davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
Evening star., 1911-08-27
The MORNINGS CATCH

is = menace. even when he happens to
he is an alley stray. Almost I'm the
shadow Of the pound tho other day a pc-
liceman spied such an unmuzzled animal.
Thinking to save the trouble Of sending
a wagon for the dog. the policeman start
ed with IL To the pound On the way
the dog scored the officers hand across
with tearing snap of his jaws. and.
locked in a separate cage. the beast turks
In corner, growing and snarling. II 10
under observation now. to see IL IL ID
rabid. while the officer carries a painfully
cauteriZed hand around, bundled I'D In
antiSeptic .Swathings.
So the red wagon daily makes It's early
morning rounds: big Buck Parker whie-
ties while he dispoSeS of the days quota,
of homeless, ownerless dogs: those who
own the dogs, but refuse TO muzzle them.
Is the law requires, rage and imagine q
vain thine-namely. that the dog catcher
is doing piece work. and that he In paid
in proportion to the number of dogs he
brings in, which isn't true at all-he is on
straight salary. and gets 1t whether
he catches any dogs or not. But the
stray dog population doesn't seem to
decrease materially: the alleys and courts
and the side streets, as well as the main
thoroughfares OF the city. show little
apparent falling off in the number OF un-
licensed. muzzleless canine Ishmaels.
Poundmaster Kuhn is dreading the day
when the order for picking UP stray cats
goes into effect. Every dog may have
his day, but. as somebody has remarked,
the nights seem TO be reserved for the
cats; and when that cat order becomes
effective the force at the pound will have
to work double shifts-days for the en-
snarement of luckless dogs and nights
for the apprehension of the night-bloom-
ing feline.
And that is going to make II pretty
hard for Buck Parker.
Evening star., 1911-08-27

on 1 street. taken by Baron Rosen. ex-
pires this coming autumn. Friends of
Nine. Bakmetief say that it is but nat
ural that she would like to reign as mis-
tress of the Russian embassy in the home
of her father, the home from which she
went forth a bride. The house is emf
nently fitted for such entertaining as an
ambassador must give. The drawing
rooms cover large space and are of no.
BILE proportions, with high ceilings, beau
tifully painted. Gen. Beale had gathered
art treasures from every land and the
home stands furnished as it was during
his lifetime. With few accessories it
will be one of the handsomest foreign es-
Establishments in the city.
Besides being interesting in herself
and in her official status the circle OF
relationship which the new chatelaine of
the Russian embassy has would make
her important at any time. Through her
brother-in-law. John r. Mclean, Nine.
Bakmetieff is connected with Admiral
Dewey. whose wife was Miss Mildred
Mclean. She is also connected with Mrs
Ludlow, wife of Admiral Ludlow, also a
sister of Mr.. Mclean. She is the first
Evening star., 1911-08-27
IIIIlI
CAUGHT
BUcK PARKER :.
LANDING A MUTT.

the suburbs, and carrying them off to the
little whitewashed buildings at the foot
of I'D street-and the big zinc-ined box.
Any canine running at large unmuzzled
is prey for the dogcatcher. The dog may
Dc the pet of a family of the porterhouse
class. or he may CLEAN his living from
the garbage pals of Willow Tree alley:
he may rest his bathed and comhed car
cass on upholstered davenports or wear
the hair off his knobbed f1anks sleeping
on the cold bricks; his silver-plated collar
may bear the tag that says his 1911
license has been paid, or he may not
wear even frazzled bit of rope for a
collar. But il he hasn't the muzzle that
the health officers say he must
wear he is the dog catchers legitimate
prey, to be meShed in the big long han
died net bundled into the red wagon with
its heavy wire-barred doors and borne
away to that place from which mighty
few CANNES ever return.
Humane" persons frequently throw fits
about the muzzles that dogs are required
to wear for the protection of humanity i'm
general. Not long ago one of these '.hu-
name persons-a lady in the northwest
part of tOwn-observed spaniel in her
back yard. The spaniel was securely
muzzled. and he didn't like the muzze.
He rolled on the grass; he paved and
scratched at the wires and straps of the
contrivance. and anon he sat on his
launches and howIed. He wanted that
IluZZIe OH. ana lie was not ana IlfGU
and frightened, too.
X X
The humane lady went into the yard
and coaxed the spaniel to her. He came,
as friendly kiyoodle as ever wagged
tail The humane lady petted and caress-
ed the canine, and unbuckled the straps
of the muzzle. No sooner was the muzzle
removed than the dog, with a snarl.
bolted under the back stoop, and there he
Evening star., 1911-08-27

