The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1899-12-31
WORSHIP OF DOGS
A FAD IN FRANCE.
Women Arouse Indignation of Re-
IigiOus Bodies by Paying High
Honors to Deceased CANNES.

HOnOrs to Deceased CANNES.
nOG worship seems to have taken pos
" session of the feminine world of
France. Nothing is too good for Fido.
or Clip, or Bijou. jewelers. have surpassed
themselves In the matter Of artistic col
lars set in gems. Harnessmakers have in
vented wonderful harness. Modistes have
created dog blankets of gorgeous materi-
ais; furriers have placed fur dog coats up
on the markets, and the dry goods stores
sell 'mouchoirs pour les-chiens" by the
dozen. Dog houses. dog beds and other fur
niture take up considerable space In the
furniture stores, but 1t has remained for a
group Of hysterical women to found dog
cemetery, where dogs are inferred with
more ceremony than the majority Of hui
man mortals not blessed with an album
dant supply Of this worlds goods. The
"potters field sufiices for luckless human
beings with no friends to- do for them"
but dogs are buried in state and their
graves marked with tombstones by the
feminists of Paris, who having run the
gamut OF all the causes of human misery,
now turn to dogs.
When the proposition to provide dog
cemetery was first proposed by several
womens journals, several months ago, no
one took the proposition seriously. Several
masculine confreres spoke witheringly of
the ACCESSIBILITY of women devoting them
selves to worthier cause, but the subject
gradually dropped from public attention.
This did not discourage the coterie OF
women interested in the affair, and they
quietly went to work to carry out their
plan.
An anonymous society, known as the
Society for the Dog Cemetery" was
formed; stock was issued and placed on
the market at IS share. Contributors
were informed the investment might be
ttxyn md tnts% yx<
nothing more than charity-that of pro-
viding a last resting place to the well-be-
loved Yoto or other canine favorites.
Enough silly women were soon found to
contribute the necessary funds. and today
a handsome dog cemetery. surrounded by
artistic walls. is an accomplished thing.
The ground chosen for this latest nlonu-
pretty suburb of Paris The site is an is
land in the Seine known as the Isle Of the
Ravageurs. The. walls are quite mag
nifcent. The gate of honor is in wrought
iron, ornamented with gold. Two battle
ments of imposing proportions are on each
side of the gate. The whole is little
chef d'oeuvre and most curious addi-
ton to the monuments of Paris. The is
land was chosen because the neighbor-
ing inhabitants are fond of dogs and were
glad to have cemetery for them In this
district.
When a fashionable woman has the
misfortune to lose her dog she at once no.
titles the cemetery society, which makes
all the arrangements for the interment.
The grave is chosen and dug. and is lined
with myrtle or evergreens; then the soci-
ETY. sends a hearse for the body for which
a suitable coffin has been provided.
The hearse was especially designed for
conveying lost pets to their last resting
place. 1t is particularly up to date-a
black car for the coffin, drawn by an
autocycle ridden by a groom in black
livery.
The members of the family are at liberty
to follow in carriage, or to take the cleo
trio tram, which runs to the cemetery,
Fashionable women send what is known
as "faire past" to their friends upon the
death of pet dog-that Is to say, a card
announcing his death, just as the de-
mise of human relative Is announced.
One of these cards recently sent reads:
Madame -: We have the regret to
make known to you the death, in his
thirteenth year, of our faithful. devoted
friend. the brave Bijou, who defended his
mistress and upon one occasion saved her
life He reposes in the Dog Cemetery
Asineres, where any one may visit his
tomb. Think OF him."
Any one not having received such mis-
sive would be inclined to consider the
existence of such customs in the light of
a joke.
The respect thus layished on the re-
mains of pet dogs called forth violent
Indignation upon the part of the religious
world of France. 1t was considered as a
lack of respect for the dead--an inten-
tional insult to Christianity. The clergy
took the matter up and declared 1t a sacri-
lege to inter dogs with any ceremony.
Public opinion was so strong that the
cemetery society was forced to take It into
consideration.
A meeting was held and a few DAYS
later the following notice appeared in the
feminine journals:
We must reply to the numerous ut
lacks made relative to the functions of
the dog cemetery. Many of our readers
are afraid that the tombs of animals Will
be covered with religious emblems. We
formally state that no religious cere-
monies viii be performed a. the rraves-