Traveller.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 351, 29 January 1903, Page 7

Traveller.

WOEK OF POLICE DOGS

WJSKHE recent discontinuance by the JJvfo Marquette prison authorities of tmLa the use of bloodhounds in trailing escaped prisoners, was due, no doubt, to the sentiment against methods that are regarded as relics of slavery days. Those persons, however, who have given the subject careful study and investigation, contend that there is nothing inhuman or brutal in hunting down fugitives with properly trained police dogs, which, when educated to their work and securely muzzled so that they do no harm to their game when captured, have proved invaluable for the purpose. In this connection the system of training man-hunting animals in Ghent, Belgium, will make interesting reading. Bloodhounds have long been used to trace fugitives, and individual policemen in different cities have used dogs to 'smell out' drunks on their beats, but Chief von Wesemail, of Ghent, Belgium, is probably the first authority to systematically train dogs for police work. Ghent ip a city of some 200,000 inhabitants, a great manufacturing centre and, as always in such caaes, is at times overrun with undesirable elements. The more prospeious citiaens of that beautiful town live in suburbs in villas surrounded by gardens, and the protection of these suburbs from thieves had always been Chief van Weßemall's great trouble. Try as he and his men would, he could not prevent burglaries. Finally he became possessed of the idea to secure trained dogs for this service, and since the introduction of the 'police dog' burglaries have fallen off fully two-thirds.

Tbaining Police Dogs. The education and training of these dogs is full of difficulties, and can only be accomplished with the greatest patience Harsh treatment, especially the whip, will not help, but binder this process of learning. He must be taught to find tramps and thieves, to attack them, and prevent their flight without injuring the prisoner. His first lessons are taught him with the aid of a stuffed body This dummy is brought in the position of a man crouching down as if hiding. Soon the dog will learn that he is expected to attack him; he learns to see an enemy in the crouching figure, and now comes the hard taßfc of teaching him not to bite. Ia the further course of training he is taught to throw a man by simply jumping at him and holding him on the ground. After the lessons with the dummy figure, the trainin< begins on a liviaemodel, and that is generally at first the trainer himself. The dog is, however, securely muzzled for the first few weeks and in about four months he may be taken out 'on the beat.' Abe Tireless Workers.

The dogs are extremely well kept and fed, and en duty always wear a wire muzzle and stout leather collar, studded with sharp nails, which makes it impossible to grab the animal by th-a throat to choke him. Promptly at 10 in the evening he goes to work, and long before the time there ie a joyful barking among the canines, in anticipation of the work before them. The dogs are attached to certain efficers with whom they make the rounds. As soon as' the suburban dis tricts are reached the oificer frees him from the restraining chain and he begins a systematic search of the gardens surrounding the residences. Every hedge, bits ef shrubbery, dark corners—in fact, any place where a human being might be able to hide—is carefully searched by the faithful animal, and woe to the stranger found! The cases where an innocent person was 'hold up' by one of these police dogs are indeed very rare. At six in the morning his day's—or, rather his night's work is finished.

The results from the use of thf se dogs were so gratifying after the first few months that the authorities of Ghent decided on a larger appropriation for the training of more animals. The entire expense of keeping the dogs amounts to no more than 1,500 fiancs—about J6O-a year, while the value of their services can hardlo be estimated in money. The fact is, however, that burglaries decreased over 50 per cent since their introduction. A. J. C., Smith, who has a kennel of English bloodhounds at Ann Arbor, has, with the assistance of M. C. Peterson, been training them for criminal work, with good results. At a recent test these dogs trailed their man, who had taken a circuitous and misleading route, covering a distance of five and a half miles, and located him in twenty-two minutes. The experiments conducted in Ann Arbor have shown that the dogs would be invaluable in tracking fugitives from justice.

A VERT PARADISE. Lady Violet Greville has given her authority for calling a.smart lady's dressing room *a very paradise.' la one corner is her bath (she writes), a deep marble affair flush with the ground, and covered when not in use with chinchilla rug. In the other comer stands hfr dressing-table of plain white lacquered wood, with its crowd of bottles, scen's, hairbrushes and pots. The mirror is three-sided, so that a perfect view of t-.e lady's coiffure may be obtained. But it is in the order of the cupboards around that we see true art. One door opens up a vista of shelves, on which stand all the boots and shoes, beginning with the satin and silk toys, and ending with the dapper little riding boots. In one big shelf repose the hats, each on its own pe>, making the place like some fair garden of flowers. On raised shelves are placed the fans, spread out so that at one glance they can be recognised and chosen. The shelves for linen are lined with white satin, and each- dainty article is tied -with its own pretty pale ribbon. The dresses that 5 ang in their own, wardrobe axe each encased in a sheath of soft white Holland, while the| furs are laid reverently-in. a cedar che'st. ' ' ; '""'" * " I thank the Lord that thero iz one thing in this world that money wont buy—and that iz the wag ov a dog's tale. I