Evening Star Newspaper, December 30, 1923, Page 63

Presidential Poodle May Meet = |Astrologers Predict Good Year ~ Ragpicker’s Puppy at D. C. Pound| THE SUNDAY 'BTAR; WASHINGTON, ‘D, ‘C., - DECEMBER ‘30, 1923_PART L] 30, 1923—PA Melting Pot for Canine Strangers Is Maintained by Law Under System Wohich Keeps Wash- ington Particularly Free From Unwelcome Wanderers—Members of Congress and Other High Officials Often Seek Missing Animals Whick Have Been, Taken in Custody—Some Pure-bred An;mals, Unlc’m';necl, SD’J for Two Da”ars—Cats, Horses and Other Pets Talten. BY GEORGE H. DACY. ASHINGTO! has well solved the vexatious prob- lem of the stray, vagrant, unlicensed dog, in the in- ©eption and perfection of a police and detention service for wandering members of the canine family, which is a model for other American cities, both large and small. THe vicious dog is well under con- trol; Washington streets and avenues are free of mongrel hounds; District school children are not exposed to serlous injuries from. rabid dogs, and' throughout the little neglected “Bowser land of the ballot box animals of the and vet poodle families are handled in orthodox fashion as a re- sult of the efficiency of the local dog aws and regulations. The Washington dog pound, out near the end of South Capitol street, is' @ kind of clearing house of canine socla: There n, you might find the prize posdle of the Pre: of the United States occu- pying & pen adjoining that of the un- pedigreed puppy of some local rag- picker. For the District of Colimbia regulations require that the dog catcher’s wagon pick up and incar- erate all dogs that are found on the streets that do not wear approved license tags, ' 2 At one time or another, some of the most plutocratic pedigreed dogs of Washington have met at the pound ~the valuable, pure-bred animals of cabinet members, congressmen, So- cicty leaders and captains of com- merce and industry. ” Bven the “first dog the land” has been rescued from the pound on at teast one occasion, for during the administration of Woodrow Wilson his Liverpool setter was once picked up on the street without a license tag by the District dog catchers, and fi ally lodged in the Washington canine bastile. On the payment of a $2 re- demption fee and an additional $2 for a dog license by the White House authorities the setter was ultimately returned to his cushioned corner in the matchless residence at 1600 Perun- sylvania avenue another occasic \ O reaaie ot o won temporary accommodation in the Washington pound, because the ani- mal was without a muzzie during the regulation dogmask season. A Boston bull and an Irish setter owned by Mrs. Nicholas Longorth also ended up in the dog gaol one day, as a result of infraction of the ‘Washington regulation Mrs. Long- worth came in person after her pets, and complimented the poundmaster upon the efficiency of his service. Leading congressmen have time and again made the rough trip over the cobblestones of South Capitol street in order to visit the pound and vescue their dumb pets that in one way or another had come fo grief and won temporary quarter: Some of the most promihent ped- \ple in Washington Hurchased dogs from the poundmaster. Visit the local pound some afterncon nd You may see to your amazement se eral famous senators other offi- clals walking from pen to pen; éxam- ining the different dogs and trying to decide on which animals to take home as pets for their children to pay with. If you chance to admire the house & of some friend of yours, who is rather remiss about answering your inquiry . relative to where he pu chased the animal, you may take it for granted that the dog cam from the Washington pound, where a per- son amy often get pure-bred -pedi- greed animals for a paltry $2 apiec It was away back in 1§96 that C gress passed a special act providing for the sale by the District pound- master of dogs which were found to be safe and free of disease. A blanket vrice of $2 a head was respective of the size. uge spedigree of the individual dog, the animal has been sold for $2 from that day to this. Recently the writer ex as fine pure-bred, Airedule pupples as are to be found the District of Columbia. Thes were pound orphans and were to be sold at the regulation price, despite that they were worth at least $50 aplece. Under such coi ditions, it is small wender that Wash- ingtonians visit the local pound when they make up their minds to buy dogs for pets or playmates for the children. Some dogs worth from $300 to $500 have been Imprisoncd in the ent o of the pedigreed Cary Grayson have amined twa in pound for a few hours at a time, until | their owners located them. W. R. Smith, the District