The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-03-02
THE COWBOY OF TODAY.
NEW METHODS IN FORGE
 HORNED CATTLE.
Ingenious Mode of Branding.

son who nowadays goes upon a south-
 west range for the first time in some
 years Is the general practice of de-
 morning. The long horned Texas steer
 has almost passed away. Twenty
 years ago the cattleman's pride was the
 length of the widely extending horns on
 his cattle. The longest horned in the
 herd were punched out as the select.
 The stockmen in the Indian Territory i. came forward at about 1880 with herds of short horned cattle. Their juicy,
 tender beef caught the buyers fancy in
 the eastern markets, and from that
 time the popularity of long horns de-
 parted Long horns became drug in
 the cattle market. Dehorning soon be-
 came popular, and the practice has be-
 come well-nigh universal in Texas and
 the territories.
 Dehoning cattle has brought new
 instrument into the equipment of a
 cattle range. It is steel apparatus
 with handles about three feet long, and
 altogether weighing fifteen pounds. It
 is known as the "dehorner." It has two
 sharp knives, one stationary and one
 movable. and resembles tree pruning
 fork. When the handles are apart the
 knives are open, and will then encircle
 the largest cattle horns. When the
 handles are pinched together the knives
 colse in, and in twinkling the horns
 are cut away clear and smooth. fThe
 large cattle companies have their own
 dehorning outfits, but there are gangs,
 each of five men. that go about the
 southwest doing nothing but dehorning
 cattle at so much a head. One of the
 gang is the roper. He magically heaves
 his lariat about critters hind leg
 and by the sudden backing of his pony,
 throws the animal down. There are
 two "bulldoggers." They hold the
 struggling, believing animal down, by
 one man holding on to the tail like
 grim death, while another man plants
 big knee across the beasts neck The man who manipulates the dehorner
 is the fourth in the gang. The fifth
 man stands close at hand with pail of pine tar and brush. The moment the
 horns have been cut away and blood begins to spurt the tar is daubed over the wound. The beast staggers to its feet and runs madly away. Once in while fractious nervous COW will die from the loss of blood and the shock The time spent in dehorning is not over two minutes from tlfe moment the "bulldoggers" get the critter in hand until they loose it. A gang, or outfit, | as they are more properly known on the range, of five men will dehorn three hundred and fifty cattle a day. Car load lots of cattle horns are shipped from Arizona and New Mexico. But ton, glue, comb and phosphate factories Q ba it, of The shippers pay the cattlemen from | two to two and one-half cents a pound | for the stuff f. o. b.
 Nowadays, also, the branding on a well regulated cattle ranch is done systematically and with improved in- ventions. The picturesque scenes that formerly characterized roping and branding have been supplanted by prac- tical contrivances for saving time and doing a neat job. The old fashioned way was more artistic, but 1t is too ex- pensive for this day of sharp competi- tion and economy of time. The old l time vaqueros and cowboys used to spend days and weeks every year in ranging over hill and vale and through canyons in search of cattle. The sows, steers and calves were leisurely punched, and on a certain day were finally driven in herd into the open. There the master lariat throwers roped the cattle one after another and dex- terously held them while the branders would apply the hot irons. It took weeks to brand an ordinary sized herd. l. The apprentice cowboy looked on with admiration. The cowboys on q modern ranch must keep close track of their cattle. The cows are not given so wide "a range as in former years, when land was free and cattlemen were sewer. None are allowed to go wandering miles and miles away. where the mavericks may be branded and claimed by d con- peting cattleman or company. Nowa- ( days outfits of dozen or two dozen men on the larger ranges, and of a less ( number on smaller ranges, keep mCv- 1 ing over the range half of the year [ Then outfits go with extra horses cov- cred wagons, cook tents and a brand l ing pen and movable corral There Is q boss or captain His word is law in the outfit. Every day punches of cattle are driven in from the range and shut in the movable corral. There is seldom any roping and lariat throwing as of old. That may injure a calf or COW t and take away half it's value. ( The writer saw recently one of these q business-like outfits at work on the Aztec Cattle company's range in Maya jo county. There was none of the wild J yelling and whooping of the cowboys of | decade ago as the punches of cattle were driven. Indeed, not one of the q cowboys wore the regulation ouckskin y suit and carried brace of pistols at | his waist as of yore. Hardly person in the whole outfit spoke. l was ali d hard headed business proposition for U every man. The boss rode slowly atoUt, s seeing that no time was lost and no an- U imal was misused so as to damage it's worth as beef. The cows and calves q were separated by the cowboys on horses and were driven into different corrals. From each corral a narrow passageway of boards led to a still mar rover arrangement, that at distance r resembled an old horse power. This , t was the branding box. Several mon II were in the corral with long, blunt i' poles, and by punching and beating 1 Il they drove the cows and calves in sim gle file through the passageway. At the further end the animals, one by one, p