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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 6, 1908)
TIIE SUNDAY OREGOXIAX, PORTLAND, SEPTEMBER 6t 1903 WNMBMTUL MEEP DOGS S&W&W MIS CMSES MSWiUM H - ' :L All : ;" V f 1 $ - V ' ' . W --J-',; -M -v. V'-.r,.-: . ; , f - t - -W ,t , . - r .j -;--t c , '-.wvi '.-; W : 1 V ; . I .f- . ' V ' : : v.',. 1 . full of stories of the devotion and lntelli- V ' - ' ' ' ' A I eence of sheep dogs. The herder who V . : -s-a GT3U.TEAJJO V Z WYOMING AND Z illS SHEEP BT ARTHUR fllAPMAN. Th fc,Kfci gurl -nig Jim miu m most wonderful sheep dogs In the world." ( A fflant of a fellow, with a browned ;nd determined, yet pleneant face, had f!sraouned from hia horse In front of -the solitary restaurant boasted by the -thriving sheep and cattle town of Buffalo, In Northern Wyoming. Instead of the beautiful, silky-haired collies conjured by -the Imagination, there trotted at his heels two rather small dogs, one black from tip to tip and the other black, cave for white breast. Introduction to Jim Everett, like intro duction to nearly all the outdoor men of the West, was not a matter of getting; a -ard past a stony-faced private secre tary. In three minutes Jim was expatiating- on' the accomplishments of lii eheep dogs and extending an Invitation to the' writer to witness some of their feats a, bid that was promptly accepted. Next day on the vast, open range through which Crazy Woman Creek, a branch of Powder River, leaves an alkali whitened trail, "Big Jim" showed what liia sheep dogs could do. "In the first place." eaid Jim, "these dogs are- not pure-bred collies, as you must have noticed. The collie to a fine log for sheep in Scotland, but over here 4ie needs a big strain of the wolf In him to make hlra effective. These dogs are flialf wolf. I caught their mother myself, out on the plains. Today these pups show more of the wolf strain than they do of the collie. Their ears are always pointed slip, and they can hear twice as well as ran ordinary collie. They are always on ttlie lookout for danger, and their feet well. that Is their strong point. You see how thick the cactus-grows in thto coun try. Well, an ordinary dog has got bis fleet full of cactus thorns when be comes rliito camp at night with the band of Flieep. After the band has been bedded :the herder's got to spend an hour or two by the camp tire picking thorns out f the dog's feet. But these wolf-dogs have got cushions on their feet that are toucher than sole leather. You never eee an old wolf out on the plains lying tlown and chewing cactus thorn out of his feet and neither do you see these ?ng9 doing the same trick. Just for this reason alone the wolf strain makes an animal like XI g or Lady the Ideal sheep :tender." Nig and Lady at this time were several rods away, sitting or their haunches, and looking out acroM the plains with that peculiar, alert expression that never reemed to desert tluim. Jim did not raise his voice above the conversational pitch, but, on the contrary dropped It a little. When he said: "Where's that coyote I" The human ear at its sharpest could rot have detected the words at a dis tance of more than, ten feet, but Nig and Lady heard every word, and Instantly they were up and away, racing around the band of sheep, and ready to grapple with any prowling coyote or wolf that might be lurking in a sheltering arroyo. Suddenly Jim raised his arms until they extended in a horizontal position, and then he let them fail at his side. In utantly Nig and Lady stopped and sat own. with their eyea on their master. "You see. It's not much use to yell at a dog, especially when you've got to yell against a Wyoming wind storm." said Jim. "So I've trained my dogs to work to signal regular brakeman signals they are." Here Jim waved one hand toward the rft and Nig and Lady trotted off In tii at direction. "If I want 'em to run around the sheep the other way," said Jim. "I Just wave the other hand. When I want them to c-.me In I Just raise my hands over my 1. ad like this." I'p went the giant's brawny arms, and l i trotted the sheep dogs and took up .i-ir station at their master's feet. At n motion, one of the dogs' took a long xi-ursion round the band, looking for fny lambs that might have become sep arated from the flock, thereby offering t i.-mselves as easy prey for coyotes. An- r .ier motion and the remaining dog "cut t a single sheep from the bunch and J. v ilnwn to guard It. "That 4og will watch that sheep for hours until I call him off." said Jim, "and It would go hard with anybody who tried to touch the sheep that's under his care." Like good soldiers, "Big Jim's" sheep dogs hold duty paramount. They adore their master, but at a word from him they would go willingly with another sheep man and work for the stranger. Jim himself is not a herder. He has "graduated" and Is camp tender for one of the big sheep outfits that make their headquarters at Buffalo. In early days, when the longhorn steer was king of the range, Jim was a cowboy, but like many, other cowmen, he drifted naturally Into the once-despised sheep business. "Bigger pay, less work and a dashed sight better treatment." is Jim's brief summing up of the reasons for his desertion of the cat tle game. A day or two after he had shown what bis dogs could do. "Big Jim" created something of a commotion In Buffalo. The most peaceful and good-natured of men, Jim blazes Into fierce anger when any one ventures to abuse his dogs. A drunken