The morning call., 1892-04-11
A CANINE HERO.
History OF a Remarkable Siberian
Deer Hound.
His Name Is Bruce, and He Has Saved Four
Lives Wills Travelling Many Thou
sands OF Miles

"There is one Of the most remarkable
animals you have ever heard Of" said
Charles Hymes. an attendant in an uptown
resort, to CALL reporter few days ago,
pointing 10 big, grayish-brown iopg-eared
dog. The animal seemed at once to know
shat he was the subject of the conversation,
for he regarded the speaker and the visitor
closely with his large and intelligent eyes,
This dog has saved four lives and tray
eled many thousand miles. He has a his
tory which. il he could only tell it, would
make interesting reading" Mr. Hymes con-
tinued. When asked to substitute the dogs
lack Of language by telling the story him-
self, he assented by telling the following
tale:
More than 10 years ago an American sea
captain met Russian skipper In the port
Of Viadi vostock. The Yankees name was
Colin Salmond, and be had on board his
snip trained pet monkey, which he had
picked up somewhere in the southern seas.
what the Russians name was 1 don't
know. and 1t cuts no figure In this story, nor
does he either, only for The fact that he had
beautiful specimen of the Siberian deer
hound in his possession which pleased Cap
tain Salmond so much that lie offered TO
trade his monkey for II. The offer was ac-
eepted and this dog here was put for the
transferred from the Russian to the Ameri-
can ship.
CANINE HISTORY.
HE was then a little over q year old and
q very ferocious beast. The Russians had
given him some unpronOuneeab.e name, but
Captain Salmond named him Bruce and
commenced to tame him. BY a judicious
use OF kindness and tile whip, as the case
required. Bruce soon became not only quite
Iractable but DEVELOPED a high degree of
brute intelligence. Everybody on board of
the ship became fond of him, and from the
captain down the whole crew petted Bruce
and taught him tricks.
1T was about year after Bruce had be-
come AmericaniZed that he first distin-
guished himself as saver OF human life.
He had by that time become a familiar
friend TO every man In the cabin and Ia the
forecastle. One day he was summing hun
self laZily on hatchway aft. The ship
was near the Japanese coast and the sea
was perfectly calm. One OF tue sailors was
cleaning or painting something on the stern,
occupying seat on stage. which was
swung to the railing. The man could not
be seen by those on deck, but Bruce was
near the stern railing and when one of
the ropes which held the stage snapped,
dropping the sailor into the ocean, he at
once realized the danger and ran to the
wheelhouse to attract the attention Of the
men on watch.
BRUCE BECOMES FAMOUS.
"rhey quickly saw that something was
wrong. and on investigating discovered the
unfortunate sailors predicame A boat
was lowered and he was rescu ed from the
very brink Of the grave.
''Of course, Bruce after this was petted
more than ever, and when, two years later
he jumped from wharf at San Diego to as
sisi sailor who had fallen overheard, his
fame as life-saver spread from ship to
ship, and he was talked about by the Jack
tars in every port.
Captain SalmoDd later on abandoned the
life Of sailor to settle permanently in this
city; and Bruce also. as q matter OF neces-
sity. became landlubber. Shore life,
however. did not suit the captain, and
Bruce did not relish it either. So, when
Captain Salmond became master OF the col
lier Wellington. plying between British
Columbia and this port, Bruce was once
more happy dog. for he was transferred to
the steamer.
Five years ago drunken fireman fell
one dark night OF gaDgplank while en-
deavoring to 90 aboard the Wellington at
the dock In Nanaimo. The night watch
man. who was the only person awake at
the time, never knew that a man was
dro wniDg until Bruce, by his frantic bark
ing. gave notice that something had hap.
pened. The man was found clinging to
pile, and was picked UP moro dead than
alive. He is still employed on the steamer,
and calls on the preserver Of his life every
time he comes into port.
THE PET OF THE HOUSEHOLD.
'.Shortiy afterward Captain SaImoId
turned the old dog over to me in order that
he may pass his old days comfortably on
shore. and he is ever since the pet Of our
household"
Mr. Hymes was about to conclude his mar.
Tative. when the reporter called his atten-
tion to the fact that he had started out to
say the dog had saved four lives, while he
had related only three such incidents.
''Well, that is 80" said he, In response.
Il came near forgetting the most remark
able Of all Of Bruce's exploits, and one that
concerns me personally more than all
others 1t is now nearly three years since
Bruce saved my little niece. Jennie Watson,
from bleeding to death. Jennie was about
10 years old, and used to be great friend
of the dog. They were rlaying together In
the yard one afternoon when the girl tripped
ugly cash over her left temple from rusty
nail in an old plank.
"rhe fall stunned the child, and she l,y
there unconscious, while the blood was
gushing from her wound. There Is no tell
ing how long she might have been left In
that critical position before any one would
have found her were 1t not that Bruce ran
into the house. jumping and barking ex-
c!tedly, and almost dragged my wife into
the yard. where she was Mortified to find
Jennie lying In pool Of blood. Fortunate
once took the proper measures to stop the
bleeding. The girl was so weak from the
loss of blood that Ii took weeks for her to
recover. The doctors said that had she lost
but very little more death would have re-
suited. Ever since there is nothing too good
for Bruce, so far as the Hymes family is
concerned"