Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1913-08-08


taught them that that lid is
delusion, and they have deliber-
atty concluded that the cap is
only a ruse adopted by the Sar-
geant to fool and entrap members
of their race. They have" caught
on" since several members of
the family have been caught on
the street, and it is no unusal
thing to see dogs "heaing" in all
directions, upon the approach of
this uniformed minion of the
law. 1t might be possible now
to deceive some fool country dog
and make him believe in the
Salvation Army Cap-trap bust
ness, but not the old residential,
moon-baying, snarling CANNES
of this town. A town dog will
not hesitate to make visits to
the country when the sheep are
fat and the hens nests are to be
found in fence-corners, old
boxes, etc., easily accessible,
and town Sergeant unknown,
but a country dog seldom comes
to town except in the daytime,
when they and all other dogs
are immune from arrest, and
have the privilege of fighting,
soaring horses, biting children,
and interfering with traffic and
raising sand and dust generally.
The dogs cannot well understand
why they should be denied the
privilege of Il little fresh air and
a few fights at night when the
streets are clear and everything
eatable and totable locked up,
and given unlimited freedom
and the right-of-way in the day
time, and no doubt conclude that
some people. like some dogs, do
some very strange things.
With the Sergeant enforcing
the fewer-curs law, the street
cars grinding sausaqe meat,
leaden pills being administered,
with now and then the mayor
sending a few pure breds into
the country to supply long felt
wants, there should be u notice
able diminution in the number
of street fights, and an increase
in the number of eggs gathered
from the barns. May it be so!
1t might be we'll before closing
this dissertation on dogs to
make a few furthur feeble re-
marks about the tribe in general,
and try to answer a few import
ant questions heretofore I'M
answered. For instance, why
does a dog trot sideways?
Up to this good hour there
seems to be no satisfactory eX-
PLANTATION of this manner of dog
locomotion, but the fact remains.
The fact that some dogs are
lop-sided and slabsided and flop
sided can be accounted for, but
just why they get out of plumb
when they strike a trot this
deponent sayth not, and the
question we presume will &c
ringing down the ages as one OF
the unsolved mysteries. Let il
ring on. Bark is willing. Why
does a dog turn around several
or more times before lying down
Give it up! Why has dog a
long tail? The horse and cow
have obvious uses for long
switches, but dogs caudal
appendage is not used to fight
flies or heas, evidently. There
are several uses to which the
tail of a dog is put. One is, that
of a rudder. 1t helps to guide
and keep his body down when
fleeing from some wicked town
Sergeant. In other days we
knew a long-legged, lop-sided,
big mouthed fox Hound, named
Buck, who had the misfortune
to get his tail cut off leaving a
stub, about only 2 inches long.
The loss Of the tail ended old
Bucks days of usefulness. When
he got in full cry on the hot trail
of a fox, particularly if going
down hill, he would over balance.
turn several summer saults, get
up and look around as though
wondering what hit him. 1t was
the result of having his natural
resources cur-tailed, no doubt.
The dogs tail is convenient
when tin cans become too numer-
GUS and in the way in the back
yard. He will tote off all he
can haul, and do it quick, too,
but not without some noise and
confusion.
Now, just a few remarks
historical, biographical, and ex-
planatory.
If memory is not at fault, the
technical name of the dog is
CAMS vulgaris, which may mean
vulgar canine. Being little rusty
l.