Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1902-04-22
Peculiarities of People

and seems to favor the theory that an
imals have souls. He relates that on
one of his journeys in the south, he
rode up to Crackers" cabin, where
tall, gaunt man in hunting shirt and
SLOUGH hat was smoking pipe and
caressing deer hound.
Halo. stranger" came the saluta-
ton. BE you a preacher?"
Yes" l answered.
Then I want to know If dogs kin go
to heaven. / can't read, but I've a
friend what kin, and he says he's read
In the Bible, plain print, about white
horses and black horses in heaven.
Now, stranger, this yer dog knows
more'n any horse on earth, and eff he
can't go to heaven, 1t amt no place fur
me, and 1 don't want to go thar"
The crackers faith has many advo-
Gates.
In every age there have been found
intelligent men and women who be-
lieved in the souls of animals, and who
have even argued for their immortali-
ty Both John Wesley and Bishop But
Ter believed and taught the Immortality
of intelligent animals such as the horse
and the dog.
That certain animals exhibit a
marked degree of reasoning power, af-
lection and moral sense which verges
close on the human quality we call
soul, no close student and lover of the
animal world will deny. AS to their
immortality. while as matter of SEN
timent we may like to believe that way.
yet, scientifically speaking, it is some-
hat f,,,.a To t1a n
animal what has not yet been proven
of the human animal. However, the
writer confesses that on the theory OF
evolution-which no sane person doubts
it is no whit less unreasonable to
place a limit on the progressive power
of the one, than of the other
e. P. Powell, in his admirable work
on Our Heredity from Cod" has a fine
chapter entitled Animals on TIL"
Road" In which he demonstrates that
"as we go forward from primordial life
we find one road of intelligence widen
ing upward to man, with all creatures
and all plants somewhere on this road.
Some are wholly arrested In develop
ment at one point or another; others
are cases of completion and exist as
automatons: others are so largely in
stinctive they retain little power o.:
progress" but the higher animals-es :
pceially among the domesticated-re-
but little behind man. And in view Of
the wonderful development from a stu
pid. wild ancestry of our fine pedigreed
stock, and It's capacity for instruction.
particularly noticeable in the show
mans trained horses and dogs, there
is no reason for supposing that, with
mans assistance, their progress may
not be indefinitely continued, until at
some point they branch off In the pro
duction of a new life as far above the
most intelligent animal now known as
civilized man is above the savage.
However this may be, certain it is
that since the wonderful crop of ami
NAL fiction began to spring up, ascrih-
ing to them speech, along with other
human traits. our attitude toward ami
mails has undergone a vast change, and
these creatures are having their In
nings. AS they have never yet been thus
honored in the T.-R. we have thought
1t no more than just to devote several
concerning these lower creatures, by a
series of Incidents collected from var
ious sources. Excluding the exagger-
atoms of fiction, and the imaginary
cases that exist only in the brain of tn,
reporter. we shall cite only such genu-
Inc and authentic cases as are youched
for by reliable witnesses. Commencing
with the dog, we submit this week to
cur jury of readers column of dog an
ecdotes as illustrating degree of in
telligence that can not be resolved into
mere instinct.
My landlady owns a small black and
tan, half terrier, half pug, as cute a
specimen of the dog world as one can
imagine. She has the usual tricks Of
standing erect. shaking paws, dancing
to music, asking for food, etc. She
makes known her thirst by climbing
UP and barking at the ice pitcher. She
has scarlet denim cushion made for
her own exclusive use She knows 1t
is her property and resents another's
use of it. She will leave her arm
chair on command, but will take the
cushion with her. If you dare to sit on
the latter, she proceeds TO rout you
out by barking, and If that won't work,
she fastens her teeth in it and pulls
1t out. She is exceedingly fond of
candy, seems to know when you have
it, whether concealed in your hand or
in your mouth, and will worry you I'M
til she gets it. She may be lying curl
ed up on her cushion, apparently
asleep. I may enter the room and
speak in low tone, almost inaudible,
Mrs. b., have some candy" AT the
last word Koot will leap from her
share with her Once, after giving her
a bit, 1 twisted the sack and threw it
on the table. Then showed her my
empty. hands and shook my head, say
ing, mo more" But she just simply
barked her opinion that / was lying.
and my bluff wouldn't work. She put
her front paws on the edge of the
table and tried to peep over, but was
not tall enough. Then she walked to
a footstool on the opposite side the
room, looked across, absorbed for
moment, as tho she were measuring
the distance, then she worked the stool
up to the table, jumped on 1t, and saw
the candy. Well, it was worth some
thing to see the look on that dogs
triumph expressed in
every gesture of her body from head to
tail.
A friend vouches for the following:
He was given large dog to take care
of for time, in the absence of his