Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-12-17

RHEIMS. France December 6. 1910.
E0HEEE has just arrived =
Rheims special car with
III twenty-five recruits for line
q French army-very special o
great value.
They are dogs
Not Red Cross dogs. hut STRANGE ca
nine INTEL :genees. trained to act as
sentinels. patrol scouts and liaison
agents working with French officers on
missions where no man could pass.
Such was the dog hero, Medor, No s.
B. whose fa:th-ulness to death won his
mero:y j citation to The order OF the
1etn Army, on October ;, when Capt.
Toilet. commanding officer Of Kennels Il.
regretted his loss as follows:
''Aiedo.' No. 6. Is. on September IS
was struck by shell scrap. He accom-
plished ol;. and oIe-quaster miles an
der cult4ln are, 10 carry an order of
the brizau- to colonel; was wounded
in the last 2a0 yards, yet dra gSed him
self to the commanding post, where he
died fifteen minutes after arrival
Such dogs a~e nearly always OF the
same variety. They are the short
ha-'ed. woiIl:ke shepherd dogs of the
wild Frsi4c;3 plsins. but do not think OF
gentle 'co.lies" in connection with
them. Thcy are. rather. the so-called
police dogs o. before the war in
Paris, 1ut more stumpy. iuIfpy, bony.
thin, stcel-nusc.cd, spikyhaired and
seemingly reverted back to the wolf
type. and We. despite their unkempt,
raceless look. they are the Oldest race
OF dogs. SPECIALIZED back into the nists
of time-the true and fighting shepherd
dogs of European peasants.
The twenty-five valuable specimens
which have just arrived at Rheims be
long to a lot of 100 lent TO the army
by their owners, equally poor peasants
and rich farmers. as patriotic sacrl-
fice, and collected TWO months ago, at
Chat uroux, by the Department OF the
Jndre for special service. They are no
pet dogs, but of stern and faithful
atavism. Fifty years ago the wolf was
on the vast spaces of the Berry, as the
bear toda = IuTks in the crags above
the grazing slopes OF the Pyrenees.
And so. today. from all the sheep
raising sections, from the salt meadows
of Brittany to the high valleys of the
Alps the primitive dog race OF antique
Gaul bares its teeth against the IN
vader. because the employment of dogs
in the French army has increased d.
rec:Iy with the duration Of hostiilties
sad the importance of the artillery.
A: first they were simply trench
guards. Thence TO the great erpleE
tncnt % sentinel was but a step All
seatinels nowadays. when ,lac|d IN
critical positions without horiZon-and
notably IN ciearir@S among brush"ood
ought 20 be 6auked 10y a faithful
i,artuer from ,ue kennels. whose atti-
rude suftices 70 reveal the approach OF
the enemy. Iiov. many sentineis III the
Argonae and the NoS.es owe thelF Fs-
"a ne from being overw hrln.td IN niSh'
foo rod
puranG. sentinel Of the sSth OF tie
line. stood by night in a brushwood
clearing o. the hills. beside a shell
blasted pine. nm man by birth. he
confidently biotted himself IN is shad-
ov. alert for sooUdS HIS eyes roamed
round the circle Emptiness and 81
iance
But gr-arl had a dog with him. from
fhe Ssef.r,!s--a dog h~ had never s"'-tI
before. until IA : started ont together
~ sur,e-fo~ order ire-haIred, knob
foIrted naas' named G"rdaTmc. IN tire
silence CieudErfre shifted aud hcdGtei
IN against The sentinel, who was as
-Gnished lie. :r:3red hIlisrlan. had
sensGt uothirg. Tine passed. ard he
I.eut bis eye upon the dog. Nov. cen
a4rnie's hairs, on meek IND SpfFe, Dris-
lied with aug-r CrrtIfE.ie. End D4rari
swiftly led him 30 the sGEe OF the
rics. ding, beside the telephone, aud lay
tJ-erc waiting
faint ~uvt!iuT a biacH shape slips
and disappears, across IN" clearing.
Dd..nI J35l-G,e tie telephone hutton.
1-ao-yrnt. tina, half t1i!e away tcii
".sII .Iaf. for rejn'Drceneu's. black
:-r-a row across there. shows against
tHe brusr,y God, in the starlight. far
fsa rk--to1 fair. Durar& suspects
lurrrr,y fi--u-r tsid ", b. the creeping
creiNy- The dummy disappears Dur
and lies quiet-i4Is relnfoI cements must
be close. now
A cracking. Across the clearing,
further to the RIGHT. stands q dark
figure in n!a view, but the dog with
barred teeth stares to the left. Durand
IS worried lie don't want to be
fanked. Straining. he perceives four
living shadows one by one. slip round
the edges OF the brushwood, on the
left. The dog was right. \ hand
touches his shoulder. II is his lieuten-
ant. Durand motions them to spread,
in = wide are, TO left
Black figures. now. venture into the
clearing.
Crack crack. Ard. to left. H.. hears
French cries 20 Germans to surrender
and the replying "Kamarad" of the
surprised enemy patrol. The dog Cen
darme. had bagged eleven prisoners.
The Ge--,rlan pat~nl lot ITSELF be cam
tu:ed by lack ~ 50 good dog And the