pound- master, finds good hemes for at least half of the dogs which his assistants | When | bring to the canine police pens. ¢Mr. Smith suys that ‘a dog i safe — | | | \ OVER FIVE THOUSAND DOGS VIOLATE THE DISTRICT REGULA- TIONS EACH YEAR, AND THEY ARE IMPRISONED IN THE . THE IMALS ARE GIVEN GOOD TREATMENT AND ARE WELL FED, 5 e e e s s and healthy you may depend on his|ington and its latitude, but’ that the words, for he is a thorough student |licening law begin more rigldly of dog ills_and evils, and maintains | cd. to the extent that the m all the animals under most rigid ob- | jority of owners now make an annual {servation before he grants them clean | practice of 1i the bills of health i S During the last year he has han- £ the dled 5455 dogs of all types and classes. He found good homes for about 3,000 of these animals after he had assured himself that they were suitable for use as house [ You might close your eves and well imagine you were visiting an alarm- | clock factory during Your trip to the Washington pound, for the telephone bells are ringing almost incessantl Every person who loses a dog im- mediately calls the foundmaste: to ascertain captu missing pet. Then, there ar, calls from persons who have bitten or from the owners of dogs that have done the biting. Al bit-| ing dogs are removed to the pound and kept in isclated pens under care ful observation until the experts have | determined definitely whether or not {the respective animals are viclous and | dangerous X T enfor nsing dogs 457 animals Washington pound. In this list included horses and mules, hog. Rather think thirty- goats and a hog the highways and bu-please style dur- 1 era, when Wash- e bka | dlea | agaition | twenty-ni | two | strange, dogs, stray a it 50 a one o of wiles a ong * HE - dally District quence of tearful child may master begging that he find her 1 ing chum—some faithful « {has been lost. A society drive up in a luxurious see if her 1y Ihas fallen victim to th | motor “jail. ¥ it linterest story you bide awhile, at the ble fount of rding the love of mdn for his faith- {ful friend, the dox { The Httle=of avoirdupols | records as chronicled in Mr. Smith's | detailed repo show that {nard weighing well over the ipound mark is the largedt dog i terly caught on the streets of Wa {ington. The poundmaster was migh the er of this anim, he appeared, for during the id one-half that the big de imprisoned- thy Bernard es- al e round of work at the pound is nd romanc visit® the constant se- Al pound- | pathos & that hatron may ! ol Kingese ousine I i cateher's novel hun are looking dog pound—a ver- informat big and glad awner whei day was tablished a which never The smallest dog was a tiny Mexic weighed less than one’ pound During last four yeafs | has remarkable W. R. SMITH, DISTRICT POUND- MASTER. AND TWO VALUABLE AIREDALES WHICH HE CURED OF DISTEMPER. . gastronomi sin ever, n ord | been /equaled. | incarcerated [imeton avtomoile Chuloo that |, more than ycarriages? there | ho, cular, won ease In |like of gardens the number of dogs licensed in the [lawns ont Tenleytown way. The District. In. 1919 there w less | grant wanderer stored up such a bill than 6,000 dogs tagsed, while during ges that its owner would not the fivst six months “of - the fiscal {come forward identify Mister ar 1923-24 dog licenses have been | Porker Hénce the issued for more than 12,000 animals. | producer of hams and bacon was sold This not infer that thiere aré lat public auction to the highest bid- twiee ‘us many dogs now “in Wash' b, A half-dozen of the horees and has license tugs ap- on 09.000 horseless the a dis- and been ine s a wrecker of dam: and Aves kL DISTRICT DOG CATCHER'S TRUCK SEARCHES ABOUT _LICTS'A WASHINGTON EVERY DAY FOR DERE- ND WANDERERS OF THE CANINE FAMILY, E 1 | s wealthy woman who came regulagly | ! | diseases or other complaints. mules were &lso sold publicly, when no owners appeared to claim them. Every morning the motor truck of the dog police force leaves its South Capitol street headquarters for its rounds of the Washington thorough- fares. All dogs found on the streets that are not accompanied by their owners or which do not wear license tags on their collars are captured in speclal nets and placed In the eanine patrol wagon. The screened fruck is divided into a number of amall compartments so- that thos dogs of different sizes, breeds and sexes. may be separattd during their ride to the canine "jug." * kW % 2 S a'rule, there are usually forty to fifty dogs on hand at the 'pound awaiting the appearance of new owners. under special perhaps, Some of these may be observation. Others are being treated for skin There are two special hvspital pens, where the animals suffering with distemper are treated.