The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-11-27
DOGS AS DRAUGHT ANIMALS.
Interesting Facts About Their In
creased Use.

creased Use.
Washington Letter New York Post.
The use of the dog as draught animal
! is steadily increasing in Belgium, Ger
many, Switzerland and the Netherlands
according to recent consular reports, in
spite of the strenuous opposition of the
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals, and Notwithstanding the severe
discrimination against the dog owner in
all highway privileges and expenditures.
The dog has proved. to be so peculiarly
adapted to the needs of the small farmer
and the tradesmen and, withal, so easily
acquired and so willing and cheap SER
want, that the transportation of small
quantities of merchandise through short
distances is chiefly done by him in those
countries. In the cities he hauls the de-
| livery carts of the butcher, the grocer, the
baker, the milkman and the shopkeeper;
| in the rural districts he draws the peas
! ants farm produce to the market, and does
! many an odd service that commonly falls
| to the lot of a donkey or a horse. His
usefulness is, of course, strictly limited,
| by his strength no less than by the police
regulations, to "smaH teaming," but his
worth is evident in his persistent numer-
| ical increase. 1t costs nothing to train
a draught dog, little to feed him, and
but little more to possess him; he Is
| housed without inconvenience or expense;
he does his work faithfully and wen, and
in these potent considerations lies the ex-
planatoin of his widespread use.
The draught dogs are harnessed from
two to six abreast in a two or four-wheel-
| ed cart When a single dog is used, he is
| hitched to a. shaft underneath the cart,
and merely aids the driver, who, pushing
| from behind. does the greater part of the
work. The harness is simple, consisting
/ Of CT CT Of
er, passing around the breast and tapering
| back about three feet on each side, length
ened by traces of cord or leather, which
are attached to the whiffle-tree. The col
| lar is held in place by a back-band and
girth, and the leather muzzle, which all
dogs, In or out of harness, are required to
! wear at all seasons when outside their
owners premises, serves as a bride, and
completes the working gear The two
wheeled cart is about four feet high,
weighs some $50 pounds, and is provided
| with long handles which are held by the
driver, who guides and balances 1t, while
| the dogs, hitched to an iron bracket trot
beneath The four-wheeled cart, which is
used almost exclusively, in the country
and remote villages, is two and one-half
feet high, weighs about $50 pounds, AND
is usually drawn by four or more dogs
| harnessed abreast in front.
The cost of a draught dog varies con-
J
naturally being important factors in de-
termining it. In Client a young dog of
! ordinary promise may be bought for So
| or 81; a well-traiped dog, between l and
years old, will cost from $40 to $l2, while
! SIS is asked for very fine dog. In Brus-
! sells good draught dog sells at from 60
10 125 francs &115S to $2412). In Antwerp
| the prices are. about the same, a we'll
! trained, strong young dog costing from 81
| to 800 while 6-year-old dog can be bought
for a sum between IS and $40. In Frank
! fort, Germany, the value ranges from $15
to S25; in Lucerne, from 20 to $50 francs
! (s1351 to $3.50.
/ Food and maintenance are trifling items
/ of expense. as full-grown dog can be
| kept strong and healthy on the kitchen
/ waste of a household of five or six. In the
country districts the food is milk, bread,
/ and vegetables exclusively, and, although
| it is apparently insufficient the dogs
/ thrive. IL the food must be bought a
stable of six dogs can be kept>at an expen-
! diture of about six cents each per day.
/ Carts and harness may be had to suit the
! purses of the purchaser. The peasants
| four-wheeled cart, the crude product of
| the village smithy, and a make-shift har-
ness, roughly pieced together from odd
scraps of leather and twine costs little or
| nothing, while the two-wheeled delivery
| cart of the prosperous shopkeeper, bright
! ly painted and gayly decorated, and a
| harness studded with polished brass rivets,
cost from $50 to S75. 1t must not be sup
posed that the peasants cart and team
| cost any considerable sum. He is content
to press a stray cur into the service when
ever 1t may be his good fortune to find
one, to make his own harness from the
material he may gather from the road
side, to construct his own rude cart and
! to let his dogs forage for themselves.
! The plains of Western Belgium and Hol-
/ land are especially suited to the use of
dogs as draught animals, while few are to
| be seen in the mountainous districts of
| Switzerland, where their use Is confined to
! drawing messengers from village to village
| and to haul the ragpickers' carts. But
even in gently rolling districts a team Of
dogs, strong and spirited, attached to a
| lightly loaded cart, can out-distance as
many horses on long hauls. For instance, a
team of draught horses will make the
| journey from Client to Brussels, a dis.
| lance Of thirty-four miles, in four hours,
while team of dogs will travel the same
! road in three hours without apparent ia
! tigue. 1t is impossible, however to deter
/ mine even an approximate average OF the
/ weight a single dog, can draw through a
| given distance in given time. Somewhat
indefinitely, il may be said that six dogs
can draw a load Of 800 pounds during sew
eral consecutive hours without sign OF