The Wahpeton times., 1917-03-29
His Majesty

Writers who praise very justly the
crews Of those thousands of steam
trawlers and drifters which are now
auxiliary to the British navy have gen.
orally ignored an indispensable part
If each vessels complement, the ships
dog. This neglect may be due to q
2redispositi0n of landsmen, who are &C.
customed to look upon the dog as 4
noble animal; and there is nothing no.
BILE about the ships dog-externally,
at all events. Appearances are against
him. So fur from his being q gentle.
man, he is, like Launce's dog Crab in
the 'Two Gentlemen of Verona" out.
side the pale of canine culture. In
short, he Is ian unmitigated bounder."
and the worst of it is that he knows It
and rejoices in it, says writer in the
London Times. "Cheek" is stamped
upon his visage. To him there is not
SO very much difference between a kick
and kind word. Both are in the or.
dinary days routine. The kick diverts
his attention momentarily to someone
else; the kind word increases his pre-.
sumption beyond human endurance
Nothing in the world would make him
order himself lowly and reverently to.
ward his superiors.
Your sailor dog Crab is always a
mongrel, partly because seafaring men
love plain things and partly because he
has strong 'in'ards" and is never
sick ut sea. When his ship is re-
turning to port he is the first to sight,
Or rather to sniff the land. He is on
The lookout in the bow among the ropes
md chains, whose running coils he has
earned dexterously to evade. His nos.
krils dilate joyously at each Whit Of
stale fish from the quay and he raises
alOft in the breeze tail which in its
lay has obviously taken many strange
craft in tow. His ears are cropped
and his face is blotchy. If nature has
nanifestly intended him to be white
the Devil takes tar brush and puts
an appropriate bar sinister across his
left eye. On the other hand, If his
parents had yearned for a jet-black
chip Of the old block, by a similar in.
fernal Intervention he will have tawnJ
eyebrows, soiled shirt front, and one
white sock. His caricature of face
Is what naturalists call protective
for if you thrash him casually to ease
your temper you laugh and pat him
instantly because "hes such a rulnmy
little beggar."
Crab never grumbles, and he is sell
dom out of health. When he is he
chews oakum as q substitute for grass
and thus regains an appetite which
would flabbergast the Kennel club. He
will gnaw a crust that has voyaged
half around the world; he will hesve
in yard Of untearable gristle as If he
had windlass in his stomach; or, he
will crush dozen or two Of the ships
cockroaches as though they We're sc
many cracknels. He seldom sets foot
on shore except when he is invited to
follow the captain to the blue anchor
of an evening. There lying amid saw.
dust and cuspidOrs, he growls intermt.
tent approval of his masters opinions
Apart from display of the rough-and.
ready chivalry of the sea when he falls
in with some canine belle Of the town.
he holds no acquaintance with his tribe
ashore. His contempt is undisguiscd
for those landlubber whelps who stink
round butchers shops or play the chit.
fonier in refuse heaps. Just now he
is beginning to lose his temper with
dog shirkers, for he is convinced that
he is "doing his bit" on the high seas
and his whiskers have the wry and
salt look Of fellow who has chivicd
U-boats through the North sea spume.
Clearly, by his countenance, he has
resolved never to be taken prisoner.
Should his ship 60 down in action he
will be found, no doubt with his little
cork jacket on, bidding defiance with a
dying bark which hasn't got an "h' in
it. Crab may be "a rummy little beg.
gar" but he has true British heart
all the same, and, as he would say
with his inimitable wink, Don't you
forget it!'
In an Old French City.