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  Medford Mascots TURK IS DEAD.--This faithful old dog, known to nearly every person in Southern Oregon by his many canine virtues, gave his last kick and uttered his last unavailing whine amid the frosty stillness of Friday night. He came to this valley in '51 in company with his master, who shortly afterwards perished in his cabin, with no watchers save his faithful dog. Before his remains could be prepared for interment, so determined was the resistance of his faithful "Turk" that the dog had to be lassoed and confined. Turk passed through all the Indian wars in Southern Oregon, and done excellent service as a sentinel. Many an arrow and many a bullet directed by the keen eye of savage furies has old Turk escaped. When Turk's various masters followed packing, he always stayed with the mules at night--herded them, prevented their straying off, and always gave timely alarm when danger approached. Many a thousand dollars' worth of property has his watchfulness saved. Admired by all for his many good qualities and for his valuable services, all were his friends. But he has gone to his long home, and no doubt has passed to dog heaven. Turk being dead, the Hon. James Clugage is now the oldest inhabitant of the town. Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, November 29, 1862, page 2 Ordinance No. --
Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville,
October 31, 1863, page
2 This
ordinance was also printed in the Oregon Intelligencer, October 7, page 4.IN RELATION TO DOGS. THE
PEOPLE of the town of Jacksonville do ordain as follows:--
SEC. 1. That each and every dog owned and kept within the corporation of the town of Jacksonville shall be taxed each, to the owner or keeper thereof, two dollars for every six months (excepting sluts, which shall be taxed two dollars and fifty cents for every six months, to the owner or keeper thereof). SEC. 2. And every dog kept or harbored within the corporation of Jacksonville shall wear at all times a leather or metallic collar around the neck, with the name of the owner or keeper in plain and legible letters, written, printed or engraved thereon. But no slut shall be allowed to run at large when in heat. SEC. 3. And if any dog be found running at large within the corporation without a collar as aforesaid, and any slut when in heat as aforesaid be found running at large within the corporation, it shall be the duty of the Marshal, and lawful for any person, to kill every such animal. And the Marshal shall receive, for each dog so killed by him, the sum of two dollars, to be paid out of the town treasury, upon his account being presented and audited by the Board of Trustees. SEC. 4. It shall be the duty of the Marshal to collect all taxes as aforesaid, and no tax shall be collected for less than six months, and the Marshal shall give his receipt for said tax when paid, in the following form, to wit: Received of A-- B--, ------ dollars tax for six months (as the case may be) upon his, the said A. B.'s dog, or slut, called ------. ------- ------,
Marshal.
Jacksonville, Oregon, ------, 186--.SEC. 5. Any person owning or keeping any dog or slut within this corporation, refusing or neglecting to pay said tax, as aforesaid, shall be liable to a fine of not more than five nor less than three dollars, which may be on the complaint of the Marshal before the town Recorder. SEC. 6. All taxes collected by virtue of the provisions of this ordinance (the Marshal deducting therefrom twenty-five percent of the amount for his fees) shall, within thirty days after the receipt thereof, be paid over to the town Treasurer, for the use of the town. This ordinance shall be in force ten days from and after its publication. Passed October 29th, 1863. Attest: U. S.
HAYDEN, Recorder.
The authorities of Jacksonville have levied a tax of $2 for every six months on "dorgs" and made it unlawful for any of the canine species to go at large without wearing on the neck a leather or metallic collar. The dorgs will take notice and govern themselves accordingly! "Domestic Items," Oregon Statesman, Salem, November 9, 1863, page 3 RECORDER'S COURT.--On complaint of Marshal Banks, O. Jacobs, Esq., on Tuesday appeared before the town Recorder, U. S. Hayden, to answer for refusing to pay a tax on his poodle dog, as required by a recently enacted ordinance. There was full as large a crowd in attendance to watch the progress of the trial as there was at the last mass meeting of the "Democracy." J. D. Fay, Esq., attorney for the plaintiff, and Jacobs & Russell for the defense. Able, eloquent, sharp and witty speeches were made by the legal gentlemen. The dog law was torn to shreds, reconstructed, dissolved, and again made whole. At dark the trial closed, and the Recorder, taking the matter under advisement, adjourned the Court. Today we learn the Court has decided that the proceedings were irregular, and dismissed the suit. We understand that another suit will be instituted. Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, December 26, 1863, page 2 CATS.--Jacksonville is so stocked with the common house cat that they have become a serious nuisance. They caterwaul, fight and steal through the night, and kill young chickens, and commit all sorts of depredations by day. It is becoming a serious question as to what disposition is to be made of them. Dogs, traps, and poison seem to be alike ineffectual, and firearms are impracticable. Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville, March 28, 1868, page 3 LOOK OUT FOR YOUR DOGS.--Marshal Wall has posted a notice that he will enforce the ordinance against dogs. Animals of the canine species are subject to be taken suddenly ill if they are allowed to run at large. Oregon Sentinel, Jacksonville,
February 6, 1869, page
3
A CANINE MONSTER.--We saw, at the Bella Union Saloon, yesterday, a remarkable dog. It is several months old, weighs a pound, and can be put into a pint cup. It is of the poodle species, with downy hair and mild blue eyes, and is a mute. The most singular thing connected with this dog is that it has no wag to its tail. Ask Breitbarth. Democratic News, Jacksonville, December 25, 1869, page 3 OBITUARY.--Among the notable events of the week is the death of A. Thomas Cat, for a long time connected with the printing fraternity of Jacksonville. He was born in Jacksonville some eight or ten years ago, and graduated in the Oregon Press office. A few years afterwards we find him in the Reveille, where he remained a short time, but not finding it profitable, vamoosed the ranch. The next we hear of him returning to his old quarters in the office of the News. Here he stood the kicks and cuffs of many a tramping "jour" printer, until it became obnoxious, and compelled him to take a walk. This journal having gone to the races, Mr. A. Thomas Cat seeing a bright future in the Times, returns to his old abode; but his end was drawing near. When it is remembered that he was but ten years old at his death, the energy and enterprise of Mr. A. Thomas Cat in accomplishing so much is apparent, and his death creates a vacancy in our household that will indeed be hard to fill. Requiescat in pace. Democratic Times, Jacksonville, August 3, 1872, page 3 There is rejoicing in dog heaven, but the canine population of Medford is wearing crepe and shedding tears of sorrow and regret--old Rex has gone home. He was the well-known bird dog belonging to W. W. Cardwell and his demise was due to the fact that old Father Time decided his stay amid the trials and troubles of the wicked and perverse dog generation had been of a duration quite sufficient--hence the shuffling off--Rex has gone home. "All the Local News," Medford Mail, June 23, 1893, page 3 Medford now levies a tax of $1.25 on each male dog and $2.25 on each female. "Medford Squibs," Democratic Times, Jacksonville, February 12, 1894, page 2 Last Thursday little Bertha, the ten-year-old daughter of landlord J. G. Ireland, of the Clarendon, while playing with a dog was badly bitten through the arm by that animal. The child complained of the arm paining her a few hours later, but the parents thought it was nothing serious, but when they saw the arm Saturday morning they were alarmed to no small degree, as they well might be, for her arm was black for some distance around the wound. Dr. Geary was called, and after a few hours treatment the patient began to improve and is now all right again. "News of the City," Medford Mail, June 8, 1894, page 3 "Jack," the marshal's dog, died last Thursday after a long and honorable career. He first commenced duty when H. W. Grimes was chief of police, about nine years ago, and never lost a night until his last illness. No matter who filled the marshal's office, "Jack" always was his attendant and assimilated his characteristics, following none else. He was decently buried the next day, with proper ceremonies, those whom he had served in an official capacity being chief mourners. Requiescat in pace. "Local Notes," Democratic Times, Jacksonville, March 13, 1899, page 3 A crowd of people were out Tuesday evening to witness the performance of Dandy, the wonderful diving dog. Dandy is a beautiful little black and white dog, with a coat as fine as Astrakhan. His owner, Harry L. Holmes, travels with him constantly, giving exhibitions of his courage and cleverness. He usually jumps a distance of 50 feet, but in Kansas City, Mo., in June of last year, he dived a distance of 73 feet. He is a very nervy little fellow, ascending the 50-foot ladder without any assistance, and patiently awaits the word to make the downward leap into a net. He is said to be the highest diving dog in the world. "City Happenings," Medford Mail, June 30, 1899, page 7 A Smart Dog.
J.
D. Heard of Medford, Or., an enthusiastic sportsman, relates an
interesting story showing the sagacity and intelligence displayed by an
English setter dog called Puppy, owned by G. E. Neuber, one of
Jacksonville's leading sportsmen. Heard, Neuber, J. A. Whitman and
Chas. Prim were quail shooting one day last fall, along the banks of
Bear Creek, one of the tributaries of Rogue River, and a superb hunting
country, by the way. A bevy of at least fifty birds were suddenly
flushed and took flight across the creek, about 150 feet wide there,
seeking cover in the willows fringing the opposite side of the stream.
Heard called to his dog Rex, a son of Puppy out of Neuber's bitch Snow,
and ordered him across the water, intending to send him around behind
the quails so that they would be driven back to the shooter's side. Rex
took to the water at his master's behest and bravely swam the rapid
current, quartering down the stream. In doing so he got into a strong
eddy caused by a large brush heap, and the best he could do was to
"swing around the circle." Efforts to recall him were of no avail.
Suddenly Puppy, who had been an interested observer of events, seemed
to discern the predicament of the other dog, and springing into the
water was quickly in the miniature maelstrom, and without more ado took
a firm grip on Rex's ear with his teeth, turning shoreward, and soon
had the almost exhausted Rex in safety. After a short rest Puppy and
Rex, with Whitman's Gordon setter, crossed the stream further down and
were directed up to and behind where the quails were still in refuge.
They flushed them, the birds flying back to the side where the shooters
were, and a number were bagged in good style.--[S.F. Breeder and Sportsman.
Democratic Times, Jacksonville, April 5, 1900, page 3 Ed. Van Dyke has lost his dog--six months old; full-blood Gordon setter; color, black--lost Sunday, Sept. 1st. Will pay reward. Leave information at store of J. G. Van Dyke & Co. "Additional Local," Medford Mail, September 6, 1901, page 6 Mr. and Mrs. J. A. Perry left Sunday morning for Albany, Oregon, where they will visit relatives for a couple of weeks. Mr. Perry is figuring on bagging a goodly number of China pheasants while in that locality--and Dr. Pickel, of this city, will join him in a few days of the sport--and try the mettle in his new fifty-dollar bird dog. "Purely Personal," Medford Mail, October 4, 1901, page 6 A sight familiar enough to citizens, yet which attracts the attention of strangers, is the one made by J. Beek, the hardware man, and his splendid Newfoundland dog while going along the street to and from his place of business. When walking Mr. Beek leans heavily for support upon the dog, and the faithful fellow, as though conscious of the duty depending upon himself, steps slowly and carefully along, suiting his pace to that of his master. Victor, as the dog is called, can do everything but talk. He is five years old and weighs 156 pounds. Mr. Beek purchased him when a pup from John Miller of Jacksonville. The dog has a fine, broad forehead, denoting unusual sagacity and big, kindly eyes. "Medford Squibs," Democratic Times, Jacksonville, March 27, 1902, page 4 A Citizen:--"Some of these moonlight nights I'm going to act contrary to the peace and dignity of the city of Medford, and I don't care who knows the reason thereof. Every once in awhile the canine population of this man's burg takes a notion to have vocal exercises, and invariably they choose my neighborhood for a general rendezvous. They start something like the farmers' band that parades the streets before a performance of "Joshua Whitcomb." Way in the distance a faint bark is heard, then another in a different direction, then more somewhere else. They keep getting closer and closer, until finally they converge as near as possible to my bedroom window. Some of these times I'm going to load an old-fashioned ten-bore shotgun I know of with slugs, nails and any old thing I can get and take a potshot at that canine orchestra. The old gun may kick hard enough to kill me, but if the superstition of the Indians is anywhere near right I'll be sure to have plenty of dogs with which to chase game in the happy hunting grounds." "Street Echoes," Medford Mail, August 26, 1904, page 1 Nearly sixteen years ago George Coulter, the painter, one dark, rainy night, picked up a bedraggled kitten in the street, near the Hotel Nash. He carried the kitten into the barroom and fixed him comfortably by the stove. The kitten waxed and grew strong and in time became a cat of large size and dignified mien, and the name of "Jerry" was bestowed upon him. Up to two years ago "Jerry" was boss of the hotel. No dog was allowed to invade that portion of the house which he regarded as his particular territory. He stayed through all the changes which took place in the management up to two years ago, when he left because he and Ragsdale's dog couldn't get along together. He was known to all the old citizens in the town, and nobody had anything but kind words for Jerry. The only time he was ever defeated in battle in his prime was when he tackled a cub bear, which refused to run, and in a short time Jerry was compelled to retire to the top of the barroom partition, where he remained, defiant but careful not to come down, until the bear was led away. About ten days ago old Jerry, worn out by the weight of years, passed away, and if there is a happy hunting ground for good cats, he is there. Since the above was put in type, "Old Jerry" has reappeared, and as a consequence has the distinction, enjoyed by few humans, of having good things said about him before his death. "An Ancient Feline," Medford Mail, September 15, 1905, page 5 DOG RUNS AMUCK ON SOUTH GRAPE
Strange Dog, Foaming at Mouth, Terrorizes Inhabitants in West Medford and Is Dispatched by a Bullet--Owner Is Unknown.
A
huge dog, evidently with a strain of collie in him, ran amuck on South
Grape Street Sunday afternoon, terrorizing the residents of that
section until he was dispatched by one of the inhabitants. A number of
people who were on the street sought safety in flight, and 'tis said
that more than one young lady climbed garden fences with great
dexterity to escape the mad animal.
The dog appeared suddenly upon the street as a number of young folks were returning from the ball game. He was fairly "yelping his head off" and was foaming at the mouth. One of the residents rushed into his house, and when the rifle spoke the career of the canine was over. The dog was a stranger and no one appears to know its owner. Medford Mail Tribune, April 4, 1910, page 8 Seeks Relief from Canines.
Anent the controversy over the worthless cur question, now being waged
in the columns of the Oregonian,
a correspondent who is evidently well known in this
vicinity pens the following in denunciation of "Old Dog Tray."
"The writer's recollection of Medford, Ore., is that about one year since, his wife and self, after three nights' loss of sleep there, caused by hundreds of barking, howling curs making night hideous, had to leave that dog town and go on to Ashland to secure a night's slumber. The merchants of Salem, Ore., posted placards in their windows requesting their customers to leave their dogs outside. Will some dog defender set forth the benefits to Portland in its vast army of useless brutes? Sanitary measures alone should be sufficient to relegate this filthy monster to the wilds where he belongs, as not only does he befoul the food we eat, but our beautiful storefronts and doorways. Awaken, fetish worshipers and dog idolators! Alaskan wilds and trails need your dogs--the more wolf in them the better. Portland has thrown off the garb of savagery and wilderness, and can well dispense with any and all adjuncts of the wilds. Awaken, say I, make this a city for men and women, civilized men and women. Turn your eyes for a time on God's little children, and exterminate or send to the wilds this filthy monster, this ever-present menace to life, limb, property and comfort in any town or city." A.
J. MARTIN.
Ashland
Tidings, August 1, 1910, page 2"Dick," the coach pup, which was been following the fire wagon since he was weaned, was run over and killed on Main Street by an automobile Friday afternoon. Apparently no effort was made by the drivers of the car to dodge the little dog, and he was instantly killed. "Social and Personal," Medford Mail Tribune weekly, September 1, 1910, page 7 Blooded Cats in Medford
How
many people are aware that Medford possesses a kennel of long-haired or
Persian cats, known as the Westover Cattery, where the animals have
been imported from England's most highly pedigreed stock? And is it
generally known in the West that the United States Department of
Agriculture sanctions a stud book for those beautiful animals?
THIS DOG, LIKE CAT, COMES BACKThe breeding of cats is yet in its infancy, particularly in the West, where little attention has been paid to a cat of any kind (unless it proved to be a disturber of the midnight peace), where it has been carried on in a hit-or-miss fashion for a number of years. And it is only recently that fanciers have come to realize that a cat must be bred in its own color for many generations to command any price. The Westover Cattery breeds only silvers and silver tabbies. The former are pale gray, almost a lavender tinge, and some are so pale as to seem practically white, until they are placed beside a really white cat. The silver tabbies have the same gray undercoat, overlaid with broad black stripes and wheels. During the winter the cats have [a] very heavy coat, but as they shed much of it during the summer months, they have not gotten their heavy coats on yet. This cattery has not been in existence a great while, but possesses three breeders of the silvers and seven tiny kittens of both varieties, besides a brown tabby, and it is well worth the trip to see the little kittens at play. These cats have their own apartments, which are very airy and sanitary, besides a big outdoor run, where they can go at will. They are in fine condition and very handsome animals, and whether one is fond of cats or not, they are well worth seeing. Medford Mail Tribune, September 25, 1910, page 14 The Oregon dog keeps up his evil reputation for causing quarrels. The last difficulty reported happened at Medford and brought one man to his death, while another is a murderer. If the value of all the curs in Oregon could be boiled down into a jar of jelly, it would not be worth the life of a man, nor would it compensate for the lost peace of a neighborhood. Sunday Oregonian, Portland, September 25, 1910, page C6 "Jack" Shows Up Again After Short Vacation--Often Goes Off on a Trip, But He Never Fails To Show Up Again for Something To Eat.