~ Mr. Smith does every- thing possible to cure the sick and ailing dogs that come to the pound. The District veterinarian visits the pound daily, inspects the animals and recommends curative measures and medicinal treatment for the animals that need such attentiom. Fifty per cent of the dogs that are caught are respectable, well bred house pets'thdt are picked up be- cause they have violated the local lawss in one. way or another. The rest of the animals are tramp and streets dogs and slop hounds that wrowl from house to house and from alley to alley in search of food. » The dogs are held in duress for forty-eight hours at the pound, pend- ing the arrival of their owners. If the owners appear during that pe- riod they can obtain their pets by pay paying a $2 redemption fee per ani- mal. If the dogs are not licensed the owners, first of all, have to ob- tain license tags at a cost of $2 an animal. 1f, on the other hand. nobody ap- pears to claim thé captive dogs at the end of forty-elght hours they become the property of the District of Columbia. Then, at the discretion of the poundmaster, the dogs may either be destroyed or else sold for $2 apiece to people who will treat them bu- manely. By law the District pound- master is prohibited from selling any dogs for scientific, experimental or vivisectional purposes. When the dogs arrive at the pound they are separated in pens according to their sizes, ages, breeds and sex. The vicious, biting dogs are placed in separate individual cages, where they are-carcfully watched.. The dogs are bathed and disinfected_as the need for such care and attention arises. The pens dre most sanitary, being dis- infected regularly and cleaned out daily. Shavings and bedding material are placed in the pens daily. The dogs are kindly and humanely treat- ed while In the charge of the pound- master. Many of them are handled more kindly at the pound than they are at their regular homes. Valu- able dogs that are mangy or suffering from distemper or other diseases that take some time to cure are placed in special hospital pens and painsta’ ingly doctored until they recover. here no other pound in the United States that excels the Wash- ington establishment in cleanlires: sanitation and all-around efficiency. Generally speaking, the class of people predominate among the patrons of the pound who pur- chase pet dogs at that unusual sourc: Poundmaster Smith devotes spectal attention to the matter of securing the best possible homes for the 2,500 3.000 dogs that he =ells annually. He will npt sell a dog to any person who he thinks will not feed the ani- mal properly or who will otherwise abuse the dumb animal, o ox 2 is * 'VERAL years ago Mr. Smith had an interesting experience with a to the pound to huy dogs. To begin with, she would purchase but one or two dogs at a time, saying that she was going to.give them to her nieces and nephews and their friends and Buaranteeing: in-each case that the dog would have 4 good home. Gradu- ally she inercased the size of her orders. > After she had purchased about fifty dogs the poundmaster found out that she was merely purchasing liberty for the animals. She would carry the dogs away from the pound and elther give them to the first boys she. met on the street or else just turn them loose. This Peally increased the work of the dog catchers, as usually sev- eral days later they would have to recapture the same dogs that the woman liberated. The poundmaster cnded this annoyance by refusing to sell any more dogs to this particular 1ady. The neat and clean kennels at the District pound are handled jail style. Each dog recelves a number when it .arrives, and Is placed in a spe- cially numbered pen. Thereafter, as long as the anlmal remains in Mr. Smith's care, a dally record of the dog’s history and responses to kind- nese and whatever medical treat- ment may be followed {s maintained. The scientists of the national bureau of animil industry here In Washing- ton perform post-mortem examin tions on the carcasses of all rabid dogs to supplement the findings and reports of the District veterinarian. Fresh, pure water is available to the dogs at the pound at all times, while their meals are specially pre- pared. The dogs are fed twice daily, the average allowance being between three-quarters and 'one. pound of food dally per dog. The evening meal consists of carefully prepared cornmeal mush, while In.the morn- ing the dogs enjoy a hanquet of either boiled lamb or mutton liver Chioride of lime and other efiicaci- ous /disinfectants are employed In maintaining the nineteen pens and cages at the dog pound In good