The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1914-04-18
From The Forum Book Shelf

tic makeup Of the volume, the editor
crlticizeS the presence in the narrative
Of incidents in which killing plays a
part. Miss Goldsmith takes exception
of some of these remarks, particularly
the following: Toby is a fox terrier.
Everyone knows that a dog of the
terrier breed enjoys a. fight and if let
loose in the woods is sure to MAIN OF
Kill any unlucky wild creature not too
large which may cross his path. 1t
Is his natural propensity but that it is
his natural propensity is no more a
reason for exploiting and holding him
up for admiration than is the pro-
pensity of a cat for killing birds. If
the one should be discouraged and
depressed SO should the other. But
the author of Toby describes her dog
hero's exploits of hunting all day
with gusto. Another description of q
tight with a raccoon; its wounds; its
being dubbed into insensibility; it's
subsequent Imprisonment in a cage for
weeks by the boy who did the clubbing
and the daily efforts of the dog to get
at the unhappy creature is more than
unfeellng. . . Another dog in the
story kills a sheep and therefore is
shot. A sheep is property and worth
money; a wild raccoon is not. This
in the authors mind seems to con-
Sl1CuIe Ile ullAeIeuCe III tnelr rlSntS.
Replying to this, Miss Goldsmith
first takes issue with the reviewers
reference to the cat. THE cat" she
says, "is punished for killing birds,
but who Furnishes her for killing mice?
1t is he strongest instinct Of, her ma
ture TO do this; it is her work in the
world. TO be a good mouser is a
cats claim to virtue, yet the cruelty
with which she plays with her victim
has been used more than once to des-
crlbe a type of feline Worman. In
truth. the cat has been very much ex-
plotted for following her natural in
stinct. The instinct of the terrier to
destroy mime, rats, woodchucks and
all so called vermin is just as deeply
implanted in his nature. The terrier
never mains, wounds or plays with
his victim as does the cat, however"
Turning to the question OF the rae
coon and the sheep Miss Goldsmith
writes. THE idea of the dog as guard
ian of the flock has come down from
remotest times. That this idea is a
part OF our inheritance from the ages
is shown by the universal horror which
results from a. dogs being unfaithful
to his trust. He has been false to his
instinct and to his training, false to
his great ancestral duty as Maeter-
linck puts it. But even were this not
SO his conduct would be reprehensible
in the last degree for he is guilty Of
attacking a creature too timid by ma
ture to defend itself. The raccoon,
on the contrary, is q c%arnivorous ami
NAL and q fighter to the last ditch.
He is capable of inficting as serious
wounds as any he receives and when a
terrier attacks a raccoon he does SO
taking his life in his hands"
| Miss Goldsrnith's attitude toward the
entire question is summed up in this
fashion:-"Nowhere in the book does
the author g,oat over fighting. Every
where, on the contrary, she dwells ups
on her W misery in having to do
with a fighting spirit when her taste
was all for quietude and peace. She
was writing the biography, however,
OF a dog who was a fighter whom she
learned to love very deeply" (Mac-
milan Co., New York; - 1852"