The Birmingham age-herald. [volume], May 25, 1913, MAGAZINE SECTION, Image 50

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Some Features of the Mexican Revolution I 1
BY FRANK G. CARPENTER
Mexico City Policemen
*
Center—A Mexican Newsman. Bottom—The Rank and File of the Revolution
Durin and Caracristi, Two American
Correspondents
(Copyrighted, 1913, by Frank G. Car
penter.)
MEXICO CITY—I want to give you
some sidelights on the Mexican
situation. The whole country is
changing. Everything is in a state of
revolution and this revolution means
more than the fighting which is now
going on in so many different quarters.
The country is having an intellectual
revolution as well as a physical one.
The common people are waking up. The
peons have begun to think for them
selves and even the rich are changing
their ideas as to the division <af prop
erty. Labor at last is claiming its
rights. Within the past few months
we have had a big strike on the rail
ways and a large part of the debates
In the Chamber of Deputies is as to the
raising of wages and the cutting down
of hours of work in the factories.
The Brigands and Banditti
At the same time the whole republic
is in a state of fear as to where trouble
will break out next. Many localities
have no order whatever and the bri
gands and banditti commit their out
rages with little fear of the result.
They dynamite tunnels, burn bridges
and tear up the tracks of the railroads.
At this writing nearly ev6ry railroad
system is more or less out of commis
sion.
Stray hands of rebels will hold up a
passenger train and go through the
pockets of the travelers. If there are
soldiers on the train they may fire
upon them without regard to the pas
sengers. and at such times they have
no regard for the train employes.
A few months ago some of these reb
els seized a fireman who was trying
to protect his engine. They threw him
alive into the fire box of the locomo
tive and he was burned to death. An
other engineer saved his life by taking
off his coat and assuming the uniform
of a conductor.
These railway troubles have now ex
tended to most of the roads in the re
public. The upper part of the Mexican
Central, which runs between El Paso
and Mexico City, has been out of com
mission for more than two years. The
conditions were so bad there that the
Afcdero government contemplated mak
bjUr military cars with double walls of
gjjibst steel and sand in the middle.
wore to be used for soldiers and
▼Afrn* to be traveling fortifications. They
Were painted in checkerboard fashion,
the black and white checkers disguis
ing the loopholes.
The losses have been so great on
parts of that road that certain Amer
ican lines have not let their cars go
• into Mexico for fear of losing both cars
am\0 freight.
railway situation in the western
part of the country has been excep
tionally bad. The Southern Pacific lines
have been damaged to the extent of
millions of dollars, and many of the
western roads are now in the hands of
the rebels.
As to the National line from Lfifredo
to the Mexican capital, this has been
open right along until the last revolu
tion. .The only trouble has been the
burning of a few bridges and a small
station now and then. But since Ma
dero was killed there has been more
or less trouble along that system and
It is only now that the cars are afgain
running regularly.
Hanged From Telegraph Poles
Of late the conditions have been very
bad In southern Mexico and not far from
Mexico City. The Zapatistas have com
mitted scores of outrages, burning up
haciendas and the cane on great sugar
plantations. They have attacked the
trains, and both freight and passengers
are unsafe.
The federal troops now and then guard
the trains. They pursue the rebels and
festively hang the prisoners from tele
graph poles. The passengers coming in
on a recent train reported a fringe of
banging bodies from such poles on the
edge of the federal district, and said that
a doz%en rebels could be seen hanging to
some*trees by the side of the road.
You would naturally think that this
would stop travel. It does not. At the
hotel registers Jiere you may see the
names of Americans who are coming in
and going out to and from all parts of
the republic. The trains are open to the
Isthmus of Tehauntepec, Vera Cruz,
Guadalajara, and to Tampico. Laredo and
elsewhere, and business although it stops
7>ow and then, is still going on every
where. This may be seen by the last
7-eport as to exports. This shows that
more goods were shipped out of Mexico
in 1912 than ever before. The exports
1n 1912 were in round numbers $298,000,000,
whereas in 1911 they were $293,000,000, and
in 1910 $30,000,000 less, and $50,000,000 less
in 1908. These figures are Mexican silver.