con- dition, { better | BY MARION MEYER DREW, INETEEN - TWENTY - FOUR ought 'to be a good year for the United States of Amer- “lea. This is such uiusual | news for -the heavenly bodies to broadcast ' that it really should be written in capitals a foot high. It is the more unusual because, accord- ing to the-dictates of the stars, most of Europe and Asia will suffer heavily during the next twelve months, Our country is ruled by the zodiacal sign Gemfn! and the planet Mercury both of which occupy important posi- tions in the horoscopes governing the first nine months of the year to come. | Not ‘untll late in the fall' does the rulership of Mercury wane, and then only very slightly. Consequently all the characteristic Interests of the United States—business, invention, mental activity and trade—ought to boom, and those dwellers in our migdst | who bewail the emphasis placed upon material prosperity in modern Amer- ican life will have some real cause for mourning. There will be some distinet finan- cial flurries, notably during the months of January, May and Septem- | ber, but finance fs not business, any mord than money is goods, and the underlying trade, condition will' be | ®o0d througlout the vear. Probably |the fnancial diffculties at these i times will be restricted to stock mar- | ket manipulations. { The first topic of importance the horoscope of 1924 is the great interest in our relations with foreign countries. There will be much popu- lar discussion of the best way to assist in the European crisis which seems imminent Astrologers have been predicting the ultimate triumph of the league of nations even when it seemed the mest defunct of dead issues. We may not join this particular league. but | pressure will be strong to urge us to become @ member of a similar so- clety. There will be direct opposi- tion among the masses of the people to those in charge of our foreign affa The astrological year, unlike the cal- endar vear, really begins with the entrance of the sun into the sign Arles at the time of the spring equinox Few people realize that this date is venerated in every religious svstem in the world under varipns guises. Both the Jewish Passover and the Christian Zaster correspond with the ancient sun worshipers’ feast celebrating the first sun's day, or Sunday, after the full i H PARIS, January 20. AM paying 400 francs a ton for British anthracite this winter, pius 35 francs to have it brought up to my fourth-floor apartment. At the rate of money exchange that figures out at a little more thar $24 a ton delivered. i | 1 i it leaves clinkers and dust in_ the slow-combustion stoves with which people like me have to heat their rooms. The landlord of the house re- tused to light up his central heating {unless the tenants accepted higher | terms for their flats. Five tenants, like myself, agreed and seven refused. And that is why we shall all pay more than if we had accepted the land- lord’s demands. . Some of us understand the situa- tion of a smal! landlord whom the law obliges to keep tenants without increase of rent because of the conse-, quences of the war. That is the great pity of Paris and of all France —and doubtless of all Europe, includ- ing Germany. Middle-class people, who before the war had about money enough to live comfortably, may have now - the same amount of income I figures, but it has only one-third or one-tourth of its purchasing power before the. war. Then I paid 314 a ton for the best anthracite from Car- aiff; in Wales, delivered up my three flights of stairs. Now it is $10 dear- er, and most Frenchmen Nving as I Qo have not $10 additional. ‘For’most other necessities of lite the change i4 far more cruel. Then I could get:an egg of the primest first freshness for 3 to 4 cents. Now I must pay twice that in American cents, byt that price in French money is five times as mmch as it was be- ifore the war, The difference of coal is also from 72 francs to 435 francs o ton, but the average Frenchman bufns the cheap Belgian variety and lights only one stove, where 1 have two. He can shiver, but he must eat —only he buys preserved eggs or eggs from Morocco, which cost not half one of mine. s The Fremch workman can eat the expensive - egg Dbecausd hls wages bave been increased with the cost of living. And this has happened be- cause--he /would. not accept unem- ployment, but has been willinge.te h in | HARD TIMES IN PARIS Belgian antbracite is cheaper, but | 3. moon following the veginning of spring. This is the true New Year day, so i we draw our horescope of the new year {for this date rather than for the first of January. | o HORTLY before the spring equinox on March 20, however, there will be a conjunction