemen call
he ''land-ho panic. :"
Through all these perils and hard
hips the cattle stiff supports life on
he worst of food and sleeps in cabin
to which, in size, ventilation
nd cleanliness, a BoWery lodging
ouse compartment would be palatial
IN nv first VOYAGE | lived for half of