Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-11-23
LABRADOR DOGS.
Their Bloodthirsty Instincts When
Human Nature is Weak.

From the Brooklyn Eagle.
AS the Labrador mail steamer pushed
into the strait one of the officers said;
Now listen, and you'll hear the Battle
Harbor Band" In moment the whistle
blew to announce our coming, and almost
Immediately from the shore arose
strange sound-a blend of song. yell and
roar 1t assembled along the scale till 1t
suggested a riot. One might fancy cries
of rage screams of command, howls of
pain. There was a fierce crescendo; then,
after a time. the noise died away into
a murmur. 1t was welcome by the
"huskies," or Eskimo dogs. AS we APP
preached we could see these wolves-for
such they are-seated with their noses
pointed straight at the zenith, singing as
If their hearts would break When We
landed several of them assembled to see
us come ashore-not with the slightest hope
Of advantage, for they are kicked oftener
than they are petted. The husky is trifle
larger than collie. He is shaggy, has
pointed ears. is more or less battered, and
there is an adage that IL you give a dog
bad name you must hang him. The husky
has the most evil of reputa tions, but he is
oftener dubbed and whipped than hanged,
because hanging takes time.
/ saw no misconduct on the part of these
animals myself They usually gathered
about the fishflakes or the rocks, where we
made our landings, and watched us narrow
~ as we went ashore. grinning sardonically
with an Il could an If / would expression
and sometimes lifting their heads bit
or tossing them one side if they saw
kick coming in their direction AS a rule,
the fishermen and "liveyeres'' paid no at
tention to them, but now and then man
would sheer off little with a command
to Get out, you brute!' "a command that
the dog would obey or not, precisely as he
pleased, for the prevalent attitude among
the pack would be one of half-concealed
ron rnrlh hey eli lFa he h,r,,,
there is reason enough for it. They get hard
fare. hard words and hard work from it,
and why should they love 1t? Yet, they tell
me that they are fond of the human race,
as meat, and / was cautioned that what
ever foolishness L might commit when
ashore, l was not to slip and fall for
that would be the signal for the dogs to
eat me- This was consolng for one whose
shoes had just been cobbled with steel
nails, which, being slippery, will guarantee
falls anywhere and ought to be forbid by
law. Yet l took these yarns with several
grains of salt. l saw two cases of bloody
murder while in Labrador, while l believe
1t is a fact that the little son, aged three
of the factor in the Hudson bay post at
Cartwright, fell when he was set upon Be
fore he could be rescued the dogs had In
hicted forty wounds on him. He was made
comfortable possible In a box and carried
to the hospital at Battle Harbor, and the
entire pack of twenty dogs was shot next
morning. We found another one there of
hppaieHu lHe same instincts as the one
that had disappeared SO suddenly and pos
sibly 1t was as we'll to kill animals that had
tasted human blood People who go aside
from the settlements are advised TO take
cudgels, whips or firearms In case they
should meet any of the packs, for If the
dogs were suddenly to exhibit hunger the
meeting would be unpleasant. Because of
these dogs it is impossible to keep livestock
of any kind in Labrador. There is one
mule. to be sure, at a sawmill they have
establlshed on Hamilton inlet. but that is
quite a way from any of the settiemants
The mule frightened the .liveyeres'' nearly
to death when they saw him first. and /
suppose. as reports of him pass from set
tiement to settlement, he assumes proper
tons as important as those of a Iebyrin-
thodon or megatherium. and vices more
extravagant than the boojum's and the
sharks.