Bradley beam., 1944-09-16
SPEAKING $
JoE PRIVATE SAYS :;

is itl September seventeeth to wenty-third has been put aside as National Dog Week, and for the seventeenth year Man salutes Dog!
 In tribute to mans best friend, this weeks column will be devoted to doggy" literature, old and new.
 Someone once said that every great writer, some time or other, sits down to write himself a dog story, and in nine cases out of ten, it turns out to be the best thing he ever wrote. Jack Goodman has brought together an imposing col- lection of practically all of these best pieces in an anthology enti- tied "Fireside Book of Dog Stor- ies" which includes stories by Rud- yard Kipling, MacKinlay Kantor, Albert Payson Terhune, Jack Lon don, O. Henry and many others. Describing the book in the Editors Preface, MT. Goodman writes: t'This, then, is a book of stories and articles about dogs, by and for people who are attached to them by leashes and other ties. There are stories about great danes, bull terriers, pointers, poodles, mutts. It wouldn't be accurate to say that in this collection every dog has his day, but quite few kinds do have their half-hours."
 Ostensibly a dog story, Jesse Stuart's "Mongrel Mettle" is like wise a satire on human relation ships, and not without its humor. Jerry-B Boneyard, it's hero, is a dog of many masters and mistress es. When his first friend, Glenn Powderjau, goes away to college, Jerry-B feels he's not wanted and clears out to make a name for himself. Then follows a series of delightful adventures as he finds his place in the world. He runs wild with a family of foxes, falls in love with a pretty little vixen, even falls into temporary disgrace as a drunkard while acting as a still. It's as unique and appealing a story as MT. Stuart's '"Taps for Private Tussie," recent Book-of- the-Month selection.
 B. l.. Shurtleff has written an intensely exciting and readable story in "AWOL; K-9 Commando" telling of the experiences of Doberman Pinscher rescued from brutal Nazi and brought to the United States by an American correspondent. With the Rangers and Commandos he later becomes hero in France. "AWOL" is a 1914 Rin-Tin-Tin, remember him?
 Aristocrats of dogdom are the Seeing Eye Dogs, trained to be the eyes and ears of their blind mas ters. In "Dogs Against Darkness" Dickson Hartwell tells the stories of these dogs, their trainers and some of their masters. Never maudlin, never theatrical, it is a neat job of reporting on the work these dogs are doing.
 If you own a dog you should own a good book on dog "psychol- ogy," and such a one is "About Your Dog," by R. s. Lennon. In practical manner it takes up such important topics as Principles of Training, Dog Ailments, House breaking the Dog, and even Dog Etiquette. Ella B. Moffit has de- voted an entire book to "The Cock CT Spaniel" with complete infor- nation on the history, develop ment, characteristics, training, raising and handling of that par ticular breed, as companion, shoot ing dog and show dog.
 So, for one week, G.I.s, devote your reading time to dog stories, and treat your dog-tags with kind ness and respect.
 Now for our original feature A BOOK FOR EACH MANS IN- TEREST. Is YOUR name here? For Sgt. Ginny Smith: "The Hunting Rifle," by Whelen.
 For Pvt. Bob Braizer: Our en- 1.-Two f1a of +;yoo- -toh1os for infor-