"Well,
here I am again," said Jack, the yellow dog who has his habitat at
Warner, Wortman & Gore's grocery, as nearly as he could in dog
language, as he bounded into the store, barking vociferously, Friday
morning.
Jack has a history. He became acquainted with Lou Warner at the depot while the latter was looking out for the dinner business several months ago, and recognizing him as pretty good people, adopted him. From that on Jack was there at every train, watched the trucks and incidentally took care of the business. Finally he drifted down to the store and made his headquarters there. Twice has he been claimed by different parties and taken protesting away, but each time he has returned joyously to the store. Last evening he was claimed and taken away with a rope around his neck, but this morning he showed up bright and early with an appetite which might have been the reason of his desertion of his latest master. Medford Mail Tribune, November 4, 1910, page 8 A CATASTROPHE.
Nine Lives Snuffed Out at Medford Substation.
Mail Tribune:--Nine
lives were snuffed out in the twinkling of an eye at the Medford
substation of the Rogue River Electric Company on a recent evening,
when a cat, the official pet of the employees, flicked her caudal
appendage against a wire carrying 20,000 volts and went to sleep. The
proverbial eight lives went with the first. There was no "comeback" to
this pussy.
The cat was taking its regular prowl about the station when the tragedy occurred. She had jumped upon the top of the big transformers as was her custom and was stepping from one to the other, purring her contentment and waving her tail back and forth. That waving tail was the cat's undoing. In some way the caudal appendage connected with one of the 20,000-volt wires, there was a subdued mee-ow, and it was all off with the cat. Ashland Tidings, November 17, 1910, page 1 MEDFORD CATS PRIZEWINNER
Mrs. Paul Janney Exhibits Her Blue Blood Felines-- Many Blue Ribbons Are Annexed, As Well As Medals, Cups, Etc.
Medford has come to the front again, and this time it is in a new line,
for at the cat show which was held in Seattle last week three medals
and nine ribbons (three of which were blue ribbons) were won by cats
which are owned and exhibited by the Westover Cattery.
Out of the 175 cats exhibited, "Flying Fox," a beautiful Angora, was considered the "best cat in the show," and won two medals and seven ribbons (two of which were blue). He also received wins on three silver cups--it takes winnings from three exhibits to claim a cup--besides winning first place in the three classes in which he was exhibited--novice, open and winner classes. There is no other cat of the color of Flying Fox west of Chicago, and there is no cat from the same family west of New York. This is the first time he has been entered in an exhibit, and he will enter all the shows on the coast. Amarye, another Angora, won two ribbons (one blue) and a silver medal. Mrs. Paul Janney--nee Spink--is the owner of the cats, and as she was unable to attend the show, sent the cats in charge of Mrs. Howard of Portland. Mrs. Janney will be the judge of the cat show in Portland next month. Medford Mail Tribune, December 25, 1910, page 6 DOG POISONER AT LARGE IN CITY
That vandals and dog poisoners are
holding undisputed carnival in the residential portion of Medford is
the charge made by a number of persons who, within the last week,
suffered the loss of dogs, valuable either for their real or fancied
worth, at their hands.F. V. Medynski, W. W. Eifert and Others Lose Valuable Animals-- Six or Eight Dogs Killed During Past Three Days. Early Thursday morning F. V. Medynski of 316 North Central Street was awakened by the barking of his dog, a hound valued by its owner as a bird dog. Going to the enclosure behind his residence Mr. Medynski let the suffering animal into the house, where it was seized with convulsions a few moments later and died. A physician who was summoned pronounced strychnine poisoning as the cause of death. Councilman W. W. Eifert, whose residence is in the same block, also lost a dog, a valuable cocker spaniel, in the same way. Three other dogs were reported this morning to have been poisoned during the night, and the dead body of an unclaimed collie dog is lying at the corner of North Central and Fourth streets. Numerous chicken thefts have been reported in the same vicinity lately, and the belief prevails that these miscreants are wantonly poisoning dogs in order to make stealing easier. Chief of Police Shearer has been notified and is conducting an investigation. Medford Mail Tribune, December 30, 1910, page 4 Did This Dog Commit Suicide?
Feared Prize Homely Canine of the Valley Grieved Over its Insignificant Appearance and Made Way with Itself--Has Disappeared.
The prize homely dog of the valley has disappeared. It is a forlorn
looking, woebegone, sad-faced animal that appears to have lost its best
friend and to be hopelessly adrift, a derelict in the dog
world--neither smart, nor frisky, nor big enough to be valuable for
sausage. Its head is abnormally long and its body absurdly short, while
its wiry hair tries in vain to hide its defects.
The dog gives the impression of perpetually grieving over its insignificant appearance and to be contemplating leaving this vale of tears and sorrows by the shortest possible route. Indeed, it would not cause much surprise if investigation proved it had actually committed suicide, though drug store records fail to disclose any purchase of poison made by the animal. This apology of the canine world answers to the name of Kirrie, and is the property of Mrs. George H. Carpenter, who is quite proud of it, presumably because there is no dog in its own peculiar class of beauty, at least not in this neck of the woods. "It" is what is known as an Aberdeen Scotch terrier. "It" is said to be a prize winner, presumably as a freak, at least there can be no other reason trumped up for a blue ribbon. "It" can't be very far away, for its legs aren't long enough to make either speed or distance records, but if you see it, telephone Mrs. Carpenter at the Eden Valley Orchard. Medford Mail Tribune, April 18, 1911, page 4 See "The Merry Career of a Bulldog," below. PIONEER
CANINE DIES BY CHLOROFORM
Oldest Dog in Southern Oregon--Had Remarkable History-- End Follows Paralysis of Spine "Pug,"
the oldest dog in southern Oregon, went to the happy hunting grounds
Sunday. He was more familiar on the streets than most of the people of
Medford, having been here while many a family came and went and others
arrived to take their places. "Pug" was the property of B. S. Radcliff,
of the Horseshoe Saloon, and he became so old and infirm in the past
few years that he rarely ever ventured from his home on Front Street, a
short distance south of the Hotel Nash.
"Pug" was brought here twenty years ago from eastern Oregon by C. C. Ragsdale, then proprietor of the Nash, who bought the hotel from "Shorty" Hamilton. The dog then was four years old. He was a yellow pug in breed, and his chief accomplishment consisted in being a pet but a very wise one. He was particularly sociable with persons who had done him kindnesses, fed him dainty things, but he drew the line on beer, which he would not drink. Many persons have remarked that he had a beer look during his old age, as many saloon dogs have, but "Pug" never drank it. If you did him an injury he never forgot it. Some seven years ago some fellows in the Nash played a mean trick on him, and he never entered the hotel after that. He would not even walk on the sidewalk when he wished to go around into Main Street, but invariably took the middle of the street when passing the Nash. For quite awhile he had been showing signs of weakness of the spine, and Saturday night he had lost control of his hindquarters, probably by paralysis of the spine. As an act of humanity "Pug" was relieved of his misery by chloroform. It is a part of the local tradition that several years ago the sum of $25 was deposited in the Jackson County Bank to be used on the death of "Pug" to give him a decent burial. As his death occurred on Sunday while the bank was closed, Mr. Radcliff had the obsequies performed without application to the bank for the deposit. Medford Sun, May 23, 1911, page 5 Ray and Frazier to Start Cat Farm
Before leaving for San Francisco, Col. Frank H. Ray left with Frank
Frazier plans for establishing a cat farm, which promises to be a
fortune maker for the promoters. A limited amount of stock is offered
for a few days by Mr. Frazier.
Colonel Ray's plan for this great money coiner shows his Wall Street training. It is as follows: The object of this company is to operate a large cat ranch near Tolo where land can be purchased cheaply. To start with, we will collect about, say, 100,000 cats. Each cat will average twelve kittens a year. The skins will sell for from 10 cents for the white ones to 75 cents for the pure black. We will have about 12,000,000 to sell, at an average of 30 cents apiece, making our revenue about $10,000 a day. A man can skin fifty cats a day. He will charge $2 a day for his labor. It will take about 100 men to operate the ranch, therefore the profit will be about $9,800 a day. We will feed the cats on rats, and will start a rat ranch adjoining the cat ranch. The rats will multiply four times as fast as the cats, and if we start with 100,000 rats we will have four rats a day for each cat, which is plenty. We will feed the cats on rats, and in turn will feed the rats on the stripped carcasses of the cats, thus giving each rat one-fourth of a cat. It will be seen by these figures that the business will be self-acting and automatic. The cats will eat the rats and the rats will eat the cats, and we will get the skins. Medford Mail Tribune weekly, November 30, 1911, page 3 Due to numerous inquiries, it's apparently necessary to point out that this is a joke. Ray and Frazier had no intent to actually begin a cat farm. BUTCHER PESTERED BY TRAMP DOG
Medford Sun, December
30, 1911, page 6STEALS HAM AND "WIENIES" FROM LOUIS HEIL Proprietor and Clerk Give Mad Pursuit, But Escapes with Ill-Gotten Gains
A
dog with an unknown name and an unknown capacity for meat caused a
great deal of excitement on West Main Street Thursday afternoon.
Fido, Sport, or whatever his name might have been, is an extremely wise dog, and when he saw a nice assortment of meats lying within reach at the West Side Butcher Shop, owned by Louis Heil, he immediately figured a plan for obtaining some of his favorite flesh. Lying on the table with other meats was a nice ham and a string of link sausages. Pork was evidently his choice, for he walked up to a ham that had been cut in two to show the quality of the meat, grabbed the ham, dropped it, grabbed a yard of sausage and then picked up the ham in his teeth and started down the street like Barney Oldfield breaking a record. During the process of selection the clerk, followed by Mr. Heil, ran from behind the counter, emitting threats and entreaties in the same breath. The hungry cur, thinking to appease his pursuers, dropped the ham, but continued in his mad race down the street, with a yard of sausage literally flying from the corners of his mouth, like bonnet strings in a Kansas cyclone. Pursuit was useless, and the sausages were so soiled that recovery would be of no benefit, so the butcher, followed by the clerk, entered the shop "sadder and wiser men." The hound, seeing that the pursuers had abandoned the chase, stopped, took one of the mud-covered links, devoured it in a single gulp, picked up the remaining number and trotted out of sight. BULLDOG ATTACKS AND DRAGS HORSE
TO PAVEMENT
A furious
bull terrier, using old-style football tactics, this morning attacked
and threw one of the heavy farm horses being driven by W. R. Lamb on
East Main Street. A large crowd saw the dug run under the team, seize
the horse by the leg and drag it to the pavement. When this was done
the dog transferred his grip to the horse's nose, closed its eyes and
hung on after the manner that its ancestors have made proverbial.
The horse, crazed with pain, struggled to its feet and tossed its head and reared high in the air trying in vain to shake off the persistent pup. In a few seconds the street at Main and Bartlett was blocked with people and some of the more venturesome quieted the horse while others pried the dog's jaws loose. The horse was badly injured. An officer, who had helped in freeing the horse, arrested the now frolicsome dog, tucked it under his arm and marched him to jail. Judged Canon gave Mr. Bull Pup a short but solemn hearing, and the prisoner being unable to offer anything in his favor, a death sentence was passed. In the canine happy hunting grounds the dog is now chasing anything it likes and the owner, Harry Davis, is mourning the loss of a valuable animal. Medford Mail Tribune weekly, January 11, 1912, page 3 CANINE CHARACTER DIES IN STREET
"Doc,"
an English bulldog, known all over the city for his playfulness and
amiable disposition toward other members of the canine family and to
man as well, was instantly killed yesterday by an automobile."DOC," AMIABLE BULLDOG, WELL KNOWN, MEETS END Auto in Hurry Passes Over Mongrel Playing in Sunshine-- Passes to Happy Hunting Grounds "Doc" was owned by A. W. Walker, proprietor of the Nash stables, and by him as well as those who worked in the stables he was highly prized and somewhat privileged. For in spite of his ancestral tendencies, training had made him civilized enough to refrain from taking an undue advantage of the other pups that frequent the city. At the time of his sudden death "Doc" and several dogs of the neighborhood were engaged in a friendly wrestling bout in front of the Nash stables. "Doc" was lying on the pavement and playfully slapping another shaggy cur, who upon the reception of each blow would cavort around like a young colt, only to come back for another love tap. The automobile, one of those on the Gorst auto livery and traveling north along Front Street, swerved from its course as it neared the dogs, and "Doc," being undermost in a pile of assorted pups, was unable to escape. In a vain endeavor to escape, the hind wheel passed over his neck, and "Doc," playful "Doc," was dead. "I won't do anything," said Mr. Walker; "the dogs had no business in the street, but I am of the opinion that it might have been avoided." Medford Sun, January 21, 1912, page 1 Little Rastus, the best known scotch terrier in Jackson County, died at his home in Jacksonville yesterday of rabies. The little fellow belonged to Bill Barnum, who praised him very highly. There was not a trip made by the large motor running between Medford Sun, undated clipping THE MERRY CAREER OF A BULLDOG
"Bully" is the name of
Austin
Corbin's costly bull terrier--or rather was his name. Bully was white,
full of joy of life for himself but not for others. He has lost his
life--but not in saving others."Bully" began his career on the Yankee Creek ranch of his owner. He first won fame by valiantly assaulting, conquering and slaughtering two of a neighbor's thoroughbred hogs. This escapade cost his owner a pretty penny, and when he left on a visit to New York, "Bully" left also to spend a vacation with Phil Hamil. After a day or two spent in familiarizing himself with his new surroundings, "Bully" started in on a merry career. He visited George Carpenter's home and, not liking the appearance of Mrs. Carpenter's $250 prize Aberdeen terrier, proceeded to strangle it. When tired of playing with its lifeless body "Bully" started for home, but seeing a neighbor's prize Rhode Island Red rooster, took it along, despite the vigorous protests of its owner. Meandering around the hills, Bully fell into a farmer's steel coyote trap. He was held prisoner for two days, and when freed Mr. Hamil tried to restrain his exuberance by attaching him to a log chain fastened to two flatirons. In the meantime Mr. Corbin had heard of the escapades of his pet, and the wires clicked with the following death sentence: "Please have Bully killed without delay." Medford Mail Tribune weekly, February 8, 1912, page 2 MAD DOG SCARE, CANINE SHOT
A
"mad dog," the first of the year to be reported, appeared yesterday
morning, but before he became especially rabid, his master, W. D.
Foster, ended his life.W. D. FOSTER'S PET SHOWS SIGNS OF RABIES No One Harmed--City Health Officer Stearns Advises Owners to Chain Dogs The dog had been acting queerly for the past few days, and Monday morning he was noticed to be frothing at the mouth. At 9:30 symptoms of hydrophobia were plain developed. He was taken out of the city limits and killed. Although climatic conditions in Medford are not such as to cause dogs to become subjected to the disease, owners of dogs are advised by City Health Physician Stearns to watch their dogs during the hot weather, particularly in the afternoons. In case the dogs act queerly they should be chained until it is cooler or until evidence of rabies have disappeared. Medford Sun, July 30, 1912, page 1 EDITOR RUHL CATCHES A CAT
The dog catcher got on
the job
Saturday, and many unlicensed stray dogs in the city were caught and
placed in the city pound in the rear of the public market. Small boys
acted as ex-officio dog catchers, turning the stray dogs over to the
poundmaster for a small sum. They did a thriving business for a time.
Paul Revere's ride was a walk compared to the ride
of Robert Ruhl, editor of the Medford
Sun, who
fled homeward Tuesday night after a vain endeavor to catch and tame a
pretty little black and white cat found peaceably trotting by the
wayside.
