Omaha daily bee., 1888-03-05
A DOG ON THE WITNESS STAND
He Testifies In q Minneapolis Court In
q Conclusive Manner.


He Tcstif,es in Minneapolis Court In
. Conclusive Manner.
Pioneer Press: The Intelligence OF
animals and more particularly man q
best friend, the dog, has been the sub.
ject OF almost numberless stories and
legends, both ancient and modern, but
IL is an occurrence rs rare as IL is won
derful that n dog has been brought into
court before, Judge and jury TO give evil
dence and plead in his own cause. The
records of the district court OF Hennepin
county show one of these unparalleled
cases. and its details furnish material
for q very interesting little narrative.
The case Of Burton VS. Goebringer was
on the calendar recently, and the bare
facts only found their way into the
court reports in the papers. But there
is an exceedingly interesting story one
worthy of the pen OF a Dickens.
Some two years ago H. j. Burton, Of
the Plymouth clothing house, Minne-
apolis, lost valuable Gordon setter
dog. 1t was splendid animal--a clean
limbed, finely proportioned thorough
bred, that had been the pet and pride
of the family since its birth. Mrs. Bur-
ton, in particular, lavished great affec-
tiOn on the dog, regarding him almost
in the light of one of the family, and
she grieved sorely at his loss. He was,
moreover, us intelligent as he was hand
some, and Mrs. Burton has taught him
many entertaining little tricks.
Sport, rs he was called, was on many
occasions called upon to exhibit his ac-
complishments to oadmiring visitors. The
whole family mourned long for their
lost pet and took every means in their
power to find him. but in vain They
had long since lost all hope Of ever see-
ing him again, when couple Of months
ago Mr.. Burton ran across Sport on the
street and took him home, where he re-
ceived ain enthusiastic ovation of the
sort accorded the prodigal son of old.
At this juncture. however, Chris. Goeh-
ringer, the bridge saloonkeeper, APP
peared on the scene and claimed the
dog as his own, alleging that he had
bought him two years previously. OF
course, there was an animated dispute,
but it ended an Mr., Burton retaining
possession of Sport, and to guard against
a possible kidnapping he sent. him to a
friend living in the country. During
his two years. ownership Goehringer;
too, had become greatly attached
to the dog, and was not disposed to
without a contest and accordingly
at once began legal proceedings to re-
cover him. A writ of replevin was is
sued, and Mr.. Burton was compelled to
produce the dog on the occasion Of the
trial, which took place before Judge
Start and jury recently. Plenty of
reliable evidence piled up on both sides,
and from the testimony it seemed to be
a question beyond the power of man TO
decide. Mr.. Burton produced wit
nesses to prove that he had owned the
dog since his puppyhood. On the other
hand, Goehringer brought in the per-
son Of whom he had purchased Sport, a
man Of unblemlshed reputation, who,
as trustworthy as Mr.. Burton's, to prove
that he had owned the dog as a puppy
and up to the time he sold him to
'Goehringer. There appeared to be a
case of mistaken identity somewhere,
all parties concerned apparently being
perfectly honest and sincere: in their
belief as to the true ownership of the
dog. Judge and jury alike were in a
terrible quandary. Justice seemed to
depend on a hit-or-miss decision.
At this juncture Mr.. Burton, who was
evidently prepared for such crisis us
this, asked the court if he might he al
Of the - dog. No -. objections
were made to- this novel notion. and
every one in the court room was all at
tention at once, wondering exceedingly
what was coming. Then Mr.. Burton:
mindful of the accomplishments which
his wife had taught Sport in his youth,
turned to the dog, Who. TO tell the truth
was a very Observation-Disclosures
spectator, and said in a'careless tone of
voice.. "Coipe, Sport, go, and shut the
door," WithOuta moments hesitation,
the intelligent creature trotted over to
the door of the court room, which hap
then trotted back to his master and
looked expectantly up into; his face.
The latter then took bone out OF his
! pocket and laying it on the floor at his
feet, said: "Well Sport, that was we'll
done; and now would you like your din
ner?" The dogs head nodded an
emphatic affirmation, but he
/ seemed to be in no hurry
to take the bone, appearing to be wait
ing for soas preliminary proceedings.
"You do, you dog" said Mr.. Burton,
'but you must remember that It. is
necessary for good orthodox dog tesay
the dog dropped down on his stomach,
extended his head along the floor, and
reverently covered his eyes with. his
paws. In this respectful position he re-
mained a minute or so, after which Mr..
Burton came out with a loud and fer
vent amen" Sport sprang to his feet
like flash and seized the bone without
any more ceremony, crounching it be-
tween his strong jaws with a relish that
would show that the grace had added
to, rather than detracted from, its tooth
some flavor. Mr.. Burton then explained
that if the jury cared to see any more
entertainments in that line he wonld
have the dog do his famous "gallant"
act. In this, he SAID, Sport would sit
upon his launches with a hat on his
head. When asked how he saluted a
| gentleman when meeting him, he
would deftly touch the edge of the hat
with his right paw; but when asked how
he saluted u lady under the same cir
cumstances, he would bring up the paw
| and knock the hat off his head.
All concerned, however, appeared to
be we'll satisfied with what they had
seen, and without any more delay
Judge Start charged the jury. He
spoke very briefly, merely bringing to
their notice the fact that the evidence
on each side was practically paired by
that on the other, and the opposing