The evening world., 1889-03-14
A CANINE GRACE DARLING.
HE SAVES FOUR BOYS FROM GOING OVER A
DAM ON THE BRONX.

The Dogs Name IL Pete, and He Bclongs
to Mr.. smith, Of Beimont-The Boat Was
Within SIX Feet Of tho Dan When Pete
SWAN to the Rescus-Heid BY the
Cellar, He Tows the Beat to shore.
The little village OF Belmont. up in West
chester County, has Q real genuine hero. His
friends and admirers do not think any the
less Of him because he is four-footed and
wears a shaggy coat Of hair; on the contrary,
they are even moro proud of him on that &C.
count.
In a word he IL Mr.. Smiths big black New
foundland dog. Pete, and the reason why he
has sprung so suddenly into fame Is because
on Sunday afternoon last he saved four little
boys from certain death.
They were all Sunday school boys, and,
after ~reciting their lessons on that afternoon,
they all went down 10 the old Lorillard SNUFF
mill, on the Bronx River, for q walk. There
was George Smith, fourteen years old. the
leader Of the party; his brother Oscar, who
Is eight; Frank Wilson, thirteen Willie
GuRgala, fourteen, and another little fellow.
Pete was one Of the company.
When they got to the mill they found q
punt fastened to the shore by a chain. and
they all got into It but the Guggals boy and
Pete. They wanted to look down into the
water to see il any fish were around, and so
they showed the punt out.
The chain was an old one, and the weight
OF the bows in the punt was too much for ii,
for when it reached it's length 1t snapped like
q thread. and the current, which was very
strong, Immediately began to carry the boys
swiftly down towards the dam. They saw
their danger, for none of them could swim,
and If the boat was carried over the dam.
whore the water was very deep, II would be
sure death to all of them.
Little Oscar Smith began to cry loudly for
his mother, one of the other boys tainted
way in his fright and George Smith was the
only one who eiained his self possession.
He took of his cont TO try and do something,
but as there was no oar in the boat, or even u
stick, n terrible fate seemed inevitable.
Just at that moment Pete. who had gone
almost frantic when he saw the boat in the
stream and heard Oscar CRYING, plunged into
the water aud with powerful strokes reached
the punt Just as 1t was within six feet of the
dam.
George Smith Rrasped his collar as he came
alongside. and at the same instant Pete
turned about and began padding upstream
for his life. The progress of the boat was at
once arrested aud then it took q slanting
course towards the shore.
Pete worked like a ten horsepower tug.
A'h NNOAko hbih W hlb OOliuA, uhlll ht
got within a few feet from the shore, where he
collapsed entirely and went under. But the
Guggels hoy was ready with a long pole
which he stretched out to George and the
boat was drawn to the bank.
Four very badly scared boys got out as
quickly as they could and then turned their
attention to Pete, who was 30 exhausted by
his violent efforts that he had to be fairly
dragged out of the water.
The parents of the children were Mortified
when they heard of their narrow escape. and
Pete, their savior, soon found out that moth
ing was too good for him. He Is going to
get photographed and have a new collar with
the record Of the event engraved on it with
the names Of the boys. Yesterday he was
invited to the house Of Mr.. Nilsson, whose
son was In the party. and was treated to a
dinner Of roast spring lamb and all the other
delicacies of the season, and has. in fact,
been made the pet of the whole town.
Frank Wilson, who, with his companions,
is a good Surday-school boy: remarked when
he got back home: If we had gone over
the dam we would have all been badly killed,
but ! think we would be happy, because we
would have all gone to heaven together"