The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-05-16

women are the beasts of burden. and it
is only by standing on the streets of one
OF those cities early in the morning that
one is able to realize how much help
the little beasts are to the overworked
mothers and daughters of the lower
classes.
The draft dog is a tremendous factor
in the social economy of western Europe.
In all light work he is equal to horse
and costs but one-ffteenth as much
Tor the original outlay, and only one
sixth the cost of keeping a horse will
sufflce for a dog. In fact the cost Of
keeping draft dog is almost nothing.
He lives on the scraps and waste from
his masters table, poor as those usually
are. If he misses a meal he only wags
his tail and patiently awaits the next.
Grocers and other dealers who found
themselves approaching bankruptcy on
account of the cost of maintaining de-
livery wagons drawn by horses changed
to dog power and grew rapidly rich. The
carts used for dogs cost much less than
wagons suitable for horses. The harness
Tor the smaller animal is a mere trl11e-
A dog needs neither shoes nor stable. He
requires no care. And he will take his
load Of a thousand pounds and trudge
along with ii al a smart gait all the
day long After we get through with
this north pole business, if we ever do,
we think of taking a ShiplOad of draft
dogs to America and thus teach our
countrymen the use of a new motive
power. So far as that is concerned, the
millions Of idle dogs in America should
be set to work A little training would
convert the great majority of them into
useful draft animals. II is high time
our lazy old dogs were taught a few new
tricks.
These Belgian draft dogs are of no spe-
cial breed. They are conglomerates. If
there is any type among them, il is the
1oUcr-aar-a6 though
igree is almost unknown. Their value
consists not Of blood or Of breeding, but
of the uses to which they are put, though
1t must be true that the employment Of
generation after generation for draft is
gradually developing not only mental
aptitude for work, so to speak, but ply
steal adaptability TO pulling heavy loads.
If the thousands of men who devote their
energies to the breeding of dogs for
beauty, uglineSS, for the chase or for pets
were to turn their attention for few
decades to the production Of a breed for
draft they might evolve a dog that could
pull 1000 pounds, or as much as an or
binary horse, and in so doing they would
give the world a new power that would
possess almost as great an Importance
industrially as electricity. Already the
mere circumstance of use has in western
Europe produced a dog with extraor-
dinarily tough feet, heavily muscled legs,
sinewy shOulders-a dog which gets him
self down toward the ground and pulls
like mule. If this is the result of the
chance of mere use, what could not be
done with the design of skillful inter
breeding of hounds. mastiffs and bull
dogs?
The special advantage which these dogs
possess for our use in the arctics con-
ssts of their strength, which is greater
than that of the Eskimo or Siberian dog;
of their tractability, which is such that
one team will follow another even with
out a driver; Of their immunity from the
epidemics which carry off so many of
the packs heretofore used in the arctics.
and of their ability to get along with so
little food. We have been asked about a