' the day’s weather.

TV cowboys are phony (Concluded from page ,,,,T,,_,,,,,,

Some westerners say they can tell a cowboy anywhere by his iaunty air, bow-legs

years, and it is said to be a rarity to find a man who has been with one outfit for 10 years. The lads who take a whirl at the cowboy life come from the British Isles, even from New Zealand; from eastern Canada and a still greater number from northern farms of the four western provinces.

At least one old Alberta rancher I know views the chronic shortage of good help with resignation, as part of the modern picture. “There's a spirit of restlessness today which has put the bite on almost everyone at every level, always on the lookout for better pay and an easier life. Yet once in a while we get a youngster who has all the markings of a good cattleman. I hate to see these rare fellows drift off to a life for which they aren't suited, but the voice of money seems to drown out all other cravings these days.”

Ranch wages don't sound impressive in comparison with a good many other occupa- tional lines. For an average hand, the pay is about $150 a month plus room and board. Top hands run up to $200 a month “and found," while above that they move into the managerial class with considerably more responsibility. Still, almost any cowboy who has left ranch life for a higher-paying job will agree that he saved more money on modest ranch wages than he is able to do in any city joh. After a day’s work out in the open a person is not much inclined to go searching for entertainment.

Incidentally, any mother who fears that her boy may be underfed on a ranch can take heart. A couple of years ago the official statement was that per capita consumption of meat in Canada was 160 pounds per year. So a ranch bookkeeper kept track of the meat consumed on his ranch in 1958, and found it was a little over 500 pounds per capita, with two of the “capitas” under 12 years of age. This was an average ranch, no more lavish than its neighbors, but good food for lusty outdoor appetites is the rule.

Of course, movement is not entirely from the ranch to other jobs. It is not unusual for good men to return after unsuccessfully trying to adjust to‘ city life. One young married man I know explained: “When I was offered a job in Calgary at $500 a month, it looked too good to pass up, but that $500 just melted away and we couldn't seem to save a dollar. Worst of all, my wife and I felt smothered with people and regulations all the time, and we weren’t happy. So when my old boss from the ranch asked if I'd like to go back, we grabbed the chance. Now we have a comfortable ranch-owned house, rent-free and heated. We get for free all the milk and meat we can use, and nice garden space for vegetables. My monthly cheque is $200, and we can put quite a bit of that away so our bank account is growing faster than you’d

believe. There is van service to a centralized -

school for the children. It is just the life we’re fitted for.”

A Canadian army officer told me that during the last war he could spot the boys from southern Alberta because their first move in stepping out of doors in the morning was to look to the west. It was instinctive. Though thousands of miles from their native soil, they were looking to see the cloud formations over the Rockies as a forecast of The officer said he was seldom wrong. Going along with this idea, many western people believe that they can‘

' recognize a cowboy as such even when they

see him in Toronto, in New York ‘or London.

The Star Weekly MAGAZINE, April 23, 1960

They say that as a - n and lean, though not as bow-lgggeldealss lllegold breed. H15 .J3l1_Dl1Y, easy swing of the shoulders carries its own air of spirit, He’s his own man. Most distinctive perhaps. are his 5”‘ reaching eyes, trainedyto vast distances. In the old days when the ranch boss was choosing men for a job requiring daring and initiative, a high stamp of approval was the laconic expression, “He'11 do to take along."

Have you ever wondered why cowboy songs are traditionally gloomy. The explana- lion, given in all seriousness by th059 Wh° should know, is that oldtime cowboys who Composed 91056 sad refrains Probably suffered from indigestion. ‘ Oldtimers insist

‘malt 31°55 99 the first riders of the range

cracked up with all manner of digestive ailments. Their irregular hours and habits of eating;_ their heavy means followed by long, hard riding took a toll. They could disguise their gnawing misery in the spoken word, but when they broke into song it was a plaintive wail. And so they dwelt with moumful insistence on lonely graves, howling coyotes, faithless maidens and past Sins- I-3t91' 50118 Writers in eastern cities, catching the spirit of these sad refrains, have kept it up with similar themes of long jail terms, weeping mothers and last roundups. All because of indigestion, and‘ that’s the truth.

Calgary is regarded as the hometown at

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the western Canadian cowboy and anyone attending the annual Calgary Stampede would find it hard to believe that the cowboy is on the wane. As the reality of the old life on the range recedes into the past, the greater the enthusiasm for reviving its most colorful summer when the Calgary Stampede is on, one sees the roundup of the cowboy in all his ancient glory and his modern gift of showmanship. It is a riotous blend of old and new, encompassing the history and personalities of the past three- quarterg of a century. It is holiday time on the ranches before the serious business of haying takes over.

Oldtimers turn up in force, jealously invoking the memories of unrideable horses and of ‘stampede heroes of bygone days who really could rope and ride. They protest the wild stunts which crowds cheer but which never were a part of ranch life. But even as they mutter and decry they are pushing their way to the blood-stirring arena of action, to those contests of daring, endurance and skill which were at one time both the work and recreation of all who lived in the saddle. They thrill to the bronc riding, ‘the bull- dogging, the calf-roping and the chuck-wagon racing. And as old-time records are broken and new world records chalked up, even the most grudging is obliged to admit that there are giants, too, in these days. Q

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