The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1911-09-09

been tied to the head board by the
longshoremen; We had nothing to do
with the loading. We put the buckets
in the corn trough along in front of
them. then poured water in the buck
cts as they were emptied.
1t all sounds very we'll but each
steer wanted to drink from bucket
of his neighbor. They fought and
jerked and pulled and upset the buck
cts but we must make them drink or
they would die So. with water splash
ing on US and running down our shos
tops, we would pat them kindly on
the nose and say nice words. Three
steers often would not drink when
offered three buckets, but IL two
buckets were taken away all three
would fight to drink from the same
one.
Feeding the Brutes.
The next course was hay. 1t was
stored near the first hatch in large
bales, averaging about 200 pounds
apiece Some one forgot to put hay
hook on the boat, SO we ha1 to roll
the bales with out finger nails. 1t
was the early morning duty Of each
man to roll a certain number down the
alley, and that was fine exercise be-
fore breakfast. Then we cut the
wires, shook the hay with care. remov-
ing all Jumps, and fed it to the brutes.
Our morning work generally was
finished at IL o'clock and the work in
the afternoon lasted from 2 to about
$50. The afternoon menu was an
other round Of more buckets and more
hay. We swept alleys again In the
afternoon. Our brooms were very
artistic, being a bundle Of twigs tied
together and a stick damned into one
end Of the bundle. l don't know how
rich the inventor has become who
first thought of that method OF water
Ing cattle and sweeping alleys.
Tho English Seamen.
We didn't understand the English
seamen very we'll at first-the1r
speech or manners. But when we be-
came acquainted we liked some of
them better and few OF them be-
came good friends Of the cattlemen.
Most of them are down there working
a month for e and a large part OF
it goes for drink when they get back
to Liverpool They are good CONVEX
sationalists and We were surprised to
find their vocabulary much more de-
veloped than that of the average
American laborer.
The last three days of the trip most
Of the seamen had paint bucket or
can and was daubing everything In
sight. Brushes were few, but some
used rags and others seemed to paint
with their hands. We learned that
the reason it was put on In such large
quantities and so carelessly was tina.
each ship had to use a certain amount
Of paint on each trip and show the
empty buckets to prove that it had
been used. l believe that.
The first sight of the lights of the
Irish coast looked pretty good to US.
All that day we could see either Ire
land or England. In the afternoon
the ship kept pretty close to the
Welsh shore The coast is high and
rocky and in the sunset it was a
beautiful dull reddish color. The hills
beyond were green and divided by the
old stone fences into small irregular
farms. The stone houses, most OF
them white, were scattered here and
there along the fertile valleys. Our
pilot came on at Lynas Point at $50
in the evening and had full charge OF
things till he reached Liverpool. The
cattle could smell land, SO the seamen
said. and were restless the last night
and we slept but little. We turned
down the broad Mersey shortly after
midnight. That was Saturday morn
ing and we reached Birkenhead, on
the west bank, in short time. Here
we landed our 400 cattle. all in ex-
cellent health and we shed no tears
at seeing them depart. Each OF US
carried some cargo down the gang.
plank and set foot for the first time
on English soil.
We bought English bicycles and
spent two months on the perfect roads
OF England and the continent
The cattleman has his joys and sor.
rows but the latter are very soon for
gotten and one finds himself planning
to go again-even as a cattleman.