New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1908-06-07
STEERING THE SHEEP.
Machinery Used on Western Ranches
-Eram pLe for Wall Street.

Hustlng nemads who travel northward from
early spring until late sumnler..men who COM
bine the joys OF the trail with periods Of fercely
energetic labor. are the sheep sheaTers Of the
West Two thousand miles is not too far for
them to ~, between the first and last job the
season-an the way from southern California TO
a ranch in Manitoba. They are wealthy enough
from their earnings to travel in Pullmans If
they wish and play the role Of tourists visiting
the country while actually being wage earners
seeking new jobs They may wire ranch owners
that they are on the way. and the employers
hasten to prepare Tor their reception with choice
food and quarters. as if they We're honored
guests Without their skilled labor the wool
crop could not lee coined into gold. and thirty
two million sheep west Of the Missouri River
would shrink to the value OF spring lamb served
in Eastern boarding houses,
The shearer does not put on the airs Of the
cowboy. whom he has largely superseded. but
he is 2 solder citizen and has q proper pride in
his feats Of skill and endurance. There is an
emulation in removing heeces like that attrib-
1lted TO operators in Wall Street. Yet the work
is wholesome and beneficial to all hands con-
cerned. including, the sheep Policy itself pre-
vents the shearer from drawing too much blood,
because he remembers that more wool viii be
wanted next year. There j. a hand method and
q machine method of taking of the clip, the lat
for r,aire- more economical and expeditions
Thomas W. Lawson has lately indorsed the ma
chine system in finance. which supports agr1-
cultural experience The champion shearer Or
the United States Is not as well known as he
might fr-. His name is g N. Marquis, and his
record Of $50 sheep stripped in eight hours, at
Two Dot. Mont. several years ago, has never
been aquaIl,,d- This was at the rate Of one sheep
in q minute and a half. and the champion did
not stop even when taking a drink from a glass
hold TO his lips. II takes man OF iron consul
tuition to he first class shearer. He has TO re
main in a stopping position during the entire
process of removing a fleece whether using hand
shears or the wfirring machine tool that is like
a BARRIERS safety clipper The variation IN the
weight Of feeces has its effect on the shearers
ou.n,t The best ranges in Oregon, Montana
and wyoming viii average an S-pound fleece
frIl! Of natural OIL while sheep from the desert
will not average over five.
Ten dollars a day is the average earning OF
,ta exrert shearer, who may be a former cow
boy q. Mexican or a so-caled kangaroo hall
ing from Australia The social rank Of the
Mexican is often forgotten, in view OF his eco
DOnnic position, and the citizens OF Keo 1uic"
Will consent to drink az his expense and listen
10 the news he brings from down south or across
the Canada line. If there was ever a popular
movement TO lynch the ''greaseT Tor real or
imaginary offence Its Climax WouIu euietS oo
r.os-noned until all the sheep were clipped II
is important to get the sheep sheared al the
tight time
On large ranges where power Is useo' tnee
ers lo,p sheds and shafting extends down both
s55es q. the shearing place. About twenty
shearers are lined UP in one shed each liian
oueratinE a clipping machine connected Win
the s,,afting The sheep are brought in rom the
range IN comparatively small lots OF 2'So ana
psYt into corrals. whence they are driven Gown
c1,utes TO The shearers. dazed sheep is g aoOea
by the neck, flung into a sitting posture between
the ghearer's legs and deprived OF It's coat Oh
vol In q few minutes The feeces are stUI1eo
into bags holding four hundred pounoA aiin
many Of them are shipped to warehouses az
RIllIngs Mont.