Jasper County Democrat, Volume 4, Number 3, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 April 1901 — DOGS MAKE GOOD SCOUTS. [ARTICLE]

DOGS MAKE GOOD SCOUTS.

*They Should Be Attached to Every Corps in the Army. Captain M, F. Steele of the Sixth cavalry, after an experience of the conditions of warfare In the Philippines, strongly urges that dogs should be attached to the army. Captain Steele claims In the Army and Navy Journal that dogs are the only scouts that can secure a small detachment against ambush on the trail through these tropical Jungles. “The bush Is so dense that flankers are out of the question and the trails are so crooked and over such rough terrain that the point, at one to two hundred yards, Is out of sight of the main party. The Insurgents lying In ambush usually, or often, let the point pass and open with a volley upon the wagons and main party of the escort. They open from apparently Impenetrable Jungle and at a range from thirty to 200 yards. They fire one or two volleys, then usually run away. Sometimes never a man of them can be seen and our men have simply to fire into the Jungle and trust to luck.” He urges that the animals, pointers by preference, or hounds, would need little training. Their instinct for hunting andt sniffing lu every hole and corner would be sufficient to Justify their use. This officer possesses a dog named Done, and he asserts that up to date no detachment with which it has been out has fallen Into an ambuscade. “He went with us last winter on Gen. Schwan’s long southern campaign and lived for more than a month on scraps of hard bread jind bacon. He covered elx times as much ground every day as any man of the column and, as he was always chasing Filipino Chickens and Is the friend of every soldier In my battalion, I suspect some of them had chicken for supper some nights—ln spite of all my orders to the contrary. Done, however, says he doesn’t want to go on any more ‘hikes’ like that one. He says we got up too early In the morning and lay down too late at night for his health and that a month Is too long for any good dog to live on scraps of bacon and hard bread. He doesn’t volunteer any more If the preparations Indicate that the detachment Is going to be out many days. But for ordinary escort duty between stations he is ready to go with any detachment. And it is on escort duty that dogs Can be of best use. Of course, if a party Is going out for the purpose of trying to surprise the insurgents the dogs should be tied up anti left behind.”