Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-07-31
AUTOCRAT OF the RANGES
THE SHEEP SHEARER WHOSE
WAGES ARE $40 PER DAY.
Picturesque and Hardy Characters
Who Roam Up and Down the
Far Western States.

From the San Francisco Chronicle
The nations wool harvest is on in the
west, the greater part of the shearers
work in the sheep states is done. and the
warehouses are bullying with the big wool
sacks.
The shearers who gather this enormous
harvest form an important, though little
known, feature of western life. Every
body knows about the cowboy. and there
is more or less knowledge of the life and
duties of the lonely sheep herder but the
sheep shearer has come on the scene SO
quietly that few persons realize the i'm
portant role he is playing
In order to get an .dea of the i'm
portance of the sheep shearer's work, one
must take a glance at the tremendous
growth of the sheep industry In the big
staTes of the west. Wyoming has some
thing over 4,60O.N00 sheep within It's Dor
ders- Montana, which held the record
until last year, has four and one-haf
million sheep Then come Idaho with
two and one-half million and Oregon
with two million sheep, and on down
the list, until the nations total reaches
the astonishing amount of forty million
sheep, four-fifths of which are west OF
the Mississippi river.
To harvest the wool from sdch an enor-
nous number of backs Ia something that
calls for expert shearers-men who can
handle the big shears or the machine clip
pers with skill that comes from long
practice. The shearing must be done at
the right time of year IL the wool Is
clipped too early the sheep suffers from
cold; If the shearing comes too late the
sheep suffers from intense heat. and in
either case is bound to lose weight and
value. To meet the eXacting conditions
class of men has risen peculiar to the
sheep Shearing business. These shearers
start work In southern California, Utah.
middle California, etc. Another month
finds them busy i'm the great sheep states
of Wyoming. Montana. Idaho and Ore
Son, where they find steady employm ent
until July, when they go to the ranges of
Canada. In this way the shearers keep
busy nearly all the year. and at high
wages. In fact, they are the most PROS
porous class of wage earners in the west.
as a good shearer will average about $40
a day.
The Champion Sheep Shearer.
The champion shearer of the United
States is c. NJ Marquis. whose record
of 800 sheep sheared in eight hours, made
at Two Dot. Mont. several years ago.
has never been eaualed. 1t takes a man
of iron constitution to be successful
sheep shearer. as the work is very ex-
hausting, owing to the fact that the
shearer has to remain In STOPPING posi-
ton during the entire operation of re-
moving Heece. mere Is a great yarfa-
ton in the weight OF fieeces also, which
has Its effect the shearer's work
Some sheep. such as those off the best
ranges in Oregon. Montana and Wyo-
ming, Will average an eight-pound fleece.
full of natural oil, while sheep from the
more sterile, alkaline ranges of New
Mexico will not average much over five
pounds of wool.
There are many Mexicans among tho
expert shearers who follow this new call
iT1er In o0t MAxy ipnv mi
sheepmen. and make good herders as
well as shearers. They are particularly
expert with the shears. though this form
of clipping is being done away with, ow
machine shearing. These plants are in
stalled at various points on the great
sheep ranges. Long sheds are erected
and shafting extends down both sides OF
the shearing place. Twenty or more
shearers will be lined up in one OF these
Sheds each man operating a clipping ma
chine connected with the shafting. The
sheep are brought in from the range in
bands Of $3.50 or more. and are put in
the corrals adjoining the shearing sheds
Then they are driven down chutes to tho
shearers. A brawny shearer reaches into
a small corral behind him and pulls out
a big sheep With a dextrous hing the
animal is put In sitting posture be-
cold steel begins clipping Off the wool.
The machine knives shear close to the
skin. but there is comparatively little
blood letting. 1t is estimated that ma
chine shearing will save much wool, on
account of getting closer to the skin OF
the sheep and shearing more evenly. In
fact, some sheep owners say the increased
weight Of their fieeces at each shearing
is enough to pay the extra expense OF
running power plant.
How the Sheep Are Handled.
After one sheep has been sheared tho
shearer filings the animal back in the
corral and seizes another. and thus he
continues at work all day, seldom
Strengthening his back. except To take a
drink of water. This habit of working
long hours with nothing to say has made
the sheep shearer as taciturn as the sheep
herder.
AS fast as the sheep are turned out
by the shearers the animals are run
along a narrow chute and each one is
branded. This process consists of stamp
ing the animal with a marking brush.
always easy to distinguish. Not only Is
it superior to cattle branding. in that
it is painless, but il is impossible for
any one to change the brand.
The shearing season on the plains is
much like the thrashing season In agri-
cultural communities. The shearers must
be housed and fed. and the sheepman
sees to 1t that tents or bunkhouses are
put up. and that the men have good
chuck Being an Independent citizen.
who makes good wages and never wants
for work. the sheep shearer is apt to
demand the best the market affords. Not
getting it. he will roll his bed and hit
look elsewhere for one to take the heavy
Off pantipU fnplc