Show adventurers CLUB nearly the last roundup round up by FLOYD GIBBONS famous headline hunter VAST there mates I 1 mean hold em cowboy A AVAST gosh I 1 dont know what kind of lingo a sea cowboy uses but I 1 know the kind I 1 would have used if id been aboard the cattle boata 1 S S Wine fredian in mid atlantic that wild march night with peter mullan arid and head of plunging terrified cattle pete came so close to going on the last roundup round up or to davy jones locker that it funny incidentally the S S Wine fredian has since slipped quietly down the stays to davy jones locker so mabe she was just playing a r re 1 hearsay for pete Cattle boats pete says are not exactly floating palaces in fact generally made over tubs the Wine fredian was no exception to the rule her under decks were just a mass of cattle stalls with a narrow passage just wide enough to allow a man to pass running the tha length of the ship pete two other greenhorn cattlemen and an under foreman were viere nursemaids nurse maids to the steers on the ship and this such a bad way to earn a trip to europe europa unless you hit a bad storm and then its awful old ship groans under waves the storm hit t the he cattle boat when she was out in the middle of the atlantic ocean and the old ship groaned plunged and rolled on her beam ends at an alarming angle the crowded cattle seasick and mad with terror shrieked and kicked at every pitch of the ship and pete says it was plain bedlam between decks but storm or no storm the helpless beasts had to be taken care of 0 and pete and its his shipmates were right down among them doing the best they could monster waves plunged in through the open upper deck hatch and the men and cattle swished lied around knee deep in sea water i now if youve never been on a cattle boat you are probably wonder ing why they close the hatch and keep the water out but the trouble with that Is that it also keeps the air out and if youve ever been on one of those loaded beef ferries you know what that means the stench and heat beat from the tightly packed steers would kill a man with I 1 a gas mask on oil I 1 giant wave threatens death to all so the hatch was left open and the water poured in and the good ship wallowed in the high seas like a hamstrung ham liam strung calf at a n rodeo it was four in the morning pete says when ihen the crisis came the tha men were nere ladling out fresh water to the frantic cattle when a monster wave slapped the weary side of the ship and pete thought it was all over pete was standing in the narrow passageway passage way with his mates when that wave struck the ship keeled over to a 45 degree angle and flung the cattle in heaps to the port side of their stalls slie she paused there as though trying to decide whether or not to turn bottom side up and then righted lighted herself and dipped almost as far on the starboard stai board side I 1 wham those tons of living steaks shot the shoots across their stalls and hit bit the detain detaining illIg bars with a deafening crash some of the stalls held but some of them and when pete got to his feet and looked around him he forgot all about the storm for coming right at him along the narrow passageway passage way WAS CERTAIN DEATH now a stampede on dry land Is 13 about as dangerous a thing as you can fand ae 0 iv 4 J A stampede at sea Is really something and I 1 for one dont want any part of it but a stampede at sea in a storm Is really something to write home about pete says it was a sight he will never forget the maddened steers insane with terror came splashing along the passageway passage way at amazing speed tongues hanging banging out of their open mouths months and in eyes starting out of their heads men and cattle caught in deathtrap death trap one of the leaders fell but the rest never paused as they trampled him to death in the foam beneath their pounding hoofs pete let out a yell and tried to get out of the way but the foreman was in front of him and the foreman was a fat man and his slow amov ing bulk completely filled the passageway passage way pete says lie felt like a rat 1 in a trap those few seconds that he stood there unable to move one way or the other the foreman was an old timer and when he hurdled over a barrier into tit a stall lie he saved not only his own life but petes because as he be jumped he felt the tha hot breath of the leading steer ou on his check well sir jumping into one of those narrow stalls with a frantic steer for a cabin mate was like jumping from the frying pan into the fire j every time the boat rocked the steer would go careening danger bously around smashing against one side and then the other with pete doing his best to keep his feet one false step on that slippery floor and this story would never have been told luckily for pete and his shipmates not as many of the cattle had escaped as it seemed sea was singing last roundup round up the bellowing procession down the passageway passage way was only about ten strong stron and when it passed the men all jumped back out of the stalls and waded after their charges that chase rambled all over the ship and if you want some excitement pete says try rounding founding up cattle on a ship at sea every time the cowboys would corner one of the critters why that i floating pasture would turn on end and men and cattle battla would slide elide kick 3 ing into the scuppers those big waves pete says sure seemed to be singing the last roundup round up for him i but the storm finally eased up and the cattle were rounded up ap and led back to their repaired stalls with no serious casualties to the men there were a lot of broken legs however among the steers I 1 the animals were destroyed to end their suffering and as the good ship steadied on her path they were burled at sea and so boys and girls ends the saga Q service |