South-eastern Independent. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1871-1871, 1871-09-29
DEALINGS WITH MAD DOGS.

the awful nature of the disease, and I
capricious and uncertain manner in viii
it asssils its victims, it is invested wi
horror and mystery beyond any and eve
other III which man can suffer. l do u
Ito touch upon the medical and scie
tlhc theories or treatment of canine ma
ness. Such themes are above me. N
would the reader, probably, be greatly e
lightened were to do so, seeing that UNI
very recently large section of the scie
tl1c world entirely disputed the existen,
Of hydrophobia at all, or, at any nate. Il
possibility of its being communicated
human beings. Nor shall l dwell upc
symptoms which declare the dog to be a
tected, or attempt-unless l mention the
accidentally-in any way to describe then
All propose to do is to tell two or thrt
anecdotes of men who have been calle
TO confront mad animals of the dog kinC
First let me tell the reader that the mo:
minutely detailed and interesting narratiy
of the whole kind is the death of the Duk
OF Richmond, IN Canada, from the bite {
rabid fox. He may read the story i
most anecdote- books, and shocking enoug
he will find it; but, terrible as it may bt
it IS also noble record of heroic enduI
ance of dreadful calamity.
A great deal of good was done, despit
the uRpopularity of the measures, By tn
dog tax of few years back, and by tn,
late Sir Richard Mayne's order to tn,
police to seize all stray dogs whatever. II
the summer when that order was giveI
nearly fifteen thousand dogs were SC
seized, and London escaped, for the first
time in my memory, without single death
from hydrophobia. A plain man like nv.
self looks at results, which are generally
more convincing than theories.
1t is very difficult in the earlier stages to
know whether a dog be mad or not; but
in all cases of doubt Kill the poor thing at
once; it may save him much suffering, and
you from the narrowing reflection that
some human being has betn bitten through
your neglect. Madness is not always
traceable to dog having been bitten; it
sometimes comes on spontaneously. A
friend of mine once owned q favorite
terries which had recently Uttered
five puppies and, as she was kept
constantly in his garden, she could
not possibly have been bitten for some
considerable time. But she suddenly dis
played unmistakable symptoms of mad
ness, and ran up and down the garden
with saliva flying from her jaws, and her
head twitchiDg from side to side, as the
heads of all mad dogs do. This arises from
the convulsive action of the muscles of
the throat and neck, which invariably
characterizes hydrophobIa-in human be-
lngs, unhappily, as well as in Quadrupeds
and the imitation of which makes poi
sonlng by strychnine so painful to endure. |
and so horritic to see. Luckily my friend |
himself was the first to notice her, and his |
first care was to close the doors and order
40 one to go into the garden. He had no |
ire-arms, and was afraid to leave the house
% procure poison while she was at large,
est she should scramble over the low wall
'r some one should inadvertently enter the
nclosure. At last he thought of a plan 7
which is worthy of being known, in the
vent Of any of my readers being uufor-
unate enough to need such an expedient.
lie procured an old box without a Ida
ca. chest would do, or any such thing
nd, holding this before him, went straight
ntO the garden. The poor brute ran di-
ectly toward him, and had she come quite
lose he would have turned the box over
er, and SO covered her with it; this he
ould have done easily enough, for mad
ogs never dodge or twist about. But even
4 her frenzy her maternal instinct was
DO strong, and she ran back to her kennel
nd began sucking her puppies. As the
nd OF the chEin-which was still round
er neck-hung out of the kennel, her
laster seized it and fastened it to its sta
le, then sent for some poison, and so
llled her; Tor she would try to eat, al !
lough she could not drink. But here is
he strangest part of the story, and to me !
seems very pathetic. All her little pup !
les were raving mad, too, and the foam I
ung in fakes about their mouths, and q
leir poor little heads twitched just as the |
Others had done. They had sucked in I
adness with their milk, for she had not !
tten any of them. This was, in my ex- I
,rlence, at least, new feature In the his 1
~ of hydrofhobia.
The most dangerous characteristic of d
Is disease is the capricious manner in .
hlch 1t makes its appearance. Some
mes the dog will show for several DAYS 4
at there is something wrong with him,
Oping and stunning those Of whom he
IS hitherto been fondest, while at other 1
mes, as in the case just given, it comes on
th frightful suddenness. The eminent y
Sir T. F. Buxton, who was n
great and good man in private as well as 0
public, hsd truly terrible adventure D
~ a ~ caA AANO1lOC OOBs WAS |
ling on horseback to London one morn q
g, from the vicinity of Hampstead,
hen he heard great hubbub as he came "
rough the village, and, to his horror, a
Ind that his own dog, which he had left .
hind him, had broken out and, raying D.
I'd, was biting at every thing near. MI. d
ixton saw him bite at least a dozen dogs ST
d several human beings. In vain did o.
!. Gfar -rda offar hin, nj IL | az
: to coax him; the brute no longer s.
eyed the familiar voice As they an 81
)ached London the idea of the mischief ca
would do in the crowded streets became
overpoweriDg that his master decided ie
II 1t was his duty to run every risk, and ~ ~
capture him at any hazard; and the dog d
tunately turning up drive which led tn
some lodge-gate, Mr.. Buxton sprang OF
m his horse and clasped the raving mad
dog round the neckl After u
desperate struggle he dragged the animal CT
se enough to enable him to ring the al
], and the gardener opened the lodge PS
e, Mr.. Buxton, with his permission. ID
ced the dog into the garden, and chain ID
wing been procured il was fastened to al
!, dogs collar and to tree. This part is ID
t told IN Dir. Buxton's own words: sc
l made the gardener, who was in ter 10
le fright, secure the collar round his g
*, and fix the other end of the chain to 10
rec, and then, walking to its furthest w
lge, with all my force, which was nearly Di
lausted By his frantic struggles, flung u
q away from me and sprsng back. He pi
de desperate bound after me; but IN IN
ling himself foiled, he uttered the most d
rful yell ever heard All that day he SIT
nothing but rush to and fro, champing
foam which gushed from his Jaws. he
} threw him meat, and he snatched at it M
h fury, but instantly dropped it again. sa
The next day, when went to see him, SO
fought the chain seemed worn, so l Is
ned him to the ground between the m m
ngs Of pitchfork, and then fixed a ID ID
Oh larger chain around his neck. When 10
ullsd away the fork, he sprang up and ssp
de dash at me, which snapped the old la la
in in two. He died in forty eight hours sn
N the time he went mad"
'ome might call this heroism; but if pu
OF my readers should be placed in a =" :"
lilar strait, the more desirable plan 70
Illd be to have the poor brute de- on
Dyed. WI
dy next illustration is not generally G ~
own (Sir I. T. Buxton's probably is. M sil
ich has prevented me from dwelling so pa
ch on the details as his bravery de-
rr.,N 1,--N II