The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1914-11-30
lMBLLsANCE DOGS
DOING THEIR PART

proved to be Tar better adapted to the
work than the German shepherd dog
formerly employed in the French
army, because the German dog Il
more ferocious and Is taught to fight
the enemy as well as to discover the
wounded of his own troops. The
French dog is taught to seek the
wounded of the enemy's trops as well
as his own. He Is as gentle as he
Is faithful and, as in the case Of Tom
is the pet Of his company"
The case OF Tom" Is this:
CASTOR Durand of the Thirtieth in
fantry fell in one Of the violent en-
gagements in the Argonne Forest,
wounded in the arm by fragment Of
q shell, with a bullet In his jaw and
nearly scalped by blow from sa-
bre. He tried to rise. but a heavy
weight fell upon him and then he lost
consciousness. The first thing he be-
came aware of was a feeling that re-
sembled a caress upon his forehead.
He opened his eyes and there was
Tom, one of the ambulance dogs, af-
fectionately tapping his torn head, He
tried to rise, but the heavy weight
that had borne him down was still
there. 1t was the body Of one Of his
comrades who had fallen with bullet
through his heart.
Impossible to, extricate himself, he
finally succeeded in getting to sit
ting posture. His cap was gone and
that explained why Tom had not
gone back to the ambulance for help.
Durand looked, and Tom searched
i hf1f M f,oy NJ. mo To No GNn
Tom, and fetch the comrades" Dur
and cried. A half hour later Tom
went into. camp and selling the first
soldiers coat in his teeth, began tug
lying at him.. The soldier did not un-
Iderstand. Then Tom barked appeals
lingly but with no more effect. Final
" he barked menacingly, with no re-
suit. Then the doctor came along.
He understood and Tom gave a yelp
Of Joy when he realized that he had
succeeded. Directed by him the doc
tor and the stretcher bearers soon
found Durand, hidden in thicket,
where probably he would have passed
Iunnoticed until he had either starved
' or died from his wounds, had 1t not
been or Tom.
They lifted the dead man of, car
ried Durand back to the ambulance
and Notwithstanding the gravity of
his three wounds, he Is now mending,
all thanks to Tom.
Dogs are Devoted.
Tom is not an isolated incident of
the devotion of the ambulance dog. A
case is reported from the vicinity of
verdun in which dog discovered a
soldier who had been wounded in the
head and who had received frst-aid
rom. one of his comrades, who after
wards had been obliged to abandon
him. His cap had also been lost and
the dog could find nothing that he
could carry back to- the ambulance
to report mis- find, but he had the in
telligence not to touch the bandage on
the soldiers head. Finally, despair
ing Of finding anything he could carry
back, he lay down on the ground OPP
pOsite the wounded man and howled
dismally until help came.
DR.. vertier, surgeon in the Thir-
tenth army corps, reports that the
Ambulance dogs in his corps have
saved hundreds ov lies and that not
in single instance have they mis-
taken a dead body for a wounded
man. In some cases where the sol:
dier's cap could not be found, the dog
3 has torn open his knapsack and hunt
ed out something that he could carry
back to show. that he had made a dis
covery.
The national society for the train
ing of ambulance dogs has already
sent 100 Of these animals into the
field and seventeen more are soon
to go. DR.. Troussaint, director OF the
sanitary service at the ministry Of
war has authorized the training of
stretcher bearers with the dogs, 30
that they may be able to work better
in harmony, the dog knowing the man
and the man knowing the dog.
AS a rule, each dog works over a
ground of 800 to 400 yards, and as
soon as he scents wounded man, he
begins to bark and seek some article
that he can carry back as an indica-
ton to the ambulance.
For the same reason that the SER
vices OF the dog have become neces-
sary in finding the wounded, they
have become useful. as demonstrated
in the Belgian campaign, in the bring
ing up of machne guns. The dogs
are SO trained that the soldiers are
not obliged to accompany them in
hauling the guns; they creep along
under cover as well as they can to
the desired position, leaving the dogs
and the guns behind. When they have
reached the desired location, all they
have tn do is tn whistle anfhthe dora