The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1902-12-09
AWFUL TALES OF CRUELTY TO
ANIMALS.
FIENDS IN HUMAN GUiSE
Former Resident of Musselshell VAL
ley Relates Stories That Are
Almost Incredible.

'lnaL was an lulcicSIIu6 ooOlJ
Gazette had last evening of the at
tempted poisoning OF the inmates OF
a sheep camp on the Musselshell,"
said a former resident of that locality
this morning, Dut it cannot be said to
be surprising to any OF those VINO
have ever lived in that section, for
some mighty queer things happen up
that way occasionally. While don't
want to be understood as saying it is
a lawless locality, still there are not
a few of the people who make thelr
homes Whereabouts that have commit
ted many things that would hardly
stand the test were they to be hailed
into court and made to answer for
them.
There has always been more or
less stealing and pilfering, and from
what | can learn things have not i'm
proved very much in that respect. In
addition to having but slight regard
for the property rights of others, some
of the folks over there are also about
as cruel and inhuman as any savage
that ever tortured the object OF MS
enmity. | can recall q number OF In.
stances of brutal cruelty to animals
that are had Of belief. A few years
ago a woman lived in the valley VINO
had a number of cow and calves.
GIL -xa,.Il %,,rn o.f %hA o0URf tn ora ~.
keeping the calves in q corral. When
it came time in the evening for the
COWS to return, instead OF going al
ter them she adopted another way OF
bringing them home. She would drive
the calves into chutes and then PROD
them with a sharpened piece of iron
until in their agony they would bawl
with pain. BY keeping up her torture
long enough the cows would finally
hear the calls of their calves and come
running to them.
at was hard on the poor calves, but
it saved the woman much walking.
"Then there was the case OF a man.
I suppose | will have to call him tina
for he was in the form of one, who
also had some cows, n of them with
a calf. He wanted to wean the call
and allow the cow to go dry so tina,
he could fatten her. Instead OF do
ing as most men would have done
confne the calf or supply it with
spiked muZzle, he took another way
Incredible as it may seem, he actual
ly split the calf's tongue, thinking
that thereby it would be unable te
suckle it's mother. The plan failed
though, and then becoming infuriatee
he procured a knife and deliberately
cut off the poor cows teats. L
weaned the calf.
"More recently another occurrence
transpired out there that would nave
been a fit subject for official lnvestl
cation. A fellow owned a saddle
horse, an exceptionally good one, a.
you may judge when I say he refused
no less than $S5 for it on several oc
casions. One day he got drunk while
riding the horse and becoming en-
ragged at something the animal di'
he pounded it with a club until it wa
almost dead. The horses was practl
ally ruined for all time. It's ear
lopped and in other ways it was in
iured so that it looked like the verl
est old bench and the fellow sol
it subsequently for SIS.
20, yes. Some strange things hal
pen every little while in the Mussel
shell valley and l am not surprises
that Mclean should have found dope
in his bread" :.