The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1893-01-22

is the custom when dog stories are told,
and had carefully suppressed our convic-
ton that the man who told the story was
as impudent as he was Inconsistencies is
also the custom on these occasions. 1 asked
the colonel to favor Us with his views in
regard to canine sagacity.
There are dogs that show signs of good
sense now and them" he replied. Even
human beings do that occasionally. But
as to these yarns about dogs who calculate
eclipses, and have conscientious objec-
tons to chasing cats on Sunday, / don't
believe q word Of them. Talk about fish
stories! Why. there isn't a fish caught or
uncaught that can begin to stimulate the
Imagination to the extent that a dog will
stimulate it. I have known fishermen
who could convert two minnows into
string of thirty trout. averaging two
pounds each, and have seen those men
sink away crestfallen before a man who
told what his fox terrier had done the day
before. What don't understand is why
people pretend to believe dog stories. We
all know that the dog is a we!l-meaning.
stupid, parish-vestry sort of an animal,
but We listen to the thumpers that some
men tell about him without even a
cough.
"Look at the lies that have been told
for the last 100 years about the st. Bernard
dogs! People really believe that when a
snowstorm comes on the St. Bernard dog
gets out with a blanket, flask of whisky,
spirit lamp, a box of matches, some mus
tard plasters and foot bath strapped on
his back. When he meets frozen trav-
eler We are told he sits down and lights his
yrYf tayr, h1S I'll. 4
pours it down the travellers throat, gives
him hot foot bath, puts mustard plasters
on the soles of his feet, rubs him down and
wraps him up in the blankets, and then
HOSTS him on his back and brings him to
the convent, where the monks put him to
bed and read prayers to him until he feels
strong enough. to put some money
in the contribution box and to
continue his journey. Now I've been
to the st. Bernard convent. l went there
just to meet one of these dogs and
see for myself what he could do. There
was a pack of about forty of them, but
the only thing they did was to sit up all
night and bark at the moon, while the
monks SHE'D prayer books and wooden
sandals at them out of the windows. I
wanted to see a few travellers rescued from
the snow, but the monks said the supply
of travellers had been running low of late
L
sleep in a snow bank mile or two from
the convent they would see what could be
done. / wasn't going to risk the forfeiture
of my life insurance policy by any such
foolishness az that. so I came away with
out seeing any dog performance. How
ever, | saw enough little later on to con-
vince me that the st. Bernard dog is the
biggest kind of canine fool that ever i'm
posed on credulous people.
THE monks had whole pen full of st.
Bernard puppies. and l bought one. ! am
ashamed TO tell you how much l paid tor
it. l could hire an army mule to kick me
every time l think of the transaction.
took the puppy to the States with mel
was living al New Berlinopolisvilie, in the
state of Iowa, at the time-and brought
him up as carefully as if he had been my
own son. He grew to be a big, rough
haired dog-one of the biggest ever saw.
And l can't say that the monks cheated
me IN respect to his breed OF coure it
was all matter of luck that hetdidn't
turn out to be a poodle or a back-and-
tan terrier. The fact is that no man nor
monk knows what one of those pure
biooded st. Bernard pups that are sold at
the convent will turn out TO be when he
gets his growth He is liable TO be any,
thing IN the line of dog from yellow chr
up to a Siberian bloodhound. l once
knew a man who bought a st. Bernard