The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-10-18
DOGS AS PRISON wAaDEns.
Some Arc Especially Trained for Such
Dufies.

Duties.
From time immemorial various kinds of
| animals have been employed not only as
| pets and beasts of burden, but as COM
panions prison Wardens and executioners
| In ancient times, and especially during the
| reigns Of the Roman emperors immedi-
! ately following the Christian era, it was
| customary to have the willing or unwill-
| ing Christian victims and desperate crimi-
| mails torn to pieces by wild beasts-princi-
pally lions, tigers, leopards, panthers and
| wild wolf dogs. AS such cruel barbaric
| fortunes went out of vogue the use of this
| method of disseminating human life
| was discountenanced, and step by step
| animals have been relegated to more
| peaceful modes of living. 1t has remained
for the German emperor to organize
| what may probably become a strong arm
of the German army-a division peculiar
to itself, to-wt An arm of the army
that consists entirely of huge, ferocious.
shaggy dogs, who are diligently trained
especially for the purpose of tearing
French riders from bicycles, the intelli-
gent brutes being drilled into springng at
the threats of dummy French wheelmen
clothed in the French uniform and pulling
them from their wheels.
By far one Of the most important duties
performed by Intelligent animals, how
ever. Is that Of Jealous prison wardens, as
they are found to be far more painstak-
ing and conscientious in their chosen work
than any human official entering heart
! and soul into their duties and never al
lowing themselves to be bribed into pas
sive inactivity. In addition, they are fear
ed much more by the desperate convicts
whose detention they safeguard, as the
criminal knows that if once caught he can
expect no mercy from them.
Dogs are said to be the most useful in
this respect and are employed not only in
America, but in Europe. But few South
ern states are without their pack of
trained bloodhounds, who, when once put
upon an escaped convict's trail, follow it
| up relentlessly until the hunted outcast,
like wild beast. is brought to bay in a
| tree out of the reach of the four-footed
| hunters or torn to pieces by the relentless
| pursuers. Especially was this true "be-
fore the war; and in most Southern
communities the knowledge that there
was 4 superb pack of man hunters held
under ready leash had a more wholesome
| influence than the too often ramshackle
affairs called prisons.
Siberia, the home of the Russian con-
| Wet, is noted for its terrible packs of
| Siberian bloodhounds, who will instinct
| lively and unerringly follow trail until
| they all join In at the death. No matter
| how cunningly or deftly the weary fugi-
| tive doubles. twists or turns, the dogs will
| patiently ferret out the tangle and inva-
| riably catch UP, unless the escaped pris-
oner can by some means either kill his
| pursuers as they come IN singly or else
floating down some stream, completely
| obliterate all traces of his whereabouts.
| Germany boasts of its canine prison
| guardians-large. shaggy animals, known
in the fatherland as "Ulmer dogs" anG
very much like the bloodhound of Eng
| land. One convict prison in the interior
| of the country has eight. whose sole duty
is to walk up and down, four by day ani
| four by night outside the walls and at
| tack any prisoner who attempts to es
| cape. Before the Introduction of these
speeches. wardens efforts to break GU
of bounds of this prison were common
| owing to the surrounding woodland
| which aided criminals in getting SEQ
| free. Now an attempt is rare and an es
cape practically impossible; even SHOULD
the prisoner be able to get out of bound
without being seen by the dogs he woult
be Immediately tracked and brough
down, for the animals have remarkable
smelling powers, and if the wind les il
their direction can locate a man withou
trailing him down.
One of the most unique four-foote'
guardians that keeps watch outside
prison in Siberia takes the form of al
enormous Russian bear. The animal wa
originally brought to the place when
cub, more than 20 years ago, by the war
den, who trained it as pet. The bear
as it attained maturity, soon learned it
masters duty. and before long took it
place as a recognized guardian of tn
prison, which position it filled with evi
dent enjoyment.
On one occasion desperate nihilist
who had been banished to Siberia for al
attempt on the life of the late car, AL
exander H., made several efforts to es
cape from neighboring prison. and ono
nearly succeeded after numbering a war
den. He was brought back, however, ant
confined in the prison outside which tn
bear did duty, as 1t was considered to b.
a safer stronghold than the one iron
which he had broken away. Not Ions
after he had been imnured in his new
involuntary abode he made what provet
to be his last break for liberty. Had i
not been for the bear he would undoubt
| ly have escaped scot free. One da.
frightful shrieks were heard and on goini
to the place when the cries arose thu
wardens were Mortified to find the self
, same prisoner in the grasp of the bear
All attempts to release him proved inef
fectual. The bear, in wild frenzy, wa
slowly but surely squeezing the breath o
life out of him in the suffocating con
strictive embrace that only a bear know!
| how to give, and in few minutes tn,
| convict, with every rib broken, lay an in
| ert, lifeless mass upon the ground. TIL,
warden who first brought the bear to tn,
prison has died long since, but the ANNA
| lives on and carries out it's duty as {
| faithful servant of the Russian govern
| ment, feared and dreaded by all oyel
| whom it watches.
A royal Bengal tiger has been called
into requisition to carry out the double
| role Of warden and executioner at the
| state prison of an Indian principally. Il
is undoubtedly one of the finest specimens
| of its kind extant in captivity and is
kept prowling about the prison yard, or
the lookout for those who try to escape
from the living death of a sitting Indiar
| prison in the walls close by. Witt
stealthy, catlike tread during the nigh
this graceful beast wanders around the
confines of the prison, ever ready tc
strike down and lap the blood of any vic
tim who may attempt to escape. Wher
| the date for an execution draws near thu
| tiger is starved for a few days and placed
in close confinement. Hunger produce:
| ferocity in the beast. and when the
| doomed man is thrown. bound into thu
den his is a fate which is short sharI
| ,irf feat I,Tt