The Americans say they know they are
in danger every time they take the train,
hut that it is about 1 to 1 that they will
get through all right, and If held up will
probably not lose more than the money
they have in their purses. T know of
some who have even escaped that by
throwing a part of the rolls which they
carried into the spittoons or by hiding it
utider the mattress of their Pullman car
berths. I have already told you how I
carried my Mg bills in my storking, but
so far I have escaped railroad hold-ups
and accidents.
A Land of Suspicion
One of the worst features of the present
situation Is the suspicion that prevails
everywhere. Xone of the leaders seem
to have much faith in Ids fellows and
the partisans of lluerta and Diaz are
afraid of each other. It Is the same with
the rebel bands throughout the country.
Every man seems afraid of his partner
and the air is full of treachery and ru
mors of plots. Tt is doubtful whether
the truth has been told ns to the trage
dies of the recent past. You can get a
half dozen different stories as to how
Madero was killed and three-volume ro
mances out of the reported plans of Huer
The supporters of Dinz claim that any
treachery connected with his recent ac
tions have been warranted by his cap
ture by treachery at Vera Cruz. The
story goes that the Maderlsta officers
who took him at that time had solemnly
promised to leave Madero and go over to
him. They pretended to do so. and came
up with their soldiers, carrying white
handkerchiefs on their bayonets as flags
of truce. It is said that they betrayed
Diaz, almost with a kiss. They embraced
him and then suddenly turned and cap
tured him at the mouths of their guns.
I am told here in Mexico City that this
treachery was a money tran.-action. and
that Madero paid the man who took Diaz
a fixed sum. There is one man here who
says he saw the check for 1100,000, which
MaderQ signed, and that this check was
cashed on one of the hanks of the cap
ital. f do not believe that at all When
men pay money for such things they do
not do it in checks.
According to another story, the man
who deceived Diaz and sold him out
bought immediately afterward an estate
which coni 300,000 pesos, and this not wit li
st a titling he was known to be poor. The
soldiers who carried the handkerchiefs on
their bayonets and aided in the capture
are said to have received goodly sums,
and it is claimed that the capture cost
the government $1,000,000 in silver. This
may or m»v not 1*» true 1 state it only
as one of the sidelights of the troubles
we have b» cn having here. There is one
thing that is sure, and that is that the
treasury was practically empty when
Huerta came in.
Muzzling the Press
A Brest deal has been published In the
Tnlted States about the censorship of
news dispatches and of the Mexican press
Much of this Is true, and it is sale to
say that our people hate but a mild idea
of the situation over the border. \i the
same time the daily journals of the cap
ital are not at all backward In making:
criticisms. The> denounced Madero and
they arc handling Huerta and tilaz with
out cloves. They demanded that Madero
retire, and they compared him to Charles
First, l.ouis Philippe and other rulers of
the pact.
Ik a recent editorial as to the existing
situation on© of the Mexican dailies re
marks as follows:
"This government is on© which points
out the guilt erf many and still is un
willing to see its own faults. Let It lis
ten to the words of Mencius, an ancient
Chinese politician, who while conversing
with his emperor, questioned him thus:
" ‘What do you do with a friend who
administers your business badly?’
" ‘I break with him,' answered the em
peror.
" ‘And with the magistrate who does
not carry out your commands?’
“ ‘He is deposed/ said the emperor.
“ ‘And if the provinces are badly gov
erned what is done then?’
"The emperor became deaf and dumb.
“The attitude of the Rmperor*of China
is similar to that of the Mexican gov
ernment. Jt changes the subject or re
fuses to speak every time anyone insin
uates that it responsible for the sit
uation."
