The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-10-15 00:00:00

STOMBRIDGE OBSERVER.

STRUGGLE WITH A MAII DOG.

On Saturday morning, in London, Detective
Thompson went into the yard of the King David-lane
Police Station, Shadwell, for the purpose of seeing
what dogs were there preparatory to sending them up
to the Home at Battersea. He found that there were
several animals, among them being a large black re-
triever which had been brought in on the previous
day. The dog had been very quiet since it had been
in the station, but it refused both food and
water. Thompson removed the chain from its
neck, but no sooner had he done so than the dog
turned round, and, with a fearful howl, leaped at
his throat. He stepped back a little, causing the dog
to miss its aim, but as it dropped it seized his right
hand and bit it severely. The animal immediately
returned to the charge, and this time got hold of
Thompson's neckerchief with his teeth, and hung sus-
pended for a second or two. It was knocked off, but
again and again renewed the attack, inflicting severe
bites on the detective's hands and arms. While
the struggle was going on Thompson called for
help, but as the yard is a large one, and he was
at the farthest point from the station, his calls
were not heard. Accidentally, however, one of the
constables inside opened the door. No sooner did
the dog perceive this than he left Thompson for a
moment and rushed open-mouthed at the new comer,
who quickly retreated and shut the door behind him.
With a howl of disappointment the animal returned to
Thompson and tried to drag him down, fortunately
without success. There happened to be a large pair
of steps in the yard, and to these Thompson ran.
The dog followed him, and chased him round the
steps. The alarm had now spread in the station, and
measures were taken for destroying the dog as soon as
opportunity offered; but this was no easy task as the
man and dog were so " mixed " that it was almost
impossible to shoot the latter without injuring the
former. At last one of the policemen opened the
door and went towards the animal with a staff. The
dog immediately sprang at him, and as he did so
Thompson managed to climb up the steps, and got on
to the wall cut of danger, whilst the other constable
effected a retreat into the station and shut the dog
outside. A revolver was then procured, and on the
dog rushing again towards the door a bullet was sent
through his brain, killing it on the spot. A surgeon
was then called, and he at once cauterized Thompson's
wounds.

In noticing the above occurrence, a correspondent
(W.) writes to the Daily Telegraph :

It is assumed that this animal was suffering from rabies.
It may serve to allay the anxiety of Thompson's family if I
am permitted to make known a fact that occurred a
few years since, f when a similar attack by a Russian
retriever on one of my sons caused great alarm to myself
and family. Fortunately, I refused to have the dog
destroyed until I had satisfied myself of its condition,
though that course was strongly urged upon me by those
who witnessed the savage attack. This animal was a
great favourite of my children, and was being led by one
of my sons, when, without cause or warning, it flew at
the boy, biting him severely on both arms and legs; and
in fact worrying him in such a way as showed an amount
of savage determination to kill him that went far to warrant
the belief that it was suffering from rabies. The result proved
that it was not so, for as soon as the animal became cairn I
fed him and gave him water, of which he partook freely, and
my mind was greatly calmed at finding that he ate and
drank with avidity. I then took him to a veterinary sur-
geon's, when he was carefuUy watched for a month and found
to be in a perfectly healthy condition. In the meantine lof
course had the many severe wounds inflicted on the boy care-
fully attended to by an experienced surgeon, who used the
caustic freely, and my son, though bearing many marks
of the attack, never experienced any further inconve-
nience. At the expiration of a month, finding that the
dog was in good health, and considering at any rate it was
a dangerous animal, I requested the veterinary surgeon to
destroy him; but he said it was a pity to kill such a beau-
tiful dog, and asked to be allowed to keep him. To that I
assented, as he knew the condition of the animal. A few.
months after, without warning, this dog, whilst out with his
new master, suddenly attacked him in the same manner as
he did on the occasion I have narrated, and was beaten off
and killed after a savage encounter. I was greatly blamed
at the time by some of my neighbours, but had I at once
destroyed the setter I should have had to endure months ,
of anxiety. As it was, a few days sufficed to reassure I
me. The moral of this tale is to show that on I
this occasion such an attack may have resulted
from other causes than rabies. rrobably this dog was
excited and nervous finding himself in a strange place; pos-
sibly he may have been chased or ill-used and fearful of a.
repetition of such ill-usage, and did through fear what is at-
tributed to rabies. Another consolatory fact is that it does
not follow that a person bitten by a dog in an advanced state
of rabies should trifler anything more than temporary incon-
venience. A person with whom lam acquainted was severely
bitten two years since by a dog suffering from rabies in its
most severe form, without any further consequences. Being
accustomed to animals and being fearless of the result may
have helped him. Many people would have worried them-
selves to death had such an occurrence happened to them.

