Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1897-10-02
DOG Fight IN A pARLoR.

OOG FIJI ID. In q IahI-ON.
There was an unprecedented hu
lively dog fight in the house of Mrs.
Mary Hickey, On Oakwood avenue,
Arlington, N. J f., On Tuesday night.
While the fight was in progress, two
women were frightened into Mysteries,
,ue fell down flight of stairs and an
other climbed up veranda post,
caught her foot in the trellis work, ann
aas unable to move uutil released by
the efforts of two men. The dogs
fought for nearly thirty minutes, and
broke or upset all the furniture in the
plrlor. When the battle was over,
blood from the dogs was found scatter
ed over carpets, walls and rugs. More
ttau 500 damage was done to the fur
uiture and brio al brac.
Mrs. Hickey, her daughter May, Mi
Mamie Gstfney, Miss Lulu Burns, aud
Thomas Burns were sitting in the Ii
,rary. It was about 8 o'clock when
Dig half breed mastif thrust himself
hrough the front screen door and
walked down the ll8ay to the dining
room. The big brute looked about and
then trotted over to the library,
where his sudden appe arance threw
Irs. Hickey into Mysteries. Vigilant,
her pet bull terrier, was asleep at her
eet, but before the strange dog had
more than half crossed the room the
thoroughbred terrier had jumped upon
be Intruder aud fastened its teeth in
he mastiff's neck. Iu an instant the
tight was on, aud rolling over and over
zach other from the middle of the H.
rary the two dogs crossed into the
parlor, growing and snarling.
When the fight began Miss Hickey
fled upstair. There the sound of her
nother's hysterical We eping penetrated
above the noise made by the fighting
logs. Her terror increased at the
sound, and, just as Miss Burns ran into
the room, she fell into q deep ia ut.
On the third floor Thomas Blu, MS, jr.,
and Peter Boyle were smoking. The
cries of the frightened women, the
noise of falling furniture, and the
yrowls of the savage dogs made both
men think that murder was being done
and they fairly tumbled from top to
lotion Of the staircase to find out the
cause of the trouble. The noise OF
their hurryiDg feet reached Miss Gaf
ney, who until this time had
remained in the library looking
after her hostess. When she heard
the uproar coming from new direc
ton, she, too, was pauic stricken and
H-d to the back porch, where she
jumped Upon the railing and climbed
up the trellis until she was six ieet
from the floor. The pillar of the We
randa has deep recesses, and in one OF
these she seated herself and wept
while the noise of strife indoors seemed
to rrdouble its intensity.
The dogs had been fighting ten min
ntes probably, and Vigilant still main
tanned his hold on the mastifi's throat.
The big dog had bitten his antagonist
in q number of places, and one of Vigi-
laut's forelegs was half torn away
Blood was pouring from the wounds OF
Doth animals and running furniture and
carpets. So savage was the fighting
that the three men could not separate
the dogs, and the best they could do
was to remove the most fragile and
valuable articles from the parlor and
let the dogs fight it out.
Next Miss hickey recovered from
her swoon in the upstairs room and
started to 60 down to her mother, who
was screaming hysterically. AS she
reached the middle OF the staircase she
saw red napkin on the lower hail
floor, and, thinking it was portion OF
her mothers gown drenched with
blood. she fell to the bottom of the stair.
case in a fit of violent Mysteries, from
which she did not recover until alter
midnight.
Several neighbors came in at the
time, and by sheer weight the two dogs
were forced into corner and Vigi-
lant's grip on the big dog was
broken by choking. AS soon as releas-
ed the mastiff scudded through the
hall and through the crowd outside
and disappeared up the street.
When the women had been partly
Gained ard some kind of order brcu .bt
spout in the wrecked parlor, the sb,
sence of Miss Gaffney was noticed, and
onick search revealed her still cling
ing to her seat near the roof OF the
yerapda with one of her feet fastened
in the trelis work. 1t required the Ell
forts of two of the men to lift her from
her awkward position. Vigilant was
fond to be badly mutilated, but he was
ss full OF fight as when the battle be-
pan. His wounds were dressed by ve-
terinary surgeon.-[New York Sun.
Co-.-Mcy yaro