MANY STRAY DOGS ARE ROUNDED UPVisions of long winter nights with no tabby dozing by the Ruhl fireside accomplished Ruhl's ruin as astride his pert steed he ambled at a foxtrot under the soft light of a July moon. The "cat" and Mr. Ruhl discovered each other about the same time. The next time Mr. Ruhl discovers a cat for family selection it will be at a cat show with a catalogue. Medford, peacefully slumbering, dreamed not of the cataclysm enacted [on] Siskiyou Heights where, denied admission to house and home, Robert Ruhl spent the balance of the night in the woodshed studying natural history. Between times, with pencil and paper he figured the dimensions of a grave for his new flannel trousers, while the family with smoke helmets on said things through cracks in the door. Ruhl's saddle mare has been turned over to the Medford Fire Department, who are testing some new hose--the cat, a Pole by birth, is still at large. Medford Mail Tribune, August 2, 1912, page 2 MEDFORD CATS ARE CHAMPIONS
The
humble felis domestica has spread the name of Medford from coast to
coast during the past month. That felis domestica, which is another
term for cat, does well in this climate and altitude is evidenced by
the fact that Medford cats have taken first prizes within a month in
Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York City.
The cat that went to New York was sent by Mrs. Paul Janney of Perrydale. It is a Persian cat of the Silver Tabby variety and journeyed across the country with a litter of kittens. The kittens died on the way, but Tabby arrived safely and within a few days of her arrival took second prize at a show in the Plaza Hotel. Later she took first prize in two shows over the cat that took first at the Plaza, for Tabby had time to put on a thicker set of furs and fatten up after its long journey. Tabby also took first prize for being the prize winner which had taken the longest journey to the show. Mrs. Frank Clark of Perrydale won prizes at Portland with her Rogue River Valley Persian cats, and Mrs. Fred Renner, a former resident of Medford, has won firsts at Los Angeles and San Francisco. Medford Mail Tribune, January 30, 1913, page 6 A large number of licenses have been sold. The last day of grace for unlicensed dogs was Friday. Now if a dog without a license is placed in the pound it costs a dollar to get him out. If it is unclaimed it is shot after three days. Medford Mail Tribune weekly, March 6, 1913, page 3 DOG CATCHER'S DOG BROUGHT TO POUND
Diligence
to the point of "rubbing it in" was exemplified Saturday when boys sent
out to round up all unlicensed dogs brought dog catcher Aydlatt's
canine to the pound. The dog catcher's dog had no license and was
treated the same as any other unfortunate.Mr. Aydlatt Saturday announced that he would pay 25 cents each for all untagged dogs brought to the pound, and as a result a crowd of boys pursued stray pups in all the highways of the city. It was a man, however, who spotted the dog catcher's dog and led it to the pound. He says he was given a 15-cent reward, the dog catcher evidently believing that any time he wished to catch his own dog he could do it unassisted. Mr. Aydlatt's dog now has a license and may cavort the length of Main Street unmolested. Medford Mail Tribune weekly, March 6, 1913, page 3 MEDFORD MAD DOG BITES
Robert Burgess Suffers After Savage Attack Made on Woman.
MEDFORD,
Or., March 13.--(Special.)--A bulldog owned by Dr. F. S. Barber went
mad today and savagely attacked Mrs. F. O. Burgess. Robert Burgess, her
son, witnessed the attack and rushed to the rescue. Before the animal
was subdued he tore most of the clothes from Robert and badly lacerated
his arms. His wife, as an emergency, then poured a bottle of pure
carbolic acid on the wounds, inflicting painful burns.
As Burgess is being treated for extreme nervousness, it is feared the shock may prove harmful. The dog was killed. Morning Oregonian, Portland, March 14, 1913, page 8 An epidemic of dog fights broke out on Front Street Friday afternoon, between about a dozen country dogs and Mose Barkdull's "Turk," the most belligerent of Medford canines. "Shorty" Miles' Airedale, called "Mike," stood on the sidelines out of danger and barked. "Local and Personal," Medford Mail Tribune, March 7, 1914, page 2 OFFICE CAT ALSO STRAYS
MEDFORD, Or., March 7.--(Special.)--All that is left of the Medford
volunteer fire department is Jack Fredenberg and the departmental cat.
Mr. Fredenberg refused to resign and the cat refused to be given away.Medford's Volunteer Fire Department Has Fredenberg as Nucleus. The reason for the resignation by the fire boys was given as the refusal of the City Council to continue to supply the members with free phones. The relic chest accumulated through the years was presented to the Commercial Club, the office desk bequeathed to Fire Chief Amann, recently resigned, and the caps and coats were returned to the members. According to members of the City Council, however, Mr. Fredenberg will be the organizer of a new volunteer company which will be willing to cooperate with the economy policy of the city and supply their own phones. Sunday Oregonian, Portland, March 8, 1914, page 7 DOGS ORDERED TO WEAR MUZZLES
Dangers
from rabies among the dogs of the city caused Chief of Police Hittson
to issue notices Saturday that all dogs within the city limits
unmuzzled or unchained after Tuesday, August 4th, would be shot or
impounded.
This drastic cautionary move was taken when it was determined that a dog belonging to J. J. Buchter died last week from rabies, and had bitten several other dogs. The hot weather adds to the dangers. A Portland bacteriologist pronounced the cause of the death of the Buchter dog as rabies. Medford Mail Tribune, August 3, 1914, page 4 29 DOGS LOSE LIFE FOR LACK OF
WEARING MUZZLES
Medford will make its canine sacrifice to the rabic theory in the
morning. Twenty-nine dogs will be electrocuted by High
Executioner
Loomis. The dogs are charged with being liable to have rabies.
It is
further alleged they are liable to bite someone. They would not have to
take the plunge into the "bow wows" if they had a muzzle. Their only
crime is that no one would buy them one. The shuffling off of the dumb
brutes in accordance with the city ordinance will begin at 9 o'clock.The wholesale killing will be accomplished by means of an iron sheet, upon which the dog is supposed to stand while an electric current is sent through him. This way is more effete and less bloody than shooting. Among those listed for an unwarranted death are several valuable dogs whose owners are out of town. Chief Hittson advises all who have a missing dog to look over the city pound collection. Medford Mail Tribune, August 17, 1914, page 3 23 DOGS DIE BY ELECTRIC JUICE
The city slew twenty-three dogs this morning by electrocution, and dog
catcher Loomis is looking for more canine victims. The charge against
the dogs was wearing no muzzle and liability to rabies. Most of the
dogs belonged to people out of the city on camping trips. Six dogs were
taken Monday night by dog fanciers and saved from execution.
Mrs. A. L. Armstrong, Mrs. Laura G. Gardiner, Fred Wolff and Charles Craig were fined $5 and costs for having unmuzzled pets by Police Judge Gay this morning. Medford Mail Tribune, August 18, 1914, page 2 The ordinance requiring that all dogs be muzzled until October 1, on the grounds that they were liable to go mad, was rescinded, and canines of the city need no longer be tortured by leather and wire straps over the snout. Colonel Sargent led the fight for the lifting of the ban, and councilmen Porter and Hargrave opposed the change for some reason. "No Need of Muzzling Dogs," Medford Mail Tribune, September 16, 1914, page 2 A sensational dog fight occurred on Main Street this afternoon when a bulldog belonging to Earl Reynolds chewed an ear off Ralph Bardwell's spaniel. Chief of Police Mego stopped the fight by turning a garden hose on the combatants. A traveling salesman who grabbed the bulldog by the tail was bit on the wrist. "Local and Personal," Medford Mail Tribune, October 21, 1914, page 2 DOG FIGHT AROUSES STRANGER'S
PROTEST
To the Editor:
In the sun-kissed hills of Southern Oregon flows the crystal waters of the magnificent Rogue, together with its tributaries, ever rushing onward as if predestined by the great creator to play their part on the stage of natural scenic beauty on this side of the globe. In Jackson County, where one of these tributaries flows through one of the most fertile valleys on the globe, lies the city of Medford, which, by its natural surroundings and great variety of scenic beauty, together with the fertile fields of varied agricultural blessings and fruit of all kinds common to its zone and climate, presents one of the most spectacular scenes of any inland city on this, the Pacific Coast. On the 28th day of April, 1915, the writer, in company with a neighbor man and wife, visited this beautiful inland city. On our arrival, like most others, we were impressed with the beautiful streets, good roads and driveways, as well as the fluffy parks green with spring verdure and fragrant with dawning flowers, characteristic of this climate, and also with the bustling crowds rushing to and fro in the ordinary business pursuits, also characteristic of the larger portion of the citizens of Southern Oregon, but as if to meet with the very reversal of nature and make one's blood run cold as though some dark cloud had pealed forth some great thunderbolt of terror entirely unexpected. On one of these beautiful broad streets in this beautiful inland city on the 28th day of April, A.D. 1915, a group of men in open violation of law as well as decency were watching two large dogs bite and tear one another till their mangled carcasses were unrecognizable, and the blood flowed and saturated not only the dogs, but as well the street on which they fought. It seemed as though the affair was premeditated, as no policeman wielded his club to stop it, no constable or peace officer offered resistance. Think of it! A dog fight in the streets of this city in this A.D. 1915, in violation of law as well as all decency and respect, egged on and assisted by a number of citizens of the place. I fancy if it had been some children playing on the street they would have been scattered immediately, if there were even half as many as were present on this occasion, but the executors of the law either failed to see this particular episode or they wantonly refused to stop it. Are we retrograding? Is the Darwin theory correct? If so, it would seem that some of the citizens of Jackson County have failed to shed their tails, and when I think of the carnage and bloodshed going on among the nations of earth today, with its millions of innocent victims dead and maimed on the field of battle, and fearing, as one cannot help, the same thing reaching our own shores, I certainly think it is time to use more common sense and decency than to pollute the streets of our best city with even the blood of an innocent dog, as well as revel in flagrant violation of law. A SUBSCRIBER.
Medford
Mail Tribune, May 4, 1915, page 5DOG WATCHES POLICE TO REMOVE
MUZZLE
Dr. A. J. Helms' Great Dane, surnamed [sic]
"Daniel," has received a shot of German kultur, for "Daniel" has
developed a streak of intelligence bordering on the uncanny. In
compliance with the city ordinance regarding the muzzling of canines,
the massive brute wears a leather muzzle. The muzzle is no balm of
Gilead to Daniel, so he has learned to rub the muzzle off and put it
back on again when he sees a policeman coming. That Daniel is able to
distinguish between a policeman and an ordinary citizen is unusual, as
all humans look alike to dogs as a rule. A demonstration of the mental
faculties of Daniel has been given enough times to prove that it was
not accidental eluding of the law, but performed with premeditation
and forethought. The muzzle is of leather, and built to give
its
wearer as much comfort as possible. Daniel is the biggest dog in
Jackson County, and was imported 18 months ago.
Medford Mail Tribune, August 2, 1915, page 2 Tales of the Town He's a nice dog.
Medford
Mail Tribune, January 11, 1916, page 4A collie dog. And he lives on West Main. His name isn't Pickles, And he doesn't know anything About placer mining, Or street cars, Or ride in a Ford, Like Pickles does, But he is a connoisseur In toys, And they have to walk Around the block To avoid a toy store. For one day they didn't, And Larry went in And helped himself To a doll. And he was awfully pleased With himself. But it cost Dr. Conger Some money To buy the doll, Which wasn't cheap. For Larry knows The best ones. And he has a pig, Made of rubber, Which squeaks When you press it. And he'll bring the pig And stand in front of you. And squeak it. And look into your eyes, And will put it in your lap For you to admire. And he has had the pig A year, And has never torn it. But it is wearing out, And Larry knows it. And he's worried, And everything. And if Carl Fichtner Would only vulcanize The split in its back It would be fine. Because it was made in Germany, And though Henry Ford Tried to stop the fight So they could get another pig For Larry, He failed. And Larry is sad, For he can't have the pig All the time now, For it has to last Till the war is over. So the other day He went out And came back With a tennis ball. And they took it away. But he went out And got another, And they took it away, And he went out And got another. And he's going to keep it. And I want to ask John Westerlund. If he has a pig.
The
family of Roger S. Bennett
mourn the loss of "Dickie," a canary bird that has gladdened their home
with song for eleven years. It is believed that it died of old age. The
empty cage will be hard to fill with a sweet songster so generally
beloved.
"Local and Personal," Medford Mail Tribune, March 7, 1916, page 2 PAT'S OVERCOAT FOOD FOR DOG
WHITE CANINE THEN LASSOED AND JAILED. Officer Crawford Draws Gun on Canine--Mad, Perhaps, or Poisoned.
A
white dog entered the police station Tuesday night about midnight and
ate the tail off Sergeant Pat Mego's overcoat. This distressing event
brought to light the fact that Sergeant Mego is an artist with the
lasso, and resulted in the white dog being incarcerated in the city
jail, to recover from a case of hydrophobia or an overdose of
strychnine, police opinion differing as to which.
When it was discovered that the afflicted canine had chewed up part of the sergeant's wardrobe, Officer Bill Crawford was for shooting the beast without further ado, but Sergeant Mego rushed to the Nash, secured a piece of clothesline, made a loop therein, and with one dexterous heave captured the white dog. Forthwith they led him to the city jail, Officer Crawford bringing up the rear with his six-shooter leveled upon the aft portion of the prisoner, who was walking lame. The dog was foaming at the mouth and growling suspiciously, and it was feared that he might take a bite out of the sergeant's leg if he got a chance, but Wednesday morning he was resting easy and on the road to recovery, and not a mad dog. Medford Sun, July 13, 1916, page 2 'MISTALCRITY' WILD TOMCAT CLEANS
THE CITY CLEANERS
While tons of all kinds of rubbish, tin cans and old stoves were
gathered up and hauled to the dumping grounds, Medford's annual cleanup
yesterday was almost fraught with tragical consequences due either to
some family trying to get rid of a big gray tomcat or the prank of some
wicked practical joker.Everything was going lovely, and the dumping ground in the rear of the old water works station on South Riverside [about 101 S. Riverside] along the west bank of Bear Creek was rapidly filling up when the excitement started. Ole Arnspiger, the city engineer, city water superintendent, city electrician and city purchasing agent, and past leading knight of the Elks Lodge, felt so pleased at the situation that when Oscar Stinson's wagon began to unload he stood on the Bear Creek embankment and prepared to take a picture of the grand sight with his camera. Oscar had just thrown off a gunny sack half full of rubbish which bursted on hitting the dump, and out between Ole and Oscar jumped a big tomcat spitting, hissing, whirling and snarling in circles. "Mist Alcrity," ejaculated the startled city poobah as he stepped backwards on a tin can, which pitched him and all his titles into raging Bear Creek, from which quickly came shouts of "Ph-ph-halp!" "Holy smoke!" cried the equally startled Oscar as he quickly seized a club for self-defense. Oscar's thoughts in time of dire peril always turn to religion. "What's the matter! 'Smatter!" called Superintendent Runyard as he rushed out from the public market, suddenly saw the feline whirlwind and connecting unexpectedly his right foot with the top of an old bucket skidded away to join Ole in the creek. After a few more whirls the big cat, which the trio estimated all the way from five to fifteen feet long and proportionately wide, and which according to all information obtainable was frankly excited, started at immense speed to Main Street, turning the corner sharply to the west in front of the Gates store, where Bill Gates and Otto Jeldness were holding a street consultation. "Me cheeild, I must save her!" exclaimed Bill as he started for home at his Peoria gait to protect the new baby from harm. "My dog!" shouted Otto, who had lost 16 dogs in the past 13 years by violent deaths, as he also started for home. As the excited cat shot up East Main Street, still spitting, Harry Manning, who was sunning himself in front of the Wonder Store [315 E. Main], and who had a fight last week with a west side rooster, or rather it was a White Orpington, gave one glance at the oncoming cyclone, and dived into the store calling out in high Caruso-like tones "Papa! Pagliachi!" When the bunch of excitement passed by the Commercial Club Secretary Steel calmly watched it turn down the railroad track and disappear, and inquiringly remarked, "Is it a grizzly?" Nevertheless five wagons and one auto truck worked from morning till night and there was one less cat and considerable less dirt, this morning. Medford Mail Tribune, May 23, 1919, page 3 A MASSACRE OF UNTAGGED DOGS DUE
NEXT WEEK
A wholesale
massacre of Jackson County dogs is scheduled for next week unless
citizens come forth and pay their dog tax, according to County Clerk
Chauncey Florey. Appeals and pleadings to remit have met with
indifferent silence, and now there is nothing for the county officials
to do but follow the law.