The Daily Telegraph also has a leader commenting upon
the fearful struggle betwixt Detective Thompson and the
dog; and takes the opportunity of relating the following
melancholy occurrence ;

As an evidence that the bite of other animals is
sometimes as dangerous as that of a dog, we may
adduce the well-known case of the grandfather of the
present Duke of Richmand, who was Governor-
General of Canada in 1818, and died there in the
August of 1819 from the effects of a fox's bite.
The story was elaborately told by the late Lord
William Lennox, in his "Fifty Years of Biographical
Rcminiseenes " and is well calculated to warn
careless readers of a not uninteresting volume
against the danger of putting their hands within
reach of the so-called tame, but really wild and
chained -up fox. We are informed by Lord
William Lennox that his father had determined on a
tour of inspection to the Upper Provinces of Canada,
and, after a farewell banquet to his civil and military
subordinates, the Duke set off in the midsummer of 1819
from Quebec, in a Government steamer, whose head
was pointed up the St. Lawrence river. Lord William
accompanied his father, on whose staff he was serving
as military aide-de-camp, as far as Montreal, whence
the Governor-General made his way to Fort William
Henry, lying on the south bank of the great Canadian
stream. "Here," says Lord William, "occurred
an incident of a most frightful nature, which
totally
i changed the aspect of our hitherto happy resi-
dence n this distant colony." It appears that one of
the English soldiers at Fort William Henry had a
pet fox, and that an officer there, named Captain
l'itsroy, owned a bull terrier, between which and the
fox there had been several eghts. The fox was in a
highly-excited condition on the day when the Duke
happened to take notice of him, and just before
mounting his horse to inspect the garrison he rashly
stooped down to pat the fox on the head. The
animal instantly snapped at the Duke's hand, biting
him slightly, upon which he took hold of the fox's
ear, exclaiming, "You'll bite, will you, you rascal ?"
The brute at once seized him near the lower joint o
the right thumb, making his teeth meet in the flesh.
Little -was thought of the incident, and when the Duke
arrived at Kingston a fortnight later the wound had
completely healed. He proceeded from Kingston to
York—now called Toronto and thence went to
Niagara, and on to Drummond's Island, upon Lake
Huron, then the most distant of our military outposts
in Canada. On his return he stayed some days at
Kingston, and had himself entirely forgotten that he
was ever bitten by the fox. The 70th Regiment
was quartered at Kingstou, and the Duke took part
with the officers in all their amusements, playing
at cricket and rackets, and riding out with them
frequently. It had been arranged that on his way
back to Montreal, a new settlement or township
named Richmondville should be visited, and the land
marked out under the Duke's supervision. For this
purpose, as there was no carriaFe road, and only a
small portion of the distance—thirty miles—could be
accomplished on horseback, it became necessary that
the Viceregal party should proceed on foot. During
the last two and ashalf months the present Governor-
General of Canada, Lord Lorne, has traversed a couple
of thousand miles, travelling westwards, with greater
ease and far less discomfort than his predecessor en-
dured when called upon sixty years ago tn journey
rom Quebep to Lake Huron.
On the occasionsto which we are referring, a large
and merry party set out from Kingston, and among
them none was gayer or seemingly in better health
than the Governor-General himself. He walked
nearly the whole way to Richmondville without
fatigue- but one night, inst ss dinner had ended, he
turned sucraenly to Celonel Cockburn, who was seated
by his side, and remarked, "1 don't know how it is,
but I can't relish anything to-night as usual, and I
feel that if I were a dog I should be shot for a mad
one." The words were little regarded, hilt npan
the following morning the Diske'a symptoms became
aggravated. He could not drink, and shrank from
the sight of water. He was prevailed on to walk to
the river side, in order to get into a canoe, and exclaim-
ing, "Charles Lennox was never afraid of anything,"
he stepped, not without considerable effort, into the
boat. The snund of the plaabing oars and the sight of
the running stream, however soon brought on an
acute fit of pronounced rabies, and seizing one of
the rowers frantically by the throat he demanded to
be put on shore. No sooner had the boat touched the
land than the Duke sprang out and, ran at tba toe
of his speed into the wood. Oolonel Cockburn, who
NVIB on 'horseback, rode after him, and, assisted by one
of the boatmen, managed to carry the sufferer to an.
adjoining farm, where he was laid on a sofa. Here
the ripple of the water was distinctly audible, and he
begged to be moved farther away from the river. He
was taken te a barn a hundred 'yards distant, where
he was placed on a bed of straw. He now grew
more calm, called for writing materials and wrote
a letter to one of his daughters. He seemed perfectly
resigpecl tq the fate he knew was approaching, and reT
cognised the faces of the friends who Blood anxiously by
his couch. Towards the close of the day he was seized
with shivering fits, and his extremities became icy
cold. He remained perfectly conscious, awaiting the
end with tranquility, although suffering unimaginable
tortures, and about eight o'clock in the eyeniin,-;
breathed his last IN than sixty years have
passed since the Duke of Richmond's lamentable death,
and since that time the bite of a rabil animal has lost
none of its terrors for humanity, nor have physicians
and surgeons come as yet to a distinct understanding
awn themselves how a word thus inflipted may best
be treated. - '

