Show THE FENCE QUESTION reasons why barbed wire alone should not mot be used for or a fence an important subject for legislators to consider LAKETOWN rich county utah february ath 1886 editor deseret news 0 in your semiweekly semi weekly issue of the alt I 1 find a paragraph headed wire fences your correspondent ully fully coincides with the views expressed ceased in ia said paragraph unless the terra term that fearful curse to cattle known as the barbed wire fence is intended to condemn said wire as fencing material under all circumstances FEARFUL CURSE as it is when used alone it nevertheless is roost most excellent when used in connection with poles or lumber preventing the big steers from crowding boohar too bard id against the terice tence and experienced brood mares from taking a back action purchase and pushing it over by scanning the proceedings of our legislature I 1 see that on the 21 th ultimo the bill for the protection of animals from injury by barbed wire fences was killed in the house which is grely greatly to be regretted it is really bar surprising p r i in that so much intelligence sho should n ld be pitted against such a bill but close scrutiny would perhaps disclose that the gentlemen who fought it hardest have had very little if any experience peri ence with barbed wire fences in no other way can your correspondent account for the arguments they advanced during the discussion of said bl bill alas as reported in your columns the idea id e that aba t placing poles or boards on top of wire fences was IL a useless expense to fence makers a hardship to farmers and a requirement in th the interest of stockmen stoc kmen seems to be most especially when it is remembered that stock men generally have their stock as far away from settlements as possible while afier the spring n 9 grass to is gone or dried up the t two wa 0 or r a dozen or mo more re cows of the farmer a are re sk skirmishing ir around grain field and gardens trying to find places to break in resulting in fearful injuries to many of them when barbed wire atone alone is used A stockman sometimes owns meadow land near enough to a settlement for the cow of the ifie latter to range to it by enclosing such land with barked stockmen stoc kmen would expose his neighbors cows etc to great danger jan while his bis own animals are on better pastures out of such harms way y instead of being a useless expense to fence makers poles or boards used in connection with wire are MORE MOKE economical because when wire is 19 used alone not seeing it jam against and break it very much necesse abing aniag afing frequent repairs tjien there is thang t to indicate at a few rods dis atthe hl presence vf tf such a fence gap capering bands of horses coming off the hills in quest of water etc run un aga against lu t it with dreadful dread lul results le to both bota tt them w bulves and fence and instead of belonging to lo stockmen stoc kmen proper said horses boises in this region at least are more likely than otherwise to be the brood mares colts etc of farmers aud and when a filly is almost disembowel edthe distress caused the family famila circle owning the dear unfortunate is more pleasant to describe than to situe witness s the practical granger though anxious yet vet with suppressed emotion daubma on n the wagon grease and wife and daughters w weeping aside from considerations of acono mait may be questioned whether WHERE IT CAN BE consistently AVOIDED man has ithe moral right to prepare such dangerous snares for innocent domestic animals creatures intended tor for his benefit but which he has no right to abuse or expose exposito to unnecessary torture wire alone in much too dangerous to the traveling public to be tolerated where it can reasonably leason ably be avoided belated parties well acquainted w th a locality it may be their own neighborhood even are sometimes liable to become bt conceso so bewildered on dark or foggy nights as not to know where a felce fei ce is till ru against it and if ut ot wire alone the consequences to a single individual may be of such a fearful character as to greatly outweigh any saving that may have been effected in a whole country even by not using poles or ingber that being the case with residents or acquaintances what can be said of strangers passing through the country fur for the first time bewildered parties either on account ot being belated ull unacquainted with the locality benumbed dy by blizzards or in co sequence consequence a of blinding snow storms are often dependent upon fences to guide them out of danger but if the fence is of barbed wire alone alas what then if the unfortunate finds it ig prods and scratches indicate the fact and if he tries to follow it he does so at his peril it seeming deemin to reach out andnis and nip him every fe few w steps A GOOD PENCE FENCE A fence that has given great satisfaction here is made as follows to wit first wire 78 inches from the ground next wire 11 inches higher first pole six inches higher and top pole 14 inches higher total 49 inches from the ground which by putting the tops of the poles on the butts makes a tence fence four feet six inches high the present requirements of a lawful fence where poles or lumber cannot be had blocked wire for the top and shallow ditch for the bottom will make things much safer after setting the posts but before stretching the wire plowing one or two furrows with a tolerably large sized plow on each side of the row of posts and throwing the dirt against them is quite an imar improvement where only one pole is put on top of a barbed barbea wire fence such plowed furrows or a shallow ditch are almost indispensable the sight of the furrows or aitch arresting the attention of animals and preventing their trying to run under said bald pole very respectfully W P |