DOG SHOW NEWS

Newfoundland Saves Drowning Girl

One afternoon in summer several children were playing on a dock that juts into Greenwood Lake, a pretty sheet of water lying on the boundary between the states of New York and New Jersey. One of them ventured too near the end of the dock and, suddenly slipping, fell into the water.

Merriment was instantly changed to alarm, some stood still and screamed while others ran from the dock to the shore to find help. Two men were sitting under a tree near the head of the dock and their attention was drawn to the group of frightend children.

They ran to rescue the child, a little girl named Katie. They ran quickly but were outstripped by a dog that was lying under a tree a few yards from the one where the men had been sitting. Before they reached the end of the dock the dog was in the water and seized Katie's clothing firmly between his teeth. Holding her head well above the surface he swam to the shore, and in a very few minutes the frightened girl was safe in the hands of her friends. She was carried home where her wet clothing was removed, blankets were wrapped about her, and she was put to bed. By the next morning she was all right again and ready to play with her young friends, though she preferred to play somewhere else than on the dock.

The dog that saved Katie became at once a hero in the eyes of the children. They patted and caressed him although his coat was still wet and their frocks were a good deal damaged by their familiarities with him. He was a large dog, partly black and partly white, with an expressive eye that seemed to shine with the appreciation of the attentions he was receiving.

"What's his name ?" said one of the children, turning to the man who appeared to be the dog's master.

"His name's Jack" was the reply, ''And a nice dog he is, too. This is the fourth or fifth time he has saved children from the lake, and when he heard you screaming he knew right off what the matter was."

"What kind of a dog is he?" was the next question about the animal. It was asked by Charley Graham, an older brother of

Katie, who had arrived on the scene just after the girl was brought to the shore.

"He's a Newfoundland dog," said Mr. Webb, the owner of Jack. " He was given to me by a friend of mine in New York and is about three years old."

" I thought all Newfoundland dogs were black," said Charley.

"So did I," Mr. Webb answered, "until Jack was given to me, but since then I've been told that there are a great many black and white dogs in Newfoundland, and while the handsomest dogs have coats of a pure glossy black they are no better animals than the rest. The color may be black and white or a rusty dun which doesn't look so well, but doesnt't harm the dog at all. Some of the books on dogs say that the Newfoundland dogs of the purest breed are of a rusty hue instead of black, and the animals thus marked bring a higher price than the black ones."

" How thick and shaggy his coat is! " said Charley as he passed his hand along the creature's back.

"Yes, said Mr. Webb, "that is the case with a good Newfoundlander. His coat is long, shaggy, and very thick and flat, and in Newfoundland it is coarse, harsh and dry, in consequence of the dog going so often into the sea. Where they are kept away from salt water and especially where they are carefully tended and groomed every day their skins are glossier and softer."

Charley patted Jack while he lifted the animal's fore foot and began examining between the toes. Mr. Webb smiled and asked what he was looking for.

"I've heard that Newfoundland dogs have webbed feet like ducks or geese" the boy answered, " and I wanted to see if Jack was that way."

"That's an old story," said Jack's owner, " but not a true one. It has just this foundation that the toes of all dogs are connected by a skinny membrane for a part of their length, but it doesn't extend to the ends as is the case with web-footed birds. But if you look closely at his feet you will see that they are broad, flat and rather thin, so that the dog is admirably adapted to swimming."

" But are they good feet for walking ?" the youth inquired.

"I'm sorry to say they are not," was the reply. "The Newfoundland dog is a poor traveler over hard roads, partly in consequence of the shape of his feet and partly by reason of his great weight. He is very apt to get foot-sore on long journeys and his proper place is near the water where he has a great deal of swimming to do and not much walking."

Just then two gentlemen came ashore from a boat in which they had been fishing in the lake and on learning of the afternoon's accident stopped to inquire about it. Jack was still the object of much attention from the members of the group ; one of the gentlemen said he was reminded of a story he had read that day in a newspaper about a dog that was injured in his moral character by too much petting after he had saved a child from drowning. While searching his pockets he cautioned them not to be too attentive to Jack for fear of a similar result.