Either dog owners are negligent, or there has been a terrific decrease in the canine population hereabouts. Last year at this time, licenses on 700 dogs had been paid, and right now licenses have been taken out for less than 100. The sheriff's office will start out next Monday to locate the discrepancy. The dog license tax has never made much of a hit with dog owners, particularly the farmers, who figure that a dog in the country is a blessing, and a dog in the city a nuisance. The city dog owners maintain that there should be no class distinction, and besides the farmer gets all the benefits of the tax, as it is used in paying bounties on varmints that kill sheep and other stock. Nevertheless, unless the tax is paid forthwith, a number of dogs will depart this earth. Medford Mail Tribune, January 28, 1921, page 6 SEVEN OAKS HAS WHITE PIGEON AS
NEW SPEED COP
WILLOW SPRINGS, Feb. 2.--(Special). For
the past ten years the W. B. Harris family have had a snow white pigeon
as a pet. It has always stayed closely at home until the past week when
it has appointed itself speed cop in the vicinity of Seven Oaks. It
spends the day escorting fast-moving cars up and down the highway,
fluttering in front or circling around and around the auto until a mile
or more from home or until it meets another car, making the return trip
in the same way. It is an interesting and novel sight both to motorists
and neighbors.Medford Mail Tribune, February 3, 1922, page 6 Newspaper Office Deluged with
Offers of Dogs.
When the
publisher of the Mail
Tribune of Medford, Or., let it be known recently that
reputed vandals of the klan
type had robbed his paper of $20 worth of Linotype spacebands, in the
hope of crippling publication, the announcement brought him "plenty of
fun" because practically everyone in Jackson County had a wonderful
watchdog he wanted to get rid of, and he immediately got into
communication by telephone with the publisher.Ferocious Canines Suggested to Watch Over Plant. One "old subscriber" had a biting canine that was a world-beater, being armed with 12 teeth six inches long. This dog was a beef-eater of the first magnitude. He was willing to sell it on easy terms. A physician offered his "uncivilized" hound dog for $50 and guaranteed it to tear marauders into shreds, while a rancher had a toothless canine that would "frighten away the devil" by simply opening his jaws. Another friend of the newspaper offered his watchdog "Goblin," which was "invisible." "We ordered that dog," says the paper, "but haven't seen it yet. However, the next night prowler is going to get a surprise. We will see to that." Oregonian, Portland, August 9, 1922, page 12 Dog Patted by Wilson and Bryan
Dies in Medford.
Twenty-Year-Old Canine Once Attended Democratic Convention.
MEDFORD, Or., Jan. 6.--(Special.)--Turk, a blooded Shepherd dog
belonging to Mose Barkdull of this city, died here last Sunday at the
age of 20 years, a veteran of scores of street fights and so far as is
known the only dog in the world to journey to a Democratic national
convention, having accompanied his master to the Democratic convention
in 1920.
Turk led an active life here until the rheumatism claimed him several years ago and had since resided in ease at the Barkdull orchard. In 1915 all the hair was blown off his body when a gasoline torch blew up in a local tin shop in which he was loafing. During his days Turk had his head patted by Woodrow Wilson, William Jennings Bryan and a number of other national Democratic leaders. Turk was born in England in 1903 and was brought to this country by Colonel Ray of New York and formerly of Medford, who brought him to Gold Ray in 1907 when the Gold Ray Dam was being built. [The dam was completed in 1904.] When Colonel Ray returned east he bequeathed Turk to John D. Olwell, and later when Olwell left Medford the dog became the property of Mose Barkdull, whose property and pal he had been for the past 16 years. Oregonian, Portland, January 7, 1923, page 43 DOG POISONING TO BE FOUGHT BY NEW
ORGANIZATION
Medford Mail Tribune, May
5, 1923, page 2
Dog poisoning in Medford and Jackson County has become too prevalent,
and an association for the prevention of poisoning and the protection
of dogs has been formed. The organization members pledge themselves
each to pay a certain amount for information leading to the arrest and
conviction of anyone poisoning or in any other way unlawfully killing a
dog belonging to a member of the association.
The membership of the association, which it is said will soon have a roster of over 250 in Jackson County, is to be kept secret. A standing reward of $500 or more will be posted for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone unlawfully killing a dog belonging to a member and an advertisement or notice of the reward for conviction of such criminal will be run regularly in the local papers. Poisoning and unlawful killing of dogs is expected to be much diminished by this action on the part of such a large number of men and women in the valley. CHARLEY TERRILL'S
BLOOD HOUND TO LIVE ON RANCH
Sheriff Terrill's bloodhound "Tiger,"
whose indolent attitude towards the world and fondness for sleeping in
the sun belies his ferocious name, will not continue in the services
of the law, but will retire to his master's farm in the Lake Creek
district to sleep. The critter is not for sale, but if occasion demands
and a request is made, "Tiger" will be loaned for the trailing of
criminals."Tiger" is still in Jacksonville and is being chased out of the sheriff's office daily--something nobody could do in the old regime. When Mr. Terrill returns from Portland, where he is a witness in the trial in the federal court of J. J. Ritter, arrested in this city for raising $1 bills to $10, the hound will be taken to the country. "Tiger" participated in several lively criminal events during his tenure of office as county bloodhound. He was given the trail of the Siskiyou bandits, but the creosote on the soles of the archfiends' shoes fooled him. When one of the Jones boys broke loose from the county jail he was unleashed, but his smeller was not working good that day either. "Tiger" was out of commission for several weeks last year when he was accidentally shot in the left hind leg by Jay Gore for chasing cows--an unexpected burst of energy on the part of "Tiger." Mr. Gore paid the veterinary's bill. Medford Mail Tribune, January 14, 1925, page 8 JACKSONVILLE
ORDERS EX-SHERIFF TERRILL'S
Ex-Sheriff Charles Terrill's bloodhound
has been ordered tied up by the authorities of Jacksonville following a
slight altercation with a smaller canine and its owner last Friday.
When the former officer returned from Portland last Friday where he
testified in a counterfeiting case, he was told to keep the hound tied
to preserve the peace and dignity of the canine population of the
county seat.HOUND DOG TIED UP. It seems that Tiger mixed into the frolic of some dogs on California Street and the owner of one of the dogs went at him with a cane. In the melee Tiger jumped on the man with the cane, resulting in the incarceration order, now if full force and effect. Mr. Terrill maintains that this is a drastic order as "Tiger won't bite anybody, he just wants to play." It is hard to convince anybody jumped on that he will not bite, as Tiger has a first-class equipment for biting, and what Mr. Terrill designates as "a friendly growl," does not sound that way. "They've got to quit kicking my hound around," said Mr. Terrill. "I'm going to take him up to Lake Creek where he won't be bothered." Medford Mail Tribune, January 19, 1925, page 6 GOOD OLD BUSTER TAKES FLIGHT TO
CANINE PARADISE
Buster,
the aged dog of H. O. Frohbach, who until the last retained his
exceptional canine wisdom, intelligence, courteousness and portliness,
is dead of advanced age with complications. Like his master, he was not
a world-beater in looks, but during his long life of 14 or 15 years, he
always used his noodle and heart, and took on such likable and amiable
qualities that all the local world can truly say, "Here was a dog."
About seven and one-half years ago, when Mr. and Mrs. Frohbach were living in Three Forks, Mont., they fell heir to Buster through the latter taking a liking to and adopting them, and had been a lovable encumbrance of that household ever since. For years when Mr. Frohbach was secretary of the Chamber of Commerce Buster spent large portions of his days loafing in the sun or shade of the Chamber of Commerce building. Lest some citizens should have forgotten him, it is herewith stated that he was the homely large brown-colored scroot that used to repose in front of the Chamber building. Buster never used tobacco or liquor in any form, and had always had a hearty tail wag and smile for all comers, as long as he was able to wag and blink. Medford Mail Tribune, April
8, 1925, page 5
MAIL TRIBUNE DOG IS EXPECTED BACK
"Rowdy," the Mail
Tribune dog,
supported by A. F. Stennett, left Sunday night for the Klamath country.
He was given to a homesteader, and it makes the fourth time that he has
been given away. He has always returned to his favorite spot, by the
steam radiator in the composing room, and is expected back again the
end of the week. Rowdy is supposed to be on a timber claim, 14 miles
the other side of Topsy grade.
The first time he was given to Romeo Koppes [Roma Addison Koppes], but he ate too much. The second and third times he was given to farmers, and on all these departures he returned faster than he went away. His present deportation is hoped to be conclusive, though odds are being freely wagered that he comes back. Rowdy is a low-bred cur of yellowish tinge, and bashful. His predominating traits are sleeping and eating abilities. He must be a year old. He came to the Stennett home about six months ago, where he has stuck like a long-lost brother. Medford Mail Tribune, April
15, 1925, page 3
Opposed to Dog License Plan.
Medford
Mail Tribune, June 15, 1925, page 4
To the Editor:
I have just read in the Mail Tribune the news article stating that the city council has placed a license on dogs and at the same time refused to allow them upon the streets. The latter part of May I called up the city attorney and asked him if it was legal to license a dog kept within the property limits of the owner. He stated that he had not looked up the law regarding it, so I would like to ask just what it means. It seems to me that no dog catcher would have the audacity to enter a man's residence or yard and take away his dog or anything else he owns. As I look at it the license issued by a city--or even the state--is for the purpose of showing ownership and a permit for the animal to have its freedom. It is comparable to licensing an auto and then forbidding it to be used except upon one's own property. There is no doubt that a city has the right to license dogs which use its streets, but I doubt the legality of a city charging a license for a dog to use its master's house. I do not profess to know the legal side of it, but certainly justice is on my side. A. C.
ALLEN,
Rocky Point, Ore. LICENSE FIGURES SHOW ONLY 35 DOGS
IN COUNTY
Medford
Mail Tribune, July 13, 1925, page 7
According to license reports filed with the state veterinarian, there
are only 35 dogs in Jackson County, and there seems to be some
discrepancy in figures, as there are that many on Main Street, this
city, any pleasant afternoon. However, this is a populous dog section,
as Douglas County has but nine, Hood River five, Grant six and Sherman
three. In the entire state there are only 11,801 dogs.
In 1924 there were 233 dogs in this county, according to the licenses issued. The shortage of dogs is thought to be due largely to the diffidence of owners in paying licenses for them. When Chauncey Florey was county clerk he estimated there were 3500 dogs in the county, at the minimum. DOG PURSUING CAT KILLED BY FALL
"Peggy," a thoroughbred Boston bulldog, owned by Mr. and Mrs. George
Porter, is dead as the result of a fall from the top of the Santford
Grocery building on East Main Street to the sidewalk this morning in an
attempt to reach a cat perched on top of the Warner building in the
course of construction, adjoining.
Mr. Porter was en route to his lumber yard, it is said, when the dog chased a cat, which took refuge on top of one of the wooden forms of the Warner structure. Peggy, not losing heart, managed to get on the roof of the adjoining building. While on a precarious perch along the roof the dog slipped and fell approximately 20 feet to the sidewalk. It died a short time later. The dog was three years old and had been raised from puppyhood by the Porters. Peggy was one of the very few thoroughbred bulldogs in the valley. Medford Mail Tribune, September
30, 1925, page 3
WANTED, HOMES FOR 2 DOGS LEFT
ALONE TO STARVE
Medford Mail Tribune, November
17, 1925, page 7
Homes are sought for two dogs that belonged to Wah Hop, aged Chinaman,
who died a week ago, and was buried as a county charge. They were the
companions of Hop. One is about 15 years old and can understand only
Chinese, the language in which his master always addressed him. The
other is a lively little black dog, who understands English.
Kindhearted people on South Riverside have taken an interest in the
fate of the canines. For three or four days after their owner died,
they went hungry, but have been enjoying a feast since it was realized
they were starving. The dogs stay close to the shack of their late
owner, on the banks of Bear Creek.
The older dog is fat and asthmatic and is named Chong. It will probably be a bullet from a policeman's gun for him. The other one is a beautiful creature, and would make a fine house pet. Anyone desiring a pet can have one by taking it away. Wah Hop, known as "Charlie," was an old resident of Medford, who did janitor work and odd jobs here for years, and was well known. For the past three years he has been very sick, and took herbs sent by San Francisco friends. His condition three weeks ago became pitiful and he was taken to the poor farm and later to Sacred Heart Hospital, where he died. Besides his dogs, Wah Hop had one other friend--Wah Kim, now in China. They lived together in a house on North Grape Street. A dispute arose over room rent and board and they took their troubles to court for trial. Wah Hop, disgusted with American legal procedure, blurted out in the midst of his attorney's oration: "Too much talkee! Too much foolee! Me go home." He remained by an order he never understood, and Wah Kim won the suit, and lost the friendship of Wah Hop. The judgment was for $70.50. His observation on the verdict was a classic: "Wah Kim ketchum flifty cents. Talkee-man ketchum sleventy dollahs." Wah Hop was buried in Potters Field, and the last rites were exceedingly plain and simple. CITY DOG LICENSE LAW ENFORCEMENT
WILL START SOON
At the city council meeting last night with all members and the mayor
present, in addition to transacting a large amount of routine business,
including the passage of a number of delinquent property settlement
ordinances, that body unanimously and unequivocally decided to enforce
the dog license ordinance from now on, and to have the license
committee select a dog catcher at once. The latter official is expected
to begin his duties within the next two days.
City Recorder Alford now has an ample supply of license tags, which must be worn by every licensed dog, hence the wise dog owners of the city will make haste and obtain licenses, as all unlicensed dogs found at large will be gathered in and incarcerated in the dog pound, where if not claimed within a few days the canine prisoners will be done away with. The city officials make it plain that the dog license ordinance will be enforced strictly and impartially from now on, irrespective of the other ordinance, also passed last year, which requires that all dogs be kept tied up at their homes during the hot months of the summer. The license for a male dog is $1.50 and that for a female dog is $3.00. Medford Mail Tribune, March 3, 1926, page 8 CITY DOG CATCHER STARTS DUTIES
Medford
Mail Tribune, March 11, 1926, page 3 The
city dog catcher is on the job. He commenced work this morning to round
up all unlicensed dogs, pets and curs alike, in compliance with the
recent city ordinance. Local dog owners, warned Chief of Police Adams
today, must take out a license at once.
The animals picked up will be placed in the pound at Gitzen's barn on North Fir Street, where a fee of 25 cents a day will be charged for keep, until the third day when the unclaimed will be disposed of. The owner may redeem his or her dog by paying the license fee, $1.50 for males and $3 for females, and the "board bill." After April 1st, the animals are prohibited from roaming about the city at will, but until then, licensed dogs will be privileged characters, while their unlicensed brothers and sisters will be doomed to the pound. CRUELTY TO DOGS CHARGED, CITY
SERVED NOTICE
Medford Mail Tribune, April
15, 1926, page 5
In a statement, the Jackson County Dog Protective Association desires
to call the attention of the city officials and citizens to the
inhumane manner in which all unclaimed, impounded dogs are or have been
killed. Seven witnesses recently saw three dogs with their skulls caved
in and one other that had died in the pound. Fresh blood was running
from the wounds, and from all appearances these dogs died in extreme
agony from blows inflicted by a hammer or club.
One of these dogs belonged to an old Chinaman, and for years followed at his heels about the city streets. Just a fat, old, black, harmless dog of no particular breed; yet to that old Chinaman he represented the truest, most loyal friend he ever had, and on hot summer days his master would hoist him up to drink from a trough and then give him a cooling bath. Do you suppose that old man realized he had to pay a tax to keep his old friend beside him? We know that one of the late dog snatchers used a wire loop on the end of a piece of pipe to strangle dogs into semi-consciousness before taking them to the pound. At this time we serve notice on the city of Medford, that if one more dog is killed inhumanely and illegally, the state humane society will be asked to take immediate action. Dogs impounded must be cared for by a regular attendant, fed and watered regularly, and if unclaimed after the legal time limit, killed by asphyxiation in a proper room or delivered to anyone who pays the license and pound fees. It has never been explained by the city how any dog with a license plate will do less digging in flower beds than one without, or why the neighbor's chickens should not wear tags. Stray cats, of which there are hundreds at large, are now waxing fat on pheasant and quail eggs and young hatched birds. They roam the fields in the city limits and take no heed to the game laws or yet pay the usual legal fee for destroying. PEACE COMES IN CITY DOG FIGHT, TO
ALTER LAWS
Medford Mail Tribune, April
21, 1926, page 3
The dog license enforcement situation promises to be ironed out in a
harmonious manner, which will be pleasing to all sides of the question,
as a result of the city council meeting last night, at which the body,
after hearing the wishes of the dog owners' association set forth by G.
M. Roberts, as attorney for the association, unanimously agreed with
the association and decided to have the association, through Mr.
Roberts, draw up a new license ordinance, which will be passed by the
council at its next meeting in two weeks.
