Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 42, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 October 1895 — THIRTY-FIVE THOUSAND DOGS. [ARTICLE]

THIRTY-FIVE THOUSAND DOGS.

Kept by £ Russian Sheep Raiser Whose Flocks Number 1,500,000. Valdemar Paulovitch, a young Russian who recently passed through Buffalo, told a reporter of Gustav Jovanovitch, the Russian who owns more dogs than any other man In the world. Jovanovitch is the sheep king of the Russian steppes. He owns over 1,500,000 sheep, and that is why he owns so many dogs. They are all of the shepherd breed and number above 35,000. Jovanovitch’s sheep and dogs have descended to him from his forefathers, and, needless to say, he is immensely rich. The dogs are all intelligent creatures, though of a hundred breeds, and all perform their offices faithfully. ' “You can imagine that it costs a great deal of money to feed such a number of animals,” said Mr. Paulovitch. “They are well kept and fed, else they would be forced to turn on their flocks. Jovanovitch has great, barn-like structures for the dogs’ shelter, and scores of men to care for them. Great care is taken of the brutes’ health and a dog rarely goes mad. The millionaire sheep owner buys dog biscuit by the ton in France to guard against distemper. Fleas, of course, are a necessity among such a number of dogs, though sulphur baths are provided for their extermination. The fleas, however, not only pay the expenses of the bath, but put quite a bit of money into the pockets of the dog keepers. In St. Petersburg there is a great demand among the wealthy for performing fleas, but only the biggest and most intelligent are fitted for the work. Of course, among 35,000 dogs one has a great choice of fleas, and Markovitch, the head dog keeper, has a corner on the performing flea market. “The big, muscular, well-groomed and intelligent fleas which he sends to the capital are taught to perform little tricks. They dance, too, and I have heard that one flea who could skip a spider-web rope was sold to one of the court ladies for 2,000 rubles. Performing fleas, once taken from nature’s home, become very delicate, and have to be housed and fed with the greatest care. The czar once went to visit Jovanovitch at his great house on the steppes, and joked with him about his dogs, asking if he was acquainted with all of them. For answer the sheep man led him to the door and blew a blast on his hunting horn. Then, from the long thatched kennels that were spread for a quarter of a mile around there arose a howl of unison from each of the 35,000 dogs, and before it had died out 140,000 feet were flying over the ground in the direction of Jovanovitch and his royal master. When they reached the place all Iky down obediently, so that the ground was covered with a mat of dogs for a great distance. ‘Come, your majesty,’ said Jovanovitch, ‘the ground is damp, but my dogs have made for you a carpet’ And the czar and his friend walked out to the kennels over the strong brutes. The czar sent J ovanovitch a decoration,” concluded Mr. Paulovitch, “and he fed the 35,000 dogs bn Hamburg steaks out of gratitude.” —Buffalo Express. The old maid and the married woman have one common bond of sympathydisappointment.