" Ah! here's the story" said the gentleman, as he drew from his pocket a slip torn from a newspaper. '' It was so good that I saved it. Listen and I'll read it to you " :

'' One summer afternoon a group of children were playing at the end of a pier which projects into Lake Ontario, near Kingston, The proverbial careless child of the party made the proverbial backward step off from the pier into the water. None of his companions could save him, and their cries had brought no one from the shore, when, just as he was sinking for the third time, a superb Newfoundland dog rushed down the pier into the water, and pulled the boy out. Those of the children who did not accompany the boy home took the dog to a confectioner's on the shore, and fed him with as great a variety of cakes and other sweets as he would eat. So far the story is of course only typical of scores of well-known cases. The individuality of this case is left for the sequel.

" 'The next afternoon, the same group of children were playing at the same place, when the canine hero of the day before came trotting down to them with the most friendly wags and nods. There being no occasion this time for supplying him with delicacies, the children only stroked and patted him. The dog, however, had not come out of pure sociability. A child in the water and cakes and candy stood to him in the close obvious relation of cause and effect, and if this relation was not clear to the children, he was resolved to impress it upon them. Watching his chance he crept up behind the child who was standing nearest the edge of the pier, gave a sudden push, which sent him into the water, then sprang in after him, and gravely brought him to shore.

" ' To those of us who have had a high respect for the disinterestedness of dogs, this story may give a melancholy proof that the development of the intelligence, at the expense of the moral nature, is by no means exclusively human.''

"I've no doubt the story is true," said the other gentleman; '; dogs have so much intelligence of a human character that it is only natural they should have their share of human defects. They possess gratitude and fidelity to a high degree and very often they give examples which many men would do well to follow. They know the difference between right and wrong and just as some human natures prefer wrong to right, so there are dogs that had rather do evil than good. I have known dogs to kill sheep out of pure malice ; they had plenty to eat at home but would sneak off and chase the flock when they did not suppose they were observed."

"I hope Jack doesn't do any thing of the kind," said Charley, as he again patted the animal's head, and looked inquiringly at the dog's master.

"No, I can't say that he does," said Mr. Webb, smiling. "I have suspected him of killing some of the neighbors' chickens ; the proof against him is not very clear, and I want to believe that he is an honest dog. I'm sure that he would not injure any of my own chickens ; most dogs, and especially the Newfoundlands, have a very keen sense of the rights of property and will look after any thing belonging to their master as carefully as though it were their own. There is no better companion-dog in the world than the Newfoundland; he is almost always docile, thoroughly attached to his master, and he makes a most admirable watch-dog. He is a terror to tramps, and whenever a badlydressed man comes near the house Jack is on the alert to warn him off."

" Here again the dog has human characteristics," said Mr. Fisher, the gentleman who had read the story of the incident at Kingston. "Jack will bark and be ready to bite the man in rags, but will make little demonstration against a well-dressed stranger. Isn' t it so ?"

" It certainly is," replied Mr. Webb, " and the same is the case with a good many other dogs. It's the way of the world and neither we nor the dogs can change it."

"But I can tell you some exceptions to the rule," he continued, " and they show a great deal of discrimination on the part of these intelligent animals. Jack can generally distinguish between the visitor who is friendly and one who is not, no matter how they may be dressed. A few days ago he attacked a tramp who had halted in the road in front of the house ; the fellow ran and moved very rapidly with Jack at his heels. Jack won't use his teeth unless the occasion requires it; but he is a splendid actor and 'makes believe' in the best style. An hour or so later, the gardener of a gentleman living about a mile

below here came to bring me a messsage; Jack eyed him closely but without interfering with him in any way and did not even growl as the man approached the house."

" Hadn't he seen him before ?" Charley asked.

"No, the man had only arrived that day to work for the gentleman and I'm sure Jack had never seen him. It was the dog's discrimination between an honest visitor and an unwelcome one. The man was dressed quite as badly as the tramp whom Jack had driven away without ceremony an hour before."