ornamental Renaissance fireplace and richly carved
furniture.
Messrs. Jefferies had on their premises an exceed-
ingly valuable stock of books; many of the volumes
were of a very rare character' and some it will be im-
possible to replace. The fire broke out between seven
and eight o'clock on Sunday evening, and in a couple
of hours the whole of the extensive premises were
destroyed. The machinery and plant used in the
lithographic, letterpress printing, card-making, and
fancy stationery departments, together with the ex-
tensive stock in trade, fell a prey to the flames, and
the damage done is estimated at £40,000. The roof of
the ancient hall is partially destroyed, and the
Canynge Parlour is greatly injured.

During the fire there was a panic amongst the con-
gregation of St. Paul's Church, Bedminster, when the
reflection of the flames was perceived on the windows.
Numbers of the worshippers suddenly rose and made
for the doors. Fatal results would have followed the
panic in the gallery had not the vicar stopped his
sermon and begged all to stay and join in the Doxology.
They at once complied, and having thus got his large
congregation in hand, the vicar announced the cause
of the alarm, read them a prayer on the necessity of
calmness under impending danger, and, having
further improved the occasion, dismissed them with a
blessing.

;CETtWAYO IN CAPTIVITY.

Sir 'Wilfrid Lawson, M.P., has received a letter from a
lady—a member of one of the leading Dutch families at the
Cape—in which she describes an interview she had en
August 31 with Cetewayo at Dude Moulen, near Capetown.
She writes :

"I had not seen him since his removal from the
Castle. The great change I at once noticed in his
appearance made me exclaim involuntarily, 'ls he
ill? 'as I stepped across the threshold; to which Mr.
Samuelson, the gentleman wha interprets, replied,
without referring the question to Cetewayo, He is
not very well, but he has never been well since he has
been here.' When I had seen the ex-King before he
always gave me, as he gave others, the idea of what
one might term a jolly English country gentleman,'
yet bearing a very natural and very dignified carriage.
Now I saw him with face drawn and lined with care
and sorrow, and an eye, formerly good-sized and
lively, contracted and dim. After shaking hands I said
to him, Do you like Oude Moulen better than the
Castle?' To which he replied, with a tone .and shrug
of perfect indifference and very sadly,'it is all the same
to me where I am without my freedom.' I tried to
cheer him by delivering a message from a gentleman
acquaintance I had met in the train, but the Ex-
King could not recall him to recollection. The
gentleman I refer to mentioned to me that upon the
occasion of his visit to Cetewayo, lie had, when leav-
ing, taken off his hat as he passed a picture of the
Queen pinned on the wall, upon seeing which the
ex-King got up, and advancing before it, doffed
the smoking-cap he wore with deference to her
Majesty's portrait. In saying good-bye, I said that
I hoped he would try and cheer up and not
fret, as he would make himself ill, and that
fretting could do no good. But he shook his head,
and exclaimed, I cannot help it,' adding, as he shook
hands with me, that he hoped God would bless me
for my kindness.' He is deeply to be pitied—a man
without resources, in a foreign land, where customs,
manners, language, and food are all strange to him,
and confined in a very limited space for ordinary exer-
cise. I firmly believe, nor am lat all singular in my
opinion, that were he to return to Zululand he would
use all his influence for the peaceful and better govern-
ment of his country."