FAMOUS MEN AND THEIR DOGS.

Rodney and Otamatea Times, Waitemata and Kaipara Gazette, 25 October 1911, Page 3

FAMOUS MEN AND THEIR DOGS.

A curious and interesting trait in the character of Lafayette, the illusionist, was his intense love for his dog Beauty, whose death caused him intense grief, and to whom he had erected in an English cemetery a monument which cost three hundred pounds. King Edward's attachment to his little terrier Caesar is well remembered. Prince Bismarck seldom appeared in public without his favourite Bavarian hound. Wagner, the great composer, was passionately attached to his dog Peps, and the two rest close together at Bayreuth.

"Up to the last moment," wrote Wagner, "Peps showed me a love so touching as to be almost heartrending—kept his eyes fixed on me, and, if I chanced to move but a few steps from him, contrived to follow me with his eyes. He' died in my arms. I cried incessantly, and since then have felt bitter pain and sorrow for the dear friend of the past thirteen years, who ever- worked and walked with me."

Haydn, who also liked dogs, tells of a visit he paid to Bath in 1794. when he spent some time with Rauzzini, the famous tenor. Rauzzini, he found, had erected a memorial tablet in his garden to his "best friend," otherwise his dog.

"Turk was a faithful friend, and not a man," ran the inscription, and Haydn at once set the words to music.

Dragonetti, the famous double bass player, would never accept an engagement without first making a stipulation that his Newfoundland dog, Carlo,, should be allowed to come on the platform or into the orchestra with him.