The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1897-12-24
MY FRIEND CARLO.
~ ~ ~
A STORY OF ANIMAL
SkGACITY.

uulIlLOuSlN, NcHlulO W OhCl al dOoo
lutely authentic sketch of one whose
transcendant merits while in life well
deserve such recognition.
To give a detailed account of this
noble creatures extraordinary doings
would fill large volume; therefore
will confne myself to recording a few
of those which deem the most notable
Early in the spring of 1888, when
was nine years old and living in the
township of Toronto, Canada, my father
bought from the six Nations" Indians,
then occupying reservation on the
river Credit, eight miles from our farm,
a dog, whom, in honor of a deceased
predecessor, we named Carlo. This ami
NAL was said to be then two years old.
He weighed, perhaps, 60 pounds, and
was not particularly prepossessing in
appearance, being of mixed reddish
color, with an unusually large head,
dropping ears, tremendously powerful
jaws and tail no more than ten inches
long. That member had never been
locked, however, but was an heredi-
tary popularity, as was amply proven by
the fact that many of Carlos progeny,
which, after awhile, became quite numer-
Gus in our neighb orhood, were brought
forth with precisely similar tails-a
very strange, and so far as my observa-
ton goes, quite unique circumstance.
1 have known hundreds of dogs born
with only documentary tails, but never,
except in this instance, of any that
came into the world with one apparent
~ cut off in the middle.
At first none of us thought much Of
Carlo; but it was not long before we
discovered his value, and to me he soon
became a constant companion, play
mate, protector and friend. Little by
little, as his good qualities were re-
vealed, we found that his sagacity was
wonderful and his courage and faith
fulness beyond all praise. Not only in
one role did he excel, but as watchdog,
hunter, retriever, cattle driver and
sheep herd he was perfection itself. He
feared no living thing, and would, on
OCCASION, tackle bear, wolf or lynx
rs readily as deer, fox or rabbit.
OF course he could not, unaided, kill
n full-grown bear nor an adult wolf.
but would often harass and detain one
Or the other until the pursuing hunter
got near enough to shoot it; but he did
once, after a terrific fight, kill large
lynx, an animal so formidable that not
one dog in thousand will face it.
A curious popularity of Carlos was
that although the game he was at the
moment chasing might never have been
sighted by the listener, any such.
thoroughly familiar with him, could al
ways tell of what kind it was merely by
the dogs manner of baying, and also
whether the scent was fresh or stale.
He had one style of bark for deer, an
other for bear, another for a wolf and
still another for fox, wildcat, rae
coon or what not.
He was the very best "coon dog" l
ever saw or heard of, and would kill
Dne of these mischievous creatures,
however large and fierce, in less than
five minutes after coming up with it..
The raccoon always throws itself upon
It's back when fighting, and, instead OF
diminishing around, swapping at and
tearing the skin as ordinary dogs do,
Carlo would instantly seize it by the
throat and never let go until it was
dead, thus not damaging the pelt at all.
Between the ages of II and II years
coon hunting by night was one of my
favorite sports, and when following
Carlo his voice always told me as plain
~ as by articulate speech whether he
was running on hot scent, had caught
his quarry on the ground or had freed
it. In the latter case my comrade and
I would build a fire and chop down the
tree, whose top could scarcely crash to
the earth before Carlo would have the
coon. Never once did he Jet one escape
to another tree.
Altogether, aside from the fact that
their skins were worth in the proper
season so cents each, it was very neces-
sary to destroy these obnoxious though
interesting animals. as they wrought
sad havoc among the green corn and
oats and not infrequently carried of
outlying young ducks and chickens.
1t was a singular idiosyncrasy of Car
los that, although born among ane
brought up by Indians, he would never
after coming into our possession, lei
one of this race approach the house
without showing the most violent an
ger, and if the red man still persisted
he would seize some part of his dress
and prevent his farther advance unit
some member of the family interfered
Even then he would not lose sight O.
the unwelcome visitor until he had fol
lowed him beyond the boundaries O
our 400-acre farm-all of which, in ;
beast of so much intelligence, clearly
proves, think, that he had been cruelty
treated by his first owners.
On three several occasions this dos
saved my life, each time displaying ;
surprising degree of calculating judg
ment.
Through the whole length of oul
farm ran stream called Etobicokt
creek, and in June, few months afte
Carlos acquisition by us, when hac
gained his love and confidence, ther'
occurred one night tremendous down
pour of rain, swelling the creek to ;
wide, deep and dangerous torrent. Go
ing next morning. as usual, to bring
home the cows, then pasturing on thu
farther side of the stream, very rash
ly, instead of going around by a rather
distant bridge, attempted to ford thu
angry flood. But in moment wa
swept off my feet and by the outward
set of the current whiried like feather
toward its turbulent center. Being a.
that time unable to swim, would Ger
tainly have drowned then and there