cattleman from Powder River way staggered Into the restaurant where Jim was eating. The sheep man's dogs were curled up near the door, and the cattleman, who was Just drunk enough to be ugly, kicked one of the animals. In stantly Jim's great hulk towered over the fellow. There was a sickening smash as the giant's fist found lodgment on the cattleman's face, and the man from Pow der River tumbled Into an unconscious heap in the corner. "Big Jim" grasped him by the collar and tried to get him on his feet, but the fellow's legs bent under him In helplessness, and. In prize ring parlance. It was evident that he was "down and out." When he recov ered consciousness he crawled out of the restaurant, and. swaying unsteadily in the saddle, lost no time In getting away from "Big-Jim's" baleful gaze. It Is almost an Impossibility for a herder to work sheep on the open range without sheep dogs. There la much more detail to the sheep herder s work than Is ordinarily supposed. The herder roust be out before, sun-up. as the sheep do not linger long on the bed ground, but are soon up and scattered Nicross the plains, cropping the scant grass or nib bling at the tops of the sage brush. Coyotes and wolves are so numerous that It Is necessary to keep constant lookout. Inasmuch as one herder must care for an average of 2500 to 3000 sheep In a band, it will be recognized at once that caring for a widely scattered flock of that size would soon exhaust a man If he had no aid. The dogs render Invaluable service, however. They are constantly circling around the feeding flock and driving In the sheep that become too widely scat tered for safety. The good temper of the dogs i endless. Their work Is par ticularly difficult In herding buck sheep. The bucks are saucy and inclined to fight, as a rule and every once In a while a big fellow makes a charge at .th stieep dog and occasionally lands with the force of a battering-ram. But the sheep dog never tries to retaliate, but con tinues his patient work as guardian to the foolish flock. Even at night, when the band has been worked back toward camp, and is bedded down,- the dog's work Is not ended. The sheep Is the most easily frightened of all animals, particularly at night. A Blight noise will send the whole sleeping band to Its feet and scurrvlng through the darkness. Unlike cattle, they do not run far, hut when coyotes are waiting in every draw and arroyo. It deos not take much af a stampede to result In considerable loss. Naturally a strong bond of affection grows between the average sheep herder and his dog. The dog shares the com forts of the homelike sheep wagons in which most of the herders live. They have the best of food and care, which is no more than Just when one considers the faithful and intelligent service they Blve. The stirring annals or tne vyesiaro deserts his flock In the face of danger considers himself disgraced, and his dog seems to catch the same spirit of faith fulness. Not long ago a herder In East ern Colorado was struck by lightning. Many herders meet death in this way, as thunder storms on the plains are fre quent, and the guardians of the flocks usually etand on the highest hills so they can keep an eye on all of the straggling bands. In this Instance It was three days before the herder's body was found. yet his dog had guarded the band of sheep all day, had rounded up the bunch at night and brought it to the bed ground, and next morning had gone through the same performance." When the camptender arrived, not a sheep was missing, but the faithful dog was nearly starved. The fearful blizzards that sweep over the plains are the greatest menace to the herders and their canine companions. In Winter the flocks graze on the prairies, and in Summer they are driven to the mountains. There Is absolutely no pro tection on the plains, and the herder who strays away from his wagon In one of these blizzards is likely to pay tor nis . a U Im - -r . . -(1 -.if. 1,1. ur nmBtlme the shecD . William M.ooay was cb.uiil hi - u., will begin to "drift" before a storm, and J Cut off from his camp he wandered about the united efforts of man and dog will not I the fenceless plain until at last he sank turn the band back. The sheep wander I down an died. He had two shepherd on until at last they nuddie togeiner in some arroyo and are covered with drift ing snow and soon smother to death. If the herder ad his dog cannot And their way back to camp, they perish miserably. Last Winter a herder in Albany County, Wyoming, would have lost his life but for his collie dog. He lost all sense of direction while wandering in a blizzard. He knew the flock was perishing, and it was his sole Idea to get back to camp to save his own life. He struggled on all night, with his collie at his side, but at last gave up In despair, and sank down in the drifts to die. Several times he did this, but each time the dog would tug at his clothes and refuse to allow him to sink into the slumber that would have been his last. Aroused by the de votion of the dog.