The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1909-06-24
Dog That Carries Mail.
From the Baltimore Herald.

54MA@aa cTOIn MCuG bdlllIIlOTo I1cIdlus H5sseeR
OF all the mail carriers Uncle Sam
has in this big country none is more
novel than q dog out In Dayton, Kan.,5
duty 1t Is to meet a passenger
train twice daily n take the heavy
mail sack to his masters store.
When the sharp whistle of the train
is heard "Nep," a big st. Bernard, gives
crossing. The mall clerk kicks the
leather bag out of the car 0 and it
falls somewhere in the vicinity of the
road. Nep at once goes to the sack.
and. carefully taking it by the middle,
so that neither end will drag on the
where he lays he's sack down behind the
counter by the side of h wooden let
ter case, into which the mail Is soon,
distributed.
Day after day he performs this task.
rain or shine. The mail clerk watches
for him, nj the people Of the COM
munity are as proud OF him as they
would be OF a bright child.
Nep is 4 years old, but Is two feet,
seven inches in height, and weighs ESQ
pounds. He has no difficulty in carry
ing the sack, though h mail is often
very heavy with the weekly papers
from the county seat, for his teeth are
strong and he has carried over 100
pounds as a test of his strength.
He seems likely to perform the semi
official task for many years to come,
and the people Of his community think
that he Is entitled to a salary for his
services.
The train men dc not forget to throw
off something nice for him to eat on
holidays, but, even though the gift is
a toot1some bit of game or other meat,
he never touches it until the mail of
Uncle Sam is safe in h postofice.
-
With Master to the Last.
In a special dispatch to the Toronto
Globe, the thrilling story is told of the
tragis death of Sergeant Flood and his
leading dog, at Fort Churchill, where
they were frozen to death in the worst
storm hat Winnipeg has experienced
for 25 years:
"Dr. Flood was one of a party Of three
VINO went out exploring for timber.
When they left the weather was fair
and everything looked favorable. They
had prepared a camp. but found they
had dropped their grub box on the way
and We're without food. ~Laughingly the
act was noticed by DR.. Flood who
thought it not far away and offered to
return for it, jocularly treating any
offer of assistance.
He took the dogs back and as he
disappeared yer the snow the last OF
him was seen until his dead body was
found by a m%ournful search party three
days later.
while lie doubled back over the
track a snowstorm, which vas des-
tined to bury him, came up and he
lost the trail. Over the bleak wilder
ness, miles away from any chance OF
succor, unless he could find his way
to the camp, he wandered until he
dropped from exhaustion. The search
party found that he had guided the
dogs and when they instinctively
turned toward the camp he turned
their heads away and went further
into the wilds as the faithful leader
took the trail in the direction indi-
gated by his driver. That wonderful
instinct which has been noticed in
horses and dogs, who never seem to
Jose their sense of direction, guided
them, and had he let them go they
would have taken him to safety, but
he trusted to his intelligence in the
binding snow and persisted. Whenever
the trail left by him showed tina the
dogs were given their heads, they
1t, only to be turned away into the
very way Of destruction.
when the body was found 1t was
a pitiful sight. Flood lay in the snow
and his faithful leader lay alongside
Of him, also frozen stiff. Faithful to
the last, the dog had tried to keep
his masters body warm and had
persisted. The responsibility Of a lead
er Of a dog train is felt by tina ani-
NAL and when Flood dropped in his
tracks the other dogs bit themselves
free of the harness and each other
and sought safety, while the leader lay
down beside his master and with him
died In the snow