quently used as peck measures in the
rural districts.
The Virginian who conceived THE idea
of a mint farm evidently was not un-
familiar with the refreshing qualities OF
a julep. He has found a ready and good
market for all the mint his farm has pro-
duced. The farm has now been run for
three years, and its owner has accumu-
lated a pleasing bank account.
Among the rank freaks were placed
ginseng farms a decade ago. but fortunes
have been made by ginseng farmers For
merry nearly all the ginseng produced in
this country was exported to China.
where IL is used for almost every all
ment. but the physicians of this country
are now using IL very largely in their
practice, and immense quantities are
sold in the United States. Missouri leads
in ginseng farms. Perhaps none of the
queer farms are paying larger profits
than that of ginseng.
In some portions of Texas the prickly
pear has long been regarded as an un-
mitigated nuisance, but now that II has
been demonstrated that good denatured
alcohol can be made from the stems.
which heretofore have been thrown away
when the pear has been used for horse
food, the despised thing has become VAL
liable and the people of Texas are get
ting in their priclsy pear farms in the
edcius ItSioH. lHe pIlchl. pear IdiuB
promise to yield immense profits.
Uncle Sam is going TO establish another
camphor farm i'm Texas, and IL is be-
lieved that the new industry viii prove q
success. The crop requires no attention
except the sowing and harvesting and at
present prices an acre OF ground shoul0
produce not less than $50 worth OF
camphor. At present the Japanese gov
ernment controls the worlds supply or
but IL is now conceded that the
United States can raise just as good an
article. 1t has been suggested to the
Secretary of Agriculture that in estab-
fishing these camphor farms II might add
to the comfort Of a number OF persons 70
place them in close proximity TO the
skunk farms.
Evening star., 1911-08-27

seeming combinations. But in Russia
these sounds are represented by single
letter which is mellow and easy to pro-
nounce. Enthusiastic she is over the
language of Russia and its literature. 1T
is probable that Nine. Bakmetieff next
winter will make a study of it popular
and that she will give readings from
her favorite Russian authors for the
benefit of her friends.
Whether the old Beale mansion, long
untenanted, will he restored again to its
pristine glory the Russian embassy is
a subject in which Washington is deep
ly interested. Since the death of Mrs. Ed
ward Fitzgerald Beale. which occurred
about eight years ago. the home has been
closed except for a brief period when it
was occupied by Truxton Beale and his
wife last winter. The property was
decided to her only son, Truxton Beale, by
his mother. and he in turn has willed it
to his son, young Truxton Beale. the
child of his first marriage to Harriet
Blaine, daughter of James G. Blaine
This boy is not yet sixteen. and it is like
ly that it will be years before he would
wish to occupy such spacious residence.
Mrs Harriet Beale owns a house of her
own on X street. The Russian embassy
has no permanent home in Washington
and the lease on the present property
Evening star., 1911-08-27

dom OF the czar is making concessions 10
modern progress The foreign office or
ST Petersburg had an iron-clad rule tnat
no diplomatist having a wife from AMEN
lands should ever be sent to the capita!
OF rlat country. Russia has always pos
sessed a wholesome fear of feminine in
trigue. and it was the opinion of the
diplomatists at the helm that foreigners
were apt to embroi them in embarrass-
ments. and the rule was made to minimize
the danger as far possible. The same
rule held in Germany, but the kaiser saw
nt TO make the exception when he sent
the late Baron Speck Won Sternburg. close
friend of President Roosevelt whose
The experiment was eminently successful.
When Baron Won Sternburg died another
diplomat was selected also having an
American wife. Count Won Bernstorff.
whose wife. formerly Miss Jennie Luch-
meyer, Was born in New York city.
The next chatelaine OF the Russian en-
bassy will be an impressive figure in Of
dcial society. Unlike the ladies who have
been paramount at the Germany embassy,
Nine Bakmetieff is entirely American
and descended from heroic stock on both
sides of her house. The Baroness Won
only She was born in England and came
OF that well known London family own
ing the I-angham Hotel for many genera
tions. She spent her girlhood in Louis
vile as the guest OF her uncle. Arthur
Langham. The Countess Won Bernstorf
n only accidentally an American. Her
parents are natives OF Hanover. and her
Evening star., 1911-08-27