American Newspaper Men in Jail
The above editorial and many others
which I see daily in the Mexican news
papers might lead one to think that the
press is free, r am told, however, that
there is a rigid censorship of everything
sent out of the country, and that every
effort is made to keep the United Rtates
in the dark as to the outrages now be
ing perpetrated by the rebels and ban
dits.
T saw an instance of this as I came
into Mexico last fall, when I met at Te
redo. Texas, two American newspaper
correspondents who had been sent out
of the country. They were Messrs. Dunn
and Caracristl. both of whom had been
expelled as pernicious foreigners.
Mr. Dunn told me how he was arrested
one night on his way to the opera and
•■••••••••••••••••••••••••••■•••••••••••*•••**•*•**■<
yuL uiiu jitii wunoui trial, ne says tnat
the most of his money and valuables
were taken from him and while in prison
he had trouble getting enough to eat and
drink. He was charged a dollar for a
glass of water, 50 cents for a package of
cigarettes and other things In propor
tion. He says he had on deposit in one
of the leading banks of Mexico City $2000.
nnd that the Mexican government fined
him this amount, and confiscated it.
After a few days he was taken by
••••••••••••••••••a ....
aimed guards, put on the express train
and carried to Laredo, Tex., where he
was set down on American soil, with a
notice that if he came back to Mexico
it would be at his peril. Mr. Caracristi
was treated in the same manner, with
the exception of the fine, He luckily had
no money in bank.
1 am told here that Mr. Dunn had se
verely cirtieised the President in his tele
grams to the American papers, and that
he had broken the law in sending code
telegrams In the guise of market reports
out of the country. Mr. Faracristi had
also been reporting on Mexican conditions
to Senator Falls, and the administration
thought his leaving the country would
be for the country’s good.
American Claims for Outrages
T understand that a claim will be made
against the government on the part of
Dunn and Caracristi, as will also claims
for other Americans who have been out
rageously treated. In last November two
Americans were kidnaped on unuea
StateB soil, carried across the boundary
find delivered Into the hands of Qen. Juan
Nevarro at Juarez. The charge against
them was that they had been serving in
the rebel army. The Americans say that
their health and lives were endangered
by the insanitary conditions of the jail,
and 1 understand they put their damages
at $50,000.
Twenty-three Americans who were
wounded or had relatives killed or
wounded by shots across the Mexican
border In April and May, have been re
ported by a commission of our army offi
cers entitled to indemnities aggregating
$80,000. and this will probably be paid.
All of these claims were reduced by the
commission from the amount originally
asked.
In addition to these there are a great
many ether demands on account of per
sonal damages, and there will be a large
amount asked for on account of damages
to property. One of the Mexican papers
here prints an interview with a promi
nent American, whose name is not given,
in which it is stated that the United
States asks 60,000,000 pesos, or $30,000,000,
as an indemnity for the damages caused
to American interests here, and sug
gests that the Mexican government may
compromise the matter by giving us Low
er California. This supposition is doubt
ful, to say the least, although a large
part of the mines and lands of that pe
ninsula now belong to Americans.
The Mexicans Dislike Us
Americans are not popular In Mexico.
This is especially so among the middle
and higher classes. They are jealous
of our success as a nation, and also of
>•••••••••••••••••••••••••••«•••••••••••••••••■•••«
our success In making money out of
Mexican investments. They realize that
some of the best properties in Mexico be
long to our people, and while they want
American capital, they feel sore because
we make money out of Investing that
capital here.
