East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current, 1917-01-20

(By Henry Wood, UHited Press Staff
Correspondent
WITH THE FRENCH ARMIES IN
THE VoSGES, Jan, 2O,--( (By Mail. -
With the return of heavy SHOWS in
the Vosges, Alaskan dog teams are
vieing with the automobile drivers
of the American ambulance and the
members of the Norwegian Red cross
, ski Corps for the honor Of bringing
in the greatest number of wounded,
The Alaskan sled dogs, gathered in
the United States most northwest ter
ritory, constitute the latest "war ma
erial" being supplied from America
o France. Although the allies,
through their supreme mastery of the
seas, are able tO-gather war supplies
in any and all parts of the world, the
Alaskan dogs are conceded the honot
of coming from the most distant
point, and over the greatest distance,
on which the allies have yet been
obliged to draw
The original number of sled dogs
brought to the Vosges from Alaska
numbered about 500. These have
bred and multiplied so rapidly thai
France now has at her disposal over
1000 dogs with all of the sleds and
material necessary for performing an
incredible amount of transport service
in the snow clad attitudes of the Vos, =,
ges.
1t is principally in the Vosees that
the members of the American ambul-
ance have been assigned to duty.
Their light, speedy cars not only en-.
able them to scale all the peaks on
which roads have been built, but even
to leave the roads themselves in the
direction of the first line trenches for
the purpose of picking up the wound
ed.
In these Alphine regions. however
there are hundreds of places which
even the light American cars with
their absolutely fearless collegian
drivers cannot reach and 1t is in these
districts that the Alaskan dog teams
and the Norwegian Red Cross Skill
corps come in for the bulk of the
work, The Norwegian ski Corps, fui-
ly equipped for field ambulance work
volunteered its service to France. the
same as the American ambulance
and has already done valiant service.
The Alaskan dog service, however
was thought out and organized by the
French army itself, which sent ex-
perts to Alaska, Labrador and Canada
to purchase the dogs. Owing to the
fact that the Alaska dogs are nearly
white they are practically invisible
against the snow and can therefore
approach within comparatively short
distance of the German lines for the
purpose of picking up the wounded
without being fired on. Seven dogs
with one of the long Alaskan sledS
and a single driver can pick up 2
wounded man, lay him at length on
the sled, and bring him back to a
dressing station with remarkable
speed.
Ambulance work, however, is only
a small portion of the duties assigned
the dogs and they are a considerable
portion of the transport service of the
French army in the Vosges. They car
| ry munitions. food and water to all
parts of the line with the utmost ease.
The usefulness of the dogs does not
! cease with the snow in the spring The
! French engineers are famous for their
construction oftiny, narrow gauge
railways and all the mountain peaks
and ridges Of the Vosges, now occu
pied by the French are lined with
these. over them a car runs with
the greatest ease, and eleven dogs
hitched to one of the narrow-gauge
trucks carrying ton of material
dash along with the same rollicking
boisterousness with which they draw
sleds.
On the sheltered sides of the Vos-
ges immense kennels have been built
for the dogs, each capable of housing
10. Fifty stalls line each side of the
kennel and fifty on the other side
with food and water trough running
in front of each side and a narrow
passage down the center
Walking down this narrow aisle a
visitor can see in the faces Of the dog,
almost every type of human charac-
ter. Only a few are surly or cross.
the majority are uprOarOusly happy,
some are modest and retiring: some
little sad; a few niggardly and mis-.
erly with their food; some proud and