To Poundmastcr Kuhn they comc--curs
of low degree-"mutts" they cali them
there-and dogs of distinction alike. The
yellow alley mongrel rubs noses with the
fox terrier of lineage: the half-breed bun
dog shows teeth and "er-rr-rs at the
silky collie. and the flea-bitten coon hound
gazeS with mournful eyes at his cage
mate a wire haired. long shouted. bench
legged Irish terrier, which. head cooked
sideways. looks inteilgently and anxious
ly into the face of the visitor. as if to
say: You. sir. look as if you knew a
good dog: aren't you going to take me
out of this:''
*
But, SAYS Mr. Kuhn. the ''mutts" are
more frequently redeemed than are the
good dogs. A NANCY. flea a-ridden. monde
script cur will be taken out, smothered
with caresses and borne away while a
screw-tailed Boston terrier /or a magnifi-
cent setter, unclaimed and unredeemed.
goes into the charcoal fumes. OF all the
dogs that find their way-or have it
found for them-to the cages of the
pound, only per cent are taken out by
owners or buyers For one may buy
dog at the pound by paying small fee,
and frequently there are dogs there that
are worth buying. Not long ago genu-
inc wire-haired Irish terrier, with all the
look of a pedigreed animal, was taken
at the Capitol where he was wandering.
tagless and unmuzzed Such animals
are kept week ten days, in the
hope that the owners will call for them:
and even the men at the pound hardened
as they are to disposing of homeless
canine wanderers defer as long as possi
BILE the final disposal of a good dog.
Maybe it seems cruel the work they
de, fIorn IS1,t fhn laI
Evening star., 1911-08-27

man who distinguished himself in three
different avocations, in the navy, in the
army and in the field of diplomacy He
was born in the old Beale mansion on the
1922 and entered the Naval Academy at
Annapolis in his sixteenth year He
achieved marked success and graduated
at the head of his class in 1S42 He was
assigned to duty on the Pacific coast and
served under Commodore Stockton with
the Pacific fleet. He was in the
Mexican war, but after that short but
active military experience he wearied of
the inertia of peace and resigned his COM
mission to enter the civil service OF the
United States. He acted for some years
as Indian commissioner for California,
New Mexico and the other possessions
ceded by the treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalso. Later military life. especially
In the Indian country, appealed to his i'm
Evening star., 1911-08-27

stayed, swapping. snarling and green of
eyes, until policeman was found to
take him away, while the humane lady
never ventured into the back yard until
he was gone She has sworn off removing
muZZles from stray dogs
Now. Of course. that dog was fright
ened-scared into panic. He was not
mad. really; but just the same. snap
from his teeth would certainly have been
painful, probably dangerous: because
blood poisoning may be almost as bad
as rabies. and the bite of a scared dog
very often produces a serious case of
blood poisoning. The better plan is to let
sleeping dogs lie. and to let muzzled dogs
stay muZzled.
Scientists have estimated that takes
Evening star., 1911-08-27

learned Russian she set about learning
the polyglot languages of the east and
during her residence in Seoul she became
proficient enough to entertain the Korean
court ladies and chat in their own ver-
nacular. She gave numerous plea asant
social functions and gained many friends
for the cause of Russia in the quaint lit
tie kingdom which has now passed out of
-the family of nations. Mime. Bakmetieff
admired the Koreans very much and has
written some spirited accounts of their
home life, their philosophy and religion.
These. unfortunately, she never permitted
her friends to publish. Russia as a rule
does not encourage the wives of her
diplomats to publish their impressions
of lands where they lived under her OFF,
cial care.
Nine. Bakmetieff has made it a rule to
retain Russian servants and to speak the
language of the Romanoffs exclusively In
the home. She told some friends here
last spring that the Russian is soft and
beautiful tongue, as musical as any in
modern use. Americans, she said. were
prone to judge it by the harsh-looking
''tsch," ''tcz," Itch" and such terrible
Evening star., 1911-08-27