" The Newfoundland dog possesses this sagacity of discrimination to an unusual degree," said Mr. Fisher, "but all intelligent dogs display it. I have a black-and-tan terrier, called Ned, in my office in New York, who is a perfect treasure. Tramps, beggars, peddlers, and all sorts of visitors whom I do not wish to see are kept aloof by him. He lies under a table where he commands a view of the office door and whenever it is opened he is on the alert. He is on his feet instantly, and if the caller is of the peddler or beggar class Ned asks him to leave—and he leaves. If he is a well-dressed person Ned looks at me inquiripgly ; If I say ' Good-morning' or rise to shake hands with the visitor, Ned retires to his place under the table and gives the matter no further attention. If the person is a stranger and pauses to state his business, Ned stands on guard until he is sure that the interview is to be a friendly one.

" I can tell you something more than that," continued Mr. Fisher. " About two years ago I was introduced to a man who was one of the most agreeable individuals I had ever known. He was a frequent visitor at my office and I had some business relations with him. Ned has a good memory and when a man has once been in my office and welcomed, the dog knows him when he comes again though it.may not be for weeks afterward. Ned .isn't familiar with any one but 'myself, but if visitors speak kindly to him he evinces a friendly disposition in the usual .doggish manner, though lie,never loses his dignity.. This man that I speak of .tried, to .make .friends with Ned but .without success. The dog would retire sullenly under! the.table arid if -the man persisted he would be met with'an angry growl. I couldn't-understand it then .but I did afterward when the fellow cheated me out of a thousand dollars with a check on a bank where he had no account. —In one day he swindled some .fifteen or twenty people whose acquaintance he had made just as he made mine, and immediately disappeared.- -He was one of the plausible rascals which you sometimes hear of ; 'he deceived me completely with his fine manners and genial ways, but Ned knew all: the time the fellow was a scoundrel. The dog had more discernment than his master."

This story reminded Mr. Fisher's friend of an anecdote he had read in the papers. One story led to another and for nearly an hour the three men .told what they had heard or read, while Charley listened with great interest. From the pocket that held the story of the'dog that pushed the child into the water in order to pretend to save it from drowning, Mr. Fisher drew a printed slip containing the following illustration of the sagacity and courage of a Newfoundland dog :

"At Brodhead's Bridge, in the Catskill Mountains, there are a large number of summer boarders, one of them being a 'colonel' in the the Spanish army, who is the proud possessor of a large New-found-land dog which is valued at $l,000. The canine's -weight is l20 pounds and daily growing. It is extremely good-natured, but very watchful at, night, and woe to any intruder who tries to break into the house where its master is stopping. The dog has saved several persons from drowning, but his crowning effort was in stopping a runaway team of horses, at Brodheads, and saving the lives of three women. The horses were going at a breakneck speed and the frail carriage was swaying from one side of the road to the other, when the sagacious Newfoundland comprehended the situation at a glance. It ran after the horses, and when near enough, sprang and caught their bridles in its teeth and stopped them. Two of the ladies were found in the bottom of the carriage in an unconscious state. The Spanish colonel values his dog, which he purchased in England, more highly than ever."

Mr. Fisher's friend followed with a story which he said was a special dispatch in a New York newspaper, and dated at Birmingham, Alabama, March l3, 1886. Here it is :

" J. E. Walter, the master of train services of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad, has a dog he values highly. The dog is a Newfoundland and has been raised by his owner from a small puppy. Mr. Walter has a little girl who is fond of the animal, and the affection between the two is interesting.

" A few mornings since the little girl was left in the room alone by a large fire in the grate. She went too near the blaze and the dog opened the door and entered. He went to her and began to pull her away by catching her clothing in his teeth. The two companions played about the room for some time, until the little girl grew tired and sleepy. She went too near the fire again, and the dog could not get her away. He pulled at her clothes for some time, but could not arouse her.

