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Show AMERICAN CAMELS. Increasing Dfspite the Fact That They Ar Butchered and Sold as Beef. M. F. Campbell, who has been for some time at the famous Gunsight mine, near the line of southern Arizona, sayai tho camels of tho desert are increasing very rapidly, and that there are now between be-tween 300 and 400 of them. This is surprising, sur-prising, ho says, considering the large number that have been killed and palmed palm-ed off for beef in the past few years and the inroads made upon the hands by passing showmen. Mr. Campbell gave some interesting details of these tawny1 denizens of the waste places, introduced bo many years ago by Ben Butterworth, and now grown wild. "These hulking animals," he said, "roam mainly between the Gila and Colorado rivers, in a stretch of the low Eagle Tail mountains and the desert adjoining. ad-joining. There is very fine bunch grass in that region, and the camels keep in good condition. I have several times seen as many as eight or ten in a band, and most of thorn are very largo. "Different persons have been there from timo to time catching them for the circuses. That is the source of supply now for all the shows. The hunters go out in bands of half a dozon on mules, as horses would be of no account. Tho camels, cumbersome as they look, run very fast, and only mules are enduring enough in that tough country to wear them out. The hunters stretch out, surround sur-round a band, and out of ten or a dozen manage to cut out and stay by a couple, wearing them out and catohing them finally with lassos. The camels are very wild at first, but speedily tame down, and tho showmou can do anything they please with them. "I was for nearly two years there mining, and myself and men were furnished fur-nished with camel meat right along and thought it very good. We paid 25 cents a pound for a good deal of it, and wo thought it as good beef as we had usually eaten. The old prospeotors, who had turned to peddling meat, novor said a word to us, but took their pay regularly regu-larly to go away and come back again. At tho last we found out it was nothing but the camel's meat which they were furnishing us. Then we began to draw the line. "If the meat sellers and circus people wonld let the camels alone for awhile, they would increase much faster. The animals are interesting to see on the desert and do no harm. " San Francisco Francis-co Examiner. |