The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1894-05-31

would have done more damage to his most
excellent reputation as an Official than the
escape of one of the very few criminals
they have in this law abiding community.
At Aalesund more policemen met our
shipment, but were as polite as walters in
Delmonico's and without half SO much ap-
probation of their own importance We
were allowed to place our dogs upon pic
turesque little island which lies in one of
the fiords near the town, and there we
landed them with their So boxes and an
equal number of strong chains, collars
and feeding pots. Watchmen were hired to
guard them night and day. The island
soon became center of attraction in this
part of Norway. The fame of our draft
animals had spread through the fiords and
permeated all the fishing hamlets as well
as the smart town of Aalesund itself, and
when one of the holy days which occur
here about twice a week came along it
brought with it hundreds and thousands of
idle men and women, who surrounded the
rocky islet in fleet of sail and row boats
The children we do not presume to num-
Der, for they were countless. Though the
population of Norway is now only 8, OO0,-
600 or 4, 600, 600, this will soon be the most
populous country on the face of the globe,
judging from the appearance Of the still
waters surrounding our isle of dogs. Over
here the children, boys and girls alike, be-
gin to row boats before they are able to
dress themselves in the morning or butter
their own bread at breakfast. Their par
ents do not seem to have any fear of their
drowning, and on inquiry we learn, on
what appears to be trustworthy authority,
that in all Norway, with its thousands of
miles of coast and fords, the number of
youngsters seeking the eternal shore by
the salt water route is not as great as the
list of victims claimed by some of our mill
ponds in America. Obviously the sons of
the vikings of old were not born to be
drowned, nor the daughters either. There
are children galore, but how refreshing to
see hordes of bairnies, poor, but polite, and
every little man and woman doffing hat or
courtesying to the stranger!
1t finally became necessary to employ
policemen to guard our canine possessions,
not that there was danger of theft, but
that the curious people insisted upon land
ing upon the island, and the authorities
objected strenuously to contact between
our pets and the population human or
animal. A number of men were arrested
and fined in court for persisting in setting
foot upon the dog domain after being
warned away.
Despite all our precautions one of our
hounds broke his chain and swan to the
mainland For hours he wandered about
at his own sweet will. Such dog hunt
as we did have! All hands of us tramped
the mountains till we were ready to drop,
and then we hired a posse of lusty youths,
Offering a reward of 10 kroners for the
animal alive and kroners for his skin,
not that we cared so much for one solitary
dog-we have brought more than we need
in provision for all contingencies-bu we
feared that if even one of our cOntraband
CANNES was permitted to roam at large the
authorities would take fright and order us
to kill the whole pack or to put them
aboard ship and out to sea before we were
ready so to do. Luckily the truant brute
was found and banished to our St. Helena,
though not without giving the authorities
such a fright that they had no end of tele-
graphing to and from the capital at Chris
tiania. That same spirit of generosity and
forbearance which has characterized the
people of Norway since our arrival must
have actuated the officials, for we had no
further trouble with them, and our fears
proved to have been groundless.
But for q week there were rumors of
dogs and escapes galore. Every cur seen
wandering disconsolate about the streets
was taken up and held as one of the expe-
ditiOn dogs. In all such cases we lost no
time in getting the vagrant upon our is
land. IT there was any probability of his
being ours, our usual test of ownership
was to hold quiet conversation with the
tramp in French, and if he understood and
kept up his end of the parley vous all
rght-he was ours. If he shook his head
instead of his tail when we asked him if
he would like to go back to his mother in
Liege, he was Morse and none of our meat.
In one or two cases we Struggled dogs up
on the island which afterward turned out
to be town dogs, and thus we were placed
In an embarrassing position. To claim the
pup as ours was to acknowledge that our
guard was not vigilant, and that we were
in fair way to introduce rabies into peace
full Norway, thus renewing the danger of
friction with the police officials. On the
other hand, to admit that the dog was not
ours, but had been kidnapped, was sure to
lead to other complications, such as the
necessity of paying whatever extravagant
price the owner might set upon his dog,
for of course it was impossible to return to
his home an animal that had passed a
night with our suspected and outlawed
pack, or every man for SO Norwegian miles
around-and Norwegian mile is some
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