The Lancaster news. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1905-current, 1918-03-01
MASCOTS AT FRONT IN
FRANCE ARE PRIZED
SANDY" u Dog, Went Into Battle
and Bit Enemy's Legs i'm Eff
fort to Win War.
philadelphia North AmericanD

bull dog named BILLY" by the sixtl
infantry company at the officers
training camp at Fort Niagara, tn
first dog of war" has become a par
OF the American army and bids fai
to be quite as famous as was tha
other bulldog named Billy, who wa
the mascot of the English regiment
the Second Royal rifles. during tn,
Boer war, and to whom the soldier.
attributed many of their victories.
In the trenches of France canin;
mascots are the rule rather than the
exception, and more than one ol
them has met death on the battle
field. Sandy" the former mascot
OF the royal engineers, made himself
famous accompanying the men in 9
charge and gallantly biting the legs
of the enemy, while Bruce" a
large canine mastiff, another mas
cot of the British engineers, who
was killed on the battlefield during
the Boer war, also employed these
tactics of doing Bit for the sol
diers.
The present war abounds with sto-
rles OF dogs who have gone forward
joyously to fight with their masters.
and also of dogs who have dug out
and dragged them to safety. So it
is those same masters from under
the earth flung by bursting shells,
and small wonder that the men love
the 4-foot friends who are compan-
ions through all the hardships of the
war.
The hospital dogs. too, are doing
a marvellous work, but it is not only
dogs which are used by the super
stitious soldiers as mascots, for cats,
monkeys and even a goose are to be
found with the different regiments.
Black Cat Mascot.
An Australian artillery battalion
which went into action early in the
Dardanelles campaign was the first
to have black cat mascot in this
war. Men on every side Of the unit
were killed during the first action.
nut not even a casualty occurred in
the battalion which was guarded bv
the black cat Pussy immediately
became an important member of the
unit and resided in the quarters of
the commanding officer. Indeed, so
close did the men set by the cat that
1t was sent out to exercise with an
orderly in attendance and string
around its neck to prevent its stray
ing away or being stolen by some en-
vious regiment.
few months ago the battalion.
however, moved to France and dur
ing the battle of the Somme the cat
was housed in building under
heavy fire. The bursting shells did
not injure the feline mascot, but She
died a little later from fear and
shock, a death that preceded ONLY
by short time the death of many
members of the battalion who own
ed her, and who were cut down cap
turing an exposed ridge.
This is the third incident Of Brit
ish history where cats have served
as mascots on the firing line, the
Black Watch carrying a black cat
with them through the Crimean war.
which was killed at Balaklava. A
tiny black kitten also served as q
mascot for one of the Irish regi-
ments at the time. and a private i'm
the regiment who went into the bat
tie of Tel-el-Kabir with the kitten
tucked in tunic came through the
fray without scratch.
Peter, the Mascot Goose.
Perhaps the quaintest of all regi-
mental pets was Peter, the mascot
goose belonging to the Coldstream
guards Peter first attached himself
to the guards while they were in
Canada. For long time after their
return to England, Peter marched
with the Coldstream guards from
Birdcage walk to st. James palace
and back every morning.
Peter did not. however, see active
service, so does not rank with the
dogs and cats and monkeys which
the soldiers of England and France
have taken with them to the front
they honestly believe. too. that their
pets bring them good luck, but. for
that matter, superstitions of all