In a suit at law' the American has
but little chance with the Mexican
without the evidence is altogether in his
favor, and if he gets into trouble, he is
liable to find himself in jail when the
right is all on his side. Indeed, the red
tape surrounding the law here is such
that most foreigners here submit to
petty thefts rather than bo involved in
law suits. I know of an American who
had an umbrella and some hats recently
stolen from his front hall. He announced
the fact to the authorities, and police
men came and arrested all the servants
In the house. The American was called
before the court again and again. He
went a half dozen times and lost many
days from his business and at the end
could not sec that he was any nearer
finding his property than at the begin
ning. He finally sent word to the judge
that it was all a mistake. He had not
lost any hats, coats or umbrellas, and he
hoped that no further account would he
taken of the matter, lie had to write
the fact on the court book and the case
thereupon was dismissed.
One of the troubles connected with jus
tice Is the graft which is universal on
the part of the police and other officials,
and sometimes even the Judges. Some
Americans claim that judges are com
pelled to give decisions as to important
cases by higher officials, and one man
who has a big mining claim which is to
come before The Hague intimated to me
that President Portfirto Diaz had forced
the judge to change the decree and de
cide against him.
Graft and the Jury
One species of graft worked by the po
lice is blackmailing the foreigners through
service upon the jury. The foreigners
know that if called they are liable to two
or three months of daily sittings In a
court room listening to a language they
cannot understand. They have also found
that they cannot beg off on thp plea
of not knowing Spanish, for the court will
say that It wity furnish Interpreters. The
result is that a man is willing to give
all the way from $10 to $100 to have him
self and his clerks left off the jury list.
The policemen know this and they take
the names of responsible foreigners liv
ing in the city and blackmail them in
this way.
I was told of one queer blackmailing
attempt lapt night. In this Instance one
of the grafters saw the sign "Scott’s
Emulsion" printed on the window of a
drug store and thought that this must
be the name of the American owner. He
thereupon went to the court and had
Senor Scott's Emulsion put on the Jury
list. He served his papers, and, finding
his mistake, came back to the court and
said the man was not present. The sub
poena was sent out again and again,
and the court had at last to be told that
Senor Scott’s Emulsion’s real name was
Mr Cod Diver Oil, and I hat the said
ser:or would not pay to be released from
jury duty.
of the famous 'Don* In Cuba, who went
through the entire campaign, lived for
more than a month on scraps of bread
and bacon, and during a day covered six
times as much ground as any man in his
column.
■‘Compared with the continental armies. •
said the major, in finishing his talk, "our
British forces have hardly any war dogs
worth speaking of, and I am continually
trying to impress on our war office the
vital necessity of having an adequate
supply of these animals specially trained.
For the striking fact in connection with
the use of dogs in war is that prelimi
nary training is everything. Where dogs
have failed, It has been where, ns for
instance, in German Southwest Africa,
the mistake has been made of hurriedly
collecting large numbers of them at the
last moment and sending them with the
troops.”
Major Richardson's career Is as inter
esting as his wide experience as a trainer
of dogs and what he has to tell about
them. His initials stand for the impres
sive names of Edwin Hauronville, and
he first opened his eyes upon this world
In Ireland in 1888. He studied at Sand
hurst. the English West Point ami in 1882
Joined the Forty-fifth regiment, the Sher
wood Foresters. Anxious to see some
real fighting, when the trouble broke out
in the Balkans, in 1885, Richardson threw
in his lot with the Bulgarians and fought
throughout the campaign, emerging with
two decorations. When, in 1898, he first
took up the study of dogs for war pur
poses he was a member of the West
York militia, being afterward attached,
with ambulance dogs, to the Royal Army
Military corps.
It was Richardson's dogs which first
brought him to the notice of .Vbdul
Hamid, the late Sultan of Turkey. The
latter decided, one day that a couple of
trained watch dogs would add to his
safety at Yildiz. so he ordered two from
Richardson, a bloodhound and a collie,
which the major delivered in person. Tt
ended in his being engaged by tlie Sultan
as instructor to Ids Albanian Guard, and
he remained at Yildiz for several months.
"I found the late Sultan a delightful
employer,” said Richardson to me,
“though, of course, T saw his best side
T found him one of the keenest lovers of
dogs that ever T met. and intensely In
terested in every detail of their training,
so we had this common interest.