-the herder would struggle to hie feet and stagger on. Finally, In the evening of the second day, the blizzard slackened and he saw a light, which proved to be from a ranch house, and he and his dog were saved. On the Red Desert of Wyoming a oouDle of Winters ago, a herder named dogs thtat stood guard ove his body two weeks. The dogs lived on the carcasses of frozen sheep, and it was through them that a searching party found the .body of the herder lying face down in the snow. Mexicans are very skillful In training sheep dogs, and the herders of the South west sometimes teach their canine com panions many wonderful tricks, such as going to camp and bringing back a sack of tobacco or any article for which the herder may ask. Occasionally, on the Montana plains, one meets an old Scotch herder, who has cared for sheep in the old country, and who is an enthusiastic and convincing champion In behalf of the pure-bred collie. As a rule, when they have outlived their usefulness, and can no longer un dergo the exhausting work of herding sheep, the faithful dogs are replaced by younger animals and spend their remain ing yeans on the "home ranch" and who slioi say that these pensioners have not earned all the favors they receive? Denver, Colo., Aug. 29. KANSAS CITY INVENTOR , "WHO HAS DOjNE OTHER THINGS , THINKS HE HAjS SOLVED THE PROBLEM ANSAS CITY, Aug. 24. (Special Cor- respondence of The Sunday Oregon- Ion.) To harness the sea. That Is the ambition, the hope of George C. Hale, of this city, known throughout the world as an Inventor. For 15 years Mr. Hale has been working on an Invention that would take the power of the waves from the ocean and convert that power Into electricity for commercial purposes. At last he has perfected a machine which. If the dem onstrations of the model are to be taken for anything, will actually harness the power of the ocean and make that power of commercial value. It was 15 years ago that Mr. Hale sat one night on a pier at Rockaway Beach, watching the waves as they pounded against the stonework. And, as he Bat there, a steamer, outward bound, passed, with tts stream of waves, tiny beside those breaking against the pier, follow ing the revolutions of the heavy propel lers. Then it was that Mr. Hale realized the power of the waves and the possi bilities for motive power If the strength of those waves could only be harnessed. When he came back to Kansas City he began to work. Model after model was made, only to be thrown aside and a new idea carried out- There was but one way, he realised, to hold the power and that was by compressed air. At lost, however, the right idea came, and a few days ago he gave a demonstration of the machine to scientific men of the city, a demon stration that convinced the scientists he was correct In his beliefs that the ma chine would be able to take power from the ocean and convert It to run street cars, light a city, and, in fact, every thing that Is now done by steam. The model which Mr. Hale demon strated, is built on the scale of one-half an Inch to the foot It Is simple In con struction. The main part of the body of the machine is to be a V-shaped abutt meni vltb Interstices at regular Inter vals through which the water flows. The meats on the wings that had fitted Into machine Is to be built - on the shore, of masonry or, steel, and therefore will not suffer from storms as other experiments that derived their power by floating have done. On the model six "wings" of steel, resembling doors, are hinged to perpen dicular shafts that are Disced In front of the V-shaped abuttment, and provided I .! t. innB BA . v, .Ha n-tmrn TnaV rise or fall with the tides. The shafting to which the wings are attached is equipped win gears which mesh into piston rods operating six air compressors. The com pressors discharge through double check valves Into a globe-shaped receiver, and from the receiver the air Is taken to two engines belted to dynamos. And, that, according -to Mr. Hale, Is all that Is needed to take the ocean's power and place It where It can. be used to much greater advantage than merely to make a mournful sound and cause that old, old question. "What. oh. what, are the wild waves saying?" "She's done now. she's done," Mr. Hale exclaimed enthusiastically when the demr onstration was given last week, "and I've won out on the stlffest fight I ever had In my life. Work? Of course it'll -work. Why, man, with this machine the real machine. I'm talking about, uot this little old model here why, with this machine I could furnish the whole city of New York, or arty other seacoast town, with light, power and heat for 10 per cent of what It's costing now. Now, boys. Just show how this tbing-eraa-Jlg works." He was speaking to several of his workmen, who were holding a large paddle that rested In a tank of water. The men gave the paddle a push and a small wave flowed toward the model. As It struck the wings of the machine there oame a sound of rushing air and the wings slid swiftly toward the abutment The paddle was drawn backward and the water, following, rushed through the apertures against the cup-like arrange- the open spaces. The wings shot outward again and were ready lor anotner wave. "Look at the register," Mr. Hale said. It showed that Ave pounds of air had been compressed. A few more strokes with the paddle and the Indicator had gone to 20 pounds. Guess I'll let the engines work awhile." came from Mr. Hale, as he turned a small cock. The next moment the fly-wheels of two tiny engines were whirring and the dynamo to which they were attached, was generating electricity, tricity. "And this is only a model Just about one-fiftieth as large as the real machine would be," the Inventor explained. "But I've worked everything out to conform with the scale of reduction. This little machine has one-half horse power. The machine I would build for seacoast work would be 60 feet long, with 40 