Evening journal., 1899-07-06
BRINDLE DOGS DYING OUT.
Only Nine Now Said TO De Living In
nlinois-rhefr Peculiar
Trials.

Trials.
News Of the death of "Yelper,' the
famous brindle dog owned by James
Idler. of Calhoun county, calls TO mind
the fact that the brindle dog which. a
few years ago, was so plentiful in Amer
lea that he was the subject Of satire of
all American humorists, is now almost
extinct. Col George c. Gill, Of Olym-
plan Springs, KY, who has made a life
time study Of the 'brindle" in animals,
is in the city, and when told of the
death of Yelper said:
Zone would hardly be justified in
placing it among the possibilities that
man of extensive general knowledge
and accomplishments should so far for
get himself or display such amazing
ignorance of the subject, as TO assert,
as a certain author has lately done,
knowingly and willfully and publicly
that the 'brindle steer is an extinct
animal, as much So he says, as the
ichthyosaurus, the mastodon OF the
hypothenuse' Now, the truth Of the
matter is that in the state OF Illinois,
the 1895 crop of brindle steers is the
largest ever lnown-reportsto to the state
commissioner showing a gain Of 13
per cent. over that of 1896, and the last
decade shows a gain Of a little over 21
per cent. A gain is shown for 1898, in
every state in the union, except Arkan-
sas, which shows a slight falling OF.
Nov, while the brindle steer is on
the upgrade, it is a lamentable fact that
the brindle dog is almost extinct. lie
will soon be placed on the list with
the wild pigeon and the American BIZ
son. Scientists and biologists cannot
OF have not as vet been able to offer any
explanation of this decadence, which
has been exceedingly rapid.
"The Illinois census shows that in
the year 1858 were 9,347 brindle dogs
in the state; in 1860, 9,O1s; 1865, 6,51Oi
1870, 1,726; 1880. Col; 1890, 1877; 1898
43; 1898, o. OF the nine now living
in the state, seven of these belong tc
the wealthy coon-hnnters in Calhoun
J county. One OF these named 'Chawm,
is owned by A. B. Hunter, and last fal
at the cutting of a coon tree he brok'
the record by killing II coons in i
i. minutes. This can be easily verified
as Chawm is still alive and residing
with Mr. Hunter.
"The other two noted in the censu
report are twins, and have taken M
their residence with prominent farm
or near Vienna, johnson county. From
my own observation-and have alway
\ taken a lively interest in the matter
: find that a strange fatality, or rath
er one long continued streak Of ba'
= luck, has been constantly and contin
y ually with the brindle' dog family 70
v the past 25 years. These are some Q
= the things they had to contend with:
:. "An epidemic of 'distemper' break
i out in the neighborhood, it tackles tn
{ brindle dogs first and never deigns {
I bother the others as long as there
: n brindle left. A flock Of sheep is chase
at night. The farmer starts out wit
= his shotgun the next morning, but
n careful not to shoot a neighbor's do
without some evidence of his con
Il plicity in the raid, but if he meets
r. brindle dog he shoots him on generi
n principles. A coon tree is TO be Gu
l. If there are dozen dogs there, and
b one dog is killed by the falling Of I'll
tree, you may safely bet that it is
brindle dog. No brindle dog was eve
known to live in a town. Heis strictly
country dog. If he should by any chan'
S visit the nearest town, it is absolutel
IS sure that he will be compelled to figl
the first town dog he meets. Heusual
gets whipped in the first round.
y $50 many things of this kind see
y to be 'agin him that I think som
,s times that often some bright memb
N of this family becomes so discourage
that he commits suicide. Chicago i
W ter Ocean.