WITH UNCLE SAM 31 



My orders were to report for duty at Fort 

 Worth to Dr. Wallace (who has since died), 

 there to get my instructions and to he "broken 

 in." After ten days, I was supposed to be "broke 

 in" sufficiently and was sent to Colorado City, 

 Texas, to inspect cattle, out of the modified quar- 

 antine area, for inter-state shipment. My instruc- 

 tions were to report to Dan McCunningham, 

 inspector in charge at Colorado City, and work 

 under his orders; but when I arrived McCun- 

 ningham was away making an inspection. 



Somehow word had reached Colorado City that 

 an assistant inspector would make his appearance 

 on that day and my services were in demand at 

 once. A certain cattle man had fourteen hundred 

 head of steers he wanted to ship. The cattle were 

 gathered, cars ordered and they must be 

 inspected at once. My chief was away, and I, as 

 assistant, must make the inspection which, in that 

 locality, was for Texas fever ticks. 



These "ticks," when full grown, are about the 

 size of a grain of corn and my inspection papers, 

 when signed by me, would certify that every one 

 of those fourteen hundred steers was free from 

 ticks ; if I could have found one tick on one steer, 

 I should have had to refuse to issue them clear- 

 ance papers. 



From this you can imagine that I was not very 

 much at ease on this job. Here I was, new at the 

 work, and new to this life, with fourteen hundred 

 wild Texas steers staring me in the face, demand- 

 ing inspection. But "I slipped one over" on this 



