Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1891-07-30
A FINE DOG STORY
He Acts as the Body Guard of Child he
Saved from Drowning.

for England for home" the passengers.
all English, called it. Among them was
! lady with child of two years and q
nurse. The lady had also brought with her
| huge, handsome Newfoundland dog.
| The voyage had lasted about six days.
No land was visible, and the island of st.
| Helena would be the nearest point. The
| day was beautiful one, with soft breeze
/ blowing, and the sun shining down bright
| ~ on the sparkling waters. A large and
gay company of the passengers vert as
| sembled on the deck; merry groups of young
men and girls had clustered together;
now and then laugh rang out, or some one
sang a gay little snatch of song, when
/ suddenly the mirth of all was silenced by
the loud and piercing scream of woman.
| A nurse who had been holding a child in
| her arms at the side of the vessel had lost
| her hold of the learing, restless little one,
and it had fallen overheard into the sea-in-
! to the great wide Atlantic Ocean. The
poor woman, IN her despair would have
| flung herself after her charge had not
strong arms held her back. But sooner
| than can be written down, something
rushed past her; there was a leap over the
vessels side, a splash into the waters, and
| then Nero's black head appeared abov
the waves, holding the child in his mouth
The engines were stopped as soon as pos
sible, but by that time the dog was far be-
| hind in the wake of the vessel. A boat
was quickly lowered, and the ships surgeon.
| taking his place in it, ordered the sailors
to pull for their lives. One could just
make out ON the leaping dancing waves the
dogs black head, holding something scar
let in his mouth. The child had on a lit
tie Jacket of scarlet cloth, and it cleaned
like a spark of fire on the blue waves.
The mother of tn child stands on the deck,
her eyes straining anxiously after the boat,
and the black spot upon the waves still
holding firmly to the tiny scarlet point.
How long the time seems! The boat seems
fairly to creep though it speeds over the
waves as it never sped before.
! Sometimes a billow higher than its fell
lows hides for moment dog and child
from the anxious straining eyes. One can
almost hear the watchers hearts then
throb with fear lest the waters may have
swallowed them up. But the boat comes
nearer and nearer, near enough at last tC
allow of the surgeons reaching over ana
lifting the child out of the dogs mouth,
Their a sailors strong arms pulls Nero into
the boat, and the men row swiftly back to
| to the ship.
"Alive?" is shouted from every lip as the
boat comes within hail of the steamer; and
as the answer comes back, 'Alive! thank
God!' breaks from every heart Then
the boat comes up to the ships side. A
hundred hands are stretched out to help
the brave dog on board and Good Nero, "
| Brave dog, Good follow" resound or
showered so profusely on him; he trots
| To bo obiI5' ,,,o+bor IL,
wag of his dripping tail, looks up into
her face with his big, faithful brown eyes.
''It was as if he said at is all right; have
brought her back quite safe"
| The mother drops on her knees on the
deck and taking his shaggy head in both
hands, kisses his wet face again and again,
| the tears pouring down her face in streams.
| There is indeed not a dry eye on board
| One old sailor stands near with the tears
running down his weather-beaten brown
| face, all the while unconscious that he is
weeping.
Well, as one can imagine, Nero was for
the rest of the voyage the pet and the hero
of the whole ship. He bore his honors
with modest dignity. 1t was curious
however, to see how from that time on he
made himself the sentinel and body-guard
of the child he had saved. He always
placed himself at the side of the chair of
any person in whose arms she was, his
eyes watching every movement she made.
Sometimes she would be laid on the deck,
with Nero only to watch her. and if in
clined to creep out of bounds, Nero teeth,
fastened firmly in the skirt of her frock,
promptly drew her back 1t was as though
he thought 81 have been lucky enough,
Miss Baby, to save you once from watery
grave, but as | may not be so lucky again,
| shall take care you don t run any unnec-
essary risks in future.
When the steamer reached her destina-
! tion Nero received a regular ovation as
he was leaving the vessel. Some one
cried, Three cheers for Nero!' and they
were given with a will, And ''Good-by,
frmo every side Every one crowded
around to give him pat on the head as he
trotted down the gang-plank. To all these
demonstrations he could, of course, only
reply with wag of his pIumpy tail and a
twinkle of his faithful brown eyes. He kept
close to the nurse S side, and watched anx-
iousiy his little charges arrival on dry
land.
| He was taken to the home of his little
mistress, where he lived, loved and hon
ored, until he died of old age, with his shay
gy, gray head resting on the knee of the
child Ia woman now that he had saved
His grave is in an English church-yard in
, consecrated ground He lies in the burial
plot of the family to which he belonged.
His grave is marked by fair white stone,
on which is engraved
SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF NERO
FAITHFULEST OF DOGS.
HI oft bop,rc ovar tba CHI ooo
Of an English draw ing-room, beneath
girl, who often looks up at Nero's portrait
as she tells the tale of how he sprang into
| the waters of the Atlantic Ocean after her.
and held her up until help came.
PLANS FORA CASINO AND PIER
Venice to be Reproduced on a Small Scale
in Lake Michigan.
One or the novel buildings at the expo
sition will be the Casino and pier The
Casino which will stand out in the lake
900 feet from the shore. is intended to
| reproduce Venice on small scale in Lake
| Mich gan. Burlington K Whitehouse Of
| Chicago have completed the design for this
| structure. and the architecture is of course
| of Venetian order.
| The Casino will be built on piles and
connected with the shore by pier 50 feet
wide. The base dimentions of the Casino
will be 19Ox400 feet The buildings will
consist of nine pavilions, two stories in
height, and, with the exception of the
central one, 50 feet above the surface of
the water. The center pavilion will be $50
feet high. There will be communication
between the nine pavilions both by gon-
dolas and bridges. Completely surround