Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1889-07-11
MY LADY.S PET DOG.
The st. Bernard Settled Upon as a Perma
nent Fayorite.


The st. Bernard Settled Upon as Perma-
nent Favorite.
The craze that existed little while
ago for big dogs. simply because of
their bigness with little regard for
their breed, has died out, and fashion.
for once intelligent, has made a proper
discrimination in settling upon the st.
Bernard as a permanent favorite above
all other very large dogs. The mastiffs
and loewenhunds have been relocated
to their proper place as watch dogs;
the huge stag and wolf hounds shipped
OF to the country only to reappear at
bench-shows, and the hordes of bogus
Newfoundlands have disappeared
possibly in sausages. But the enor-
nous. noble-looking, intelligent and
faithful st. Bernards remain the pets
OF fashionable women and the pride of
gentlemen of leisure, to even greater
degree than ever before. Doubt
less they would be more popular,
in the sense that more of them would
be kept, if they were cheaper, and the
converse of the proposition is probably
equally true, that if they were cheaper
more OF them would be kept. A St.
Bernard puppy two months old is
worth $50 or $75 only, but at the age
OF two years. if a fine specimen and
backed by genuine pedigree, will COM
mand all the way from 81, 900 to S., 900,
and those are not mere fancy prices,
such as appear on bench-show cata-
logues, signifying only that the ami
mails are not for sale, but are the real
sums paid in New York by rich per-
sons for these splendid dogs. One
thousand dollars is indeed looked up
on as quite a reasonable price for a
fine st. Bernard dog.
Highly as those canine kings are
valued. there is another dog that is
still more aristocratic, possession for
fashionable fanciers, one that is rarer
than the st. Bernard, and when per-
feet, even higher priced That is the
Laverack setter, probably the most
beautiful dog that wags a tail. It is of
about the same size as the Gordon set
ter-perhaps rather longer-very deep
chested and finely proportional
throughout. The head is even more
beautiful than that of the Gordon; the
large liquid eyes beam with kindness
and intelligence; the ear pendulous.
long, silky and jet black shows sharp
ly in contrast with the snowy white
OF the cheeks, jowls, forehead and
throat; the coat, long, soft as silk and
wavy, is fecked with jet black spots
and the tail is like the magnificent
plume of Henry of Navarro. Yes,
the Laveracl< is unquestionably an
aristocratic looking dog, not SO nobly
independent in style as the st. Ber-
nard, but just the sort that woman
will go into ecstacies over for his
beauty. And he is as expensive as
jewelry. Two months old puppies
range in price from $50 to 500, and
full grown dog is worth, according to
his color and style, all the way from
81, 900 to $4,000 actual good cash. The
Laverack is highest in fashion now.
Few persons who have once enjoyed
familiar acquaintance, on an amicable
basis, with big dogs, ever again take
much interest in the yelping little
whiffets that were all the rage few
years ago-the ''toy dogs" as fanciers
contemptuously class them. Neverthe-
less, there are enough persons with
old-fashioned tastes-generally over
ripe spinsters with highly-developed
nerves-to keep place in the fashion
able world for the King Charles, Blen-
helm and Japanese spaniels; not very
big place, it is true, but quite large
enough for the useless, pop-eyed little
beasts. Plenty of them are to be seen
in carriages, out for an airing, and
now and then a woman shows herself
in public Juggling one that looks like a
feebly- muff. But much to
the credit of our ladies of fashion, when
they are seen on the streets with their
canine friends, the latter are generally
animals worthy of respect and adnira-
ton. The three kinds of spaniels men,
toned are never worth more than $3.50
per dog, in the market, whatever may
be the exaggerated notions of their
value entertained by their owners
j. H. Connolly, in Louisville Courier
Journal.