Omaha daily bee., 1883-09-27
A D0G-EATlNG MAN.
The Strange FaStG Of Fritz MGrklG
For Canine Meat,
a Farmer Living Near Mayuuk Who
Cooks Oats and Dogs For Food,
and Extracts TIL cir OIL
rs n Kennedy For
Consumption.

ihhhucinnih tIssss
Beneath the matched roof Of a vine.
powered cottage, nestled lovingly at the
foot of a sloping hillside in Lever Merton
township, a few miles from Manayunk,
lives Fritz Merkle and his wife. The
farmers in the neighborhood call him
"dog-oating Merkle." He eats not only
dogs, but cats. This taste ho acquired
from his mother in-law, who lives in Ger.
many, where Fritz himself was born a
good many years ago. He formerly kept
u tavern and eating house in Manayunk,
near tho Reading Railroad depot.
Through close economy and fortunate
spoculations i'll II small way, he saved up
enough money to purchase the
farm upon which he now lives.
He is a slender built man, with
keen brown eyes, moustache modelled af.
ter that of Bismarck, and u curly head of
hair. In his dress he affects the manners
and customs of the city folks. He is
well known in Nanayunk and through
the surrounding country as q dog. cate,
and it is not stretching the line Of truth
IN inch out of the perpendicular to say
that at least q dozen of the choicest,
sleekest, latest CANNES in the before
mentioned suburb have inhabited, upon
various occasions, in cold, carved sections,
his domestic clap-b0ard. Fritz kills tho
dogs with his trusty gun, skins them after
the orthodox method which prevails in
slaughtering beef, and then quarters
them. Ho especially prizes the hams, or
hind quarters, which he salts, cures, and
eats with as much gusto as though the
meat in question were veal,
HOW HB 10 THEM.
When he gets a fat pup-a Newfound,
land or plump mastitf or setter-he boils
that portion of the anatomy contiguous
to the backbone, reaching from the ears
to the tail, and extracts therefrom q pale
amber colored oil, which he %pronounces
a certain and speedy cure for consump-
ton, sore throat and kindred bronchial
complaints. He sells large quantities of
this oil to quacks and rural druggists,
who disposes of it as opportunity offers,
at seventy-ive cents per half pint. From
n canine of average size, he obtains a
gallon of oil. Mrs. Herkle, a thrifty,
bu1om matron, who looks Teutonic every
inch of her, even with her mouth shut,
cooks the cat and dogs and superin-
tends the making of the oil. A
reporter of The Press spent a
portion of yesterday afternoon with
this queer family, whose home life, when
differ from that of ordinary mortals.
When the visitor reached the place Fritz
was leaning on the front gate, mechanical
ly whiting a slip of willow wood. Mrs.
Nerkle was vibrating between the "shed-
kitchen" and the cellar, busily bottling
the dogs oil. A fat Towser lazily slept
lear the pump, the picture of innocent
contentment, utterly unconscious of the
awful fate in store for him. An a~ttenuated
roam mare had her gaunt head poked
wistfully out of a hole in the barn
door. A faded sunfiower rested against
the weather boarding of the kitchen,
apparently tired of life. Near the
barn was what proved, upon subsequent
inspection, to be a bleached heap of
dogs and cats bones. The reporter dis
mounted from his stylish equipage, and
giving the cultivated Jehu on the box a
cigar with which to while away the tedi
ous moments, opened the gate, saluted
Fritz and walked into the dining room.
Fritz followed with wondering eyes.
The reporter laid q silver half dollar
upon the table and asked for q bottle Of
dogs oil, as a medium of opening the
conversation without exciting suspicion
as to his identity. What is this oil good
FORT" he asked.
"Say, Annie, for vat goet ish dis oil2"
inquired Fritz of his spouse, who was
just descending into the cellar.
"For kunshumpshun," she replied.
"How do you kill your dogs2" pursued
the reporter.
"Say Annie, how hat W kill emf"
again asked Fritz of his spouse.
"Shoot him." was the impatient re-
Spouse, from the innsrmost depths of the
cellar.
"They say that you eat dogs" said
the visitor, prepared to climb up the
chimney.
"Say, Annie, do ve ate dog2" called
out Fritz to Mrs. Merkle.
"Dot ish goot," she remarked, her
wrath evidently rising as she began to as
cend the cellar stairs.
Mrs. Merkle vouehsafed the informa-
ton that the hams were boiled or fried,
and eaten with an abundance OF salt and
pepper. She said dog meat was tolerably
tender, with a flavor like veal, yet pecu-
liar withal, and ought to te eaten by cut
ting it fine, like a lobster for salad. The
reporter asked Fritz if he ever ate cats.
He turned to his wife and asked, "Say,
Annie, We hat ate cat2"
Gum, sometime, yah. Cat ish goot,
toe, replied Mrs. Merkle, as she pre-
pared to again descend into the cellar.
r@ss SERVING A % TO BoARDERs No.
Mr.. Merkle related how, when he kept
"A tavern, he had boiled a Zine, fat"
Newfoundland dog and served him to his
boarders as veal, and how, when he told
them afterward about the deception, two
of them were taken deathly sick. Mrs.
Merkle says she likes cat meat, although
it is not $50 goot ash dog" having a flavor
more akin to rabbit. The meat of both
dog and cat is dark, that of the former
being tenderer. The meat of the hind
quarters of the cat is especially firm, and
they esteem it the tid-bit of the feline
anatomy. Not long ago a mar living in
Manayunk named Metzler gave Fritz an
old pet dog called ''Spot." Some days
afterwards Fritz called and told him that
Spot had made splendid eating" Mer-
kle owns, besides his farm, property in
the city, and it is not poverty, but an
eccentriciuy of taste which has led him to
prefer the meat of cats and dogs TO that
of sheep or beef.
IOWA ITEMS.
There are 71,G57 more boys than girls