of the planets Jupiter and Mars on February 13, followed on the 20th of the same month by a total eclipse of the moon. This will make the four weeks following these two configurations Yuite important, with the notable events comprising the sudden }death of a religious leader or advanced thinker, severe storms, bitter dissen- sions or conflicts among politicians_or government officials, and a marked i contribution to the news of the day due | to some very young person or center- | ing about children | The actual characteristics of ¢he year begin in April, however, and naturally enough they are political. To begin with, there seems to be a systematic assault upon President Coolidge, doybt- less for the purpose of defeating his venomination. This will be useless, and if political leaders Tead horoscopes they can take a page out of the book very ynicely here and save their energies. The President will be in the zenith at { the time of the Republican convention. dicAdoo and Underwood, who are the only prominent candidates for the Democratid nomination at present, are both under very restricting aspects for this year. It would be a surprise to any_ astrologer 1o cither of them nominated. A study of the horoscope of President | Coolidge is very encouraging in regard to his progressive tendencies, He Is a { tenacious man, but once convinced of !the practicability of any radical idea he is equally firm in his approval of unconventional measures as he has shown himself to be In the following of tradition. He has splendid aspects for the Xt four yvears. Mayor Hylan vight to alth under the favorable aspects of | Venus and. Neptune this yecar. Gov. Smithy is still strong, but he has gone ‘about as far akiead as he can go, und 1 think there is trouble looking his way | with @ personal meaning. There is plenty of other i | his | recover in work' at anything at all—and there is more work than there are work- man, since so' many of them hav been kflled in ‘the war. Thus 100,- | 000 of them turned in to help at the farming last spring. And the workman's wife also gets good pay, { for she, too, goes out to work It is ‘the midMe class—judges hoo}ikeepx‘rs and bank cashiers, fam- | lles living on fixed revenues from the investment of their savings be- fore the war, and in general all sal- aried persons, since salaries have not becn raised Mke workmen's wages {Who now have to deprive themselves miserably. . And most of them have.to do it while keeping” up appearances. That is. why €0 many French women aress in black, whichthey ¢an make over with a twist and f@irn into some- thing like ithe vear's=fashion. ' And the worst of it is that they. can say nothing about it and foreigners avho compassionate all the world, fnclud- | ing Germans, . only criticize the French amid ‘their rufns. In my summer vacation I met an old friend—a retired Paris Jjudge of the court of appeals, the son of a former prime minister and the grand- son of a member of the French Academy. That means he is_ of the aristocracy of intellect, but not of fortune. = His sa)ary as judge was 14,000 francs a year, amounting to $1,800, and his retiring pension after seventy years of age is 3,000 francs a year—once $600, and now a little more than-$180. Iis chfidren were married long ago and so only he and his aged wife (have to face the hard times.: You'can imagine he could “save little from his ‘salary in other years, but as in most French marriages, his wife must have had some. property. And yet again, when his children married, they had to recelve a marriage portion. “You are not at the old hotel this vear,” I remarked idly. : “No,” "he answered frankly, cannot afford it now. We are in a little boarding house which Is cheap. Hard times, you know: i 5 STERLING = HEILIG Not in This Weather. news 1 i | ! " your outside reading? "Jnoh.,a'— , mi'am, it's too cold, | time | severe afiction by UNDERWOOD p‘ MARION MFZ‘YER I)RF;W. WHOSE ASTROLOGICAL FORECA ATTRACTED A WIDE FOLLOWING. HAV In American Business for 1924 STS SHE TELLS WHAT THE STARS PREDICT FOR 1924. however, be- is much specu- for dal or fraud New Year's horoscope. sides politics. There latfon in lands or building, ample, with s exposed. ¥ s ment will be under an evil this spring &nd for most of the summer. There will be at least one serious accident tn a theater, public hall or grand- stand. This seems due in July early in August. At about this a well known actor or sporting leader will die suddenly, aud possibiy in this catastrophe.” And in col tion with this, let me say Jack‘ Dempsey fights Firpo July next, place your money on the Argen- tinjan. Our national hero is due for gne hefty bump that * ex- some ac of amu sW