Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1915-05-19

X.sns,,, the Mascot Of BattIeship
Kansas, Real Dog Of War.

Kansas, . Real Dog Of War.
wsen the battieship Kansas, nov In
.hs Hudson. says the New York World, Is
:, sea. shop spends deal OF his
,,,,s running up and down the deck bark
~ The white caps. Some oificers and
enlisted men say shep originally was
ss,.us.a for sheep dog, and believing
80 wbite caps to be sheep tries to stop
Them from running away.
.nnt that IL nothing but . poetic
fancy, sailor Cutter said to . reporter for
,he World the other day. 'sshep shipped
On the Kansas from his home in Bar Har
nor. Maine, eight years sgo. Now he Is
snowu as the wisest dog in thu navy aud
Inc dean OF all naval msscots.
sus il q down easter and : saiiorman
,,o,, the top OF his head TO his toes. He
i. the best fighter, the bsst swimmer, the
trues, friend, and the dead-gamest sport
a. the tleet. We are all for him.
.swhy, when shep decides It's time to
"a, be finds newspaper, picks It up and
take. II to the galley. They hand him his
grub wrapped up in . bit Of paper. shep
taxes [, and tho Newspaper with him into
the chains (way up In the bowl.
..shep unfoids the newspaper. spreads |,
ca, before him and lays his food on il.
He never spots the deck never so much
.slsts a crumb drop on tho newspaper
when be Is through no noses the paper
overheard.
aThe last time we were 1t Guantanamo,
snsp had fight with ono OF the bulldogs
from the Texas. Although he won, he
was pretty badly chcwcd mp. We all won
aersa what he would do when he came
bscx aboard, and what do you think he
did,
"wsn, without any one saying q word
10 him he iimped straight to the sick bay
and said .woof, woofi' They knew he
was asking for medical attention. and he
GOT il. After he had been bsndagud up
h. strussed around the deck with the red
cross on nim-and only the tip OF bis nose
and hiss tail showing on account OF the
swashing OF bsndagcs. lie knew the red
cross proved be vas on the sick lis, as well
- we did.
sBut when we started game OF baseball
that afternoon we had hard Job keeping
him oai OF IL. Shep always plays back Of
the catches and it's nothing for him to
glo6ble foul tips before they hit the deck.
He chases dies overheard.
.Oae of his best fights WAS in New
Orleans. He and bulldog from one Of
the naval tugs got into . mix-up on the
pier. the bulldog got . good grip and
shsp SAYS he was getting the worst OF IL.
-
He dragged the bulldog to the edge of the
pier aud dived into tho water. When the
bulldog choked and let go his hold Shep
pushed him under again. He would have
drownsd the buiidog II some OF the bull
dogs friends hadn't gone to the rescue.
avon see, shop is q wonderfully strong
swimmer. When conditions are favorable
the men have swimming every day.
whistle blows for them to get ready and IL
blows again for them to dive overheard
shep is the frst TO answer the call OF both
whistles. He doesn't think anything OF
diving twenty feet head first.
when shcp dcesnJ think there Is
enough swimming, be leases the captain
for it-and Shep can get most anything he
wants ON this ship. When there isn't
daily swimming, shop has his salt water
tuh every day. Coxswsin Fiaheriy and
Chist Bostswain's Mate Anderson sac
to that. They are the best friends Shep
has
''Shep always standsar At tention 10 the
colcrs, night and morning, and he used TO
make the captains insprcsion regularly.
Daring general target practice be always
goes 10 the G. r. O. (chist pstty ofticer'sl
quarters and stays there till practice is
over
when we have had parrots have seen
them 90 to sleep ON Shops bead. A cat
we had slept between his forepsws, and
when we gave our canary exercise he fol-
lowed IL everywhere, keeping his eye on
II, you knc~, 80 nothing could happen
10 it,
Lieut. Phillips, on deck duty, who in
troduced Shep to the reporter, said Shep
isthe tinest dog and the best mascot in
the navy.
As sailors OF tho Kansas said. Shep is
mixture OF the best there Is in about every
known brand Of dogs, and the only one OF
his particular breed.
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