ST. BERWARD DOGS AND THEIR WORK IN THE SNOW COUNTRY

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 31, 6 February 1937, Page 5 (Supplement)

ST. BERWARD DOGS AND THEIR WORK IN THE SNOW COUNTRY

npHl-.niO arc few young people who have not heard of the famous St. I Bernard Hospice and the brave monks and dogs who dwell there, and whoso mission it is in render aid to Inst travellers. The hospice is one of the. oldest and at the same time most interesting institutions in the world. Tt is situated on the St. Bernard Pass at a. height of just over SOOn feet above sea level. It is. in fact, the second highest inhabited building on the globe. This pass is one of the highways between Switzerland and Italy. Over 2(1.000 people traverse the mad'every year, mid, as nearly two-thirds of this number accomplish the journey in winter, being poor labourers either going to or returning from their work on the other side of the mountain, the monks and their noble dogs may ho said to bo responsible every season for thousands, of lives. This 1000-year-old monastery really consists of a largo block of grey buildings. The walls are exceedingly thick —twelve feet ill some places— so as to withstand the fierce, winds" and the weight of the snow that is driven against them. In midwinter the snow around the building is seven to ten feet dee]}, and sometimes is so driven by the wind that it forms huge drifts against the buildings that reach right up to the roofs. Snow falls on the pass for fully nine months out of every twelve, and it i≤ then that the monks and the dogs have to go out and search for travellers. One of the monks, in an interview witli an English journalist, bad many stories to relate of life in the snow country and the. wonderful work of the Kt. Bernard dogs. "It is virtually 'impossible," he told the journalist, "to describe the terrors of the mountain roads in the depth of winter. There is not a vestige of a path, and it is only an experienced traveller who could reach our hospice alone without mishap. Then there are constant snowstorms, fierce and cold biting winds and fogs. The. tnoivstorms come on very .suddenly and are terrible things to face. Tile snow penetrates through everything like tine sand. It blows into your eyes, into vour mouth' and ears, into your hair, and gets into your clothes. In a few minutes it forms a erust"over your whole body. Then movement becomes dillicuit, and you feel inclined to lie down and wait til! the storm lias abated. This is the worst thing you can do, as probably it would mean that you would go fo sleep never to wake again. Then there are tin avalanches. On the road is an iron cross erected to tho memory of Francois Cart. This monk was well known for the brave deeds he performed on the dreary Alps. He was killed by an avalanche while returning one evening with some medicines and supplies for some snowbound travellers/ . Full-grown, the St. Bernard is really a magnificent animal. Ho stands thirty inches high at. the shoulder, and weighs about ono hundred and thirty pounds. He is exceedingly stron" and will drag an exhausted man along (he snow for a considerable distance. Then his sense of smell is wonderful. He can detect the presence of a human being buried twenty feet and more below the snow. Although so powerful, the do"s are really very gentle and affectionate. In the "height of the. summer a number of tourists visit the hospice, and the children that occasionally come with them often indulge ill rides on the dogs' backs. One of tho more famous of these heroic dogs of the snow country was Jiary. Bary was very fond of children, and he gave many a child rides up the steep mountain passes during the ten years ho was at the monastery. His intelligence was remarkable. On one occasion he lound a child of (en years lying in the snow under the influence of that fatal slumber which precedes death. The dog warmed the child with its breath, and then roused it from sleep by licking its face. This much accomplished. Bary, by lying down on his side, "ave the child the obvious invitation to get upon "its back and ride. The child did so, and was thus carried to the monastery. One October when fierce snow storms were sweeping the alps, two of (he monks visited Aosla, where provisions were to be obtained for the monastery. On their return, when some two miles from home, on the Italian side of the

mountain, nn nvnliinclic overtook tlicm and they were buried beneath the heavy full of snow. At this lime Bary was in the monastery, when suddenly lie showed great uneasiness and distress, running lmclcvvarde and forwards, whilst barking nt (lie fathers in the most unusual manner. They tried to understand him, but failed, until at last it was decided to lot him out. OIT lie bounded down the Italian side of the puss (never even looking towards the Swiss side), leaping and barking, until ho eventually found the travellers. Both had liad a trying ordeal, but the sight of Bary with food and wine, added to the knowledge that they now had a guide to lead a way through the blinding storm, gave them new lir.pp and courage. Everybody made a great fuss of Bary. Tie was presented with many medals and his fame was certainly world-wide. Altogether lie saved forty lives, and was then accidentally shot.. Near the hospice there is a monument erected to his memory. The inscription reads:—"Bary the heroic. Saved the lives of forty persons, and was killed by tbo forty-first." The. community at this interesting institution are all carefully chosen men, possessed of great physical strength. They remain at the monastery for varying periods of time—often as long 'as fifteen years. Indeed, twenty years is the utmost a man may live under such condition?, for on account of the great altitude at which the hospice is situated UlO air is naturally rarer than in the villages far below. It is indeed a hard life these gallant men and their brave dogs live on the. dreary mountain pass. They are verily the guardians of the snow country, finding the lost and giving succour to the homeless.