Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1952-04-06
By Peter Boqqs

| ~
! American railroads have been
putting up a clamor as to their
/ increasing lack of income. They
might ease this deficit in part if
they would take a leaf out of the
book of the British railways. Over
there, dogs are taken much more
seriously than here.
On all British lines, special ac-
commodations have been made for
dogs. At all railway stations spe-
clal tickets are issued for them.
The fare for a dog is much less
than that for human passenger,
though not more than three dogs
may travel with any one person,
Fresh water and other canine con-
veniences are provided. Indeed.
railways advertise in London news
papers the advantages of taking
your dog along on a train trip.
! AS a result, thousands of British
travellers are accompanied by their
dogs. And the railways make a
snug profit on the sale of tickets
! to dogs.
! Your skull is much thicker than
your dogs. Yet if some one
should slap you rather sharply
several times on the top of your
head it would cause you a good
bit of discomfort or even a Ger
tain amount of pain. Yet, many
people seem to have the idea that
dogs enjoy having their skulls
Jared by affectionately vehement
pats.
/ 1t is a keen annoyance to the
cog. If you are a stranger, and
90 this, he is likely to bite you.
BY all means, stroke or pet your
dogs head, now and then, if you
want to. But pet, don't pat.
/ Stroke don't swat.
To this day, after a long study
of dogs, I don't know what dog
Understands and what he does not
OF a handful of mere spoken
words he understands little. Of
the meaning behind such words,
some dogs understand much.
have known of many instances to
prove this.
H. C. Lowell of Berkeley, Calf.
owned an ancient retriever, Trap
per by name. The dog was so
old and recrepit that Lowell an
nounced he was going to have
him painlessly put to death.
Trapper was lying on the floor
close beside his master at the
4 time.
/ The dog listened intently.
Then he arose on his stiff legs and
hobbled out of doors. Thence he
vanished. Two days later Trap
per was found lying in the bot
tom of a ditch. Apparently he
Lad craWled away to die, sooner
than be put to death. But how
had he understood the meaning
of the death sentence?
He was brought home. There
Everything was done to prove to
the old dog that he was welcome
and would be allowed to live. But
presently he died.
my dog won't stay at home. To
him literally there's no place
like home Sometimes I wonder
if he knows he has a home. If So
he spends little time at it.
He strays off somewhere. AT
the end of anywhere from three
days to three months will drift
back to us again; sometimes in
deplorable physical shape: but al
ways gay and frisky and assured
of his welcome. We can never de-
pend on him. If we keep him
penned up, he hoWls. AS soon as
he is let out for exercise he is off
again. If we leave him loose, on
his return, he may stay with us
a week or a month, but then he is
off again. What are we to do?"
Sometimes-luckily not often
a dog is born a tramp. Perhaps
you have known a human tramp.
Not men who can't find homes
and steady work, but men who
don't want such work and homes,
and who have a craving to ramble.