Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-03-14
A CANINE TELEGRAoAER
He Also Understood tho Mysteries of
Poker.
These Extraordinary Gifts Enabled q
Deg to Prove a Valuable Help
to His Master.
From the Chicago Chronicle.


If people must tell telegraph stories why
not tell truthful and reasonable ones-such
s. are susceptible Of proof? For instance.
why has nobody the ught it worth while to
tell the world about Tanquary's dog? There
is narrative-beautiful, chaste and in
structive, and one to which every operator
on the Denver and Rio Grande from Denver
to Pueblo will swear. The facts are simple
and elevating. Tanquary was an operator
at Graneros. Col, metropolis made up of
freight car set off to one side Of the road
for use as a telegraph Office and the house
of the section foreman. sundry coyotes and
other wild fowl raised their voices in insur-
-rection in the night, and the sand and rocks
baked and quivered in the day. And Tan
quarry got lonesome.
Perkam sent him a dog. A mean-looking
animal OF mingled breeding, mostly bad,
and with tail of the length breadth and
thickness OF q banana. But he was well
come to TanQuary, who didn't even have an
occasional tramp to shoot at, or any other
permissible means Of relaxation. Tanquary
taught the dog to go to the section fore
mans house, where he boarded, and fetch
his lunch, although at first the dog was in
clined to make a Roman holiday of the
food, causing Tanquary much irritation and
fatigue f1cm beating him. The operator
taught the dog to stand on his head, to lean
sidewise, to chew tobacco and some other
accomplishments And on his own account
the dog secretly set to work to learn other
things, of which Tanquary knew nothing.
The two Nere much attached to each other,
as Is the case always with people of similar
habits
So much so that when Tanquary went on
his customary semi-annral trip north to see
If Denver was still there, and to help to
renovate, reconstruct and paint it, he took
the dog along. They had sundry adven-
lures. which may be passed over in silence
and sorrow. and finally brought up in
poker game behind a barber shop in Wau-
zee street, three utter strangers having de-
cided to gather in the telegraphers six
months salary. They played with great
energy and Increasingly, until the railroad
man had reached the dregs Of his pocket
book. He looked about him in sorrow. and
his eyes fell on his dog. which had taken
position on chair across the room, and
which seemed to be much interested.
'If you people are spcrts,' said Tan,
lars worth of excitement and we will 20 it
little longer! : ~
Then he told of the accomplishments of
the dog and put HIM through a few tricks
The dog seemed to be worried about it. and
you could see he was not at all satisfied
with his new duty Of masquerading as a
jack pot. The three sports, being satisfied
with the animals educational adyanta ges
acceded to the operators request.
Whereupop the game became one of life
and death Tanquary after the draw found
himself possessed of two kings and the
same number Of tens. All but one of the
strangers fell by the wayside and Tan was
getting worried about the single opponent
he had, for the fellow had held up three
cards. The operator weighed his hand
looked at 1t, felt it and tested it by all his
other senses, for he didn't want to frftter
away his dog on nothing. Suddenly he
heard a sound as Of the falling of mamma
His Geographic ear caught from some mys-
terious source these Morse characters: