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DOGS ARE REAL :j HEROES IN WAR[ Nobler Instincts of Animal Brought Out and Made Use Of.: BEST KIND OF SENTINELSRemarkable and Touching IncidentsRecorded About Canine Contingents of the Franco-British Continental Armies—A Dog Academy._Loudon.—Mr. Theodore Harpies, F. Z. S.. editor of Our Dogs, writes us follows in the Continental Mull:When tlte war is over and Its terrible incidence Is committed to the his-( torinn to chronicle in permanent form, the dog, the traditional “friend of inaur,” must sTlrely come under review, | for has he not often formed u part of , the operations'—held the position of a genuine military unit, and not an unimportant one either—In the warfare?ItTtills world war real “dogs of war” , have been “let loose, as in ancient Roman wars, with this distinction, that ; the dog’s natural propensity has been . j suppressed; all his nobler instincts ; | have been brought out, so that it has ; been possible to employ him with safe-, | ty and success as scout, sentry, messenger, as a draught animal for drawing small Held pieces in situations which neither horse nor motor traction could negotiate, and last, but not least, in finding wounded soldiers and carrying succor to them.Everybody will have read of the ter-i 1 raced colony of dogs in their (logouts , la the north of Frunce, which form a standing army of war dogs, fully ( equipped with every device of canine | military paraphernalia; of Lieut. Rene I Haas and ids Journey to Alaska and return to France with upward of one ■ hundred huskies—a hardy cross be-tween the Eskimo dog and the wolf—, i and other sledge dogs of the near Arc*I tic regions for the French army; of , the success of Lieutenant Megnin, ed-1 itor of L’Eleveur, and his army of war . 1 dogs, which he organized and success-, I fully employed on the field of Imttle i at the instance of the French govern-• j meat. He was director of the dogs attached to the Seventh French army.A Dog Academy.One could write a whole volume upon the prowess, the exploits, the bravery and the usefulness displayed by the dog in this great war, but I must content myself with recording a few of the more prominent cases which have come under ray notice of the intelligence, sagacity, fidelity and devotion to duty which have characterized the dog under altogether novel conditions.The French have an association of war dogs, the president of which is Air. Etienne, formerly war minister, and the acting president. Mr. Bellan, formerly president of the municipal council. This association is really a dog academy, in which a curriculum of tuition is laid down to fit the psychological capability of each canine student.The Prussians attach a team of dogs to every jager (rifle) battalion, which are under the control of practi-i cal doggy officers. They are mostly of the sheepdog breed, a register of which, numbering 15,000, is kept for mobilization purposes by the Verein ! fur Deutsche Schaferhund. Dogs arc also employed by other regiments, up to ten with each battalion. They are mostly of the same breed, but Airedale terriers, Doberman Pinschers and boxers (a sort of bull terrier) are also employed.Work of Belgian Dogs.Both Russia and Belgium have their war dogs, which have been largely employed with the greatest success. When the Prussian hosts swept through Belgium the dogs of King Albert and his sold-ers performed wonders in the way of sentry work and the quick drawing Into position of fieldpieces of the lighter order for rapid firing.It Is officially stated that the “Red Cross Dog league,” which began activities early in the war with eight dogs, now lias 2,500 in the field, each with its own trainer. It is asserted that the lives of at least 8,000 wounded men have been saved by these dogs.As illustrative of what dogs can doin warfare It is recorded that:“A newly trained dog was brought into a front llue trench one night in France and after sniffing the air awhile ‘pointed obstinately at a certain point In the trench and could not be induced to come away. His companions declared that there must lt;be some Prussians near by, but the habitual occupants of the trench ridiculed the idea; the thing was Impossible, they said.“Suddenly a soldier asked whether it was possible thut the dog had struck a listening post. Everyone knew that there was one about somewhere, but no one had ever been able to spot It. The captain was skeptical, but ordered fire rockets to be sent up, and there, sure enough, were three Prussians posted In a si»ot only a dozen yards or so off the trench.The dog had nosed out in less than a quarter of ao hour a listening post which the entire regiment had spent two months trying to find.”Marquis, a Dog Hero.Marquis, the famous regimental dispatch dog of the French Infantry, was mentioned as having fallen at the battle of Saretourg. on the Belgian frontier. His soldier comrades burled him and raised a monument over hia grave. He was dispatched with a message at a time when it was not safe to send a human messenger owing to the intensity of the Prussian fire. Marquis received a bullet wound and fell, but rose to ills feet and crawled back with the message undelivered, letting it drop out of his mouth, stained with blood, at his master’s feet.It was mainly through the Instrumentality of the British war dogs. Pell, Podge, North, Bae and Huff that the French array was aide to drive the Prussians out of llie Bocsinghe woods In one of the Ypres engagements, while Prusco, a bull terrier that served with the French motorcyclist scouts, being carried in the side cur, wasRARE “GOD OF DEATH”A /marvelous hunchbacked “god of death” in the form of a pottery water bottle. This treasure was brought to the United States by Captain de Booy, a young Dutch explorer, who has just arrived from a four months expedition in the West Indies. Captain de Booy found the death god” in a cave where it had stood long before the days of Columbus. The natives were afraid of caves, and consequently it was never found. The explorer said “there Is only one other in the world, that a female. This one is a male, and is much larger tlran the other.most useful in carrying messages back to headquarters.The dog Dyrane, on account of his great sagacity and clever work with the French army, has also won fame, and Lutz, which distinguished himself in one of the Verdun engagements, was mentioned as follows:“Employed as an advanced sentinel during the night of February 21, he gave warning first of the German attack by repeated growls, and compelled attention.”Folia German Attack.Auother story Is told of the exploits of a French sentry dog:The night was dark; apparently asleep, the dog luy for some time at his master’s feet. Suddenly he jumped up and stared through the darkness in the direction of the Prussian lines, and then uttered a low growl. His sentry master needed no further hint but straightway went back and warned his comrades, who lay low.“In due course the Prussians crept up to the foremost treuch, expecting to take the French by surprise, when a shower of shrapnel wus poured onto them at polntblank range, aud those who were not killed were captured.The dog Ben of Anzac, which lost two feet from frostbite while on duty in Gallipoli, and was put up at auction by his owner. Trooper Ben Squlrrell of the Suffolk Yeomanry, realized £101 (about $505) at Ipswich Red Cross sale.An instance of a dog’s fidelity is that in which a dog In the south of England, whose master had enlisted and gone to France, subsequently fol- , lowed him, bourding a steamer crossing the channel, and tracing him almost to the firing llue.As showing the inseparable alliance ' In this war between soldiers and dogs, it may he stated that, besides the uc- * tnnl army of war dogs, nearly every British. French, Belgian, Russian and Italian regiment 1ms its own special canine “mascot.”LAW WILL FORBID BARKING !Ordinance Suggested That Would \ Quiet Dogs in One Town in California.Burlingame, Cal.—Burlingame dogs I will have to step just over the city’s boundary lines when they want to utter a good, healthy hark if the new ordinance Is passed by the city trus-tee*Following numerous complaints the city fathers ordered the city attorney l to frame a law that would Insure noise- , less nights for Burlingame’s light i sleepers.The new law forbids every noise thoi can be made by man, animal or ms- ( chine that is loud, prolonged or uc.- , natural, or which may cause physical *l discomfort to persons of ordinary sen- « sltlveness.” ‘Women whose kennels are filled with the blue blood of canine aristocracy | are expected to lead the protest against i the new ordinance._ iIRON ROD CARRIES DEATH !White Plains Man Measuring Oil l« 1 Shocked to Death When Gauge ' Touches Wires. tWhite Plains, N. Y.—Guy Walker, ,forty years old, was killed by electric ishock while measuring oil in a tank 'car in the freight yards of the New York, Westchester and Boston Ra*’- j road company here. (He was using nn iron rod and after i inserting it in the top of the tank car started to withdraw it, when he totlched one of the electric feed wires and about 11,000 volts shot through the rod and his body, killing him most instantly.The electricity charged the mets* ]tank of the cur and Walker was jknocked to the ground after the full 1voltage had passed througtr him. He ileaves a wife and five children, who jreside at Silver LakeFought Shark and Swordfish.Los Angeles. — Hooking a large thrasher shark while on a three-days’ fishing cruise off Catalina Island, Capt. Tad Gray and two con^unions In the launch Swatika HI. battled with tha ! monster, which was aided by a swordfish, for more than an boar.
Newspaper Details
The Review
High Point, North Carolina, US
Thu, Oct 05, 1916
Page 9
Full Page
Clipped by
Camille C.
USA 05 Jun 2025
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