Norwich bulletin., 1910-06-11

Swritten Specially for The Bulletin.)
 It's dogged as does it." You may have heard the phrase-English, in- Yer. from the spirit as well as the man. uer of it My Webster says that the word ''dogged' comes from dog and ssgfves a very unpleasant definition of
 ts meaning: "suriily obstinate" But <s used in the English saying quoted St doesn't mean just that. I fancy that our old friend Noah Webster didn't like dogs: So he naturally found ugly meaning in "dogged." But you and I like them-in their places. There are many things in dog nature which some men might initiate with profit to their fellows. It isn't by any means true that surliness is the chief characteristic of dogs. Loyalty, faith Fulness. unsparing devotion to duty as they see it-these are also traits of dogs Also. in many dogs there is a gteadinees and fixity of purpose, a de- Termination to do their task no matter how long 1t takes nor how much it costs nor how many wounds they get sn the doing of it. It is these quail kies which I understand to be included tn the character described as s'dogged-"
 Of course, there are dogs and dogs. q once had one who was rattle
 Uzg ever wore fur-or pantaloons- tf he saw a woodchuck forty rods away 5ne'd start after the critter with a burst Df yelps and a fingfng about of legs that called on the universe to sit up and take notice what a kill he was going to make Of course, the wood chuck was safe at the bottom of its hole when Slivers arrived. and Mir. Pup had his run for his pains. Next day he would do the same thing on the same provocation. I don't think he ever got woodchuck for himself and by himself in his dog life. But old Bowser was different-Neighbor Hos- kins stuanp- tailed, ragged cared mon greL Bowser was not much to look t-S< 1rar -I<1 F0~- eprinter. But he used to have wood chuck for dinner quite frequently. He might pass within ten rods Of a wood chuck sitting on the edge of its bur row in an open field, and you would never suspect that he even saw the beastie- But he had generalship in him, that dog did. Was there bur row to be found in his travels near which was 6 rock or g stump or a rlump of bIsshes7 He would mark that spot and in due course lay out cam paign of alnbuscade. Hidden behind cover. crouching, almost nose to the ttonless log, and apparently as un- interested When, after the manner of woodchucks. Chuclde had got through with false starts and had finally settled down to steady feeding, Bowser would wait till one fresh bunch of clover af- ter another had tempted 1t well away from its burrow. Then his short legs would stfffen under him and. without E sound of bark, he would dash-not for the chuck but for its hole. So, of course, would the chuck And which ever got there first was the best fellow In that affair.
 I've known that dog to wait a half day, watching g chuck he had found in en old stone wall. till Hoskdns came along and tore away some of the stones which were too big for Bowser to pull out or undermine. I have known Ehim to come in to his favorite outdoor ~e dr erfr 1 doh 1rr,<,< fthe carcass for due ripening to his taste, and then. his task done for the time limp off to the kennel and devote the rest of the day to dressing his nu- merous wounds and 'isleeping it off" But he stuck to his woodchuck from the moment he had marked 1t down his meat. he stuck to 1t despite hot sun or driving rain. despite weariness and hunger, despite temptations to chase rabbits or bark at squirrels, de- to his job till he had finished it. Then and not ti11 then-he began to take stock Of his own weariness and wounds.
 Now, that's the sort of thing I un- derstand by "doggedness." I don't care if Mir. Webster does use unpleas- ant terms in defining it. The sort of thing I have descrsbed can't be ad- 1ectived by any other single word than "dogged- And it's the sort of thing which doesn't call for uncomplimentary language. It's very admirable sort of thing. It's the sort of thing which brings results little more of it in ourselves wouldn't hurt some of us.
 Military men generally seem to con- eider that Lee was greater strategist than Grant He was more brilliant soldier But Grant was dogged fighter. He never knew when he was peaten-and 90 he never was beaten Foiled in one movement, he made an- other. Driven back at one point he threw himself inst the next one that seemed to offer a chance At tackfng Richmond at first from the north, and being there beaten back, he refused to retreat and lick his sores. The job was to be done and he was There to do 1t Some of us rerlember fhe thrill which went through the north