Iron County news. [volume] (Hurley, Wis.) 1913-1950, 1914-08-15
A CANINE TRAGEDY
Trouble Came In Bunches With
the Purchase OF a Watchdog.
ONE NIGHT OF WILD RUCTIoN.

II Taught the Battered Master Of the
Wrecked Home That Under Some
Circumstances a Burglar May Be
Better Company Than a Mastff.
IF a man is afraid Of burglars" said
Quackenbush, "he can't have q better
safeguard than a good watchdog"
But where is be going to get the
good watchdogY inquired Clinken-
beard. such animals don't grow on
trees, and they are not advertised by
department stores.
"Of course, If you go around telling
that you are IN the market for q watch
dog every man who has a chicken kill
ing pup he wants to get rid Of win
tell you that his crltter is just what
you are hunting for But you'll try
out a million dogs before you find one
that will get down to brass headed
nails and do police duty
Two or three years ago there was
burglar scare out IN our suburb. Sew
eral houses had been entered and some
false hair aud things carried away. SO
my wife got so nervous she couldn't
sleep at night She was sure some
masked bandit would break in and
steal the What Is Home Without a
Mother chrome fr0h1 over the mantel.
and Just TO give her a sense Of security
! bought q big mastif and took him
home and chained him to a tree in
trent Of the house.
along about II O'Clock 1T night that
dog got to thinking over his misspent
life, and remoi8e guawed at his heart
strings ana he began lamenting the
past He had the most boodcurdling
voice / ever heard. Every yell he let
out froze the marrow in my bones.
He'd begin with a sort of piaintive
wall and wind up with howl that
would remind you Of a hyena in a
graveyard on q rainy night My wife
said the uproar would have to be
stopped and I'd better bring the dog
into the house. He'd probably be quiet
there.
$50 I slid into few rags and went
downstairs and into the yard. Just as
/ approached the dog old Billshaw,
who lived next door, opened his bed
room window and threw an old frying
pan. OF course he meant IT. for the
dog, but his aim was poor and it caught
me ia the bread basket and knocked
the wind out of me
Il sat down on the grass and gasped
for breath, and n shower Of bottles and
bootjacks and stove wood came from
Billshaw's window, and every blamed
item hit me in one place or another
When finally got my breath yelled
to Billshaw to let up, for he was muir
dering me- and he said 1t was just
what / deserved for keeping such a
men0gerie where it would give the
whole neighborhood the horrors
after | had rubbed my bruises for
half an hour / took the dog into the
house and went back to bed | was
Just dropping off to sleep when 1 was
reused by the altiredest rncket 1t
sounded as though the side Of the
house was falIins in. My wife was
shriekns that the dog was upsettlng
all the furniture and running every
thing SO | went downstairs again,
quoting few passages from Websters
Dictionary
II had forgotten about the cat when
| took the dog into the house But the
dog had discovered the pet and was
chasing it through the house. and you
never saw such a scene Of wreckage.
Everything TINT wasn't nailed down
had been overturned. and nearly every
thing was broken The gas light was
burning, and there was the cat hanging
to the gas fixtures and the dog stand
ing on his hind legs trying to reach
her.
My memories of what followed are
rather confused | seem to recall grab
hing the dog by the scruff of the neck
to take him outdoors. and he bit a
sample from my shin, and then we
mixed things on the floor. managed
to stuff the pincushion into his mouth
so he couldn't bite. and we resorted TO
Greco Roman wrestling.
Then the cat came down from the
gas fixture and took hand and cawed
most of my scalp off, and my wife
came to the rescue with the poker
She said afterw1rd that she was try.
Ing 70 hit the dog l reckon I'd have
been on ice next day If the neighbors
hadn't come In with shotguns and prun-
ing hooks and such things and pried
up apart
That experience was enough for me
I'd rather have forty burglars on the
premises than one watchdog. WALT
Mason In Chicago News.