Los Angeles herald., 1891-11-18
CHASED BY MAD DOGS.
HAIRBREADTH ESCAPE or A CLUB
MAN AND HIS BEST GIRL.

A Ysrn which Goes to Prove That Bark
ing Dogs DO Bite sometimes--still
Some Savage Brntes DON'T Waste Much
Time in Barking When Out for Blood.
No one had spoken at the club for
about an hour when raconteur rose to
khe occasion. Laying aside his pipe with
q look of regret he began:
'It's a popular saying that barking
dogs don't bite. Like other popular say
ings this is fallacy and misleading.
Barking dogs do not bite while they are
barking, but there is only one species of
canine that snealzs up to you and takes
hold without saying word. That is
the Scotch collie, which inherits its habit
Of silent biting from a sheep nipping an
cestry."
''Story! story.' called ont the pres
ident.
"Story? God bless you! have none
to tell, SIR" quoted the raconteur, re-
membering his classics; ''this is only
memory of two dogs, accursed brutes,
that lived with an unfriendly man on
hill, over which the postroad was laid.
This man, who was Cain among his
fellows. kept two savage mastiffs, who
not only barked but bit whenever it was
possible. was counting my first wife
up there in the Cumberland mountains
in British North America where this
happened, and had. to pass the house
regularly. drove bloodedkmare that
went like bird, and the dogs were no
match for her, but it was very annoying
to have them follow me down the hill
for a mile or more barking andlyelping
like demons. They would bark at the
stage coaches and run long distances
after them, but the passengers were safe
inside and the driver and those on the
outside were too high for themsto reach.
But heard frequent stories of their at
tacking men, and being beateni off with
sticks and stones l asked why they
were not killed and my answer was
always the same, a shrug of the should
ers and the remark: You don't know
the kind Of man their owner is 1t
seemed that he lived alone with his
dogs, and people feared him so much
they dare not go to him to complain
or call in the provincial laws to help
them.
A TERRIBLE CHASE.
"a crisis came, when one day l took
my sweetheart out for sleigh ride in
low pung belonging to her father, to
which was harnessed my own sure and
swift footed mare. It'was lovely day
and we expected to make a safe and
rapid descent of the mountain, a dis
tance of ten or twelve miles. The air
was crisp and cold, the sleighing fine,
and we skinned up the ascent and
reached the landing before we knew we
had started. There we were met by the
dogs. think it would have been less
difficult to have gotten .rid of a pair of
wolves. dare not give my mare her
head going down that long, steep declivi-
ty on frozen snow. and the dogs, en-
boldened by the cold or maddened by
repeated lashings from my whip, jumped
at my companion and tore her cloak and
her dress in mouthfuls. I clubbed with
my whip and beat them on the head, but
they did not even seem to feel my blows.
Their great black and yellow frames
Quivered with ferocity. The hair on
their backs stood up like names; their
eyeballs cleaned red and angry, and the
noise they made'was deafening and dis
tracing.
"'Ohr exclaimed, why haven't l a
pistol?
"'Look in the box under the seat
cried my companion, whose face was
blanched.
81 looked quickly, and found a rusty
double barreled horse pistol of make Of
forty years ago.
".Is it loaded?' l asked.
"fYes, but don't shoot If you do that
man will kill your
TWO SHOTS FIXED THEM.
81 remember thinking how like
woman it was to tell me where to find
the pistol and then ask me not to shoot.
II laid the reins loose on the mares
back and away she went like the wind,
beyond my control now, and knew she
would never stop till she was a mile be-
yond the level ground at the foot of the
hill
IF the pung held together; if nothing
made the mare swerve from the direct
line; if, in fact-if Providence kept an
eye ON us, and the breeching didn't
break, we might escape breaking our
necks. looked back and saw the dogs
gaining on us, even at that mad gait
then took aim and fired. Bang! Bangl
There were two dark objects lying prone
on the snowy road, and as quick as she
could gather her feet under her my mare
stopped in her tracks. She was trained
to the use of a gun.
But my companion urged me to hur-
ry on, and we were soon down the in
cline and beyond the reach of recogni-
ton or pursuit, and strange to say no
one but our two selves ever knew who
killed those dogs. We heard the most
marvellous accounts of the slaughter, the
weapon varying from a Queen Anne
musket to cannon, but dead they were
as door nails, and their reign OF terror
over. l imagine their owner did not care
to venture out to avenge their death. l
drove boldly past the house every day,
but was never molested or even suspect
ed. But / often heard their unknown
slayer praised and applauded for the
deed which rid the neighborhood of their
hateful presence. Detroit Free Press.
Cleaning Fish Described.
The fr,t f;,po NV GttIa Maria a0ad