by. Down the Cobblei allevway are rows.
a either side, of wired or Slated pens
or cages. A flagstaff at one corner, from
which the Stars and Stripes float shows
that the business carried on in the little
group of sheds and cages is official All
that lacks is All archway over the en-
trance to the cobblestone drive, with the
words:
Leave hope behind all We tdogs, that
enter here"
For this is the District pound: and fig
ures show that not more than per
cent of the stray CANNES collected and
carried thither from every corner of the
District ever emerge from that gateway.
Buck" Parker. twenty-five years an
employe of the pound. was busy with the
mornings catch. Big. broad of shoulder
muscled like a fighting man. and so
quick of hand that even the quickest
moving, snappiest of dogs never has
chance to set its teeth in his flesh he
seized canine after canine behind the ears
and swung them, helpless and not even
Kicking. from the wire-barred dog wag-
on or the pens and cages. Every little
movement had a meaning of it's own"
not trace of lost motion showed in
Bucks work. Out of the wagon or
the cage. into a certain zinc-lned box,
painted red: and as he worked he whis-
tieo, IN the mellow. f1uty notes that only
the black man knows how to make. the
air OF an old hymn. 1t seemed to fit the
occasion. that hymn tune:
We shall meet beyond the river.
Where the surges cease TO roll
For the season now is that at which
Sirius. the Dog Star, blazes in the east
ern sky little after sunset. And that
Is the time of year when dogs-strays,
tramp dogs or petted favorites-go mad.
or fall In fall in frothing. swapping fits.
Hydrophobia-which word. by the way,
means simply fear or hatred of water
isn't nearly so common among dogs as
a great many persons think: nevertheless
II does exist The bite OF dog suffering
with hydrophobia. rabies, is to be
dreaded as is the bite of a rattlesnake
Prompt treatment is required else the
one bitten is likely to die very terrible
death.
So In these the days of the dog the
wagons and men of the dog pound are
busy picking up strays in the city and
Evening star., 1911-08-27
Freak Farms Big Profit to Their Owners

not being sufficiently large in this coun-
try, he says he can ship them to Paris
at which place more than nine tons of
snails are consumed annually as an arti-
Gle OF food. Vernot says the proper man
agement of snail farm does not require
very laborious work. and all that is need
ed is an inclosure In a moist place, so
protected that the crawling gasteropods
cannot crawl away. but they are not Civ
en- to breaking away like herd of Texas
ponies and scampering away to parts un-
known.
Although the national law makers
kicked vigorously on an approximation
for continuing the governmental expert
ments in frog farming the work will go
along just the same. States and individ-
uals have demonstrated that there is
big money in raising for market the
low-browed songster of the marsh and
even without the scientific" assistance
which the government might be able to
give in frog farming. there is not likely
to be scarcity of frog legs. Pennsylva-
MIA maintains a large frog farm, perhaps
the most extensive of any state, but the
largest individual froggery is owned and
run by Miss Edith Siege. at Siege. Cal.
last year the young lady marketed moro
than 3,jCO dozen frogs legs, from which
she netted something more than So 600.
A fairly good business for a freak farm
**
Down in Maryland, on the Chesapeake
near Crisfield. Mr. Lavalette owns a ter
rapin farm which covers several acres
and on which he has more than one
undred-thousand-eollars worth of dia-
mond backs. ranging in size from that
of ten-cent silver piece to the buster"
terrapin. which are worth as much as
$16O dozen. Nothing has been offered
to good feeders which can take the place
of terrapin and champagne, and Mr..
I4aValette has never experienced any
trouble in selling the output of his farm.
These toothsome birds are getting
scarcer every year. until now large ones
are worth their weight in silver. Less
than seyenty-five years ago Maryland
had to enact a law prohibiting slave
owners from feeding slaves terrapin meat
Evening star., 1911-08-27
THE D1srk1cT. POUND: PoUNDr1A sTER KUHN, SEATED.