HERE during the with modes of trayel train or boat wreck to place it in aeri ers of the new be extra careful for July and August, 1924. These violent incidents all come about under the influence of th plapet Mars and individua by this start should try to tious about taking up any sport or journe: Earthquakes dicted for the Dy astrologe ot this easy prediction to make, because a rare month when the earth doe wiggle some portion of its surface, However, 1924° has more thau the average number of eclipses, and while as yet we cannot say definitely why 1t is_ that an eclipse should have any connection with an earthquake, still the fact remains that when an un- usual number of earthquakes gcours tn.any year that same year will be found to have an i€ also a serlow This may be a be cau- rdous have summer course, also been pre- many is an it is not | ectipses. There are two belts liable to tre- mors in the United States for this year. The first is the 93d degree of west longitude, which takes in the states on.the west bank of the M sissippi river, while the second is the 124th degree of west longjtude, which includes the northern coast of Cali- fornia and is ‘close enough ,to Francisco to affect that city. As quakes are rare along the Mis- sissippl, I believe that the trouble in that region will be mining disasters or “accidents in excavations rather that actual earthquakes. But Cali- fornia is a sensitlve region at best, and laboring as it is under really marked “indications of such trouble, will probably experience a shock in the early fall. We have been under a combination of influences apt to produce serious earth troubles ever since 1921, and several predictions of the shock in Japan were on record. The horoscope for New York is not indicative of, anything as distant as this, but, genefally speaking, there wiil be need Of relief for several parts of the country this year. The 48th dégree of east.longitude is also due for elther earthquake or fire or famine. This includes the countries in Asim sea A pleasanter topic than this is the ore skips | unusual number of | San | Lor Junc | | accident | cummer in connection | lent proceedi but T am inclined | 1 travel, and build- { rather type of aicraft should | ahout & woman. i flery | ® ruled ! t | | }influence fuor are its general jdown by ‘ordinary remarks- 1924. This atch, people persistent the Prince ¢ this tim strong ble wedding the it rumors of the Wales would ¢i indication for some J »mal inter be an at or widely known it nion looks very much as wedding of e would do fore ‘marrying horn t in any year will experie t n next 11 be summe ow - ble tim this deep ¢ for mar bor time T rkabla which wom i hat fly the ure. These and chie re- crimes in n fig may not large offenses unusual 1 I believe of fraudu- wolve women, victims, and tha center vet trators o ither as perpe that there will one & n of episode The copjuncti eptune disgrace he planct Ven . t favoraly either the and children ve t smhina th of women the horo= 10 control this n be morals or rong en tection the and November Mars In the laiter part of two explosive planets Uranus, widl be part of the New York horoscope which relates to th islature in eonjtinction in a city officials and to leg My. It not e physical well being of municipal affal ions faver- at large. A f ortly atter formed—prot - t honors gener is a good those in charge of able for th mous_persons this configuration ably during Decefnber will be paid his memor country will die The Steepest Incline. THE Shannon inclinc to handle ore at copper mines in Abizona, is a notable piece of mechan- ical construction. has & length br 1,500 feet and a vertical drop of 800 feet. It is said to he the stecpest in- cline anywhere. One of the diflicuit problems with in mining in many places is the transportation of ores and supplies up and down mountain sides. Zo of the most valuable mines are mot infrequently situated far up the side of & mountain. It be ' imprae ticable or impossible 10 bring the ore ethods of ‘trans- portation, such.as wagons or trucks or upon the backs of burros,. In such event the only solution of ‘the prob- em is to build merial framways,or *hl}llnp;. = Now.the Shannon incline of thirty-five-pound steel rajls. The track comsists of five parallel rs It has a forty-inch gauge; upon which e ore skips operate, and, a twent inch -gauge for the' small supply trucks. Special’ atténtion was given to providing a solid roadbed ‘and in laying largd, sound ties.in the con- which is used met may buiit English_ Teacher—John, have' you|Minor and the borders of the Caspian | struction of the road. The ties are six by ten inches in size. The twe are operated by gravity,