"Our sympathies are with the dog, and always have been, in our efforts to control the dog evil situation," remarked Mayor Alenderfer at the conclusion of Mr. Roberts' remarks. The mayor also stated that the minute the city administration learned of stories of alleged cruelty to impounded animals, they at once took steps to put an end to it, without the dog owners' association or any others having acted. Therefore, according to this program of the council the dog catcher will cease all work, by the council's orders, until the new ordinance is passed, which will embody dog catching and humane impounding provisions. This ordinance will be copied after the Portland ordinance, a copy of which will be brought here by a representative of the state humane society, Mayor Alenderfer was informed by long distance phone yesterday by the state head of that society. It develops that the dog ordinance, under which the Medford city council, like many other cities of the state, has been working, was passed in 1912, based on a state law which several years ago was declared unconstitutional by the Oregon supreme court, because it did not hold that dogs were personal property. The new ordinance will recognize the legal fact that dogs are personal property, and that a dog cannot be caught, impounded and killed three days after capture without the owner having been notified. In other words, some such method of disposal must be followed as in the cases of impounded horses and cows. One thing is sure, and that is that the dogs in Medford will be licensed and impounded. The law gives the city the right to impose and enforce a dog license, and to dispose of the animal in case of not being licensed. The only question at issue is the legal method of enforcement by which the owners' property right is recognized. Attorney Roberts made it plain during his remarks that the dog owners' association recognized the fact that dogs must be curbed through licenses and impoundment, but that the owners objected to the methods that have been pursued in catching, impounding and killing dogs under the present ordinance. There were no other speakers on the dog question besides Mayor Alenderfer and Mr. Roberts, and the remarks of both showed harmonious cooperation by the city and dog owners in drawing up the new ordinance. NEXT 90 DAYS TO BE DREARY DAYS IN
LOCAL DOGDOM
Not only must every dog in the city be licensed, but every dog must be
tied up at the home or confined in an enclosure during the months of
April, May and June, else all canine pets at large will be gobbled up
by the city dog catcher, to fill which office the city council last
night gave authority to the chairman of the license committee, and
their owners fined. In case an owner then refuses to pay the fine and
take out a license, his or her dog will be killed.The reasons for the stipulation that all dogs must be kept at home during the next 90 days is to prevent dogs running at large and ruining gardens and flower beds. The mayor and council last night gave Chief of Police McCredie orders to strictly enforce the city ordinance forbidding dogs to run at large. Only 16 licenses have been taken out for dogs since the first of January last, so it is anticipated there will be a grand rush to the city recorder's office for a few days to obtain dog licenses. Last year from January until January 240 such licenses were taken out. Medford Mail Tribune, April 6, 1927, page 2 KEEP DOGCATCHER IDENTITY SECRET
The position having been filled last week, applicants need no longer
present themselves for the city dog catcher berth, announced Chief of
Police McCredie yesterday.The new dog catcher, whose identity has not been divulged, has not commenced his duties, due to the fact that no pound for captured dogs has yet been made available. The new dog catcher, however, is said to live up to all qualifications that are required by the city council for the position. Medford Mail Tribune, April 24, 1927, page 6 DOG CATCHER IS READY TO START
While the appointment was made some time ago, the new city dog catcher
as yet has not begun duties, and the date when he will begin to
actively function has not been announced. The city dog catcher, whose
identity is still unknown, is reported to be preparing himself for the
new position by encasing his legs in wood and tin in order to protect
them from vicious dogs.According to a city ordinance, the local canine population is prohibited from roaming the streets and local gardens during the months of April, May and June and during that time must be tied up. Medford Mail Tribune, May 11, 1927, page 3 DOG POISONER AT DEVILISH DEEDS,
TAKES TWO PETS
Dog poisoners are again at work in Medford, and all lovers of dogs are
asked to be on the alert to find the poisoners and communicate any
information in that line to the Jackson County Dog Protective
Association that was organized here several years ago for the purpose
of stopping the poisoning of dogs and prosecuting the guilty persons.
The association has a standing reward for such information.The latest victim of a dog poisoner is the valuable pet Gordon setter, Nig, of Mr. and Mrs. Ben Plymale, which was poisoned last Tuesday night and found dead on South Riverside Avenue the next morning. Nig was a favorite with Mr. and Mrs. Plymale, the neighbors and a host of friends throughout the city, as he was an exceptionally handsome, well-behaved and intelligent dog. Mr. Plymale is offering an enticing reward to anyone who can furnish information leading to the identity of the poisoner in this case. Another case of dog poisoning was that which caused the death Tuesday of the German police puppy of little Jewell, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Valentine of 526 East Main Street, who is much grieved over the pet's untimely demise. It is said that there have been other dog poisoning cases in the same neighborhood. Medford Mail Tribune, May 12, 1927, page 3 IF YOUR DOG IS MISSING LOOK IN
THE CITY POUND
If any citizen whose dog has not been confined at home in accordance
with the city ordinance that forbids dogs running at large, whether
licensed or not during the months of April, May and June, or whose
canine pet has not been licensed, misses that dog from now on, he will
probably find him at the dog pound awaiting execution, if not claimed
within 10 days from the time the animal was taken into custody.For the city administration, which beyond issuing warnings that the ordinance will be enforced and that all dogs must be licensed, has up to this time been somewhat lenient, due to delay in establishing a dog pound, has sprung a surprise on the dog-owning public, by announcing that the new pound is now ready for victims and that a hard-boiled dog catcher went on duty yesterday. The dog pound just built by the city is a concrete structure, about 10 feet by 14 feet, with an airtight chamber in which two dogs can be put to death at one time through inhaling lethal poison fumes, and is located at the city garbage disposal plant southwest of the city and quite a distance beyond and in the rear of the cemetery. All dogs found at large and also those without license tags will be quietly corralled by the city dog catcher, whose identity has not yet been revealed, but who is thought to be a member of the Craters Club or Elks Lodge, and incarcerated in the dog pound. He or she will be kept there ten days, and if not claimed by the owner within that time will go to the death chamber. The owner can have his dog back if it is licensed any time after the dog has been taken to the pound, by establishing his ownership claim and paying $1 a day for the dog's keep, or if the impounded dog is not licensed the owner, in addition to paying the $1 a day, must take out a city dog license before the animal will be returned to him. The execution of unclaimed dogs will be practically painless, as after a few inhalations of the lethal gas in the airtight chamber he is a goner. The pound building is divided into two sections so as to enable the male and female dogs being kept separate. The pound will not this year have a fenced-in yard in connection with the imprisonment building, but that feature will be established next year. The description of every dog imprisoned at the pound will be kept at the police station, hence if anyone misses his or her pet, inquiry at the police station will reveal whether or not that animal is a prisoner at the dog pound. Altogether it is one of the doggonedest situations that the canine population of Medford ever faced. Medford Mail Tribune, May 22, 1927, page 3 FEW STRAY DOGS IN CITY NOW
Of the nine dogs that have been picked up this week by pound master A.
P. Anderson, four have been claimed, leaving the others to be sold at
public auctions to be held June 1 and 2.While he has been on the alert, the pound master for the past three days has been unable to find any more stray dogs. It is supposed that the city canine population is now practically tied up or kept within the confines of sheds or high fences. Medford Mail Tribune, May 29, 1927, page 3 LOCAL HOSPITAL FOR SICK DOGS IS
BUSY PLACE
Among other schools
of human nature is the dog hospital. This was a discovery made by a Mail Tribune
reporter early this morning. For dogs are surely human when they're
sick.There was the sour-faced old boy suffering from chronic indigestion, who looked like he never wore a pair of rose colored glasses in his life. He growled and grumbled, acted unreasonable and responded to kindness with a martyr-like expression. "So typical, so typical," sighed the reporter. Then came the sweet young thing with a deep-seated abscess in her ear. Her voice reached a shrill whine that sent the doctor and nurse to her side with hot water bottles and ointment. Gratefully she received their attentions, and was loath to let the doctor go--because she was awfully afraid that those horrible sharp pains might come shooting back again. "Bill" the Boston bull, who was all pep and who in his vigorous play got a foxtail in his ear, received his visitors with a mischievous twinkle in his eye, as much as to say, "I'm kidding the doc along, but I'm no more sick than he is. I'll be out of this coop soon." The twittering old lady with gallstones was all aflutter and wanted to tell the reporter the details of the operation, but she was interrupted by the doctor who made it as brief as possible. In a private room was the dog with fits and adjoining him, the brown-eyed lad whose feet were run over by a railway train. He was resting quietly and smiled cheerfully over his poor bandaged paws. A little farther on were the two young ones waiting to be vaccinated for distemper. They were anxious to know what it was all about, but the doctor patted their youthful heads and said merely, "Fine boys, eh?" But the saddest of all was the homesick dog who, seeking sanctuary from the pursuit of the dog catcher, had no place to go. He hated to stay on, and he hated to leave. He suffered from the greatest of human ailments, indecision. Which proves, more than anything else, that dogs ARE human. Medford Mail Tribune, July 26, 1927, page 3 ARMENIAN CAT VISITS SANCTUM AND
IS SUCCORED
A small black-and-white kitten about a month old, and much emaciated
from long lack of acquaintance with food, wandered into the Mail Tribune editorial
rooms this morning still quite cheerful, no doubt buoyed up
with the city's slogan "This Is a Great Country," and the hope of a
coming feed.The furry orphan let out a few faint meows on beholding Fergy, the A.A. operator guy, and that individual not knowing the ways of kittens, shrank back in fear and exclaimed, "If you bite me I'll have your block knocked off." Then the kindhearted Smudge Pot editor next showed up, and was so touched by the miserable feline sight that he lost no time in emptying a paste pot into a saucer and remarking to Fergy as he shoved the cat's nose into the saucer, "Now let him eat his head off." Mary Greiner and Ernest Rostel next arrived and exclaimed in unison, "How cute! Has anyone fed her?" But it was not until Paul Luy and the heavyweight reporter and all-around office wop showed up later and asked has anyone fed it, that the former went out and purchased a nickel's worth of milk and that poor little feline alley waif realized that he, or she or it, was in the hands of good friends and had stumbled onto a good home. After the assembled staff had christened the cat as "Jubilee" with a glass of our pure mountain spring water, the grateful little mutt purred itself to sleep on a pile of exchanges. Medford Mail Tribune, September 2, 1927, page 4 MEDFORD MOTHER OF 3 IS RESCUED
FROM THE GRAVE
They called her "Peg" at the auto camp. Although little or nothing was
known of her past, it was suspected that she came from quality. But
after she became ill, and tossed and turned in a fevered frenzy, folks
began to believe her mad. There was talk of taking her three helpless
babies away from her and putting them in a home where at least she
couldn't in one of her "fits" do them any physical injury.By Mary Greiner. The doctor was called, and announced that the patient was suffering from double pneumonia and needed a great deal of care in order to pull through safely. There was no one who even offered to pay her doctor bill. So the kind physician bundled her up in one blanket and her babies in another, and took them to his hospital. There, poor "Peg" was treated day and night by the kind physician and his attendant. Packs were put on her chest, hot water bottles at her feet. The most nourishing broths were prepared for her, and at last the fever broke and the crisis was passed. She began to gain rapidly. In the meantime the tiny triplets were put in a ward by themselves. Their nursery bottle for some time was a medicine dropper, but each day they grew healthier and strong, until they required a bottle of milk apiece. It has been four weeks now since "Peg" and her babies were rescued by the doctor. The former is up now and able to wobble out into the sunshine a bit each day. And she enjoys nothing better than to be met at the door by her three husky Boston bull babies, who scamper about her in a boisterous spirit of youth and good fellowship. Medford Mail Tribune, October 11, 1927, page 3 WANTED: SOMEONE TO KILL A CAT,
APPLY AT Y.W.C.A.
A
sick cat, with only four and a half of its nine lives left, came in the
back door of the local Y.W.C.A. headquarters three weeks ago for food.
So pathetic a picture did it present that the kind ladies rooming there
exerted efforts to bring it back to health and vigor. But the cat ate
greedily and grew worse.
Finally Mrs. Lydia Miller, religious worker from Los Angeles, exhausted the pages of the telephone directory trying to find the number of a humane society that might come and put the animal out of its misery. But her efforts were in vain. Finally she called up the police department and explained the situation. "They told me to call up the county courthouse and they'd look after it," she said. "I asked them who I should call for down there, but they told me that anybody would do. So I talked to each of the courthouse employees in turn, each of whom referred me to someone else. I was given the names of individuals, and each of these individuals referred me to someone else. For two weeks I sought and pled with 'individuals' who were recommended for their cat-killing proclivities. "Finally I called up Dr. Pickel, as head of the board of health. I figured that surely here they would make some provisions to put the poor animal out of its misery and keep it from spreading its disease. But the only answer I got there was a slow drawl to the effect that 'It isn't my business to kill cats.' I argued further and he finally hung up with the comment, 'Well, I guess if you want that cat killed, you'll have to do it yourself.' "Then I went to the veterinary. He was very nice about it and agreed to do the deed if I brought the cat into his headquarters. I came home determined to do so, but alas!" So poor Tabby will go on, an object of pity and horror to the weaponless ladies, who must look out upon her daily from the Y.W.C.A. window. Medford Mail Tribune, October 16, 1927, page 8 A BALL OF WOOL UNWINDS, LO! IT'S
A HAPPY FAMILY
A large white ball of wool on a pile of sawdust in the Monarch Seed and
Feed Company window didn't attract any particular attention this
morning, until it began to unwind, and turned out to be a mother French
poodle feeding her three young. And then the crowd began to gather.Breaking away from their mother, the three tiny poodles rolled and frisked about in the warm sawdust, getting their white furry coats tangled with small shavings. They were sharply reprimanded by a couple of short barks from their mother, and in order to cover up their embarrassment began chasing each other around and around the space, shaking what loose dust they could from their wool. Their capers were greeted with exclamations of admiration from a large group of feminine observers watching them from the outside, and laughs of glee from small boys and girls peeping in the window. After a vocal barrage of "Aren't they cute--the little darlings," and words to that effect, a tall man passed by, looked over the shoulders of the adoring feminine aggregation and said, "Huh--who'd want one of them things--them ain't dogs--damn nuisances, I'd call 'em." He received his share of glares from the group of women, and moved on. Medford Mail Tribune, October 29, 1927, page 3 'MOXEY' PET DOG, KILLED BY AUTO,
FAMILY GRIEVES
"Moxey, get down on the ground and wipe that smile from your face."
