Rensselaer Republican, Volume 18, Number 19, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 January 1886 — Dorsey, the Carrier Dog. [ARTICLE]

Dorsey, the Carrier Dog.

Dorsey is the suggestive name of a California mail carrier. I Heis a dog, His official wages are small and, through the proper authorities, he has 1 made application to have them raised. At present fie gets two beefsteaks a week. He wants his salary raised to seven steaks a week and mileage. Hia constituents have signed a petition to j that effect, and the dog looks anxiously forward to the day when PostmasterGeneral Yilas shall grant his petition. Before Dorsey was appointed regular mail carrier between Calico and Bismarck, in San Bernardino County, his reputation was not the best. He is a black and white collie, with sharp nose, bright, quick eyes, and the usual shaggy coat The way. lie came to be installed as a government employe wa3 this: The postmaster at Calico had a ' sbrother in the mines at Bismarck to whom he wanted to send word one day. The place was three miles up the mountain, along a bare, stony road, burning with heat, It was a hot, toilsome tramp and no one in the village offered to go. So the postmaster thought he would send Dorsey just to see how it would work. The letter was written and tied around the dog’s neck, his head pointed up the Bismarck road, and he was told to '“git out fur Bismarck.” He steftSa" ran a few rods, and stopped. But a shower of stones started him again, and that was the last seen of him in Calico that day. The next day be returned from Bismarck with an answering letter tied around his neck. He had been well treated at the mining camp, was well fed and petted on his —return, —and seemed very proud of his achievement. After this, other letters were sent in the same way, and by-and-by the miners asked that all their maxi bo sent up by the dog route. There were more than he could carry, so a little mail bag, with brass trimmings and the usual government lock, was purchased andsfitted to Dorsey’s back. Now, residents of San Bernardino County have grown to look upon the dog as a regmlar institution, quite in the ordinary run of affairs. Dorsey knows when the stage that brings the mail is due. aud on these occasions he sticks closely to the Postoffice. When the letters and papers have been sorted out, the postmaster says: “Dorsey, the mails are ready,” and the dog stands soberly to have the bag strapped on. Then, with a sharp bark of farewell, he trots over the hills on a little trail he has worn himself. If he meets a stranger, he makes a detour to avoid him, and when other dogs try to be friendly and get up a little fight with soft gloves, so to speak, gravely declines and goes on his way. He wilt not run any risk of losing the mail. Arriving at Bismarck, he stops at six or seven of the principal houses in town, and standing at the front door, barks until some one comes out. Only a few known friends are permitted by him to open the bag. Then at night the miners give him a big sapper, and the next day he starts back for Iris office at Calico with letters bound for the postoffice. Postoffice Inspector T. F. Tracy sent out by the go vernment Do inspect Catifornia mail facilities, reports the Dorsey dog route the most faithful and prompt in the State. —Forest and Stream.