“Whatever Abdul Hamid’s failings
were.” Richardson wrent on, “he inspired
loyalty, which the new regime in Turkey
has failed to do. and therein lies the
weakness of the Turkish empire today.
Things have changed a lot In Constanti
nople." he added, musingly. “In my day
there, tlie stranger who attempted to en
ter the royal palace would have been shot
on sight: now' anybody can get in for a
shilling.”
Gets “Lifer”
From Hie New York Herald.
Milwaukee. Wie.—Scarred by 37 years in
Hie state penitentiary as a life term pris
oner for a crime he declares he did not
commit, Edward Eekart will soon leave
the warden's office at Waupun a free
man for the first time since he was ar
rested, June 1, 1878. for the murder of
Charles Peterson at Fort Atkinson, AY is.
His release is due to the interest of a.
Milwaukee newspaper man, John Pal
lange.
For 37 years Eekart, who is 59 years
old, lias protested that he is an innocent
man. and all that time he was perform
ing the duties of a “lifer” in the peni
tentiary. The outside world turned deaf
ears to his pleas until the story of his
dramatic life as sailor, adventurer and
soldier of fortune was published in a local
paper on November 24. 1911.
Eekart did not have a friend in the
world as far as lie knew until Mr. Pal
latise on a trip to the state prison heard
his story, was convinced the man was in
nocent of intentional murder and told the
graphic tale of the man's career In a full
page article in a Milwaukee newspaper.
The newspaper man's Interest did not end
lliere, however, for he continued his ef
forts to Interest men of influence in the
case finally obtaining a hearing in the
board of pardons, and with the governor,
who was convinced the man was entitled
to release, and signed the parole.
-—
Debts Paid After 112 Years
From the i.omlon Chronicle.
Tl Bill he R pleasartt surprise for th»
represents tl res of the creditors of a
printer who B'ent bankrupt 77 years ago
to receive a dividend' from his estate.
Even this record, however, was surpassed
In 1908. On Deeemhd®. hi of that year
the Dublin Gazette published H notifica-,
Hon that " a considerable sum of money’
belonging to Ihe estate of Robert Smith,
of Smock Alley, Dublin, who was ad
judged bankrupt in 1797.Mias been recov
ered from Ihe dormant funds of the court
of chancery.’’ Fltimately Smith’s debts
were paid in full—112 years after he had
filed Ills petition.
“Dogs of War” That Saved Italian Army
BY HAYDEN CHURCH
ONDON, May 24.—(Special.)—That
British fortress already famous for
its strength, the Rock of Gibraltar,
is about to be made stronger still by
means of dogs trained to act as sentries.
•Hogs of war," which, it seems, were a
lot more than a figure of speech even when
Shakespeare coined the famous phrase
about letting them •'slip.” have played an
important part in recent military cam
paigns. and the British admiralty is mere
ly following the lead of the British war
office, as well as of all the great Euro
pean powers, in deciding to employ dogs
as sentinels at Gibraltar.
The animals to be used, a mixed breed
nf Airedales, are to be supplied by
Maj. K. H. Richardson, a retired British
officer, who fought with the Bulgarians
in 1886, and later was instructor to Ab
dul Hamid's bodyguard in Constantinople,
and who already is well known as a
trainer of police dogs which he has sup
plied to nearly every country on earth,
as well as to a lot of crowned heads.
A lot has been written, of course, about
these "dogs of peace,” one of which is,
or was until recently, an important mem
ber of the police force of Spokane, Wash.,
and 25 more of which are the terror of
evil doers as far at the other end of cre
ation as the Malay states; but of the
"dogs of war” which receive their train
ing from Major Richardson and their
accomplishments in actual battle, little
or nothing has yet found Its way into
print, despite the fact that the services
performed by Richardson’s dogs in the
Manchurian and Moroccan campaigns
brought their trainer decorations from
both the Czar of Russia and the King of
Spain, and that, in the recent Turco
italian war, the alertness of one of these
canine sentries saved the Italian army
from a surprise night attack and was
responsible for the engagement of be
tween 3000 and 4000 men on terms of equal
uy.
Recently the major made mention of
the part which doge supplied by hlrrj had
played In the Tripoli campaign, as well
as in the recent punitive expedition sent
by the Indian government against the
warlike Abors, a tribe of savages who
had murdered a couple of English officers
and the details of those performances
seemed likely to prove so interesting that
the writer recently sought out the major
at his home at ITarrow-on-the-hlll, close
to the famous school, which, he calls
"Grove End." and after scrupulously
obeying several notice boards whloh bid
one to "Beware of the Bloodhounds,"
asked him If it were true that .the admi
ralty had ordered dogs from him for use
at "Gib."
Richardson, who is a tall, vaunt man,
aged So. with tiny mustache, carefully
waxed at the ends, and who when seen
by the writer was attired in riding cos
tume. has been. It proves, training dogs
for use In war for close on JO years, lie
was led to begin doing so. he confesses
unite candidly, by accidentally discov
ering that Germany which now is in a
position to put over 5000 animals Into the
field and has a carefully worked out
scheme for mobolizlng them—was buying
up dogs In Scotland for the 'purpose. The
Fatherland. In its turn, it seems, had
come to realize the value of dogs in war
through American experience in the civil
war. the animals which "fought” for the
north and south apparently having done
yeoman service, though none of them
had been specially trained for war.
"It was in 1S94 or 1895," said Richard
son. as wre talked In his office, a room
whose walls are hidden behind photo
graphs of dogs of war and peace, too.
and decorated with the major's many
trophies, "that I was shooting over a
friend's estate in Strathodel, near Slair
gowie. when I discovered that a German
was In the neighborhood, buying sheep
dogs from the shepherds and on making
inquiries learned that he was an agent of
the German government, which now, by
the way. has ceased to rely o,. this coun
try for its supply of dogs, hut uses ani
mals born under the Double Eagle, which
i ”llgnt *>y training to a high state
of perfection.
,, "' P *° this time," added Richardson,
while intensely interested in aogs. I had
tired a few only for show purposes, but
I now began a systematic study of the
training of dogs for use with our soldiers
and police. At the present time dogs
irained by me are with most of the large
Rrltish regiments—such as the Scottish
Rules. the Gordon Highlanders, the
Seafords and the Gurkhas, as well as at
certain points of the coast, and now, as
you have heard, the admiralty is about
to make use of them at Gibraltar. 1 am
not at liberty to tell you how many dogs
have been ordered for this purpose, hut
f may say that they are. a crossbreed,
and probably would tear to pieces any
person attempting to pass them. They
are to be stationed at night with sentries
at the more vulnerable points at ‘Gib,
and as they can hear at least 400 yard's
further than men they will add consid
erably to the safety of our famous old
lock it is the rase, too, of course, that
whila the senses of men become dull nt
night, the senses of dogs grow mor»*
alert.
"These are only two respects in which
dogs are valuable auxiliaries to men for
night sentry duty,” the major went on.
"I nlike men, there is no danger of their
going tf> sleep, no matter how exhausting
the previous day has been, nor do they
suffer from timidity, a quality which, in
man, Is Increased by the consciousness of
being alone in the darkness, A human
sentry, too, is apt to be deceived by harm
less noises such as wind, which the dog
interprets at their true value, and ini
cases or attack in fog or in rain, the
dog is simply invaluable. Most of the at
tacks on Scutari, by the bye, have been
made under cover of fog.
"It Is ns sentries and scouts that dogs
are especially useful in war," the major
added, "though they also can be trained
to carry messages and convey ammuni
tion into the firing line as well as to as
sist the ambulant ■ orps—and never have
they given bettc' proof of their utility
in these lirst two respects than in the
recent war in Tripoli, Early In the cam
I ' i"\—A <s-tfct.'i.ii i v .
paign I went out there, and at once saw
the immense advantages to be gained
by having the trenches and outposts
guarded by dogs at night. I may men
tion that it was the habit of the Turks
to attack twice during a single night—
not a single assault having, in fact, been
made by day—once at about il and again
about and coming up cautiously over
the soft sand they nearly always had
succeeded in surprising the Italian troops.
“Returning to Rome 1 made representa
tions to tiie war office, with the result
that in a few weeks’ time between 500
and 600 dogs were serving with the troops,
this groat number being required be
cause the area of attack was so long.
They are used with the cavalry as scouts
for tracking out hidden Arabs in the
oasis, and as aids to the nocturnal
guards, 600 to 600 metres beyond the
trenches and by the barbed wire entangle
ments. and the Infantry also found them
useful for discovering hidden ammuni
tion. The Italian army had no trained
dogs, but fortunately they were able to
obtain those belonging to the customs
house officers, which were kept to pre
vent smuggling on the Austrian frontier.
These dogs were of the Rlstcne or Spis
sone breed, with a good deal of cross in
them, of black or brown color, and with
excellent noses, and they one and all
did good service.
“At Derna. on the evening of February
11 and 12 they undoubtedly saved a large
force of Italians from extinction. Let me
read you the cold, official account of
what happened:
“In the early part of the evening the
Turks, under cover of the darkness, ad
vanced against the Italian position, one
column of about 500 men to the right,
the other, consisting of about 1000 Be
douins with a stiffening of Turkish offi
cers. The whole of the country Is diffi
cult in the extreme, without roads, and
crossed by a series of tracks for the
most part known to the natives only,
running on the edges of precipices.
“This force took every advantage of the
situation of the ground, and crawled prac
tically undisturbed to the Italian posi
tion. The alarm, however, was given by
— ■' ■« - ■u———
the dogs chained to the entanglements
and at 1:30 began an engagement at this
point which lasted the whole night, the
Turks finally being repulsed with heavy
losses.
“Here is the fellour who first gave the
alarm," added the major, showing me a
lantern-slide picture of a cross-bred Ris
tone, who. with the best of reasons,
looked exceedingly proud of himself.
“The dogs of mine which went with
the punitive expedition against the Abors
in November, 1911, did, equally well," said
Richardson, “and gave warning of at
least three unexpected attacks by the
savage tribesmen. The names of these
(logs, which the wife of a British officer
presented to the expedition, were 'Bob’
and Mumbo,' by the way, though nearly
all my dogs, for the sake of brevity are
named ‘Jack.’ They were late in getting
out to India, and were strange to climate
and men, besides having had a most ter
ribly trying voyage in the hottest sea
son of the year. On the evening of No
vember 7 the Abors attempted to sur
prise our men. but ‘Jumbo,’ who was with
the advance guard, gave the alarm in
time to put the men on the alert, and
the savages met with a gruelling lire
which killed off a lot of them. Hater in
the march, too, when word had been
received that a stockade might be met
iwth, and the Gurkha scouts, who had
my dogs with them, were ordered to keep
a sharp lookout, the dogs again proved
of use, as they gave warning to the out
posts of the presence of the enemy's
scouts before they were seen by the Nago
coolies. Here, too, is a private letter
written me by Major Wilson, under whose
supervision the dogs were, and who
says:
“ ‘My dogs never once failed to give
notice of an enemy on the path, with the
result that the advance guaid and main
body were never ambuscaded.’
“The8e,’• said Richardson, “are. of
course, merely the doings of my own
dogs of war,' and simply items in the
long list of uses to which canines have
beer, put in recent campaigns. The Jap
anese, when fighting the Russians, often
used dogs as scouts on long leads, and
CT' V!.-m HJIIWFIUHH..