This was a command from Juanita (Babe) Griffin, to her pet coach dog,
Klimax. And Klimax drew his ears back, bent his face to the ground and
looked up slowly with a sobered countenance, much to the delight of the
group of admirers surrounding him and his mistress.But this was one stunt Juanita reluctantly demanded. It was always a request number on her "Moxey program," and to her the absence of Moxey's ever-present canine grin was like a dark cloud passing across the sun. There were other tricks that Klimax did for Juanita and her friends--but tricks or no tricks, Klimax drew a crowd wherever he went in Medford. Although past 11 years old, and well into the last of his dog days, he maintained a usually happy disposition, and had a way of wagging his tail that somehow made one feel that life was just as jolly as you made it. Yesterday, the dog was crossing the street at the corner of Sixth and Holly streets when he was run over by a car and instantly killed. His face was bent familiarly down to the ground, but when they picked him up Moxey's smile, this time, was not erased. Medford Mail Tribune, November 7, 1927, page 3 CATTY JOKE FOR MRS. F. ISAACS
Mrs. Frank Isaacs,
bookkeeper for Hutchison-Lumsden, let the
cat out of the bag this morning, but the coming-out party was
accompanied by such a bloodcurdling shriek that the entire personnel of
the store was at her side in a flash, with every available implement of
attack, assault or battery.It all came to pass when Mrs. Isaacs, more familiarly known as Edna, received by special messenger a paper sack neatly tied and a message which stated that the package, although crude on the exterior, enclosed a much-delayed Christmas gift. The string was broken at the top and two furry black ears emerged from the opening, accompanied by a plaintive "Meow." Edna's shriek was followed by a few more sympathetic screams among the feminine shoppers and employees, and trade was at a standstill while the masculine portion of the store came to the rescue of the caged bookkeeper, who upon their arrival was laughing and stroking the soft fur of the frightened cat. Medford Mail Tribune, January 12, 1928, page 3 IF YOU SEE A LOST PEKINGESE DOG,
PHONE 701-J
If anyone runs across Tinke, a female registered Pekingese dog of
reddish coat, two years old, very cute and of an exceedingly amiable
disposition, he will lift a load of grief from the Misses Susette and
Betty Stennett by returning the pet to the A. F. Stennett home at 325
South Riverside Avenue, or calling the family, phone 701-J.Tinke only arrived last evening by express from Eugene, from which place she had been purchased by old man Stennett for $25, after he had carefully figured up that he could pay his income tax and spare the money. He, too is so upset by the disappearance of Tinke that unless she is soon found he is in danger of jumping into Bear Creek and getting his feet wet, not so much because of a love for the missing dog, as his constitutional inborn hatred of seeing $25 go to waste. "Sten" was so pied up at the idea of $25 of his running round loose that in reporting the loss to this family publication this morning his description of Tinke was: "Oh, just a red-haired dog with four legs on, house broke and a smile." By degrees a better description was drawn out of him and how Tinke came up missing. When asked what "Pekingese" meant, he said he did not know exactly, but that he himself always wore B.V.D.'s. It seems that Tinke, by her handsome, lively appearance and affectionate and intelligent manner, had greatly endeared herself to the entire Stennett family between last evening and this morning, when Miss Susette started out of the house to give the canine pet an airing, leading Tinke by a cord attached to her collar. Like all dogs of her age, Tinke preferred freedom from the collar and cord, and suddenly worked loose from the collar and scooted away, leaving the frantic Susette holding the string. That is all there is to the story, except that Tinke is wandering somewhere in the city, either trying to find her new home or the Pacific Highway leading to her old home at Eugene. Medford Mail Tribune, February 1, 1928, page 3 STENNETT GIRLS' PEKINGESE FOUND,
TYPOS EXCITED
With the original reward of $5 offered for the capture of Tinke, the
runaway Pekingese mongrel belonging to the Misses Susette and Betty
Stennett, mounting toward the $50 mark by late yesterday afternoon,
clues began pouring into the Mail
Tribune
office from various sections of the city. A. F. Stennett, father of the
two grieving young ladies, spent the afternoon down in the Mail Tribune
composing room, composing everything but himself. His fingernails were
gnawed completely off one hand and the purse strings of his ancient
wallet were broken and retied in at least a dozen places where he had
jerked them open to add another coin to the massive reward offered to
the captors of the elusive fox dog.At two o'clock, Frank Rector, veteran Linotype operator, hearing about the reward, which at that time had arrived at the $14.98 point, rushed to a telephone and told of having seen the dog in front of the chamber of commerce. A hot pursuit followed, but the mysterious canine pet disappeared behind two stout matrons and made a getaway down a side street. Two hours later, W. A. Rowley changed his title from printer to sprinter, and began following blind clues from one section of the city to another. He finally phoned in and asked the status of the reward. At that point it stood at $27.50. Rowley waited another half hour and phoned back that he had seen the Pekingese in front of the Al Piche store, looking melancholy but still pursuing his dodging tactics. Efforts of Rowley to step on the dog's tail proved futile. All through the night Mr. and Mrs. Stennett and their two daughters paced the floor of their home grieving about Tinke and answering the frequent phone calls that gave possible clues. Finally at an early hour a call came in from a friend on Fourth Street that the runaway had just raised his head out of a gutter and was resting his quivering chin on the curbing. It was in this dejected and dazed condition that the Stennett family found the dog and made a quiet capture. The reward, which had a half hour before the final report reached the $50 mark, will be turned into household expenses and food for the pet prisoner. Medford Mail Tribune, February 2, 1928, page 3 HUMANE SOCIETY FORMED HERE;
OUTLINE PROGRAM
The Jackson County Dog Protective Association, which existed for two
years, is a thing of the past, as yesterday the members of the
association incorporated under the laws of the state of Oregon into the
Jackson County Humane Society, with seven trustees elected. The new
society has outlined an extensive program and plans to begin activities
as soon as possible, commencing with a huge membership drive, which is
expected to interest all animal lovers in the county.One of the primary objects of the society is the appointment of a full-time humane officer to be ready for service at any time wherever needed. The society, due to the fact that no humane officer has been on duty for years, places the need of such an official as paramount in its work. Later, as soon as the organization matters are generally adjusted, the society is planning to take over the city pound and manage it permanently. The seven trustees, who were elected at the meeting last week, are as follows: Mrs. Bert Anderson, Mrs. H. D. McCaskey, Mrs. C. W. Palm, Mrs. Frank Upton, Mrs. M. E. Schuchard, Mrs. Sid Richardson and Allison Moulton. Allison Moulton, who was the president of the dog association, will continue to hold the same position with the humane society and likewise Mrs. E. E. Schuchard and Mrs. Sid Richardson will continue to hold the office of vice president and secretary, respectively. Medford Mail Tribune, March 21, 1928, page 3 HUMANE SOCIETY OF THIS COUNTY
ASKS SUPPORT
With the rapid growth of this county and its flourishing communities,
together with the increased business of our highways, the Jackson
County Humane Society needs your help.For the man who cares nothing about the prevention of cruelty to animals we are doing this and need his assistance: We are disposing of homeless dogs that destroy his property and cats that make his nights hideous. By ridding his neighborhood of these pests we are protecting the health of his children, stamping out rabies, contagious diseases, ringworms, etc. By helping to enforce the observance of herd laws and the care of all animals we free his highways and make them safe for his business and pleasure. By being kind to animals we set a good example for his children. Every progressive community has its humane society. For the man in sympathy with our work--by disposing of lost and afflicted animals we relieve their suffering, protect his pets from diseases, and make him happy. There
was a guy down in his luck,
We need your help.That looked around, and being kind, Saw a chance to help some friends, That like himself were in a grind. And being dumb they couldn't peep About the things they had to eat, Or make a squawk about the kicks That urged them to their willing hits. "And so," says he, "I have to talk, My pals are dumb and can't complain; Let's help 'em in their lowly walk. God put 'em here--let's be humane." Be kind for a year for a dollar. JACKSON
COUNTY HUMANE SOCIETY.
Medford
Mail Tribune, March 29, 1928, page 5Medford, Ore. CITY DOG CATCHER BUSY, AND KEEPS
IDENTITY DARK
Although the identity of the new city dog catcher has not been made
public by the city officials or police, that official seems to have
gone on duty last week, as almost every day one or two loose dogs that
were familiar sights in certain parts of the city disappeared and have
not been seen since, including several well-bred pet dogs who were not
tied up by their owners or confined on their home premises in
conformance with the city ordinance that prohibits dogs from running at
large during the months of April, May and June.The city authorities reiterate that every dog away from its home premises will be gathered up by the dog cacher, no matter whether or not the animal is licensed. Complaints continue to pour into the police headquarters about damage to gardens and flower beds by loose dogs. Despite the fact that all dogs must be licensed by their owners under penalty of the unlicensed dogs being gathered up by the dog catcher and placed in the dog pound, only about 70 dogs have been licensed, out of hundreds of Medford dogs, since the first of the year. Now that it is known that a city dog catcher has begun functioning, owners of dogs will probably hurry to the city clerk's office in increasing numbers to take out licenses. Medford Mail Tribune, April 22, 1928, page 6 DOG POISONER BUSY; CHILDREN MOURN
4 PETS
Many youthful hearts are saddened in the Berrydale district this week
over the sudden deaths during the past week of a number of pet dogs.
Indications are that the dogs were poisoned, but no clues have been
discovered yet as to the person or the motive for such action.Little Bobby Withrow, 5, of Berrydale Avenue, was the latest victim to suffer a loss, in the death last night of his big collie. The dog, which is usually tied to the porch, was freed for an after dinner romp and was discovered within an hour convulsed with pain and attempting to drag himself under the porch. A veterinarian was sent for, and for a time it was thought that the dog would survive, but he died a few hours later. Miss Noma Naud, also 5, lost her favorite playmate Thursday night, when her fox terrier took suddenly ill and died in the same manner. Others who are known to have lost pet dogs during the week in that section of the city are Mr. and Mrs. Newton, Berrydale Avenue, who owned a spaniel, and Mr. and Mrs. Irwin. Medford Mail Tribune, May 5, 1928, page 6 GEORGE GATES, JR. GETS ALLIGATOR
FROM GRANDPAP
The second baby alligator sent by C.
E. Gates, now with Mrs. Gates in
Indiana, to his little grandson George, 8, during the past week arrived
at the Gates Motor Company this morning and crawled out of its round
bamboo cage very much alive and thirsty. His smaller brother, sent
several days ago, died on the way.
A sand box and long pan of water was furnished for the southern visitor in the window of the motor company on Riverside Street, and he plunged into the water with keen and obvious relish, after which he crawled out into the warm sand and basked in the sunshine throughout the morning. Believing that he might be hungry and being at a loss as to the proper menu for the alligator, one of the employees called up a local seed and feed store. He was told that Florida crocodiles generally relished morsels the size of little George. Upon hearing the news, Little George, to demonstrate Medford's hospitality to strangers, volunteered to dig a week's supply of angle worms for the newcomer. The reptile will remain the Gates company window until he recuperates from the strain of the long trip. Medford Mail Tribune, May
11, 1928, page 5
TRAINED CAT VICTIM OF POISONED
MEAT
A cat, which he had patiently trained until it would stand up, fold its
front paws in prayer, jump through hoops and do other tricks, was
poisoned yesterday, according to its owner, Harry LeRoy, of Cargill
Court apartments, who said today that its training had nearly advanced
far enough for it to perform before the public.The cat was a year old and weighed 17 pounds. He believes its death is due to the malicious setting out of poisoned meat. Medford Mail Tribune, May 12, 1928, page 3 L. A. BANKS SEES A BUMPER CROP
AND HIGH PRICES
After looking over his pear orchards here, L. A. Banks, fruit grower
with interests in California and Oregon, reports that the prospects are
bright for a bumper crop, which will be ripe earlier than usual and
probably sell at a high price.Mr. Banks came here with his family last week from Riverside, Calif., where he owns one of the largest acreages of orange trees in that locality. A $250,000 crop, he says, has just been harvested from his 400 acres. Property values have advanced by leaps and bounds in that state during the past few years, some land being sold for $2000 per acre. Extensive advertising of oranges as one of the health foods accounts for the high price and big demand for the fruit, Mr. Banks believes. "The Rogue River Valley is just coming into its own, and I think that with the right kind of cooperation among orchardists that property here will show the same marked improvement that has taken place in California," Mr. Banks said in discussing the possibilities of this locality. "This valley should be widely advertised not only as one of the most beautiful spots in America in which to reside, but as being especially adapted climatically, with ideal soil to produce the finest quality pears of all varieties grown anywhere in the world." Pear orchards which Banks operates here are the Taylor Pepper on the highway at Voorhies Crossing, Emerick, Brookhurst, Hampton and several smaller ones. He has been in the fruit growing business for over 40 years. Medford Mail Tribune, June 12, 1928, page 3 COCK TAIL CAT A GREAT WORRY TO
OIL MANAGER
M. C. Barrow, local manager of the Associated Oil Company, has a tomcat
with a most peculiar and perverted taste. Since early in July the cat
has developed a fondness for shaved ice and ginger ale, devouring two
pounds of the latter, and three bottles of the former, every seven
days. The cat insists on having his ration daily. He will not eat the ice unless it is mixed with the ginger ale, and vice versa. When he has had his fill, he goes under the house and sleeps. If he is offered a saucer of milk, he shuns it, but will meow until he gets his cocktail. Then, like the famous cow, he is contented. Local naturalists are puzzled by the strange appetite of the cat, but figure there must be some catnip in the ginger ale. Mr. Barrow has endeavored to break the pet of its abnormal habit, but has given up. Mrs. Barrow will be home from San Francisco next week, when it is predicted the cat will be given a cure. Medford Mail Tribune, August 13, 1928, page 3 MEDFORD WILL SOON HAVE A NEW DOG
HOSPITAL
The new Medford Veterinary Hospital, now being built by Dr. D. W. Stone
on North Central at a cost of about $10,000, will be completed in three
weeks, according to the local veterinarian. The concrete structure,
which is to contain all the modern features and latest frills, will
accommodate both dog and cat patients.There will be two large wards for dogs; one for the sick dogs, which can take care of 20, and one for the well, which will accommodate 30 or more. The latter ward will have a separate runway to assure the necessary amount of daily exercise. The ward for cats will be a separate department. Dr. Stone will keep an attendant, who is to be provided with a room in the hospital, and who will be on hand to administer constantly to the needs of the invalids. The building, which is a fireproof structure, has been a dream of the local veterinarian for the past 22 years, and no effort is being spared to make it one of the most complete and outstanding hospitals of its kind along the coast. Beside the three large wards mentioned, the establishment will be provided with a doctor's office, an examining room and a surgical room, equipped with a specially built operating table. A drug room, where the necessary medicines for hospital use are stored, will open off this department. There will also be a kitchen, in which the hospital meals will be prepared. Also, for even the most nervous and finicky patients (Dr. Stone says these are to be found, as usual, among the females of the species), he is having a special clipping department, a bath room and shower provided. So there is every reason to believe that the patients will not only be pronounced cured, but pleasingly well groomed, upon their return to the normal routine of life. Medford Mail Tribune, September 24, 1928, page 2 ANIMAL HOSPITAL NEAR COMPLETION
ON RIVERSIDE AVE.
