PEARY'S DOGS.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIIC, Issue 14325, 15 October 1910, Page 5

PEARY'S DOGS.

GOING WITH CAPTAIN SCOTT. CANNIBAL CANINES. The two Eskimo dogs which Mr beorge F. Wyatt, manager of Capt! bcotts Antarctic expedition. ha# brought to Sydney are tho only ones or their kind to . cross the Equator (states the "Daily Telegraph.") George and Middy are fierce fellows. i. hey ate their three brothers and would each other, or George would aat Middy or Middy would eat George, or George would eat half Middy and Middy would eat half George, if the gap of nine inches which separates them in their quarters on the Canadian mail steamer Zealandia were 9 noe George ate half of Middy's left ear. George and Middy were born in the Arctic Circle. Peary, of Nortfi Pole fame, owned them, and with him they climbed to the top end of the earth's axle. Now they are going to slide, slither, glide, and skate to the other end of the axle—provided that Captain facott and party can follow them. Up where George and Middy came from dogs are cannibals. Thev eat their mates. George has done it many a time. So has Middy. They eat all sorts of ther things as well. Coming across Canada by train, they ate all the labels ("checks") that the railway officials tied round their necks. At last the trainman got tired of putting iresh checks on them, so ho wrote a note and kept it for future reference:—"This dog has eaten his checkseveral times. I am tired of putting checks on .him. His owner is in the dining car " Middy was the offender this time, but George is worse. He ate a jack chain. Then they tied him with a thicker jack chain. He ate that, and now on the Zealandia he is tied with Manila rope, which is harder to eat than iron chains. A good chain just manages to hold Middy. They had a terrible time crossing the Equator. Mr Wyatt thought thev would die. None of the sailors would go near them for fear of getting bitten. He doctored them as well as he could and they just pulled through. Mr! Wyatt is very fond of George and Middy. George was named after his owner, and Middy got his name oecause Mrs. Wyatt's maiden name was Middleton. Thev are terrible fighters as far as other dogs are concerned —a beaten dog is also an eaten dog—but they are very friendly to humans. Mr Wyatt carries their" photos in' his pocket. This led to inconvenience in America. An American pressman wanted to know all about Captain Scott's expedition, and he said to Mr Wvatt, "Have you seen Peary?" "Nb," replied Mr Wyatt. "But have you soen Peary's dogs?" and he showed the photos. The American pressman went awav, and next day the town was placarded with huge .posters. "Has anyone seen Peary's dogs?" All that day people visited Mr Wyatt's hotel, dragging dogs, which they thought might be Peary's. Mr "Wyatt repudiated them every one, and tried to explain that he had not lost any dogs. Dozens of people wrote to him saying they had seen a dog running along (he street, which looked like an Eskimo i° S i were still coming when he left the hotel.