The Mena weekly star., 1897-09-15
MY FRIEND CARLO.
 .x .x sx A STORY OF ANIMAL
 SAGACITY.
NToTwITHsTANDING the fact tha

NOTWITHSTANDING the fact thas IN dogs have been written of so vol uminously, venture to offer an abso- lutely authentic sketch of one whose transcendant merits while in life well deserve such recognition.
 To give detailed account of this noble creature's extraordinary doings would fill large volume; therefore will confine myself to recording few of those which deem the most notable
 Early in the spring of 1893, when I was nine years old and living in the township of Toronto, Canada, my father bought from the Six Nations" Indians, then occupying a reservation on the river Credit, eight miles from our farm. a dog, whom, in honor of deceased predecessor, we named Carlo. This ami mal was said to be then two years old He weighed, perhaps, 60 pounds, and was not particularly prepossessing in appearance, being of a 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 docked, however, but was an heredi tary peculiarity, as was amply proven by the fact that many of Carlos progeny, which, after awhile, became quite numer- ous in our neighborhood, were brought forth with precisely similar tails--a very strange, and so far as my observa- ton goes, quite unique circumstance. I have known hundreds of dogs born with only parliamentary tails, but never. except in this instance. of any that came into the world with one apparent ly 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 constant companion, play mate, protector and friend. Little by little. as his good qualities were re- yealed, 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 us watchdog, hunter, retriever, cattle driver and sheep herd he was perfection itself. He feared no living thing, and would, on occasion, tackle a bear, wolf or lynx as readily as deer, fox or rabbit
 
 Of course he could not, unaided kill 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 terrific fight. kill large lynx, an animal so formidable that not one dog in q thousand will face it.
 X curious peculiarity 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, am other for bear, another for wolf and still another for q fox, wildcat, rae coon or what not.
 He was the very best ''coon dog" I ever saw or heard of. and would kill one of these mischievous creatures however large and fierce, in less than five minutes after coming up with it, The raccoon always throws itself upon its back when fighting, and, instead oi skirmishing around. snapping at anc tcnripg the skin as ordinary dogs do Garls would instantly seize it by tut