Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1885-10-08


I was strolling down Montgomery
street one day last week with Jack
Wetherall. when seedy.looking indi-
vidual, leading bull.terrier of the most
pronounced type, approached us and
asked that question which Schuyler has
made so famous: Don't you want to
buy dorg?' As neither of us cared
about Investing in dog-fesh just then,
we moved on to escape the mans i'm
portunities. As we did Jack remarked:
Course those bull-terriers. One of the
accused brutes cost me fortune
''How was that, Jack" / inquired.
the more anXiously because Jack was
known to have experienced some great
disappointment in money matters,
though he was most reticent upon the
subject
"Well, it's pretty longish yarn, but
If l shan't bore you, just let's slip into
C's Darkroom, and I'll unburden my
soul on the subject of rich unc.es and
bull-terriers.
So we Lit our cigars, ordered some
fluid comfort, and Jack Wetherall gave
the following graphic account of his
troubles:
"When ! was at Cambridge, in '6S.
bull-terriers were the fashion among a
certain somewhat fast clique. Not
great, ungaiuly mongrels like that brute
we saw just now, but high-bred, hand
some little fellows, weighing from eight
cen TO twenty pounds. and bred in such
manner as to contain as much force
rs possible in the smallest amount OF
space. Of course | was bound to have
one, and as money in those days was
not much of an object | determined to
get goo! one. 1t was some time be-
tore could find Just the dog | wanted,
but at last l succeeded in buying, for
twenty pounds, the most incarnate lit
tie ficnd in the shape Of dog that man
ever owned. 1t was milk-white, with
handy legs, a round bullet head, tail
fine rs black-and-tan' and ears that
had been most artistically trimmed. 1t
weighed only fourteen pounds and
some odd ounces. When | took it to
the stables, where kept my horse, the
Ostler, upon whose authority | had the
greatest confidence, assured me that it
was 'putfect leetle booty My col
lege chums all went into ecstasies over
Snap (for that was the name of the i'll
omened brute). and felt quite sense of
added grandeur in being the owner of
so fine dog. The man from whom |
had bought Snap had not by any means
exaggerated when he said that there
dog IL face Old Nick He would. He
was immense on rats, but the vast
amount of bull in him made him hang
on too long to his game ever to make a
fast ratter. He was game, however, to
the backbone. I've put him in pit
with twenty-five big old sewer-rats.
and, although all bitten to pieces, he'd
not quit until he had killed every one
Cats he detested. and whenever oppor-
tunity offered took no pains to disguise
his feelings He had. however, one
very bad trait in his character; he was
quarrelsome to degree. The old
lady's fat, wheezy pet-spaniel was his
pet aversion, and many are the awk-
me. One incident shall never forget.
1t was summer vacation, and my people
were stopping in Cumberland Terrace,
Regents Park Of course l had Snap
home with me, for we had be-
come inseparable. Well. opposite
the terrace is a garden public
to the terrace folks), where nurse
maids were wont to air their
babies, and where the old ladies of the
terrace used to exercise their dogs.
One summer morning, just as l was
quietly smoking my matutinal pipe,
with snap beside me on the garden
seat, stout lady passed. followed by
the latest of fat spaniels. In sec
ond, before had time to think or act,
Snap had that wretched, obese brute
by the throat Take it off! Take it
OF! 1t will kill my Fido.' screamed
the stout old lady, rs she belabored
both dogs indiscriminately with her
parasol. Tragic though the affair was,
no doubt, to the old lady, could not
help almost bursting with smothered
laughter. The spaniel must have
weighed quite forty pounds, and there
was little Snap Juggling at it with all
his might, while it s9uealed like a
stuck pig. lost no time, however, in
choking Snap Of, and apologized most
humbly to the irate old lady. She was
like Rachael weeping for her children.
only good deal moro wrathy, and
would not be comforted. She left me
with this parting shot: only coster-
mongers snd rat-catchers should 60
about with such dogs as that At the
Time l felt offended and hurt; now
think she was right But here, Pm
getting away from the chief and most
expensive of Snaps misdeeds:
Il had certain rich uncle, crusty
old bachelor. who lived in Warwick
shire. The same vacation in which the
old lady episode occurred. about which
I've just told you, had an invitation to
spend week with him at his lovely
place near Guys Gulf Knowing that
the old gentleman was fond of animals.
had no hesitation about taking Snap
with me. The old boy met me at the
railroad station with his carriage. As
dumped into the barouche, with Snap
at my heels, the old gentleman shrunE
back and exclaimed: Surely. Jack. tina,
communicating dog can't belong to
you? But Snap had n most winning
way about him, and soon he and my
uncle were on the best of terms. He
looks like a fighting dog, Jack, and i:
hardly the dog for gentleman to own,