Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-11-08
CANINE PETS OF THE POLICE.
The Strange Friendships Made in Mid
night Watches.
From the Savannah New

| From the Savannah News.
But few persons know much of the day
| life of the policeman and fewer still that
of the long and lonely watches of the night
| Out in all sorts of weather, and the most
lonely hours of the night between midnight
and dawn there is little wonder thae the
policeman has many strange experiences
and makes strange friends, often OF most
unusual kind, and that also, like the sailor
being often left with nothing to do but give
free reign to his imagination, he has In
| many cases imbibed with the midnight air
and quiet a large stock of superstition.
| One of the most familiar features OF TINS
night life of the average patrolman Is the
! frequent and lasting friendships formed LOT
| them by dogs, and not infrequently cats,
| though the latter animal Is much the more
conservative In this respect and Its attach
ment of much shorter uurdllou liAaii that
of the canine family.
Just why dogs should show sucn pre-
objection for their blue-coated 1rlenos II Is Is
difficult to say. Some OF the police are OF
the opinion that the animal. being lonesome
Is naturally attracted to the only living
thing in sight, and thus seeks the com,
pany of the officer purely from his social
instincts; but this theory will not mold go1d
for there are many cases on record among
the men where a dog would follow one pa
trolman, but refused to nave anytnlng
whatever to do with any other man, even
to the extent Of deserving the beat during
the change Of the relief when Its particular
friend would be of duty
Re the cause of the attraction what 1t
may, the fact still remains that tnere seems
to be natural instinct in the dog that
leads him to take kindly to the policeman.
1t might be inferred were the nrst theory
of the lonesomeneSs of the dog to De ac-
cented that only homeless animals would be
TINS attracted but 1t Is further contra
diction to the theory that this is not so. and
that dogs the valued and petted faVorltes.
have deserted their homes to follow police
men. :. 49,,
MANY are the queer stories told of these
animals. By far the best known OF them
was "Sheeby," a large white bull dog that.
though owned by another man. was until
his death the inseparable companion OF De-
tectiye J. J. Shea, then patrolman. "Shee-
nv" is credited with almost human knowl-
edge, and was an invaluabie any 10 Snea
in many of his contests with the denizens
of the tough quarter of the Fort Should
a man that Shea wanted attempt to escape
by running Shelby always gave chase ana
ting a grip in the rear OF the fug1tives
trousers. When there were more than one
prisoner, 1t is related of this anima! that
Instead Of holding on to one ne trled TO
best serve his master and Justice by run
ming between the legs of the flying refugees
and tripping them up. One night he not
only chased burglar severai h huno ts
man thought to secure his liberty by plung-
ing into the canal. the dog followed and
secured SO good a hold on MIN .hat, lear
out and give himself up If the officer would
but call off his dog.
Another dog that was known to nearly
every man on the force was that of cur
that elected to follow Patrolman Crimmins.
She evidently had no horne, for, except
when with the officer on his beat, she in
sisted on making her home under stoop
near the barracks. where she could be in
sight of the sally port. Each day when
Crimmins came off duty the dog left him
at the sally port and met him there when
he went out again.
Still another dog deserted his home so en-
tirely for Patrolman McQuade that its own
err finally made him present to the officer,
who still possesses him.
Some of the policemen are rather pleased
than otherwise to have their animal friends |
along but others consider 1t distinct dis