St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1902-11-01
DO DOGS REASON ?
That One Dog Was Guided by
More Than Mere Instinct.

the growing interest in that line OF
literature, despite the preposterous-
ness Of some of the tales, and the al.
most impossible things credited by the
authors to horses. dogs, and other
animals, when related to him what
as boy. l had seen an uneducated farm
horse do, relates Cy Warman. in Sue
cess. The old horse had pushed the
barn door open and walked out. The
door, being out of plumb at the hinges,
swung outside the side of the barn
The horse turned about, hooked his
feed-feeler over the edge of the door,
slammed it shut. and started to walk
away, but he had closed the door with
so much force that it had bounded
open, though not so wide as before.
Then he stopped turned about again,
and closed it not quite so hard. This
time the rebound threw it open about
ten inches. The horse looked at it for
five or ten seconds, and then nosed it
up again very softly. It remained
closed and the horse walked off. When
midway in the barn lot he stopped,
looked in the direction of the barn,
| and then went to the water trough and
took long drink.
''Three months ago." said Mr.. Blank,
"a neighbor of mine died. At the
house they kept very ordinary dog,
which my neighbor had never made
much of; but, being kind, good
natured man, he had never bused him.
After my neighbours death, this old
dog would take his place on the walk
outside the gate to meet his master,
who had always reached home at a GER
tain hour. The family noticed the
dogs actions, but not one of the mem
bers of it could remember having ever
before seen him watch for his master.
yesterday I called at their home
and found a stranger there. The old
dog trotted across the room, but
stopped when he heard the strangers
voice. He looked at me, and l spoke
to him.
'The stranger spoke again and the
dog turned and faced him. The man
had not paid the slightest attention
to the dog, but the animals actions
were so unusual that l could not take
my eyes from him.
''The old fellow tilted his head to one
side, took few steps forward, and
then sat in front of the man and gazed
into his face.
''Next, he put his front feet on the
mans knees and listened intently,
while the man, needless of the dogs
familiarity, talked to me. He climbed
into the mans lap and looked up into
his face. Then he stood on his hind
feet, put paw on each of the mans
shoulders, and gazed into his eyes.
'It may have been only my imagina-
ton, but it seemed to me that had
never before seen such a troubled,
puzzled look in an animals eyes as
that dog wore as he stared into the
mans face and tried to reason it
OUT
'..What was the cause of his be-
havior?" I asked.
''The stranger said Mr.. Blank, twas
the dead mans brother, whom the dog
till that day had never SEEN"
The Way a Pocket Ii Picked.
The easiest, safest and some of the
most lucrative graft ever engaged in
was when I was boy robbing women
in the street or on crowded cars. Twas
at that time what is called a moll-
buzzer, fly that buzzed about women.
I worked with lack and one or two
other boys. Each of us had his par
ticular job to look after. I was gen.
orally the pick, dip or tool, the boy that
actually made the touch. My compan-
ions were stalls, i. e., they were to look
out for policemen, distract the atten-
ton of the victim and cover up my
operations. AS a rule one stood in
front of the sucker, one directly be-
hind him, and one was the lookout.
Then, when we had the victim lust
right, would do the dipping.-From
Autobiography Of a Thief" in Leslie's
Monthly.