wings, Instead of six, that would be nine feet hieh and 12 feet long, xnat would develop 300 horse power. "Now, you see, the beauty of this ma chine," and Mr. Hale became more in terested In his work than ever, "the beauty of this machine is that a storm can's hurt it It's built on the shore, of masonry and steel. If the waves come In faster than usual, the wings have to work with the same rapidity, because, you see, they are governed by the flow of the water. To tell the truth, there's a benefit In a storm for this thing. It would Just generate that much more electricity. Of course, the flow over the circuit would be the same, on account f the current governors. The surplus could be put Into storage batteries." Just then some one beoame curious. "How about the cost of maintalnance?" he asked. "Isn't any," Mr. Hale replied. "All you have to do Is to put up the ma chine and then hire some one to oil it The waves do all the work. Two men, experienced, of course, could watch a battery or elgnt or lu or cnese iiiii"i. Why, there's practically no cost to It. For $75,000 a battery of these machines could be placed on a seacoast and would furnish 15,000 horsepower. Two ordinary turbine engines, now used In the power houses to generate power, would cost 25,01K) more than this whole battery, and then, after they were In stalled, there would be the expense of coal, of men to watch the boilers, to handle the fuel and the ashes and to do the thousand and one other things about a power house: But with this business the waves of the ocean keep busy night and day and the expense lsnf there at all." George C Hale Is a man who has been made rich by his Inventions. During the last 36 years he has invented the Hale water tower. In use by the Are depart ments of every large city of the world, a fire-alarm system now in use in New York City and many other things. Includ ing the swinging harness used by police and fire departments all over the world. "Hate to brag about myself, but I guess I've done more for horses than lots of humane societies," he said one day last week. "Before I Invented that swinging harness, the horses used to have to keep their harness on all the time so that they might be hitched to the fire apparatus quickly. Used to have to sleep with it on. Of course, the horses never looked nice, nor were they well cared for. Couldn't even take their harness off to groom them. But now. It's a whole lot machine different" Among his B0 or more Inventions, are the Hale tours, a moving-picture device In use at Coney Island and many other parks throughout the world. But the last invention, Mr. Hale regards as his greatest. "It's economy that everyone Is looking for," he says. "And with this Invention, there Is nothing but economy. After this is put In operation the cities of New York, Boston, Galveston, New Orleans, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, Los An geles and any other seacoast city orone near the coast will be able to enjoy cheaper lighting, cheaper streetcar fares and In fact economy In everything with which electric power Is connected." Diving for a Locomotive. F. Hopkinson Smith in Everybody's Sometimes a diversion in the custom ary work of recovering sunken prop erty would occur. It was a locomotive on one occasion; she had attempted to cross a trestle and had topplea over In thirty feet of water bottomed by mud. "Get her up?" said Captain Scott "Certainly where'll I put her?" "Back on the rails," said the mn ager with a laugh at the Impossibility of the task. "All right; she'll be there in the mornin' " and she was. It was but the work of half a day for Captain Scott to rig up a pair of sheer poles, drop beside In his diving dress,- pass some heavy chains under the boiler and between her axles, hook a block Into a ring, take a turn on a hoisting engine aboard his wrecking tug, open a steam cylinder and up she came. To lower her gently to the rails and wash her clean of the mud with a nozzle attached to the hose of his steam pump was the last service. "There," he said when she was scrubbed clean, "now git a fire under her and pull her out; she's In my way." There I" no Failure. Thomas Speed Mosby, in Success Magsrins. There Is no failure. Life ltself's a song Of victory o'er death, and ages long Have told the story old of triumphs wrought Unending from the things once held for naught. The battle s over; though defeated now, In coming time the waiting world shall bow Before the throne of Truth that's bullded high Above the dust of those whose aahes lis All heedless of the glorious tight they won When earth obscured the light of victory's sun. There is no failure. If w could but see Beyond the battle line; If we could be Where battle-smoke does ne'er becloud the eye. Then we should know that where these prostrate lie Accoutered in tiabillments of death. Sweet Freedom's radiant form has drawn new breath The breath of HXe which they so nobly gavs Shall swell anew above the lowly grave And give new Ufa and hope to hearts that beat Like battle-drums that never sound retreat There is no failure. God's immortal plan Accounts no lews a lesnon learned for man Defeat is oft the discipline we need To save us from the wrong, or teaching heed To errors which would else more dearly cost A lesson learned is ne'er a battle lost. Whene'er the cause Is right, be not afraid; Defeat Is then but victory dolayed And e'en the greatest vict'rles of the world Are often won when battle Hags are furled.
