Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-08-20
HOW sUPERFLOUs CANNES ARE
DESTROYED IN WASHINGTON.
THEIR PEDIGREE NOT CONSIDERED
They Are Temporarily Placed I'm n
Pound and Then shot-Their Re-
mains Are Very Useful I'm Many
Ways.
Ways.
Washinpfnn Post.l

e would find abundant material Tor mof
s odes to dead dogs. The death rate anon
( the canine population of the city has bee
s remarkably high since the lst OF Angus
6 and prospects are favorable for furtne
: increase. 1t should not be concluded fror
S this statement that there is an epidemi
: OF disease, that rabies or yellow fever
: cholera is prevailing among the city
thousands Of dogs; 1t is simply an evidenc
that Poundmaster Einsten is getting Il
: his deadly work and is busily engaged u
earning the salary which the District o
Columbia pays him annually to keep dow
its surplus crop of homeless, and parucu
larly tagless, dogs. Poundmaster Elm
STEMS record as slayer Of CANNES Il
even greater than that OF Sampson as
slayer of foxes and Philistines, and hi
efficiency is attested by the fact that fo
twenty years past he has been the mana
ger Of the abattoir at the foot of Twenty
third street. In this time he has ofiiciatet
at the execution OF thousands OF unfortu
nate mongrels.
Every day the death notice of some
body's pet dog appears in the daily papers
in the lost and found column, advertising
the disappearance OF a "Fido." 1nvaria-
bly, "Ffdo' has fallen into the net of the
dog-catcher and has gone to his happy
hunting ground. Everybody in Washing
ton who keeps dog knows, or ought TO
know, that the District exacts a tax of 81
annually for the privilege of maintaining
such a pet
TAG OR DEATH
This license is payable on the 1st of
July, and every canine that does not get
| one and have a tag TO show for it lays
| itself liable to the death penalty. 1t is
| rather severe punishment, and IL might
be considered unjust to compel dogs alone
| of all animals to secure a license TO live,
| but then Washington was built for man.
| and not for dog. 1t has long been GUS
| tom and practice with the authorities to
| allow one months lease OF life, a sort of
| thirty days Of grace period, in which dog
owners can secure tags, but promptly on
the 1st day Of August the poundmaster
with his corps Of assistants, consisting OF
two or three colored men who are good
runners, starts out with his covered
wagon, cage and net, and it does not take
long to collect load of unfortunate mon
grels.
Usually the first trips are taken through
the alleys and byways of South Washing
ton. If there is dog in the wagon to
start with when the driver turns into
some OF the side streets and he is a
good bowler, all Of the loose CANNES I'm
the. neighborhood run out yelping TO as
certain the cause, and to learn what af-
Fiction has befallen a member Of their
tribe. Then the dog-catcher who can
discern n tagless dog from one which is
provided with the legal right to live, as
far as they can see him, leap from their
seats. nets in hand. and start in pursuit.
Generally three or four small dogs will
stand about the wagon barking until they
are caught and quickly loaded into the
cage.
\ CHASING THE FUGITIVE.
Then there is a medley Of bowls, yelps |
and barks. more dogs appear upon the |
scene. and often by this means a dozen |
or more unfortunates are secured without |
going more than n block or two for them. |
Frequently there is n dog wiser tEan
others OF his tribe; he scents the death |
trap and takes to his legs, with tall |
negro following after him at full speed.
over backyard fences, through Cren
gates and into blind alleys the chase c, r.
tinues. until finally tae catcher gets tie
drop upon his game, and the net fe!s
and the poor beast is made priJoler.
Few of them ever get away from -'ell-
trained dog catcher. and when one is
especially obstinate and refuses absolute
" TO be caught, the negro is usually more
determined and continues to return at
intervals until he succeeds in his catch.
Anywhere from forty to fifty dogs are
killed at the pound every day during the
present month, and probably score or
more daily during the following month.
Then comes n little lull in the business
and there is a scarcity of dog meat in
the market. After being captured the an
imals are kept in a cage at the pound for
twenty-four hours and fed on meat. At
the end of that time If their owners do
not come and claim them and pay a fine
e 20 ha toy or limo |
an unlicensed cur. the executioner gets in
mis- deadly work.
The method is neither by electrocution
)r hanging, but IT is just as sudden death
md as effectual. The dog is lassoed,
lrawn out from his cage and led down to
| post in the rear Of the yard. There he
s securely fastened and shot in the fore
read with a .A-caliber pistol. A brief
struggle, and all is over with the tagless
anime.
MAKING USE of DEAD OURS.
without any further official ceremony
he. with scores Of others, is carted off to {
Patsy Mann's establishment down the
'iver but that is not his finish. There
s no portion of the dog which is not put
o some valuable purpose, proving that
lead dogs are of some use after all. The 6
,ody of the dog is dried and the fat rem
Tered, while the skin is tanned and the a
lair goes into plaster, and the bones
md other remains make fertilizer. Dog {
at makes the best kind of soap, and I
log skin good gloves, so that my lady S
70 driving or bicycle in gloves made of o
Fido's" skin, and returning home wash
er lily white hands in soap made from
err pets fat.
Many are the sorrowful tales which the 70
has poured into his ears by :
DOR girls who. after travelling way over =
D the pound, find that they have arrived
few minutes too late to save the life or d
heir pet and their tears flow abundantly Z
hen they gaze upon the stiffened form "
T "Fido" piled up like cordwood among a
core or more of less cherished CANNES.
young lady not long ago drove over to
ne pound in her handsome turnout, ac-
ompanied by her coahman and footman.
search of her lost pet. Her grief was :
liter when she saw the little fellow, a I
retty fox terrier. lying among the bodies y
{ several mongres, with a bullet wound ,
his head. Her dog had accidentally q
often away, and a search for him had
cen in vain, and although he had been
ept at the pound several days longer
ian is usual, because 1t was believed that
2 was household pet, he finally had TO
e like the rest Of them. and his mistress
nd arrived too late. She insisted how ci
yer upon taking his dead body back to
wn with her and giving him what she Al
lid would be a decent burial" al
Britain's Fruits and Vegetables. -.
Country Gentleman) in
An interesting statement of the sources