" He then hurried to her mother's room and began to act strangely by rubbing against her hand and catching her dress,pullingher toward the door. She caressed him and told him to go away and find little Nellie. He made a strange whining noise and then slowly walked back to where the little one was sleeping unconscious of her great great danger. The dog made another attempt to rouse her and failed. He then crouched down beside her, between her and the fire, taking care to protect her well. Mrs. Walter entered the room a few minutes later and found the noble dog in this position whining and crying, while the hair was being singed from his back. Little Nell was sleeping sweetly."

"We are talking about Newfoundland dogs," said Mr. Fisher, "and here is a story about one of this noble breed. I found it in the Detroit Adcertiser :

" 'David H. Jones, a farmer living near Utica, N. Y., owns a Newfoundland dog eleven months old which possesses a rare amount of intelligence. Ned, as he is called, is in the habit of leaving the house regularly every morning, Sundays excepted, and catching the Utica Herald thrown from the street car, returns with it to the house. He never meets the car on Sunday. Last Sunday one of the members of the family remarked at the breakfast table that the car would bring up a paper that morning. The dog's name was not mentioned, nor was the animal's attention called in any way. Soon after breakfast, Mr. Jones looked for Ned in order to send him after the paper, but he was nowhere to be found. A few minutes later the dog walked into the house with the paper in his mouth.'

"There's nothing remarkable about the dog going for the paper," said Mr. Fisher, "as a great many dogs have done the same thing. The wonderful part of the story is that he should know the difference between Sunday and a week-day and regulate his movements accordingly. Probably he had observed that on the day when the ordinary household work was suspended, and the family rose later than usual, there was no paper. Sunday papers have become fashionable in the last few years, and henceforth he must act every day as a newspaper carrier. Then, too, his understanding the remark about the paper and going for it without any instructions shows his intelligence to have been something more than common.

" A great many dogs understand much that is said to them, and can distinguish between praise and censure when uttered in ordinary tones. To illustrate this, here is a story which I found in the Boston Record:

"'There is a Newfoundland dog of the historian's acquaintance, Lion by name, who gives daily proof of his comprehension of what is said to him. A lady called on his mistress the other day. During her call, Lion came in rather slyly, lay down on the parlor carpet,

and went to sleep. The conversation ran on, and the visitor said finally:

' What a handsome Newfoundland you have !'

Lion opened one eye. ' Yes,' said his mistress, ' he is a very good dog, and takes excellent care of the children.'

Lion opened the other eye and waved his tail complacently to and fro along the carpet.

' When the baby goes out he always goes with her, and I feel perfectly sure then that no harm can come to her.' his mistress went on.

Lion's tail thumped up and down violently on the carpet.

' And he is so gentle to them all, and such a playmate and companion to them, that we would not take a thousand dollars for him.'

Lion's tail now went up and down, to and fro. and round and round with great and undisguised glee.

'But,' said his mistress, ' Lion has one serious fault.'

Total subsidence of Lion's tail, together with the appearance of an expression of great concern on his face.

' He will come in here with his dirty feet and lie down on the carpet, when I have told him time and again that he mustn't do it.

Here Lion arose with an air of the utmost dejection and humiliation and slunk out of the room, with his lately exuberant tail totally crestfallen.' "

" He ought to have gone out and wiped his feet on the door-mat," said Charley, "and then his mistress wouldn't have objected to his coming into the parlor."

The gentlemen laughed heartily over the boy's suggestion, and then Mr. Fisher's friend told about a Newfoundland dog that kept the wood-box supplied with wood. " It belongs," said he, " to Dr. Allen, of New Maysville, Indiana, and is a large black-and-white Newfoundland. This faithful animal performs its daily work with the utmost promptness and regularity. This consists in keeping the kitchen wood-box filled. At intervals through the day it will go to the kitchen and view the wood-box. Whenever the supply of fuel is getting low he proceeds to the yard, takes a stick in his mouth and takes it to the kitchen, repeating the operation till the box is filled again. It keeps a special look-out on wash-days, and at other times when an unusual quantity of wood is being used, and never lets the box get empty as long as there is a supply in the yard."

