The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1915-08-07

WHERE TIE HIGH COST OF BEEF HELPS
BY Frederic j. Haskin.


IN the chorus of protests against
1.-THE present soaring prices OF meat
Il there is an important side Of the
mater which seems to have been
4overlooked At first glance it seems
4 it SENS to be unanimous vote that
Il prices are too high. but there is one
man who has not been heard from
lWhile Journalists Indignantly and
Legislators encourage the farmer 70
raise more COWS, while housewives es-
ItabIish public markets and tile gltt-
i mate consumer sadly parts with his
4 ultimate dollar for small STEAK
/ medium, :, the cattlemen of the West
acontinue to say nothing and raise
steers.
The changes brought about In the.
i great range country that stretches
through dozen of our biggest states
constitute one OF the most striking
Features of the expensive beef situa-3
ltion. The high priced steer trails
4 prosperity In his wake. He has given
the raising of range stock new lease
of life asa business and he is revolu--
e tionizing its methods: 1t is due 20
him that the six-cylinder automopiie
lis supplanting the cow-pony, tnae
! the daughter Of the ranch is invading
I the fashionable finishing schools OF
1.-THE East.
The change Is naturally most read
lily noticeable among the smaller OWL
ers The cattle kings have always
been wealthy, but the men with two
or three hundred head OF STOCK,
whose name is legion, are getting
\ first taste OF prosperity. 1t was no
livery difficult matter to accumulate
such herd few years ago; the OIL
ificulty lay making it yield ltving.
The owner usually let the animals.
range at will. to increase or starVe
Tor perish from thirst in dry year as
/ fortune decreed, while he filed SAD
Idle for one OF the big owners ..
thirty dollars month. Today. that
lex-cowspuncher is in a fair way to pc
Ia rich man, whose chief problem Is
thow to dispose of his sudden wealth.
He will buy anything from phono-i
graph to an oil painting. but his Ia
vorite purchase is an automoDile =,
new West depicts a party OF tourists
! from Chicago in a sfx-cylinde- car
iwhfzzing past ranchman VINO cnnss
! precariouslyt to rearing and terrified
\ bronco As matter OF fact, you VIII W. y
usually find the cowpuncher IN the
car. Many sections of the ca s,
] country. notably the great rolling
nlafns Of the Southwest. are admir-
4 ABLY adapted to automobiling. ana
the lighter. cheaper cars have IN
yaded them in force. 1t is true that
until the manufacturer produces
! machine capable of following the eI-
ratio evolutions of three-year-olu
steer the humble cow-pony reIna man z
1 indispensable, but the auto can ana
4 does do much of the work OF the team
| and wagon.
In the Small Stores.
one notes the measure Of the
4 change in the little general stores
scattered over the cow country Be
/ side the big Mexican spurs ana lne
coils OF hard-twisted lariat rope, Lne
heavy Texas saddles and the carthage
belts. stand racks OF auto tires anu anu
barrels of gasoline engine pumps and
snark Mugs and wrenches. A tour
ist from the East recently happened
on a gathering Of cowmen in q New
MEXICO saloon. They were flannel
snirted. high-hatted, high-booted as
literature depicts them; some OF the
more conservative still chung 70 me
six-shooter dear to romance sue
ii nly came the announcement that q
/ drove of heffers penned nearby had
/ broken the wire fence and departed
i The owners of the truants made TOT
the door. where dozen muddy autos
were parked (fruit of long habit
about the hftching rack.
You try Dead Hore Canyon, sa1d
one of the searchars. IL follow the
creek. . The four-cylinder engines
sputtared furiously, and they were
of. Such is cow-punchlng up-,o-
Their seems to be something about
the effortless speed of the auto to fas-]
cinate the son of the range. There IS
an old cattleman In the Texas Fan
handle who is the owner OF fye ma
i chimes. It Is true, you will often
| find him on the front porch with a
pine, but that is because they are al
I'm the repair shop. Uncle Eds idea
Eof automobfling is to step on the
Throttle and watch her Jump.
A Typical Case.
This mans rise to wealth pre-
lsents a typical case. Fltteen years
4 ago two partners in eastern New
/ Mexico. large cattle owners. decided
ito go out of the business. They sold
4most of their stock. and found them
selves with a few hundred head OF
l..odds and ends on hand-bulls and
steers. cows and calves, of all kinds
/ and ages. Uncle Ed bought the lot
lat five dollars apiece. Loaay ne rs -
selling their numerous descendants
/ at anywher from seven to fourteen
4 times that figure.
l Uncle Ed and his brethren VIII all
ways be recognizable at glance lor
what. they a-e-productsso OF the open
range. It IS the second generation
4 that lives uT, to its advantages-cspe-l
1 ston at some nch-house forty miles
/ from the railroad and listen to Caru-
so on one of those graphophones that
Ismasduerade as ma nognny center Ia
! bles, while your hostess tells you
about the last time she heard MIN IN
New York. She will discuss with
ycu the message Of Maeterlinck and
nF "a &c