just fifteen and two-fifths seconds for all
the residents of circle of one-half mile
diameter to know when the dog catcher $
wagon Is in the neighborhood. Like an
electric flash the Intelligence flies from
house to house: nobody bears the news,
but just the same it gets there.
Into some quiet suburban street. early
in the morning. a red wagon turns. A
couple of colored men occupy the seat
Their badges are hidden under their coats
and there is sign on the wagon to
give 1t away" But in the minufest frac-
ton of jiffy every front porch is peo-
pied; women cry frantically for "Fido.
small boys whistle Rover or Prince
into the back yard. and little girls add
their quota of hysterical weeping to the
Evening star., 1911-08-27

oftener than twice a week, as the food
was too rich and produced disease. All
cents for a wagon load. Washington
and Lafayette entered a protest at be-
ing fed terrapin at Yorktown. There are
other terrapin farms on the Chesapeake.
but Mr.. Lavalette's is the largest in the
United States.
In the same section. too. there are a
number of crab farms, and the crab
farmers can match dollars with any
class of small farmers in the country.
The crab season Is a short one and IL is
easy money for hundreds of persons on
the eastern sho'. The first shipment of
any Importance from the Chesapeake
crab farms was in 1887, when the output
was valued at $4,000. but II will now
1900 boats.
Along with the good-eating freak farms
must be placed the 'possum farms, of
which there are number in the south
ern states These farms for the luscious
'possum are simply tracts Of land with
an abundance OF persimmon trees. No
one is permitted to hunt on the land ex-
cept those who pay for the privilege, and
with the permit goes guarantee that
a-plenty. One old negro near the Van
derbilt estate in North Carolina cleared
good money for several years on his
'possum farm. but to each hunter lie said
il was mighty hard to see dem possums
gwine erway. case eff dere am anything
do love hit am 'possum an 'taters"
The ostrich cannot come under the clas-
siication OF good eating. but there are
number of successful farms where
these birds of beautiful plumage are
raised, and the female portion of our
population is more interested in fine
plumes than something for satisfying the
appetite. The flesh of an ostrich is about
as palatable as brass fire dog and about
as juicy. and as toothsome bird he is
a rank failure.
Another farm in which the ladies take
very pronounced interest is that devoted
to raising cats, OF which there are hun
Evening star., 1911-08-27

general tumut. In all the racket the dog
catchers move serene: some luckless cur,
unmuzzled or untagged, streaks it across
the street; a huge net, long of handle.
and with a husky catcher at the
handles end, descends over the fleeing
yelper; the cur is bundled into the wagon,
and the procession moves off while some
laddie shrieks and throws stones, the
while he bemoans the fate Of Duke
who Is on his way poundward. About
one dog from a territory of eight blocks
square is all the dog catchers can hope
to land on any one trip.
So 1t Is that the dog catcher's wagon
starts early from the pound. On it's way
Evening star., 1911-08-27

"HERE are queer and freak occupa-
tions engaged in by people of these
United States, and among them
may be cassed farmers who have given
up corn and cotton and entered the
freak ranks.
A few years ago the fellow who boldly
announced that he was going to start d
skunk farm in Minnesota was laughed
at and derided, but when he proved that
he was making a cartload of money out
of his venture others followed In his
footsteps and now there are humber
of skunk farms in different sections Of
the country. At first publication of the
facts about the skunk farm the Agricul
tural Department was flooded with let
tiers asking about this species of farm
ing. The department being in the dark
about the skunk farm thought the matter
huge joke. but as letters continued to
flow in the Secretary begged the news
paper correspondents to announce that
the department was in ignorance of any
such undertaking and had made no in
vestigations along the skunk line. How
ever. matters changed and the Agricul-
tural Department realized that there was
something In 1t, and the animal has re-
ceiyed attention at the hands Of the ex-
peI9s of the Secretary. Skunk farming
is not joke. but a money-making enter
prise.
Near Los Angeles, Cal, a Frenchman
named Vernot is engineering a successful
snail farm and SO far his Is the only
snail-raising farm in the United States.
About two years ago Vernot imported
number of snails from France. and so
rapidly did they increase during the
breeding season that he found it neces-
sary to employ additional help on his
farm. He has succeeded in producing the
Shiny repulsive-looking creatures at
rate entirely gratifying to himself, and he
believes that he will experience no diff
Guilty in finding market for all that he
can raise. In the event Of the demand