The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1912-02-10

months than the dogs of the famous
st. Bernard hospice. The mission OF
these animals, OF course, is to seek
for lost travellers In the snow; they
commence their work i'm earnest at
the end of September and continue
hard at 1t till the middle of June, and
sometimes later
There is no question as to the
valuable service these noble beasts
perform every winter" said M. Bour-
geois, the present provost of the st.
Bernard hospice, during recent
trip he made to Geneva you must
remember that the hospice Is situat-
ed some 5000 feet above sea level
and is the second highest inhabited
building on the globe. The mountain
pass, on which the monastery stands,
is one Of the principal highways be-
tween Switzerland and Italy Over
10000 persons traverse the road
every year, nearly two-thirds of this
number accomplishing the journey
during the winter Those that make.
the journey then are invariably poor
laborers, either going to or returning
from their work on the other side of
the mountain.
1--WE, of course, get a lot of tourists
in the summer, but | imagine many
of them would be surprised If they
attempted the road in midwinter
The cold is intense and the pass is
seldom free from snowstorms. These
latter are terrible things to face. The
wind often rises to a hurricane, and
sometimes fierce billiards. come on
that last many hours and even days
must say that our work has been con-
siderably alleviated by the introduce
ton of the telephone. We are now
in telephone communication with st.
Remy, on the Italian side of the Alps,
and Cantine de PROF., small inn, on
the Swiss slope The number of
travellers starting up the pass from
either side is duly telephoned to us,
and thus it is possible for us to keep
an accurate register of arrivals and
departures and to know approximately
the whereabouts of the travellers we
are expecting.
"At the moment we have some six
teen trained dogs in the kennels, there
are also about a dozen younger ones.
There is certainly no nonsense about
the able work they perform and the
many lives they save every winter.
The stories told of their wonderful
sagacity and remarkable intelligence
are not exaggerated. Last winter was
very trying one with us and on one
occasion the hospice was crowded with
1000 weatherbound travellers. The
dogs had very busy time and fire.
quently remained out in the bitter
weather for twelve, fourteen and six.
| teen hours at a stretch. During these
long hours they took little food and
no sleep. They often suffer from
severe rheumatism as a result of the
exposure and have to be sent down to
the valleys below to recuperate.
Before the advent of the tele-
phone the dogs carried a fagon of
wine tied to their collars and food
strapped to a saddle on their backs.
Now they only carry the wine, be-
cause it has been found that the
weight of the food hinders their
progress through the snow Since
the telephone has been erected not a
single life has been lost on the pass,
yet I think it would be right to say
that the dogs work equally as hard.
You see, we now know how many
people are on the road, their approx
mate whereabouts, and can thus send
the dogs out to escort them to the
monastery"