St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-06-19
THE REAL DOGSOF War
A Description of How They
Are Trained to Become
Of Use.
They Display Wonderful Sa-
gaeity and Are Easily
Trained.
They Act as Messengers,
Scouts, and Even as Aids
to SentinelS.
The Hounds Used Are Quar-
tered in the Soldiers
Barracks.

was so struck by the intelligence of the
strange creature that he fed to his
cabin and barricaded the door for feal
the four-footed sharper would come il
and pick his pocket, says the Boston
Globe. ~ knew that rascal could no
break down my door-posts," he said
"but outdoors / thought he was up tt
anything you white folks could do"
A visit to the training station of mil
itary dogs near Wells, in Upper Austria
would rather confirm the opinion of the
precautionary chief. With the excep-
ton of the delivery of verbal messages,
there is hardly any function of regi-
mental adjuncts, picket-sentries or am
bulance guides which dogs have not
been taught to do, or Guido:
Gabriel Garcia, in his History of San
Domingo" speaks of bloodhounds thai
had been trained to carry messages, as
we'll as to track the fugitive Indians
but the first modern hint OF initiating
that plan came from Oran. in Western
Algeria, where the enterprise of the
French scouts had been for weeks
UdIllCu Wy LuC VI viz DNNOhFl
shepherd dogs.
In the winter of 1879 the commander
OF Fl. Dupin was informed that the con-
duct Bof the native zouaves had become
a subject of frequent complaint; but
knowing the jealousy OF the French
regulars, he did not pay much attention
to those rumors till one evening their
truth was established by the report of a
strange visitor, gaunt shelkh, or patri-
arch, of highland tribe, who had come
afoot all the way from Sid Harrat.
where did you leave your horse,
Emir?" inquired the colonel.
cit is gone, SIR" said the sheikh ;
"gambled away, together with my cows
and my best rifle. Your souldiers at
Harrat station are keeping up a gam
bling den. and have smoking and dane
ing carousals every night at their camp,
where they receive visits from the loaf
ers of all the neighboring villages.
They cheat at dice and have cleaned me
Out.''
Every night, you say? Why, have
ordered my patrols to inspect the camp
after dark three following times. and
they found everything in good order"
ayes. when they got there" laughed
the sheikh, "but it would have made
them stare if they had seen the guard
house an hour sooner or later. The
gambling outfit, the opium pipes and
lots of plumber had been slowed away
under the rear porch of the guard-house
building in good time.
Their Dogs Had Warned Them
before the patrol crossed the valley"
what dogs ?"
9f1he Arabian shepherd dogs they
keep for sentries." said the emir; 'they
send them out with every picket post,
and after dark nothing in the shape of a
man or horse can come near them
within three miles without those brutes
giving the ALARM"
The next day the post commander
sent out strong detachment, with in
structionS to straighten out that gam
bling camp and shoot those sentry dogs.
One patrol left Gran at daybreak, but
had not trOtted more than four miles
when they were overtaken by mounted
orderly, who handed their leader note
from the commanding officer: Il have
changed my mind about those trick dogs.
Catch all Of them you can, but do not
kill them. Bring them to Oran alive.
l want to try some experiments" The
remarkable results of those experiments
were communicated to French staff
officer, and military commission soon
after reported In favor of utilizing GER
tain breeds for picket-post duty in
sparsely settled districts. and, perhaps,
for the collection of abandoned valu-
iables. or the discovery of wounded sol
dierS on extensive battlefeldS.
Three of the Algerian sentry dogs,
fierce, shaggy and rather woltish-loOk-
ing brutes, were taken to Pau. in
Southern France, and, together with
large number Of collies and poodles, put
in charge of systematic trainers, whose
success soon attracted the attention of
enterprising neighbors. The dreibdnd
got wind of the project, and before the
end OF another year regular drill bar
racks for the training of four-footed
soldiers were established in Lueilan,
Saxony and near Wells, in the upper
valley of the Fraun.
At the latter place, in the foothills of
the Austrian Alps. the guides Of the
hospital dogs range territory of twenty
square miles in search of 'cripples,"
which their pupils manage to discover
in all sorts of hiding places.
The hounds used for that purpose are
quartered in the soldiers barracks and
permitted to share the outdoor sports of
the men for year or two till they be
come familiar with the rank and smell
of individuals" as Wag OF an English
tourist expresses it, and thus learn to
follow the trail of their friends through
rocks and thickets to bush where
sham cripple lies moaning.
If searching party is near, the four
footed scout sets up a peculiar howl,
repeated at shorter and shorter inter-
walls, till his appeal for help is answered
by shout. If he receives no reply he
will dash off to headquarters and an
nounee his discovery, after the manner
of the St. Bernard dogs, by loud barks.
Should the rescuing party start afoot, he
will
Guide Them In a Bee Line.
e they have horses and ambulance
wagons he realizes the expediency Eof
avoiding rough ground. and chooses his
road accordingly.
The sentry dogs are less available for
domestic pets, but the acuteness of
their instincts surpaSseS all belief. At
a distance of two or three miles. accord
ing to the direction of the wind, they
will! challenge" an approaching
stranger by stepping up close to
their two-legged fellow-sentinel and
intimate their suspicion by low growl.
becoming more or less emphatic as
pauSes of keen attention seem either to
calnnor confirm their misgivings. AS a
lastsresort they will lay hold of their
partners mantle to rouse him from a
possible nap, but under no circum-
stances indulge in an outright bark
that might attract the attention of an
enemy approaching in superior force.
On such occasions the dog will follow
his friend to the next hiding place and
reconnoiter the hostile party In discreet
silence, or at given signal slip away
to summon assistance from the next
bivouac.
Dogs of the same breed are also
trained to carry messages In a small
leather bag between different detach-
ments Of corps engaged in active
service. During field maneuver these
four-footed adjutants may be seen dart
ing along the line of the imaginary bat
tlefeld, needless of the crash of big
and small guns, but withal taking care
to confuse the aim of the hostile marks
men by running zigzag or taking ad
vantage of every bit of cover the ground
affords.
Arriving at the post of the addressee,
the shaggy mail carrier will look about