AN OLD FAVOURITE

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 80, 5 April 1927, Page 4

AN OLD FAVOURITE

TO FIGURE ON STAMP

(From Our Own Correspondent.)

Tl • „VfNCOUVE 2nd March. J-lie incident m winch a Newfoundland dog, in a New England city, rushed into a burning house and brought a baby out m its teeth, draws pointed attention to the fact that this famous breed is now almost extinct.

.three generations' ago this noble specimen ot the canine family flourished in large numbers throughout the United btafces, especially in the New England states, where it was the common household pet and guardian, and a resourceful assistant of the housewife. Many tasks were allotted him, such as hauling wood and water, and catching fish for food. Visitors from other parts of the world, readily recognising the superlative qualities of the dog, as well as the fact it was possessed of a remarkable gentleness of nature aud wonderful memory, eagerly sought for and purchased She breed. It has rapidly declined, however, and for some time it has been found difficult to find a purebred Newfoundland.

The origin of the breed is in a cross between the Pyrenees sheepdog, brought to Newfoundland from France by the Biscay fishermen in the early part o£ the sixteenth century, and the black retriever brought over by the English colonists. Several types of different size and colour were to be found in the early days,, but at the present time the survivors are principally the greater or all blacks, and. the white and blacks, or Landseer type, named by ]3r. Gordon Stables after the eminent English painter, Sir Edwin Landseer, who so eloquently portrayed the remarkable characteristics of the dogs. The Government of Newfoundland has seen fit to accord the Newfoundland dog a most unique distinction by its decision to engrave the head of the Landseer dog on a postage stamp. As a police dog, the Newfoundland cannot be surpassed. He is used by the Paris police and other Seine towns gendarmes in the pursuit of criminals • endeavouring to escape across the river. He is a. powerful swimmer, and can live for hours in the roughest sea. He will be remembered for his extremely gentle disposition,'dauntless spirit, and undying devotion, as well as for his size and great physical strength.