New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-06-05
DOGS THAT EARN A LIVING
Nany Ways in Which These Ani-
mails Are Made Useful.

Happening to glance at the papers affixed to the
church door IN a Yorkshire village. tho property
OF a well known and Justly popular earl IN those
parts writes c. J. Cornish IN THE CornhiH Maya
zine 7 noticed that his lordship had last year
paid taxes on seventy-eight dogs. oestoes his
hounds This included the dogs Of his sons. osugh-
tiers and grandchildren, but II represented SUD-
xtantiaI contribution to the national exche9uer
seven-e!ghths Of our dogs belong TO the ranks of
the unemployed and very properly taxed me
other eighth which work for their living. enjoy the
honorable distinction Of being tax Free very rare
and singular privilege in our dear country 1t
must however be added that among the gentsel or
tax paying dogs is a small and honorable class
which work strenuously ord exercise their brains
and bodies the service Of sport These dogs Ger
tainlv earn their living for they aid in the capture
OF game and save much less OF dead and suffering
OF wounded animals Consequently their claim 10
belong TO the active class is undeniable. AS many
of them undergo yearly competitive examinations
an the spring and late summer in field trials, they
are thoroughly modern and ''up-to-date'' animals
ard. though representing very old fashioned
canine line Of business quite progressive and In
touch with the spirit of the age Nothing is more
characteristic of the actually Of modern lie
than the way in which industries grow Up and
leave those who were engaged In the OLD ones
without employment and nothing is more charac-
teristic Of Engllshmen than the nimbleness with
which they skip from old trade TO new one
and avoid being left behind. AS with men, so with
dogs and especially with English breeds of dog.
They no longer carry the tinkers panniers with
a load OF pipcers and soldering irons on their
backs or draw the fish carts 10 Nottingham from
Grimsby or bait bears. track sheep stealers. or
turn the spit. But great is the affection ana
respect Of dogs for men, keen their eagerness 10
please SO unhagging their zeal when at work SO
strong their desire TO be employed that they are
ever ready and willing to learn new WORK anu 10
make themselves useful the times demand
The most recent evidence OF the 'transferahilty'
of dogs from complete ideness TO strenuous indus
try occurred recently on the Yukon and other
trails Klondke. As the gold fever brought TO-
syether all sorts and conditions Of men, and set
them to the toughest jobs in which all differences
of class We're sunk so the search for gold brought
together dogs of all kinds. sizes and occupations.
and set them all to work hauling sledges. No one
cared much whether the individual digger were
NAVY a clerk, an ex-acrobat a storekeeper
But they were most particular in inquring into
the antecedents of their dogs. and the value or
these was appraised usually in inverse ratio to
their civilization. What was preferred was half-
savage Indian dog while the dog Of civilization and
education was despised. But IN the end many OF
these. even performing dogs. proved their worth.
The mixture of classes in the canine society OF
The Yukon reached its acme when the Canadian
government decided TO send a police force up 10
Rlondike Previously this all sorts OF animals
had been drawing vehicles up the passes and on the
portages. Among them were horses, oxen' Elk
and goats but the three latter seldom got further
than thirty miles from the coast, owing 10 the
deartb of hay The native dogs bought up
rapidly at prices equal those which good horse
would fetch elsewhere. They were trained animals
sn which their owners took pride, and were ell en-
gagged to different persons contractors, before
the police expedition decided on. An agent
sent 10 the ukeliest spots in the Northwest re-
ported that he could not get a dog that was a
dog" for any price within the bounds of reason
The Governor then sent out another agent with
orders not TO be select in his selection.
USED TO DRAG SLEDGES.
d ham that
either because the agent wanted TO get back. or
because he was not such q connoisseur in dogs as
the other man, he returned with fine string of all
kinds Of creatures which would not have come
under his predecessors category Of "a dog that
was a dog" all. They were quite civilized
dogs; for instead OF going among the Indians. the
agent just went down 10 Lake Superior, North
Shore. and bought up everything from performing
poodles 10 the pet dogs of BARRIERS shops The
police achieved a marvel OF organization IN turn
sng many of this unframed assortment into useful
sledge animals. The result was that the dogs OF
civilized soon in competition with Indian
-'nuskies' and other native teams One set of fine
snongrels about the size of large Scotch terriers.
none Of them weighing more than forty pounds,
drew load of three thousand pounds over the
ice OF Lake BeHnet: The Siege vas 80, ava W.
bebiDG and out of sight encouraging them by voice
only gG and nd Inv % xseI Of rewards Bat the dogs
previously educated TO other business acquitted
team" says Mr.. Durham. His leader 0here
only TWO dogs in this sledge) was big Su!leIl
Newfoundland. a picture Of peSsiInisn personnel
The poodle had been recently clipped, and still had
the best tempered little beast Imaginable Every
time the stopped-and stops were frequent,
would caper around in his harness and DO every
thing short OF turning somersaults he stood on
his hind legs and turned backward in the harness.
and never was still for an instant" Our sympa-
thies go toward this poor little strOlllng actor
He might have made one Of the celebrated troupe
with NJ. Jolic1ur in Hector Malots story Sans
lamille." As an animal OF dransht' man was
pulled sledges without grumbng: man
could draw his weight and travel fifteen miles
a day The dog would pull load equivalent 10 his
own weight and travel thirty miles in day: The
dog language used quaint. 1t was mixture
OF English and Canadian French, used by persons
VINO mainly had no idea what the latter meant
they adopted it. The order to start ''machan."
chen The English converted into march onl
1t is commonly believed that the spotted carriage
about lie most useless Of the dog kind
maintained only for show and fashion. This is a
mistake. They were used al time when travel
ling carriage carried besides its owners a large
amount of valuable property, and the dogs watched
ing al country inns. We feel that we owe an
apology TO the race Of carriage dogs They are
not useless even now, but on the contrary, very
useful animals and no one appreciates them
more than the coachmen Of whose horses they
are the insepaTable companions; The coachman OF
the late Prince Batthyani told the writer that these
dogs were me pest OF alos IN framing spnltea
young carriage horses. The morse constantly
looked for the dog il by its side. paid
thinking Of its stable companion the dog that it
far less nervous, hdgetty and shy than when
phrase the pride of the park some readers may lty
remember this dog. 1t used to place itself exactly
driven out. and, trotting fast, would maintain its
place there to inch. either in the park in the
stables which were large the carriage dog always
had one favoTite horse, which he slept with. But
hight and sometimes reused to let the INDIGENOUS
nOStlerS