Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-07-21
DOGS ARE THE SAME
IN ALL NATIONS
But the Feeling of the Nations
Toward the Dogs Differs-Their
Attitude Revealed in Their Pro-
verbal Wisdom.
By JOHN LUM

BY JOHN LUM
EIsHER AMBs, not the revolutionary hero,
| i but one OF his descendants, once remarked
| to me that dog is a better friend than
! human being For" said he. "the dog VIII
lie at your feet ready at any moment 70
respond to your mood, while human being
| will go off in a hun IL you do not respond TO
his mood
Ames bred Airedale terriers and exhibited
! them in Philadelphia New York and Boston
| until he won a championship for one of them,
| and then he lost interest in the subject HIS
mood for dogs passed, but whenever 1t re-
turns the dogs will respond as though he
had not neglected them for other amuse-
ments.
The Esuuinaux have put Ames remark
into a proverb based on a long experience in
the Arctic wilds They say that "A mans
best friend is his dog, even better than his
wife" The Brahmin blood Of New England
and the blubber-cating seal hunter of the
North react in the same way when brought
up against the facts of llfe Men seem TO
be the same I'm all climates, and we have the
authority of the Spanish for saying that dogs
are the same Also for their proverb- makers
have concluded that Dogs have teeth In all
countries
As one traces the proverbia1 comments on
dogs through the concentrated wisdom of the
nations, their similarity is most impressive
For example, the Latlns told one another to
Beware of a silent dog and still waters
concluded that dumb dogs and still waters
are dangerous" and characterized an in
sidious traducer as "a dog that bites ST.
lently" The Russians, who were slightly In
fluenced by the Latin races, say that Dogs
hnr nd ind A
French, Spanish Germans and English, who
have inherited more than they wish to ac-
knowledge from ancient Rome, all agree that
Barking dogs don't bite" and we have also
in English the warning to Have a care of
silent dog and still water" which is clearly
free translation of the Latin original.
When Dogs Are Friends
There is a world of friendliness for animals
in the English saying that you cannot
teach an old dog new tricks" 1t calls UP
the picture of youth making companion
of his dog and treating him as he would a
younger brother whom he was instructing in
archery or showing how to use a sling. The
early English pup must have learned how to
beg for his dinner and must have delighted
his master by retrieving a stick thrown in
the brook before he learned to hunt with the
intelligence of a thorough training. The
Italians put the same idea in the saying that
IAN old dog does not grow used to the col
lar" while the English have another version
of it in IAN old dog cannot alter his way OF
barking"
Tho French tell us that "There are good
dogs of all Sizes" but this has not prevented
them from discovering that there are dog
haters who will stop at no vllainy to sat
isfy their grudge Thus "a man who wants
to drown his dog says it is mad" France is
so near England that this saying crossed the
channel and became acclimated in spite of
the fondness of nation of animal lovers for
one of their best friends. But the saying did
not originate in France. 1t goes back to
tho Romans, who said that "Whoso is de-
sirous of beating a dog will readily find a
stick" The Italians inherited 1t from the
Romans. When it got to Denmark 1t took
this form: HE that wants to hang dog
is sure to find a rope" or to say that the
dog bites the sheep. And the Germans tell
us that when a man will throw at a dog
he soon finds stone"
German View of Bashful Dogs
And the Germans Also with what the AL
lies would say is characteristic assurance
have observed that "a bashful dog never
fattens." And the Allies would also say that
the Germans have done their utmost to dis
courage bashfulness in themselves and in
their dachshunds.
AS you get into Asia you find conflicting
views about dogs. The Tamils of southern
India, whose shins are an easy mark for
sharp teeth say that "On finding stone we
see no dog and on seeing dog we find no
stone" though a dog exists only to be
stoned. A little farther east in China, we
discover that Dogs have more good In them
than men think they have" a saying that
could not have become embedded in the pro-
verbal wisdom of any but kindly race with
a friendly feeling for all created things And
the democracy of the dog is recognized by
the Chinese when they say that he has no
aversion to poor family" and his faithful
intelligence is admitted in the saying that
'"rhe dog understands his masters nod"
The orientals OF Palestine, however, have
always looked with contempt on dogs, or we
should not have had that famous question:
"Is thy servant a dog that he should do this
great thing?" Father Tabb has turned the
phrase in a way that only a man could do
who had watched with affectionate interest
the effort of beast to find his master. The
gentle priest repeats Hazael's question: rs
thy servant dog?" and answers it;
So must he be, who in the crowded street
Where Shameless Sin and Flaunting Pleasure
meet
Amid the noisome footprints finds the sweet
Faint vestlge OF Thy feet.
GETTING THE LAWN MOVED
From the Cleveland Plain Dealer