The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-05-17

Murchison, who lives next door to
me. wants 10 get rid of a dog, and if
you know of any one who wants a dog
i wish you would let Murchison know.
Murchison doesn't need 1T. He is tired
of dogs, anyway. That is just like
Murchison. Way up in an enthusiasm
one day and sick of it the next.
Brownlee-Brownlee lives on the
other side of Murchison-remembers
when Murchison got The dog. 1t was
the qleerest thing, so Murchison saws
you ever heard of. Here came the ex-
press wagonZAdams Express COM
pany's wagon-and delivered the dog.
The name was all right-"C. P Murch-
ison, Gallatin, Iowa." and the charges
were paid. The charges were $780, and
paid, and the dog had been shipped
from New York. Think of that!
Twelve hundred miles in a box, with
can of condensed milk tied TO the box
and please feed" written on it.
When Mu-chison came home to din
ner there was the deg. At first Murch-
isOn was pleased: then he was sur
prised: then he was worried. He hadn't
ordered dog. The more he thought
about it the more he worried.
If l could just think who sent it"
he said to BrOwnlee, then l would
know who sent il; but can't think. 1t
Is evidently valuable dog. l can see
that. People don't send cheap, in
ferior dogs 200 miles. But 1 can't
think who sent it,"
What worries me-" he said to
Brownlee another time. sis who sent
IL. l can't imagine who would send
me a dog from New York. l know so
many people, and like as not, some in
fluentiai friend of mine has meant TO
make me a nice present and now he is
probably mad because 1 haven't ac-
knowledged it. I'd like TO know what
he thinks of me about nOWr
1t almost worried him sick Murchi-
son never did care for dogs, but when
man is presented with a valuable
dog, all the way from New York, with
S2-S0 charges paid, he simply mas TO
admire that dog. So Murchison got
into the habit of admiring the dog, and
so did Mrs. Murchison. From what
they would tell me it was rather a nice
dog in its infancy, for it was only
pup then. Infant dogs have a habit of
being pups.
AS near as I could gather from
what Murchison and Mrs. Murchison
told me it was a little, fluffy, yellow
ball, with bright eyes and ever-moving
tail II was the kind of a dog that
bOunces around like rubber ball, and
eats the evening newspaper, and rolls
down the porch steps with snort. little
squawks of surprise. and lies down on
its back with its four legs in the air
whenever bigger dog comes near. In
color it was something like a camel,
but little redder where the hair was
long, and its hair was like beaver fur
soft and woOlly inside with a few long
hairs that We're not so soft 1t was so
little and fluffy that Mrs. Murchison
called ii Fluff. Pretty name for a soft
little dog is Fluff.
If l only knew who sent that dog"
Murchison used TO say to Brownlee, Il
would like to make some return. I'd
send him a barrel of my best melons,
express paid, if it cost me five dOllarsv'
Murohison was in the produce bush
ness, and he knew all about melons,
but not so much about dogs. OF course
he could tell a dog from a cat, and a
few things of that sort, but Brownlee
was the real dog man. Brownlee had
two Irish pointers or setters-I forget
which they were; the black dogs with
the long, Happy ears. I don't know
much about dogs myself I hate dogs.
Brownlee knows a great deal about
dogs. He isn't one OF the book taught
sort; he knows about dogs by instinct
As soon as he sees a dog he can make
a guess at its breed, and out our way
that is a pretty good test. for Gallatin
dogs are rather cosmopolitan. That is
what makes good stock in men
Scotch grandmother and German
grandfather on one side. and English
grandmother and Swedish grandfather
on the Other-and / don't see why the
same isn't true Of dogs. There are
numbers OF dogs in Gallatin that can
trace their ancestry through nearly eV-
cry breed of dog that ever lived, and
Brownlee can look at any one of them
and Immediately guess at its formula
one part Spitz, three parts grey
hound. two parts collie and so on. 1
have heard him guess more kinds OF
dog than l ever knew existed.
As soon as he saw MurchisOn's dog
he guessed IL was a pure bred shep-
herd with a trace of Eskimo. Massett,
who thinks he knows as much about
dogs as Brownlee does, didn't believe
it. The moment he saw the pup ne
said il was a pedigree dog, half st.
Bernard and half Spitz.
Brownlee and Massett used to sit on
Murchison's steps after supper and
point out the proofs to each other.
They would argue for hours.
All right. Massett," Brownlee would
say. but you can't fool me! Look at
that nosel II that isn't shepherd nose
I'll eat ii. And see that tall Did you
ever see a tail like that on a Spite?
That is an Eskimo tail as sure as am
a foot high.
Tail fiddlestieksp' Massett would
reply. You can't tell anything by
pups tail. Look at his ears! There is
ST. Bernard for youl And see his low
CT jaw. Isn't THAI Spitz? I'll leave it