Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1886-07-29
My WIFE's PET.
BY NELSON HFRsH.

He was not her dog
But she thought he was, which amounted
to the same thing.
She fondled him as affectionately as
though she had owned the sole proprietary
right and title in him. She looked upon
him with undisguised pride. She put him
through all his little tricks with an en-
thusiasm that time could not abate nor
repetition tire.
The truth is, my wife was fond of dogs.
She liked animals in general and dogs in
particular. And the dogs liked her. The
tacit but mutually complete understanding
between her and them was something abso-
lutely wonderful. In the nine years Of our
married life l had never seen dog that
would not make friends with nv wife on
first sight, without waiting for formal in
PRODUCTION.
Hopkins, our neighbor across the street,
once bought German mastiff for watch
dog. The German mastiff is by nature the
most feroclous ana DlUVu-Gi.isetJ Of si0so.
Hopkins was uncommonly savage. The
brute had mouth like a coal scuttle, and
his voice kept tramps at distance of many
blocks from the house, summer and winter.
He was valuable dog in this respect
The Hopkinses called him "Cyclone, be-
cause desolation marked his path. He
would eat nothing but chunks of raw meat,
and it was 80 dangerous to get within range
of his ravenous NAV that they had to stand
off and feed him with a pitchfork. OF
course they kept him chained all day, and
when he was loosed at night no one ever
ventured out of the house.
Well, one day my wife went over to the
Hopkinses', and "Cyclone" saw her. He
was fastened with giant size log chain,
but he broke away and rushed toward my
xuif 70 10
second story of the house and screamed
They expected to have a balcony view of n
human sacrifice right there. But the bar
barrie spectacle did not come of as adver-
tised. When Cyclone" had given prac-
tieal illgsraton Of the seeond aSiom Isgnue ie
distance between his kennel and the spot
YhSs66ff N pTE wife Uata4a ha st0ngedt Tie Leaked
changed dog. He rubbed up against my
wife, fawned at her feet, and (so she SOL
emnly AYERS to this day. actually purred
like q kitten. That settled it. She and
"Cyclone" became firm friends, but the big
German mastiff was never worth his keep
ms a watch-dog afterward. His ferocity of
disposition entirely disappeared, and old
man Hopkins gave him to a butcher in Mil
waukee.
Since the Milwaukee butcher took him
~
mention this merely as an instance. 1t
is only one of many. The history of our
family is full of just such cases. Time and
again have / seen my wife followed in the
street by procession of dogs that would
have reached more than block, single file:
orphaned dogs, vagrant dogs, dogs OF high
and low degree, from the once-pampered
greyhound thrown by some sad and sudden
reverse in fortune from home of luxury
out into cold and boneless world, to the
ginger -colored mongrel that never had q
home.
But digress.
Notwithstanding my wife's remarkable
fondness for dogs, she never had dog
which she could call her own until she got
the one 1 started to speak of. As / said
before, the dog in question was really not
her dog, but she thought he was, and when
my wife makes up her mind on point of
that kind the matter is settled TO all prac-
tical intents and purposes. Just here, it
may be proper for me to explain how my
wife came by the dog. II happened like
this:
My wife has for many years been lead
ing member of well-known humane
society. She has also been President of an
association for the prevention of cruelty to
angle-worms. This association has ac-
complished great work, not only in pro-
tecting the worms but in restricting the
ruthless slaughter OF fish owing to scarcity
of bait. In view of its successful work in
this direction, the association recently
passed a set of resolutions declaring the
belief of its members that the gratifying
decrease noted in fshermen's lies this
season is duo principally, in an indirect
way, to the associations far-reaching
efforts.
She has also taken an active part in the
work Of an organization devoted exclusively
to the ameloration of the condition Of the
canine race. 1t has made phenomenal
strides the last two seasons. Year before
last it devised scheme, now in successful
operation, for washing white poodles with
out getting soap in their eyes; and last year
il devoted the greater part of IFS time to the
consideration of q painless process of re-
moving heas from dogs without killing the
heas. The organization is still busy with
this work.
From her connection with these societies
my wife's fondness for the brute creation in
general and dogs in particular became
known to all our friends. Among others
we're the boys in the office. They at onco
began TO manifest great interest in animal
| life. They attended several meetings, at
after she had been down to the Office and
talked to them two or three times they
| Joined the Association for the Prevention
of Cruelty to Angle-worms and the Society
for the Amelioration of the Condition of
the Canine Race, i'm n body.
After this thing had been going on some
time the head clerk in the Office came in
one evening, with smile on his face and a
dog at his heels. He said the dog was for
my wife. He thought she would like it,
and he wanted me TO take the dog home. i
objected nj first, but the clerk insisted.
am the senior partner in the firm, but when
the head clerk insists he generally carries
his point. would repel with scorn and in
dignation an insinuation that am afraid of
that man, yet he rarely requests anything
that is not granted. He is valuable man
around the office, and il is his way.
SO took the dog home.
He was good looking dog of the cocker
spaniel variety. He had unusually long