Construction on the new $10,000 dog and cat hospital, now being built
by Dr. D. W. Stone on North Riverside, just within the city limits, is
progressing rapidly and will be completed within six weeks, according
to the local veterinarian.The hospital, which is to be a neat structure of gray concrete, will contain the latest conveniences in lighting and ventilation as well as a system of sanitary drains that will preclude any possibility of unsanitary accumulation or the usual unpleasant odor typical of the older veterinaries. The reception room, doctor's office, operating room, wards and kitchens are already completed as to outside construction, and the general layout of the hospital has been inspected by interested local residents and dog and cat owners throughout the city the past week. There is to be a special ward set aside for dogs with contagious diseases, and another for canine patients in the recuperating stages. The latter is equipped with six small doors leading out into runways 20 feet long and five feet wide, to provide sufficient exercise for the dogs. Whether the runways will have floors of stone or grass has not yet been decided. The building will be approached by a crescent-shaped driveway, on either side of which will be a lawn, flowers and shrubs, while the space back of the hospital will be enclosed by a high wall to protect the invalids from the excitement of the world outside. The operating room, which is finished in an aluminum gray, after the fashion of establishments of this kind in the East, will be provided with a new and specially built operating table. Dr. Stone will have an attendant at the hospital who will stay there night and day and for whom a special room has been provided in the building. The attendant will prepare the meals for the patients in the neat little hospital kitchen next to the operating room. Medford Mail Tribune, October 13, 1928, page 3 'ALEX' GONE TO DOG HEAVEN AND
GATES HOME SAD
One of the saddest "funerals" of the year took place soon after 9
o'clock this morning when with simple ceremony the body of "Alex,"
seven-and-a-half-year-old black and white dog and namesake of Alex
Sparrow, was buried in the backyard of the C. E. Gates home.When young George Gates Junior was only a year old Jim Grieve presented him with the tiny puppy, who at the time was the same age as the youngster. The two grew up together, cut their teeth, ran after the same balls and were good pals generally. A week ago Alex became ill and refused to romp and play. He was taken to the local dog hospital and his case diagnosed as intestinal flu. Yesterday afternoon he died. Not until last night just before George went to bed did his father tell him the tragic news. This morning Mr. Gates told his secretary that he would be gone for an hour while the burial rites took place with only the sad owner of the pet and the other members of the family present. For several hours today George walked up and down in front of the house searching for granite rocks to place around the grave. He carried a bucket and wiped his eyes now and then. There are flowers too on the spot where Alex lies. Medford Mail Tribune, October 18, 1928, page 5 PRODIGAL TERRIER RETURNS TO HOME,
AGED MAN HAPPY
The one-room shack of Henry Boyd, 76, which sits away back on an
otherwise vacant lot off Crater Lake Avenue, was a sad, sad world in
which to move with Wrinkles gone. Wrinkles is
one-and-a-half-year-old--part fox terrier and part tramp--but one of
the best pals Henry Boyd ever had.Every evening when he came home from feeding Rosy--oh, yes, Rosy is the other member of the Boyd family, a 10-year-old mare; and she comes from trotting stock, too; yes, sir! Every day when Henry Boyd came home there was Wrinkles, waiting on the doorstep, with that little tramp smile of hers, to greet him. When Henry mowed lawns or did other odd jobs for the folks on the east side, Wrinkles romped and played with the kiddies of the neighborhood. Sometimes she accompanied them on jaunts out across the vacant lots. But Henry always knew were she was--until Saturday night. It might be that Rosy had some sort of a premonition. She acted more affectionate than usual Saturday night. She snuggled her cold nose against Henry's shoulder as he tried to curry her, and rubbed her big head along his sleeve, as though she wanted to detain him. And, when he reached home, for the first time Wrinkles wasn't there. Henry chuckled to himself as he thought that she was up to some prank, and entering the shack he began to prepare their evening meal. Then he went out and called. He scoured the neighborhood, asking everyone he met if they had seen Wrinkles. No one had. Henry returned to his shack, but he didn't eat the meal he had prepared. He couldn't sleep that night, and often he went to the door and called: "Wrinkles." All he received was a sympathetic neigh from Rosy in the distance. Sunday the children who had played with Wrinkles joined in the search. Lydia King, county nurse, was notified by Mrs. Howard Scheffel, who in turn notified the Humane Society, who made arrangements to broadcast news of the loss over the local radio station Monday evening. Henry went about his tasks Monday with a heavy heart, unaware of the efforts that were being made in his behalf. At 5 o'clock he went over to feed Rosy, and at 5:30 he returned wearily to his shack. There on the doorstep sat Wrinkles, her short tail wagging and her little tramp grin all set to greet him. "And I asked her no questions, I was so glad to see her. Well--I don't know which of us was really the happiest over that reunion, Wrinkles or me." As as the 76-year-old man attempted to smile manfully through the tears that just couldn't help coming, there was no doubt in the minds of his hearers as to just which of the two was the happier. Medford Mail Tribune, October 23, 1928, page 7 MEDFORD HAS A HOSPITAL FOR DOGS
AND CATS
There is a bulldog, at the Medford Veterinary Hospital on North
Riverside Avenue, who is highly disgusted with his lot. He recently
underwent an operation on his jawbone, from which he is improving
rapidly, and is also undergoing a change in is disposition. Before his
operation, the bulldog was petted and pampered by the young folks at
home, and what he wanted he got by putting up a howl. He still howls,
but he does not get what he wants. This is quite a shock to his soul,
if any, and he looks and acts like a man in jail who should not be kept
there, but is by the law.Institution Built in 1928 Filled Long-Felt Want--Dogs and Cats of All Kinds and with All Sorts of Ailments Given Expert Treatment. In the cell next to Mr. Bulldog is a wire-haired terrier, belonging to Dr. Bert Lageson. He has something the matter with his ear. Illness has not dimmed his sagacious friskiness, and he acts like he did not care whether he ever got out or not. In the adjoining cell is another wire-haired terrier, down with the worms. It is a bad case, but the patient is still able to stand up when company calls. A haughty Pekingese is recovering from an operation on the eye, in the lower tier. It was necessary to cut the eyelid and then sew it up to get the Pekingese's eyeball where it belonged. He has been used to riding in the back seat of a high-priced auto, and it will be all of three weeks before he again is able to enjoy this luxury. Among the dumb patients is a police dog, who sustained a broken hind leg when hit by a northbound freight truck. A front leg was also mangled. The humane thing to do ten years ago was to shoot the dog with the broken leg, but humane science has made it possible to save the pet and family friend. The leg is bandaged, and the patient is doing as well as could be expected, and in ten days or sooner the leg will start to knit. The police dog is in far worse shape than the bulldog, but makes no complaint. There are about a dozen dogs whose masters have them boarding at the hospital, and they are having a fine rest. Among this lot are four or five police dogs with a mean look in their eyes. According to T. R. Harrison, the hospital assistant, nothing would suit them better than to bite on a human leg for no reason at all. Another boarder is a magnificent, tawny-haired English setter, of a lovable disposition, and as friendly as a kitten. He is worth $500 in the open market. There is one cat--a Maltese--among the lodgers. She is very angry about it, and will soon be back at her home fireplace. In the sick ward of the hospital there are 14 dogs suffering from the ills that dog flesh is heir to. Most of them have the flu, and nothing looks any sicker than a sick dog. They are on a special diet, and receive special treatment. In the morning and evening the dogs are turned loose in a corral, and bedlam reigns. They bark, run, and fight like dogs who have never been to the hospital. When the exercise period is over, assistant Harrison has to exercise all his knowledge of dogs to get them back in their beds. The hospital is in charge of Dr. D. W. Stone, who has had 21 years experience in the care and treatment of pets, and is widely patronized by residents of the city and valley. The hospital was built through the cooperation of local dog fanciers, and fills a unique and humane niche in the life of the community, also attracting patronage from all parts of Southern Oregon and Northern California. Preparations are now under way for the planting of a hedge and shrubbery around the hospital grounds. Medford Mail Tribune, December 31, 1928, page C5 DOG POISONER AT WORK IN MEDFORD
A brutal dog poisoner is again at work in the city, as two pet dogs
were poisoned on Narregan Street yesterday, one in the morning and one
in the late afternoon. Not only the police but special agents of the
Humane Society are following down several clues which are expected to
lead to the arrest of the cruel perpetrator of these canine deaths.One of the poisoned dogs belonged to the children of Mr. and Mrs. D. L. Grove, and it is understood that the other dog to suffer this lingering death was also a child's pet in another family. The Humane Society and the police request any citizens to report any case of dog poisoning as soon thereafter as they learn of it, in order that the poisoner or poisoners may be run down and arrested promptly. For years there has been a standing case reward offered for information which will lead to establishing the guilt of any dog poisoner. Medford Mail Tribune, March 7, 1929, page 5 LICENSES BOUGHT FOR ONLY 12 DOGS;
1624 IN COUNTY
The question of an increased dog tax is the latest problem to confront
county officials and may reach considerable proportions before it is
given final disposition. County Clerk Delilia Stevens Meyer yesterday
received official notification of the passage of the measure by the
last legislature of increasing county licenses on dogs from one dollar
to two dollars for males and to three dollars for females. There is a
two-dollar penalty if the license is not paid by March 1 of every year.In view of the suddenness of the announcement, County Clerk Meyer today said the penalty would not be invoked until April 15, giving every dog owner in the county an opportunity to purchase licenses as early as possible. A recent census reveals there are 1624 dogs in Jackson County, each having a value of $8.98, or a total value of $14,550. Only 12 licenses have been issued so far this year. Medford Mail Tribune, March 19, 1929, page 3 The dogs at large nuisance, tearing up freshly made flower beds and gardens and upsetting garbage pails, has caused Mayor A. W. Pipes and the police to be flooded with protests from angry citizens for weeks past. Then, too, there seems to be an unusual number of dogs, both home and stray canines, running about all sections of the city. Councilman E. M. Wilson said he saw six dogs on his lawn the other morning. The unanimous decision of the mayor and councilmen was that the dog ordinance requiring licenses and the containing of dogs on their home premises during the spring months should be amended and strictly enforced. In fact, the sentiment was for a general spring cleanup of stray dogs. It was also the sentiment that the time for the dog ordinance to go into effect should be made earlier, March 15 by the latest. It was finally decided to have the present dog ordinance revamped by the city attorney to include needed reforms and acted on at a special meeting Tuesday night, and enforced vigorously. The humane society is considering making a tentative proposition to the city council to handle the dog nuisance question in cooperation with the police and provide a suitable place for keeping all captured dogs until they are either claimed or killed by some humane method, for $1000 a year--that is, that the city government guarantee to pay up to $1000 annually if needed. This proposition will probably be formally made by the society and acted upon by the council at the special meeting. "Council Forbids Roller Skating," Medford Mail Tribune, March 20, 1929, page 6 New Law Will Make of Dog a Real
Luxury
Under a new state law, a penalty attaches to dog licenses if they are
not purchased before March 1, Delilia Stevens Meyer, county clerk,
announced yesterday.The law was passed with the emergency clause and no notice given of it, she said. It raised the license fee to $2.00 for males and $3.00 for females. In addition, there is a $2.00 penalty if the license is not purchased before March 1. Because dog owners did not know of the provision, Mrs. Meyers said she would not start collecting the penalty until after April 15. All licenses issued until then will be at $2.00 and $3.00. Gold Hill News,
March 21, 1929, page
1
County and City Officials Beset
by Dog Problem for
Taxation and
Curbing Canine Freedom in Flower and
Gardens
It developed last night at the city council's special meeting, which
was primarily held to take up legislation to do away with the nuisance
of stray and home dogs uprooting garden and flower beds, etc., and
running at large, that the new state law, passed at the behest of the
sheep owners, requires every dog in the county to be licensed, and this
includes city dogs, does away with the right of a city to license its
own dogs; as to compel a city dog owner to take out a city as well as
the compulsory state or county license would be double taxation.The loss of this license money to the city is a mere trifle, as only 80 dog licenses were taken out last year, despite the many dogs in the city, which amounted to but $129 in money, the city recorder's records show. Only 17 city licenses have been taken out so far this year. The city, however, despite it cannot collect licenses, has the power to regulate the dog nuisance in some way and enforce it. After much discussion last night the mayor and councilmen decided to try to induce the county court to cooperate with the city government and Humane Society in helping the city to do away with stray dogs and the running of dogs at large. To this end it was decided to have the city officials, Humane Society representatives and citizens generally interested in doing away with the dog nuisance meet with the county court this morning to discuss such a plan. At last night's meeting, which was attended by Humane Society representatives and citizens with complaints about the depredation of dogs, Sidney E. Richardson, representing the Humane Society, said that the society would provide a pound for captured dogs, etc., if the city would bear the expense of a dog catcher and the putting to death of the homeless dogs gathered in. He said the society would want the dog catcher to be on duty the full 12 months of the year, instead of only a few months in the spring and early summer. The evidence was cumulative that there are too many stray dogs as well as home dogs at large in the city, and that they are doing much damage to the flower beds and gardens, etc. Mr. Richardson declared that there are at least 2000 dogs in Medford, and Mayor A. W. Pipes declared that the sight of many dogs running about the streets was not a good advertisement for the city. John Demmer, himself a dog lover and usually the most mild mannered of men, has lost patience completely with the dogs at large nuisance. He told the council that the dog nuisance was deplorable in his neighborhood on West Jackson Street, as well as other neighborhoods throughout the city. He related how dogs had caused $50 worth of damage last year to his truck patch, and of how a dog had killed a pet cat of the Demmer home. "If the city is powerless to regulate the dogs at large I serve notice that from now on I am going to take the law in my own hands in seeking protection from the depredations of dogs, and shoot to kill all dogs coming on my premises," said Mr. Demmer. "I have a right to protect my property and will do so, and so told the district attorney, who says I have the right." A woman who is employed away from home daily related to the council how she would come home in the evening to find dogs had rooted holes in her flower bed. T. E. Daniels, who is a dog fancier, told that he kept his dogs penned up at home, and he thought that all people should confine their dogs to their home premises. "The people of Medford are entitled to relief from this dog problem," said Mayor Pipes. "Medford is overrun with dogs to such an extent as to make a miserable situation for many neighborhoods. This is not good for advertising for the city. It is fortunate for the city that the Humane Society is taking so much interest in trying to solve the problem." Between now and the next council meeting, next Tuesday night, the mayor and councilmen hope evolve some legislative plan to put an end to the dog nuisance, in spite of the fact that the new state dog license law practically annuls the local dog license ordinance. The county court, at its regular meeting this morning, took under advisement a proposition to have the city, county and Jackson County Humane Society collect the dog tax; the city and county to bear alike the cost of paying the dog catcher, and the Humane Society to collect the tax and render death unto the dogs without owners. Sidney E. Richardson of the Humane Society agreed to collect the tax for a substantial portion of the sum collected, and do the work in both city and county. City Attorney John H. Carkin favored Mr. Richardson's plan, and held that if the city and county both collected dog tax, it would cost a dog owner with the penalty attached $7 to keep a dog, "which would bring down murder upon our heads, and cost more than it does a farmer to keep a cow." He said the city was willing to share a portion of the expense over a period of three or four months, and thought in that period that all the dog tax that could be collected would be in the exchequer. The new state dog tax law, which was passed as a protective measure to the sheep owner, principally upstate, provides a tax of $3 upon female dogs and $2 upon male dogs, and a penalty of $2 if the tax is not paid by March 15. The time has been extended in this county until April 15. The appointment of a dog catcher and the apportionment of the fees will be made by that date, as the county court will be guided by the ruling of the district attorney who will be asked for an opinion at once. County Judge Alex Sparrow, during the hearing, declared that "the dog problem is sure a problem." "I don't blame the sheriff for refusing to kill a dog and I don't blame a dog owner for wanting to keep his dog. If a dog is no-account, his owner thinks more of him than if he amounted to something." The judge also said that "every boy and girl should have a dog." This caused Commissioner Alford to declare that from what he could see, and judging by the number of dogs around, "the kids had three or four apiece." Commissioner Alford said he had "ranched for 30 years, and there had been just two dogs on the place." One was killed and the other disappeared mysteriously. City Attorney Carkin said that the city council was under the belief that city dogs were exempt from taxation. Commissioner Victor Bursell pointed out in the law that there was no discrimination between city dogs and county dogs. Data presented during the discussion revealed that $42 was the grand total of the amount collected last year in Jackson County for dog taxes, and it was estimated that between 4000 and 5000 dogs reside within the confines of the county. It was previously estimated that the dog population was 1624. Medford Mail Tribune, March 27, 1929, page 5 DOGS DOOMED TO OWN BACK YARDS OR
GO TO POUND
From now on the dogs of Medford are doomed to stay at home and behave,
having no more fun in uprooting flower beds and gardens, and their
owners can no longer escape taking out dog licenses without a
considerable financial sacrifice, or finding their pets ending their
lives through the dog pound route. All this because the county court
and city officials have reached an agreement by which they will jointly
pay for the expense of a dog catcher, whose duty it will be to capture
all unlicensed dogs and any dog not kept on his home premises during
April, May and June.The new state law provides that every dog in a county must be licensed, and this includes city dogs. Because of this fact the city will not require that a municipal license must be taken out, in addition, but will cooperate in seeing that licenses are taken out on all city dogs. The license must be taken out and paid for at the county clerk's office. The state license fee is $2 for a male dog and $3 for a female dog. The city and county officials will strictly enforce this law, as it has been legally found that it is enforceable, contrary to the opinion a number of citizens have been holding. The dog license must be taken out by April 15, else the owner will be charged double the fee. However, the city ordinance requiring that dogs must be kept at home, or on home premises, or in leash, during the months of April, May and June is in force, and will be strictly enforced, Mayor A. W. Pipes and other city officials declare. Any dog, whether licensed or unlicensed, found off of its home premises will be gathered in by the dog catcher, unless it is in leash. This solution of the city dog nuisance was reached following a conference between Mayor A. W. Pipes and City Attorney John H. Carkin with the county court. The identity of the dog catcher is not known. The dog pound will be maintained under the auspices of the Humane Society. Medford Mail Tribune, April 4, 1929, page 6 461 LUCKY DOGS! OWNERS PAY FEE
Up to noon, 461 dog licenses had been issued by the county clerk, and
of this number, but 51 are female dogs. The license for male dogs is
$2, for female dogs $3. It is expected that the female dog population
