The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-02-17
DOG CAUGHT BURNING FUSE.
Picked Up Stick Of Dynamite and
Chased Master Through Woods.
(Chicago Tribune.)

That. ones best friend IL at times
likely to be his ruination Is no better
exemplified than IN my own case
wherein. while hunting in British Co
tumble with no other companion thar
my faithful dog, came nearer 10 los-
ing my life than ever before or since. 4
was in camp With some of my friends
near the little town OF Moyie and on
the shore OF tbs lake of the same name
One seldom finds so perfect a spot for
all kinds or Wild game and at the same
tiins the waters are inhabited by the
Samest fish that ever angler trotled for
One bright afternoon. with my dog.
went some distance in n small Indian
canoe and anchored at point where
instinct told me schools OF pickerel
might gather
threw out two lines and. picking
up the anchor. began to troll up and
down the little bayou, but without any
startling results. / was convinced there
We're plenty Of fish in this part OF the
lake and could not understand why
they did not connect with my lines.
Soon patience ceased 10 be virtue. My
canine companion, always with hts eye
or the ''bobber," seemed tired also OF
watching the corks riding the small
waves. but never disappearing quickly.
as the true fisherman likes to have them
fade out Of view. I hauled in my lines
and rowed the canoe back to the camp.
1t would be more than an hour before
the other members of the camping
party would return, and / much dis
liked to quit for the afternoon without
even n single trophy. so I hit upon an
other ana entirely different plan. de-
cided TO force things.
] had often heard OF exploding sticks
of dynamite In the water as a means
nf catching large quantities of fish in
. short time, and no sooner had the
idea REQUIRED to me than / was OFF for
the town to equip myself with enough
dynamite for the experiment I 81
cured several large sticks and hastened
back to the canoe to begin operations.
To each stick of the explosive was at
tached long fuse. reconstructed that
one could drop the dynamite twenty or
Thirty feet into the water, light the
fuse and the fire would creep down
through a powder-filled tube through
the water to the stick of dynamite al
the bottom.
My first experiment decided to con-
duct from the shore so that ] could
nave a chance to run behind a big
bowlder after lighting the fuse to escape
injury. So / tied the shore end of the
fuse to stake, lighted it and threw
the stick of dynamite as far into the
water as the fuse would permit.
NJ sooner had I thrown it than my
deg. true to an old habit, leaped into
the water and swan to the point where
the stick of explosive sank out of
sight. I was almost stricken with
fright. There was but one course, and
that to retreat. I ran like a rabbit. and
gazing backward saw my spaniel run
ming toward me with the fuse in his
mouth and dragging the stick OF dy-
Mantle, little more than a mans length
from where he held the fuse in his
teeth.
The fuse was burning with great
rapidity, the dog insisted on keeping up
with me and a terrible explosion was
imminent. Suddenly. with great pres
enee of mind, I picked up a stick IF
wood and threw 1t toward the lake in
the hope that the dog would drop the
fuse and dynamite and go after the
wood. Sure enough. this is just what
he did. but the moment he dropped the
fuse and just as he was headed for the
lake the dynamite exploded the mo-
ment he passed over II and blew the
poor animal into atoms.
1 WAS thrown violently to the ground
by the force of the explosion and was
all but killed. 1 believe / have never
fully recovered from the shock.