Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1901-12-25
HORSES FOR KITCHENER.

1t II Becoming More and More Diff
cult to Buy Them In This Coun-
try.
An agent Of the British government
arrived in New York recently from the
northwest, where he has been buying
horses for the use Of the forces In
South Africa. Says he: "It Is no easy
matter to find horses of any kind just
now. We have bought all over the
United States and my latest purcnas-
es have been made in Wyoming. Tex
as. once famous for her wiry mustangs,
has no more horses for sale, and we
have been driven into the mountains Of
the border-line states Of the north
west. The prices we pay range from
$40 to $55 a head. These horses are
shipped by way Of New Orleans and
when landed in Cape Town. stand the
British government about $3.50 apiece"
Think Of that! Horses that cost $40
to SIS in the United States delivered at
the Cape at $3.50! With other war ne
cessities in proportion. we cannot Won
der at England's prodigious expense
account. 1--WE are obliged to take the
horses wild off the ranges" continues
the agent land break them to saddle.
NV individual purchases number over
5000. With three assistants. native
cowboys, to help me. had little trou-
BILE. notwithstanding some of the
horses were tough customers. After
you once learn the knack Of mastering
buck jumper. to break one Is mere
child's play. 7 really believe I could
not now feel at home on the back OF
we'll behaved charger. The voyage to
Cape Town seems to take all the devil
ment out Of broncho. He arrives
hot Inf
ride him. You would imagine he had
done nothing but haul a surface car
all his life.
1.-THE horses we ship to South Africa
last only about two weeks after land
ing. The voyage does not improve
them any, and when you get ashore
the change Of climate kills them In
droves. It looks like murder. doesn't
lit? But what is England to do? Horses
she must have. She wants 10000 more
right now and will pay any price for
them. Europe cannot supply them and
the Australian breeders are practical
ly sold out. 1t begins to look as II this
Boer war will be a question Of horse
and horse as you Americans say
without horses Kitchener is helpless
I think he ought to 60 into winter
quarters and let the Beers fight on the
offensive"
Leaving the horse question for mo-
ment the agent adverted to the sub
ject Of cattle and sheep In the north
west. Mentioning the name Of COM
pany that feeds its cattle upon thou
sand hills, so to speak, he said: wy
oming has 35,0OO.00O0 acres Of good
grazing land, and I guess there are l.
900, 900 cattle and 100000 sheep In the
state. Between the cattle men ana
sheep men exists a feud that not infre-
quently leads to murder. sheep. as
you may or may not know. feed in so
close order that when a flock has fed
over q range not a spear Of grass re-
mains. Cattle browse at random. and
| leave behind more than they eat, so
that the range may provide sustenance
for two or three herds, one following
the other. Furthermore-the sheep
not only eat everything in sight, but
leave an odor so disagreeable to cat
tie that the latter roam off into the
next county to avoid 1t.
Every man in Wyoming carries
bowie knife. The - company has
horses to sell. but refused to let me
have one until I had promised to help
reduce the number Of sheep on the
ranges. You all have knives, I see.
said the manager. Go to the woods
and cut yourself club apiece and fol-
low me- When we had provided our
selves with clubs about the size Of the
night sticks your policemen use. but
with a big knot on the butt end, we
went into q flock of sheep that must
have numbered 100000. 1t had been
destroying the grass for miles ana
miles. We were on horseback. We
rode slowly through the flock, WELD
ing clubs with our right arms and
driving the knot into the skulls of the
innocent creatures. 1t was fast. fierce
furious work, and when we had fin-
ished 10000 sheep lay dead upon the
field. The rest scampered away over
the hills. What happened then? on:
don't ask me. bought a few hundred
horses and came to New York. New
York Press.