Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1915-05-20

Vienna Has Great Sendoff for
Canine Army Recruits.
Austria Finds New Use for Stray
Pups-Housewives Called on to
Sacrifice Pots and Pans
for War Use.
BY HARRY HANSEN.
Correspondent Chicago Daily News.)

catcher of Vienna runs across a we'll
built, well-fed, unregistered dog, he
no longer thrusts him into a wire
cage and hauls him off to the dog
pound. He says: Come along to
the recruiting sergeant"
For Austria has found a new use
for stray dogs. They go to war. They
are going in squads, in companies and
in battalions out beyond the Carpa-
thians, to help Austrian soldiers stand
guard on the outskirts of the army,
to procure valuable information about
the enemy and to act as faithful mem
bers of the Red Cross relief corps.
Like the dogs of the st. Bernard
mission high in the Alps, these war
dogs-some of them-are to rescue hui
man beings. It is we'll known that
wounded men frequently crawl into
the deepest underbrush of the for
ests. To find these men, to carry them
temporary relief and finally to lead
the Red Cross men to their side will
be the principal task Of the dogs, al
though some will assist the patrols or
the watches of the night, listening for
sounds from the direction of the en-
envy. Other dogs will be sent out to
determine whether trenches of the
enemy have been evacuated or are
still occupied, information usually
gained only with danger to the sol
diers.
A big force of these dogs of war
left Vienna with military banners the
other day. Twenty Red Cross men led
a great number of trained dogs through
the streets to the railroad station.
At the station the customary for
nal program, never omitted in Aus
tria, was given. A physician of the
general staff Of the Red Cross for
mally welcomed the party. The ply
stefan in charge of the dogs formally
replied. Both addresses were deliv
cred in polished rhetorical German.
What the words meant to the dogs no
one knows, but it is safe to say that
they enjoyed to the full the distribu-
ton of eatables that followed. They
left yelping, barking and wagging their
tails furiously.
Austria is training more dogs, and
the increased demand is likely to
make serious inroads On Vienna's dog
colony But there is one consolation
for the Viennese-the dachshund, or
turnspit dog, has so far been declared
Ineligible 1t is said that at first the
dog catcher viewed the concourse Of
polished aristocratic "dachshunde" as
his legitimate prey. The cafe loung-
ers and the boulevardiers, who like to
lead the animals around, objected. The
dog catcher said he thought the dogs
would be valuable in the trenches, be-
cause they kept their stomachs close
to the ground. But the protests won
the day.
Germany began using dogs for re-
lief work on the battlefelds in 1870,
and when the present war broke out
various societies of dog fanciers quick
Iy took up the movement to furnish
dogs to the army. 1t is said that Ger
many now has more than 1000 trained
dogs in the field.
War has called upon the Austrian
housewife to make another sacrifice
this time such pots, pans and house
hold articles of brass, copper, nickel
and zinc as she can spare. The call
for metallic articles went out under
the patronage of the minister Of war
and was signed by Friedrich Won |
Georgi, minister for the defense of the !
fatherland. It bears out the belief that |
the Austrian government, like that Of |
Germany, will not allow its soldiers to |
lay down their arms until even the |
kitchen utensils of the Iatherland have |
been melted down and converted into |
bullets and shells.
The government is providing for |
100000 prisoners of war at a per |
capita cost of one crown (about TWEEN
ty cents) a day, according to Stats |
tics that have just been made public |
by the ministry of war. It is point |
ed out that this is five cents a day |
above the international agreement, |
and is no small drain on the funds and |
resources of a nation that is making
q hard effort to keep its own people |