The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-05-25

in the same war the entire trans Siberian
railroad was guarded by dogs, and to
this may be greatly ascribed the reason
that it was never cut. The dogs of my
own which were used by the Russians in
this campaign, by the way, were specially
trained for ambulance work, and it was
in recognition of the good work they did
in finding the wounded that | received
the watch you see there from the Car
and the Order of Merit from the Empress
Marie These four-footed Manchurian
veterans, by the bye, are now kept and
made much of at the riding school in
Petersburg.
"In the present war in the Balkans
dogs have been used by all the allied
troops, and during the transportation of
Greek troops into Turkish territory can
inc sentnels were used. for want of men,
to guard the railway lines. The results
were excellent. At Larissa especially
the entire railroad line was guarded by
dogs"
Then it seems, said the writer that
Shakespeare was unconscously prophesy-
ing a bit when he wrote, In Julius
Caesar Cry havoc and let slip the dogs
Of war
"As a matter of fact" answered the
major. Shakespeare was not prophesying
at all, either consciously or unconsciously
for Caesar actually used dogs to guard
his camps, and so did Frederick the
Great and other famous generals of the
past. Napoleon himself wrote to Mar
mont, in June, 1893, They ought to have
with them in Alexandria a large num-
Der of dogs, which should be fastered a
short distance from the walls In your
own civil war. too dogs seem to have
been used by the northern and southern
troops both as sentries and for tracking
work, and also in the Russo-Turkish war
of 1873.
1T is only In recent years, however
owing greatly to the changing conditions
of warfare Richardson went on, that
the subject of training dogs systematically
for use in the field has had scientific at
tention. Germany, profiting by the. les
sons of the American civil war, used
them to some extent in her war with
France In 1870, and since that time, with
her usual thoroughness has made the
canine arm of her service a big and
nightly efficient one. She has watch
dogs in all her fortresses, as well as in
her dockyards, and counting in her
splendidly trained police dogs. has a force
of at least 5000 for use in war which, by
a scheme perfect to the last detail can
be modified in short order. In France
they are paying great attention to the
training of dogs, there being a special
training establishment at Fonta nebleu,
built by the French government. Dogs
are used with the Chasseurs and Alpine
regiments. and are a great success out in
Avera and Tuns.
Both the Germans and the French,
by the way. believe in dogs as messengers
and ammunition carriers. and a CORE
spondent who was with the Boxer expe~
diton wrote Of the dogs which accom-
panied the Ogman artillery that it was
always delightful and interesting to watch
their movements. Once, when II was nee ;,
essary to shell Chinese patrol. the or
ders were brought by a dog five miles
in few minutes but though such incl
dents are picturesque, ! personally have
little belief In the dog as a dependable
messenger in actual war where he is
away from his native environment not to
mention the fact In actual conflict,
regiments become scattered and hope
lessly mixed
I'm the Belgian army dogs are used as
sentries and for dragging machine guns.
while Austria. Holland. Sweden. Russia.
also make extensive use of CANNES both
as scouts and sentries and for ambulance
work.
II have had inquiries as to my expert
ence with dogs both from the Seventh
Massachusetts regiment. which I believe
is one of your crack corps. and from sew
eral of your military attaches in London.
But II you are not using them. it is not
for want of experience of their immense
utility for besides the use which both
sides made Of practically unframed dogs
in the civil war. you have had the feats