The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1899-09-16
Canine Sojourners at Green
wood Lake With Almost
Human Intelligence.
HOW THEY COMMUNICATE
Peculiarities and Wis
dom Surpass Those OF
Other Animals.

ssCan dogs talk?' is a question that is
frequently asked, says a writer in the
Newark Sunday Call That they can
and do communicate would be doubted Tor
a moment by anybody who watched the
actions of two dogs owned by VIII De
Graw, of Greenwood Lake, as hundreds
have watched them for several years.
Both are rather old for dogs, and per-
haps canine wisdom has come with age,
for they are certainly wise in many ways.
Hotel scraps have made them both ex-
cessively fat, but the fat has not gotten
into their heads, nor has it abated their
desire for hunting on the steep and rocky
mountain sides. .
Jack is a big black and tan fox hound
which some guest left at DeGraw's hoiei
ten years ago. He was then a ianky pup,
with all his ribs showing and his ears
almost touching the ground. HIS legs
grew in time, so that his ears did not
appear so disproportionate, and the wear
on rock n tear of briars made the ears
still shorter after he began hunting. he
was a born hunter, and it did not seem TO
matter much to Jack whether he hunted
mice. squirrels, rabbits, racoons, opos-
sums. ~groundhogs or wildcats, 50 long as
he was hunting something, and did not
seem to care whether his man was with
him or not.
Eight years ago Jack moved from Lake
side to Cooper, and his master, Mr.. De-
Graw, concluded to go there, too, ana
took charge of the Fuller House and the
Casino. Jack then learned every nook ana
Granny of the east side. from Jockey Hoi-
low TO Sterling Mine. and from there to
Tuxed and back over High Mountain TO
the AXE again. He found wild hogs there
to vary the monotony of hunting small
vermin, and they gave him great delight.
1t was at his time that McTrouble sent
DeGraw a bull terrier pup about seven
months old. Mrs. McTrouble would not
let her husband keep the dog at home,
because it ate doormats, curtains. rugs
and millinery, and did not pay any atten-
ton to rats. McTrouble called the dog
Pete, but the moment Mrs. De9raw saw
it she said: ooh, amt it pretty. Come
here, Beauty" and Beauty has been his
name ever since. however inappropriate
1t may seem. Beauty had not received
any feminine attention before, and ne
would not keep away from Mrs DeGraw,
who has ever since reciprocated his af-
lection. Jack shifted at Beauty and
turned up his nose, saying. what do you
expect to be good for up in this neck of
the woods? Why, you couldn't lick a
pinch bug or something like that, and
for months he disdained to notice the
smaller dog.
One day Beauty got under the wheels
of the bottler's wagon and his leg was
broken. He yelped once. forgetting that
he came from famous fighting stock. and
then he tightly closed his lips as he
thought of his breeding, and limped into
the storeroom, where Mrs. DeGraw was
generally to be found. She saw his
plight. and examined the crushed foot
and the broken leg. A young doctor aap-
pened to be a guest of the house at the
time, and he set the broken limb and put
1t in splInts. Beauty did not whimper
during the operation for was he not
raised by the late Mug Pagan, of Irving
ton. and were not his mother and father
winners Of many battles In the pit and
accustomed to having their limbs broken
and set? Beauty seemed to realize this,
and lay quietly in a bed of sweet hay,
in a champagne basket, after the bone
was set. There Jack came to see him.
and stayed for hours at a time. Perhaps
they mutely told each other what they
thought about the case, n probably
Jack intimated to Beauty that he must
hurry and get well, for the sake OF the
good times in store for them.
Beauty never attempted to tear off the
bandages and chew up the splints, as
many other dogs lave done, and as a
consequence the injured leg speedily got
well. While he was confined to the basket
he was the subject Of the tender solicit
tude Of all the children at the hotel. He
was always fond OF children and Is yet,
ever though he is no longer playful. Still,
he does not growl if a child pulls his tail
or slaps his chops, which would be a
risky thing for an adult stranger to do.
Six weeks after his injury Beauty was
around on all tours, although 1t was evi-
dent that he favored the weak limb for a
long while afterward. Jack was his on
slant companion now whenever the bull
terrier was outdoors. Beauty slept in the
house and Jack in one of the outbuildings.
Often Jack would come around early in
the morning and wait at the kitchen door
until the operations of the day began. An
occasional low whine from one side of the
door or the other would show that the
dogs were communicating with each
other, and when the door was opened they
would go up the mountain side by side,
the larger dog seeming to suit his pace to
that of his weak companion. Often they
would not return until late in the day,
when they would eat and lie down as If
completely tagged out. They have kept
up this companionship for more thar