The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1906-09-13
NEED We TORTURE CATTLE
Unnecessary Cruelty to Cows
and Sheep in Transportation.
THE NEED OF REFORM.
Sidetracked for Hours or Days With
insufficient Food and Water
Uncovered Cars Render 1t Diff
cult for Animals to Retain Foot
ing in Seety Weather.


with troughs for feeding and water
ing the cattle without unloading them
en- route. The superintendent OF one
Of New York's largest meat COM
panies assured me that these cars
were used almost exclusively, and
that cattle In transit were we'll cared
for in every way, says a writer IN
the New York Tribune, while on tour
of inspection of one of the large stock
yards in that city. "Show me some
of the improved stock cars, those with
feed troughs," the visitor asked the
inspector of the yard. The Inspector
shook his head
"You don't see many of those he
said. THE cattle couldn't be driven
to the trOughs to feed, if there were
troughs; it wouldn't be practicable;
they are packed too tight. Here" he
went on, paus1ng by an empty car, lis
a typical stock car Five out OF six
of the cars that come in here are like
this one"
It was an open box car, without
troughs. The sides of it were partly
of Stats, which had wide spaces be-
tween them, giving practically no pro-
lection against the weather. There
was absolutely no bedding on the floor,
This car" said the inspector, lis
just as it came in last night, with a
lot of steers in it. You see the floors
not bedded, and, naturally, especial
ly in sleety, freezing weather, it's not
easy for an animal to keep it's footing
! on floor like this, with the car bump
ing and swaying over the rails
DR.. Jaques, of Chicago, says: Il
know that the cattle car in general
use is open on all sides to the weather,
the cold being much increased by
rapid transit. The cars are usually
crowded, to save room and to prevent
savage animals from goring one an
other. The long journeys, unbroken
by rest, result in animals falling down
from exhaustion, when they are
trampled upon by the others. It is a
usual thing for cars to arrive at their
destination with certain percentage
of dead and wounded"
At Buffalo, according to statistics
gathered by DR.. William o. Stillman,
president of the National Humane AS
ISOLATION, there were taken from the
cars in the year ending with October.
1905, 1881 dead cattle which had died
in transit, and 1922 cattle more or
less seriously crippled by falling in
the cars. If this was the case under
the 28-hour law, how would the anil
mails fare under a law extending the
time to forty hours? The 2S-hour
law is disregarded in the far West
One Western railroad kept cattle m
its cars for from fifty to sixty hours
without anything to eat or drink
The uninitiated may find it difficult
to believe that the cattle owners and
the railroads can be so careless OF
marketable property. AS to that, the
history of cattle raising shows that
the stockman will often submit to lose
a certain percentage Of cattle rathAr
than t,.ke measures to prevent the
lOss witness how cattle are left out
on the great ranges of the West, to
perish in t--e terrible snOWstOrms by
thousands. Whether it is carelessness
or cruelty, whether it is that these
losses amount to less than it would
cost to protect the cattle properly
there are the facts. AS to the ship
ping, there is no doubt that the cattle
owners would be pleased to have the
railroads take better care of live
stock, and not smash it up so badly
in transit; but this the railroads have
SO far declined to do-at least with
out charging more than the shippers
are willing to pay.
Many cattle owners, though, do not
let the usages of the railroads cost
them too much. They have their
methods. For instance, when lot OF
steers are prisoned in a car for two
or three days, humping along the
tracks, or perhaps sidetraclzed at some
way station for hours because it is
inconvenient to move them just then
they lose, through hunger and thirst
and exhaustion and terror, considera.
BILE in weight. Promptly upon reach.
ing their destination, however, they
are allowed to take all the water ano
feed they can hold, which brings uL
their weight and makes them lOoh
plump to the buyer. Physicians say
that this treatment Qonger hunger anc
! thirst followed by excessive eating
and drinking) makes an animal few.
erish, tends to render virulent any
seeds OF disease that may be lurking
in it's system; in short, makes it unfit
for human food. But then the rail
roads and the cattAemen do not have
, / to pay the doctor bills of the persons
who are made i'll by eating impure
: meat
: Franklin-"Is Smith a man of tn
world?"
Penn-"I guess so; / haven't hearl