" Here's a story," said Mr. Fisher, "that was told to a reporter of the New York Tribune by an old gentleman who had a great number of pet animals ; there were two or three dogs in the collection, and in the course of a conversation about them, the gentleman said he believed the character of a dog was influenced a good deal by his dog associates. "At one time," said he, " I had a big stately Newfoundland, the pet and pride of the village. He was slow to enter a quarrel with other dogs, but once in it he was sure to come out ahead. He constituted himself the guardian of a young dog, a cross between a retriever and a Newfoundland. They were always together. When the young dog got into a fight the old dog would content himself with looking on, unless his charge showed signs of getting worsted. Then he would pitch in and turn the tide of battle in favor of the youngster. The result was that the young dog grew up a most pugnacious animal. Even after the old dog died, and he had to depend on himself, he was still always spoiling for a fight, and would attack any thing in the dogline, big or little."

" I believe dogs have a way of talking to each other," the gentleman continued. "A dog acquaintance of mine, of a thrifty character, used, after satisfying his appetite to bury what remained of his meal in a certain place in the garden, intending to dig it up whenever he felt hungry. Another dog, not given to the practice of domestic economy, and with vague notions of property rights, nosed out the buried store and used to eat it whenever he felt so dispo'sed. The lawful owner caught him enjoying his stolen meal one day. He did not give the marauder a thrashing; he was far too dignified a dog to descend to any unnecessary display of violence. He simply brought his nose in contact with that of the thief, and the latter's tail immediately drooped ; he re-buried the meat that he had unearthed and slunk off, and so far as I could observe refrained from committing any further depredations in that quarter. It is evident the other dog somehow managed to say to him : ' Just put that right back, and if ever I catch you meddling with my property again I'll give you the biggest hiding you ever had in your life. Skip !' "

" Now," said Mr. Webb, "I'll tell you about a dog that once saved a great many lives by his sagacity and endurance combined. You will find the story in Harper's Magazine. I haven't it with me but remember it very well, so that I can give you the facts.

" A ship was wrecked on a rocky point on the coast of Massachusetts not far from Cohassett. There was no life-boat station near, and no ordinary, boat could live in such a storm. A crowd gathered on the • beach in sight of the wreck, but they could do nothing, and it seemed as if all on board the ship would be drowned.

,. " A man named Lincoln lived not far from the place, and he owned a Newfoundland dog of. unusual intelligence. The dog seemed to understand that the ship was in danger, and some one suggested that he could be induced to swim out and bring a line from the ship to the shore.. It took some time for his master to make him understand what was wanted, but finally he grasped the idea and plunged into the surf.

It was a hard struggle, as the waves were very high, and several times it seemed as though his strength would fail him. But he persevered and succeeded in reaching the side of the ship, where a piece of wood with a small cord attached was thrown to him.

"Seizing the wood in his month he swam back to the shore, and had just strength enough left to crawl up the sands nnd deliver the stick to his master. The crowd greeted him with loud cheers and every body did all that was in their power to restore the exhausted animal. By means of the cord a stout line was brought to the shore and then a cable, and over this cable every man, woman and child on the ship was rescued. As long as the dog lived he was a hero in the eyes of the inhabitants of all that region, and people came long distances to see him. He evidently understood why he was so greatly praised and petted, for ever after, whenever a storm arose, he would go out on the beach and watch the ships as they sailed by. Fortunately he never had a second occasion of showing what he could do in the work of life-saving, as no other ship was thrown on that part of the coast until long after Ids death."

"Perhaps," remarked Mr. Fisher, "he wished for another wreck just as that dog on the shore of Lake Ontario wanted to see a child in the water in order to go through the motions of saving it. Who can tell?"

" Any way," was the response, " it was beyond the ordinary power of a dog to light a false beacon to lure passing ships to the shore. Performances of that kind are confined to the human race."

With this story and the comment thereon the party broke up. It was time for Charley to go home to dinner and he ran in that direction as fast as his feet could carry him.

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