Morning journal and courier., 1882-06-05
Labor In Berlin.
How Dogs, Boys and Old Women are Made
Useful In the German Capital

How Dogs, Boys and Old wemen Made
Useful In the German Capital.
Berlin Correspondent San Francisco chrouielsLI
Love me; love my dog" Is a motto which
is pretty general here in Germany, especially
In the larger towns and cities, for every Ger
man who can Oxford the luxury has dog or
two And the breeds of dogs are almost az
numerous as the people The apPer classes
affect large bloodhounds, heavy and strong
enough to make short work of a man on oc-
casion; or else they go to the Opposite ex-
treme, and are the happy owners of diminu-
tive lap-dogs, whose sleek sides and ezn-
broidered blankets bear eloquent testimony
to the love. and evan alteration, they ara
held in by their doting female owners. But
these are what might be called the axist0cra-
tic circle of the dog society Below this
exclusive and blue blooded layer comes the
much more Numerous. but more usefui pie
beian dog, whoshas to earn his oSn living and
sid his master in getting his. To an Amsri-
can there Is something very amusing IN this
utilizing of dog power, and one watches the
curious little carts go Gathering over the stone
pavements with mingled feelings of pity for
the dogs and anger toward the masters who
force the poor little brutes TO make horses Of
themselves But everybody in the lower
classes must work. and work hard, to keep
the wolf from the door; and, if the dogs are
unfortunate enough to be born into peasant
family, one should not feel very bad about il.
But the dogs-some of them, at least-seem
to feel pretty happy and contented and go
trotting along in front of their load with their
tails up and wagging, while their masters
busy themselves in pulling back on the wagon
tongue to restrain their eagerness.
VARIETIES OF DOG TEAMS.
One sees various combinations and styles
of dog teams, varying. of course, with tbs
TT Is
ordinary purposes and light work single
dog is sufficient, but when the load to be
drawn is a little heavier, and the owners
purse win not admit of the extra expense of
another dog TO feed, a boy is put on the
other side of the tongue. and dog and boy go
contentedly along together. the dog. of course
doing most of the work, and the boy, as all
boys will, amusing himself by whistling, rae
ing with other teams aud stopping now aud
then to discuss matters with other boys.
When there isn't q boy handy, which il tcl-
erably frequent, an old woman or girl bitches
herself in alongside the dog and tugs along
side stolidly, feeling, no doubt happy and
contented in her possession of one of woTan's
rights Those who are little wealthier or
little more aristocratic employ double team
of dogs, and the creme de la creme, so to
speak, of the peasantry go to the extrava-
gance of hitching in three dogs But this
latter is rather rare, because the old women
are sufficiently numerous to enable one to
avoid such an extravagant outlay. The old
women must be fed and why should they re-
main idle ? Not only are these deg teams
employed by the peasants to draw their loads
of vegetables, milk and the like, but some of
the stores have them attached to delivery
wagons. Perhaps it Is merely a matter of
taste, but it seems to me that purchase OF
dry goods delivered by one of these dog
teams would not seem good as If il we're
delivered by one of the fine turnouts one
sees In San Francisco bearing the pames Of
some of the dry goods firms there. One can
not imagine how much there is in early edu-
cation until he has had an opportunity TO test
it.
LEGAL RESTRAINTS.
Although Berlin is, in many respects,
very paradise for dogs, yet in some others it
is not For every dog. be he plebeian or
sristocrat must wear tag and muzzie, SO
that dog cannot amuse himself by getting
into heated political discussions with other
dogs. nor can he assert his Independence By
demonstrating in tone of biting sarcasm
With one who is unfortunate enough to tread
on his tail. There is no respect for dog per-
sonage in the imposition of the muzzle; bat,
from the fierce, resentful bloodhound down
to the little, fearful, cringing poodle. all must
wear nluzzles whenever they appear in pub
lic During the dog days" every dog must
be led by string when he appears On kES
street. on pain of confscation and destruc-
ton. but when the dreaded days are over and
there is no more danger from rabid CANNES,
there Is sort of dog holiday. On CERTAIN
day all the dogs appear on the streets decked
in ribbons Enthusiastically disposed about neck
body and tail On such day the streets sxe
a moving kaleidoscope of bright colors, ard
the dogs freed from strings and leashss. 60
barking and fri king about the streets In
some cites of Germany the dogs allowed
greater liberties than this, and permitted
to run about this day freed from the res
traint of even a muzZls. One can then amuss
himself to his hearts content in watching tho
antics and gambcls of dogs of all shapes
sizes, eoloTs, degrees of decoration and
stations in life Dog nature, variety and
jealousy appear greatest on such occasion;
for dogs as well as men, know when they are
well dressed are proud of bright colors. and
are as Jealous of their more fortunate fellows
as are their masters. At such times canine
alterations are numerous, aud ribbons and
| decorations suffer. Some dog belonging to
an aristocratic family sill come trotiing down
| the street swelled with pride over his expen-
/ sive trimmings and decorations, and casting
disdainful glance at his less fortunate fellows.
| But he does not go very far before he fans In
| with some democratic dog who does not Be-
lieve in aristocracy, and the result Is that the
aristocrat is tumbied and rolled in the dirt
| and goes off home, bleeding and stripped 81
his ribbons, to carry CONSERVATION into Tia
bosom of some doting mistress, while khs
| democratic dog picks the shreds of cloth oua
of his teeth and looks for another high tunss
! day to take down peg