^ **■>*■• IWI-**—a—y rt wffli Q:.'s/.-' vyJ.1
M«»|. RI«»hMi'f1«inn with bloodhound* trained to find
wounded aoldler* on battlefield
r : f W «-> ~— ■ Ojfe-——
••Jumbo," famimi i' »■>••■ aaveo arm) from »ur
frlna amoof . - .
in the same war the entire trans-Siberian
railroad was guarded by dogs, and to
this may be greatly ascribed the reason
that it was never cut. The dogs of my
own which were used by the Russians in
tills campaign, by the way, were specially
trained for ambulance work, and it was
in recognition of the good work tney did
in finding the wounded that 1 received
the watch you see there from tlie Czar
and the Older of Merit from the Empress
Marie. These four-footed Manchurian
veterans, by the bye, are now kept and
made much of at the riding school In
Petersburg.
“In the present war in the Balkans,
dogs have been used by all the allied
troops, and during the transportation of
Greek troops into Turkish territory, can
ine sentinels were used, for want of men,
to guard the railway lilies. The results
were excellent. At Larissa, especially,
the entire railroad lin-- was guarded by
dogs/*
“Then it seems,” said the writer, “that
ShakespeaVe was unconsciously prophesy
ing a bit when he wrote, in Julius
Caesar.’ -Cry havoc and let slip the dogs
of war.’
“As a matter of fact.” answered the
major. “Shakespeare was not prophesying
at all, either consciously or unconsciously,
for Caesar actually used dogs to guard
hi8 camps, and so did Frederick the
Great and other famous generals of the
past. Napoleon himself wrote to Mar
mont, In June, 1799, ‘They ought to have
with them in Alexandria a large num
ber of dogs, which should he fastered a
short distance from the walls.’ In your
own civil war. too, dogs seem to have
been used by the northern and southern
troops both as sentries and. for tracking
work, and also in the Russo-Turkish war
of 1878.
•It ik only in recent years, however,
owing greatly to the changing conditions
of warfare," Richardson went on. "that
the subject of training dogs systematically
for use in the field has had scientific at
tention. Germany, profiting by the. les
sons of the American civil war, used
them to some extent In her war with
France in 1S70, and since that time, with
her usual thoroughness has made the
canine arm of her service a big and
mightily efficient one. She lias watch
dogs in all her fortresses, as weil as in
her dockyards, and counting in her
splendidly trained police dogs, has a force
of at least 5000 for use in war which, by
a scheme perfect to the last detail can
be mobilized in short order. In France
they are paying great attention to the
training of dogs, there being a special
training establishment at Fontainebleu,
built by the French government. Dogs
are used with the Chasseurs and Alpine
regiments, and are a great success out in
'Algeria and Tunis.
'‘Both the Germans and 4 lie French,
by Hit* way. believe in dogs as messengers
and ammunition carriers, and a corre
spondent who was with the Boxer expe
ditlon wrote of the dogs which accom
panied the fikman artillery that it was
always delightful and interesting to watch
their movements. Once, when it was nec ^
essary to shell a Chinese patrol, the or
ders were brought by a dog five miles
in a f<rw minutes, but though such inci
dents are picturesque. I personally have
little belief in the dog as a dependable
messenger in actual war. where he is
away from his native environment, not to
mention the fact in an actual conflict,
regiments become scattered and hope
lessly mixed.
"In the Belgian army dogs are used as
sentries and for dragging machine guns,
while Austria. Holland, Sweden. Russia,
also make extensive use of canines both
as scouts and sentries and for ambulance
work.
"T have had inquiries as to my experi
ence with dogs both from the Seventh
Massachusetts regiment, which T believe
is one of your crack corps, and from sev
eral of your military attaches in London.
But if you are not using them, it is not
for want of experience of their immense
utility, for besides the use which both
sides made of practically untrained dogs
in the civil war, you have had thp feats