Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-06-21
DOGS THAT BARK AT NIGHT.
What They Do to Make Life Fun for
Honest Washington People.

Washington might appropriately be called
the "canine city," for strangers who come here
aver that there is no other town on this CONT
nent where so many dogs are to be found for
each human being. 1t is wonderful how many
different sorts of dogs there are here-each
dog, as a rule. so many kinds of a dog, don t
you know. But for that matter, there are a
great many well-bred ones. The latter are
kept housed or at least tied up at night, while
the remaining majority roam freely abroad.
Blnker says that the all-night dogs on his
block do simply murder sleep. like the Thane
Of Cawdor. Cats annoy some people, though
he himself is too sound slumberer to be dis
turbed by their concerted back-fence yowls:
but the resident ours of the neighborhood,
fashionable as it is, have reduced nocturnal
disturbance to q system.
One Of these very hot nights, when repose is
only wooed with difficulty, is their chosen time
for exercise, vocal and otherwise. The per-
Torrance Is apt to begin about midnight, when.
perchance, the moon, surrounded with a halo
of greenish Roquefort cheese-les5 demonstra-
tive than the earthly article rises slightly to
the ortheast-by-east-half-eas and excites an
emotion OF unanalyZed sentiment in the bosom
of a half-bred and locally unattached bull pup
squattlng on the lee side of an clubhouse Ele-
waiting his under jaw to the orb aforementioned
the said bull pup proceeds to express his emo
ton i'll a series OF long-drawn and agonized
howls.
This is a signal for the awakening of the
entire canine population roundabout. The solo
addressed to Luna is followed by chorus of
yelps and barks in every imaginable KEY which
Is kept mp until the only person not awake Oh
the block is the fat gentleman next door but
one, who is never in condition to do any,
thing else but stumber after o'clock in the
evening owing to weakness for stimulants
About this time almost inevitably comes q
hostile encounter in the front street between
two medium-sized indescribables the smaller OF
which IS mayhap encouraged by the thought
that, if he does not win the fight he is reasona-
ably sure to communicate the mango in an ag-
gravated form to his one-eyed and one-eared
adversary For five minutes or SO the nigh,
air is rendered vociferous with the snarls and
yelps OF the combatants, and then "silence like
poultice comes to heal the wounds of sound y
1t ID applied but for brief interval. Then
are heard a few quick barks, a yelp or two. and
in full cry a whole pack of dogs dash through
the alleyway in desperate chase after goodness
knows what. ALI, yes, vail like that of an
| infants agony bursts on the air. The pack
was evidently coursing stray cat that was Oh
| Its way home from a spike and-broken-g glass
| musicale, and 1t has fallen a sacrifice to the
ruthless antogonism Of species and an alleged
| greyhound with no tail and pink spot on the
| end of his nose.
Presently the pack dashes back through the al.
! ieyway III full cry once more, presumably after
| another puss. Their flight sounds like that OF
the demon hounds, portending death, which
| one hears but sees not.
AT this point Blinker gets up, expostulatine
profanely, and the petulant pop of his re-
volver Is audible five times in succession out OF
the window. The noise starts up a vgorou:
barking from all the neighboring kennels and
he goes to bed again,