will show an increase from now on.The law requires the name of the dog, and "Jiggs" seems to have superseded "Rover." There are few dogs named "Mike," and one male dog must get quite a "razzing" from his friends, as he is named "Tootsie." Eighty-six licenses were issued by the county clerk Monday, which is more than the grand total for the entire year of 1928. A dog license book was sent to Ashland today, for the convenience of Ashland dog owners and people living in that vicinity. To date, a majority of the dogs listed live in this city. Medford Mail Tribune, April 9, 1929, page 4 HUMANE SOCIETY PLANS PET SHOW FOR
APRIL 20TH
April 20th will be a big day in Medford.(Contributed.) All the boys and girls are invited to take their pets to the Medford Armory for exhibition and to compete for prizes given by the Jackson County Humane Society for the most popular pet, the most unusual pet, and the best cared for pet. There will be a special prize of $5 in cash given by Dr. D. W. Stone for the best trained dog. The Humane Society is desirous of having the schools become interested in humane education and Mrs. Carter, county superintendent, has for several years past wished that Jackson County might have a "pet day" or "pets show." Therefore, on April 20th, both the Humane Society and Mrs. Carter are to have their desires realized. And this realization is to be the first pet show and parade ever held in Rogue River Valley on a large scale as now planned. The children and their pets are going to make this show and parade more than just a realization; they are planning to make it a huge success in every way. Medford Mail Tribune, April 11, 1929, page 5 VAGRANT DOGS TO BE CAPTURED AND
HELD THREE DAYS
Following conferences between Humane Society leaders and the new dog
hospital management with Mayor A. W. Pipes and Chief of Police McCredie
during the day, and the passage of an amendment by the city council at
its special meeting last night, the problem of dogs running at large,
ruining flower beds and gardens during the spring months was solved, it
is believed by the city officials.The dog catcher, whose appointment by the mayor was approved last night, has been at work for several days, and city officials are determined to strictly enforce the ordinance requiring that dogs be kept on their home premises, or in leash, during April, May and June, and it now behooves citizens to comply, under penalty of missing their pets and having to redeem them from the dog hospital at considerable financial expense. All dogs found at large and captured will be confined at the dog hospital for three days and notice of their captivity will be posted at the police station, and if unclaimed at the end of that time will be put to death humanely and their remains taken to the garbage dump. To redeem a dog from the dog hospital, whether licensed or unlicensed, its owner must pay a penalty of $1.00 for its capture and 50 cents a dog for its keep at the hospital. This is independent of the fact that the state law requires that every dog be licensed. Through an agreement entered into with the city administration by Mayor Pipes and the Humane Society and dog hospital management, the latter agrees to keep for three days any captured dog and put it to death for $1.60, half of which sum will be paid by the city and half by the Humane Society. Medford Mail Tribune, April 13, 1929, page 2 FLEAS NOT BARRED IN CHILDREN'S
PET SHOW AT ARMORY APRIL 20
Pet fleas are eligible--oh yes, indeed they are--to the children's Pet
Show to be held in the local armory, April 20--only they are apt to
have a tough time of it. There are going to be a number of attractive
prizes awarded to both girls and boys, entering animals that prove to
be either the most popular pet, the most unusual pet or the best cared
for pet.Just try and imagine a flea being popular! Or well cared for. In fact most hardhearted folks are in the habit of thinking all sorts of mean things about Mr. Flea, and they don't seem to care whether he likes it or not. But as to him being an unusual pet--well that is something different! The Pet Show is being sponsored by the Humane Society of Jackson County, as a climax to national Be-Kind-to-Animal-Week which starts tomorrow, April 14 and ends Saturday, April 20. There will be a parade (if it doesn't rain) from the playgrounds where all the boys and girls entering pets for the show will meet at 9:30 in the morning and form an imposing procession, escorted by the Boy Scouts. They will march down Main Street to let Medford folks know what it is all about, and then proceed to the Armory, where the actual show is to take place from one o'clock to 10 p. m. All children who wish their pets to be presented at the exhibition must obtain their entrance blanks from the teachers in the city and rural schools which they attend, and register their pet by Wednesday, April 17. Each animal entered is to be given a thorough examination by Dr. D. W. Stone before it is allowed to occupy a place in the show. Dr. Stone is also offering, in addition to the numerous other prizes by the Humane Society, a cash prize for the best-trained dog entered. There will be a first and second prize given to each girl and to each boy whose pet proves to be the most popular, the most unusual or the best cared for animal entered. Medford Mail Tribune, April 13, 1929, page 6 FIRST PET SHOW IN COUNTRY WAS
'FRISCO FEATURE
Animal pet shows date back to the year 1905, according to data gathered
by the Jackson County Humane Society, who are sponsors of the first pet
exhibition ever held in this county, at the local Armory next Saturday.Dr. Frederick W. d'Evelyn, a Scotchman, introduced the idea in San Francisco in that year. So popular did it become that the movement spread to other Bay cities, to the middle and eastern states and then to Australia. At the Panama-Pacific Exhibition in 1915, the children's pets occupied their own building, one of the largest on the grounds at San Francisco. There were more than 1500 exhibits. So large was the collection to be transported across the bay that a special ferry had to be chartered for that purpose, it is said. The Children's Pet Exhibition Association has become an international organization with headquarters in the Phelan building at San Francisco. Its slogan is: "A child without a pet is like a flower without sunshine," and has adopted for its official picture a little girl with a covey of California quail. She was one of the early members, and the quail in the picture were hatched by a bantam hen. Dr. d'Evelyn is a graduate of Edinburgh University, Scotland, and a veteran of two African wars. He, personally, has collected several large aviaries of foreign birds. Entrants for the local animal pet show, to be held by Jackson County school children at the Medford Armory Saturday, must be registered with the Humane Society not later than tomorrow evening. Medford Mail Tribune, April 16, 1929, page 4 PET PARADE WILL FEATURE OPENING
OF ARMORY SHOW
It will be a "big parade"--that is, if it doesn't rain--with goats,
dogs, cats, and maybe trained roosters next Saturday morning at 10
o'clock, when Jackson County boys and girls traverse the streets of
Medford with their pets as the first number on the program of the
animal pet show to be held throughout the afternoon at the Armory,The Humane Society, which owes its existence to the softheartedness of its members, weakened and extended the deadline for entering pets in the exhibition to Friday night instead of closing last night, as was formerly planned. As a consequence, pets are getting funnier and more numerous as the time progresses, according to Mrs. Sid Richardson, member of the Jackson County Humane Society. Scout Executive W. L. Bricker, during the show, will supervise a series of demonstrations in first aid performed on the pets by Boy Scouts. One corner of the Armory will also be given over to a group of birdhouses and fountains, installed by the Crater Lake Council as a feature of the exhibition. Medford Mail Tribune, April 18, 1929, page 7 John Hammersley was in the city a few days last weekend from his rural home. John has been living on Galls Creek the past few months. He reports the loss of his two varmint dogs while on a recent trip into Northern California. He does not know whether they were stolen, strayed or killed. He has made several trips back to try and pick up trace of them, but so far has been unsuccessful. "Local Happenings," Gold Hill News, April 18, 1929, page 3 PAGEANT OF PETS IS GALA OCCASION
FOR YOUNG FOLKS
Was there ever such a day in Medford before? At least 200 young Jackson
County boys and girls who attended the pet show at the Armory today
will answer--"No." The atmosphere over the East Main Street bridge
throughout this morning quivered with the joyous excitement of
youth--as the stirring cadence of the junior drum corps garbed in white
uniforms and white sashes burst upon the ear.(By Mary Greiner) Crowds of grownups lined either side of the bridge and looked down upon the scene of bustling, colorful activity in the children's playground below. On one side of the grounds stood the petite drum corps, and on the opposite side stood the high school band in their snappy red and black uniforms, filling the air with music. And in between these was a pageant of humor, human nature and human appeal that the story of childhood always has to tell. Their minor woes and near tragedies--spontaneous, gleeful laughter, culminating in tears and reverting again to laughter. Tiny hands stroked soft fur--hard fur--bristles--and feathers of beloved pets. Tears welled up in one small pair of eyes when the unruly hair around her little dog's collar wouldn't stay smooth like she wanted it to. He wasn't a bad dog, and he was awfully smart, she confided loyally to a sympathetic spectator, but somehow he didn't 't have the self-confidence and show-off qualities that some of the other canine specimens around there had. If she could only tell the judges some of the fine instincts her pet had! But alas, dogs, not unlike human beings, are too often judged on outward appearances! Then there was the little reddish pet kid, held lovingly in the arms of a small red-haired boy. Someone was going to kill the little animal once, and its present owner intervened, saved its life and would never let anybody else ever lay hands on him--No, Sir--except maybe the judges when they go to pin the blue ribbon on him. In a cage nearby there were three blind mice--oh, no--not blind mice at all. Their eyes were pink and glassy, but they could see all right. Their fur was soft and white and their long tails curled up onto the walls of the neat little cage. A donkey straddled by a small boy brayed in rivalry to the band and drum corps and was given a look of scorn by the smart Indian pony a few feet beyond. Bantam roosters crowed at the top of their wee lungs from their cages on small wagons, lined up for the parade. Kittens purred smugly and yawned in their sunlit boxes, while canaries contributed brief, sweet solos and duets to the general vocal ensemble. The procession finally started up Main Street--a strange assortment of miniature floats and entries. The white rats peered out of their cage at the donkey ahead of them, and observed humorously to each other that he might not be a thing of beauty, but that his ear for music most certainly must be a joy forever. The parade, after winding its way through the principal downtown streets, came to a halt at the Armory, where the Jackson County Pet Show was officially opened by the Humane Society at one o'clock, and will continue until this evening. Medford Mail Tribune, April 20, 1929, page 2 AWARD PRIZES FOR PET SHOW; A BIG
SUCCESS
Medford's premier animal pet show--presented in three acts, under the
direction of the Jackson County Humane Society yesterday, was a
success. It was declared so by all concerned--originators, participants
and spectators.(By Mary Greiner) The first act extended through the early morning, when more than 200 children from various points in the county brought their pet animals of every classification and description to the children's playgrounds on East Main Street and groomed them for the parade. Then came the parade--the second act--up Main Street and around the city to the armory. What took place for an hour or so there concerned only the actors in the pet show drama, the directors and the producers. But when the curtain rose on the third act, the audience were introduced to the interior of the armory as they had never been introduced to it before. All around the sides were neatly built stalls, where pets posed and were admired by a steady stream of spectators who made the rounds through the afternoon. Due to the growing weariness of both the animals and their young owners, the society decided to abandon the original idea of extending the exhibition until 10 o'clock, and closed at 6, the prizes being practically all awarded or listed by that time. The most popular entry for boys, according to the vote of the public who attended the show, was made by Rodney Hawkins, who is asked to send his address in to the Humane Society immediately; the most popular entry for girls was the pet donkey brought in by Ann Scherer of Central Point. The second prizes in this classification went to Earl Goss and Margaret Bateman. The most unusual pet was the turtle entered by Troop 7 of the Boy Scouts, and the second most unusual was the gray digger squirrel entered by John Palmer of Gold Hill. These prizes are as yet unannounced, the winners to make a choice of a list of attractive gifts. The best cared for animal for the boys' prize was the shepherd dog owned by Jack Sanderson of Central Point, and for the girls' prize was the bulldog entered by Ray Lafever. Both of these received $2, while Margaret Bateman and Raymond Erickson, who entered a spitz and springer, respectively, received the second prize of $1. The best trained dog proved to be a Boston terrier entered by Leonard Klein, who received the first prize of $3 offered by Dr. D. W. Stone. The second prize of $2 went to Caroline Hill, who entered a 12-year-old brindle bull. Margaret Bateman won third, with the best walking dog, a spitz. Others that received honorable mention were: The best dog at playing ball, entered by Peggy Garlock; the beautiful Alaskan husky entered by Earl Goss; the English shepherd, owned by Alice Prock; police dog, Lucile Estes; fox terrier, Beulah Hall; three pups, Beulah Rush; "the tired dog," Byer Putnam. Blue ribbons went to bulldog entered by Ray Lafever, who won the girls' first prize, and Margaret Bateman, who entered a spitz, second; Jack Sanderson of Central Point, who entered a shepherd, first; and Ray Erickson of Medford, a springer spaniel, second. Red ribbons went to Joe Beach, who entered a collie and shepherd; Caroline Hill, a pitbull; David Sheldon, Irish setter; Stuart Forbes, two pups; Helen Mercer, fox terrier; Fred Scheat, police dog; Peggy Garlock, Airedale and shepherd; Ione Kindred, shepherd and collie; Velma Thompson, red terrier; Brier Putnam, terrier; Robert Brown, Australian Shepherd; Bob Harrison, police dog; Austin Reed, baby spaniel; Charles Price, shepherd; Earl Goss, full-blooded husky; Ruth Prowley, police dog. White ribbons were awarded to Rodney Hawkins, who entered a white cat; Aileen and Emma Thompson, white rabbit; Hillegrad Lang, brown goat; Donald Horner, a bantam rooster; Robert Storn, a hen; Dorothy Schumaker of Gold Hill, a white goat; Thomas Newcomb, a pair of mallard ducks and a goat; J. D. Smith, a pen of rabbits; Jack Enders of Ashland, a pair of bantams; Alfred Picket of Central Point, a pair of pigeons; Troop 7, a turtle; Helen Evanston, a cat in a basket; Herbert Harper, bantam rooster; Emile Westring, a Persian cat; Francis Bradley, three white rats; Josephine Bullis, a yellow cat. Special prizes on the parade were contributed by H. D. McCaskey, the first award, $3 going to Wayne Harrison, who led two police dogs, and the second, $2, to Billie Barnum, who rode his wheel and carried his pet bantam rooster in a wire carrier. Medford Mail Tribune, April 21, 1929, page 3 HAMMERSLEY FINDS HIS DOGS
John Hammersley returned to the city a few days ago from Del Norte
County, California, where he had gone in quest of his two varmint dogs,
which he lost in that vicinity some time ago. He was fortunate to find
both dogs this trip. They had been lost for
some two weeks or more and had become
somewhat accustomed to their wild life, but they seemed pleased to
surrender once more to their master. John is well pleased now that he
has the dogs back again.Gold Hill News, April 25, 1929, page 4 DANIELS SPANIEL IS KENNEL VICTOR
Word was received today by T. E. Daniels, local sportsman, that "Rye,"
his nine months old female English springer spaniel, won first place in
the Victoria, B.C., kennel show held in that city Monday. The nine
months old pup was judged the best springer spaniel out of what is said
to be the largest entry ever shown on the Pacific Coast. The exhibition
included spaniels from Oregon, Washington, California and Canada.Inquiries have already been received from Lost Angeles by Mr. Daniels and by Dan Morgan, professional trainer, who is keeping a string of 13 spaniels owned by the local man at Fir, Washington, asking that "Rye," the prize-winning pup, be sent to the Hollywood show scheduled next month. Medford Mail Tribune, May 23, 1929, page 3 ONCE HOMELESS FELINE IMPOSES ON
HOSPITALITY
Miss Alicia Ruhl, 7, is through with foundlings. She took one in
once--and it took her in. She's through. She doesn't care who knows it.(By Mary Greiner) It was almost a year ago, Alicia related to friends this morning, when a homeless little black waif of the feline family came purring upon her front porch for admittance. Around its neck was a red ribbon, a trifle soiled. This indicated to the tender-hearted hostess that the bedraggled visitor had had a home once, and was no longer wanted. In short it was an outcast, and so young, too. She took it in--and mothered it--and cared for it devotedly. Finally, before she realized it, the feline foundling reached the age of cathood and developed considerable independence. Still, it knew it was always welcome and received three or more squares a day--a comfortable place to sleep and all the kindness possible. But as usual, heredity proved stronger than environment. Feline manners are notoriously catty. And unworthy outcasts are pretty sure to bite the hand that feeds them--someday. Still, a year is a pretty short time, and the seven-year-old benefactress never expected quite the shock she received when she looked into her clothes press this morning. There were five of the measly little things--looked like rats squirming around with their eyes not opened yet. Five of them mind you--two blacks and three grays--their eyes not open yet. The former foundling purring over them too. Alicia turned away from the scene in disgust. Goodness knows the unexpected addition to her feline family was revolting enough. But the thing that she positively cannot forgive is the smug, self-sufficient expression on the face of the underhanded young mother. Medford Mail Tribune, June 13, 1929, page 3 The new dog ordinance to do away with dogs running at large, by requiring that they be kept to their home premises or in leash, goes into effect in 15 days, no matter whether the dog is licensed or not. The measure is a unanimously unpopular one with owners of dogs, and if strictly enforced, as the mayor and councilmen say it will be, the sight of a dog running free on a street or alley in Medford will soon be as rare as strutting ostriches. In this connection the city administration has decided to do its own collection of dog licenses henceforth, instead of allowing the county to collect the tax as last year, owing to a desire to avoid a city dog owner having to pay both a city and county license. It is understood now that the county will not collect the state's license tax on Medford dogs as long as the local administration collects city licenses. Last year the county collected altogether between $4500 and $5000 on city and county dogs, and all that the Medford city government received out of this money was the expense of maintaining a city dog catcher, a matter of a few hundred dollars. Dog Hospital Irks
A petition signed by the people residing in the neighborhood of the dog
hospital out on North Riverside was presented by attorney Frank Newman,
asking the council to take some action to do away with the barking of
dogs, especially at night. Mr. Newman stated that the people
complaining had no objection to the presence of the dog hospital, but
only wanted the noise kept within bounds. He said that the hospital had
gotten away from its original purpose of treating sick dogs only, and
was in the habit of taking in dog boarders when their owners left the
city on vacation. The most of the complaint of noise was caused by
these boarder dogs, he said."Curb Freedom of Towser," Medford Mail Tribune, October 16, 1929, page 1 GROCERY STORE HAS ATTRACTION FOR
BIG POLICE DOG VISITOR
A beautiful German police dog, with an appetite to match his size, and
a head full of ideas on efficient business administration, wandered
into the Home Grocery, 610 East Main Street, yesterday morning. Before
presenting his proposition of managerial duties to J. R. Monroe, store
owner, he indicated a willingness to first dispose of 23 warm puppies
of the Frankfurter family, on stock in the store.Dissuaded from this course of procedure, the visitor argued all cats and rats into vacating their living quarters on the premises, and then set out to make friends with the store owner. Demonstrating a remarkable amount of executive ability, he greeted tradesmen as they came through the door with their supplies, but saw to it that they did not remove their trays and boxes, evidently figuring on a material reduction of overhead for Mr. Monroe. This morning, after enjoying a cup of coffee and three waffles, the canine efficiency expert started out the day pursuing the same course he inaugurated yesterday. Although appreciating his help and ability, and enjoying him as a companion, Mr. Monroe would like to learn something of his past and whether or not he owes an obligation to some other local resident, now probably suffering anxiety as to his whereabouts. Medford Mail Tribune, October 18, 1929, page 4 DOG HOSPITAL IS BONE CONTENTION
IN COUNCIL MEET
The long city council meeting last night at which every
member was
present and at which many matters were discussed and acted on was
relieved by a few comedy touches including a light verbal spanking
given the council by the mayor, and a debate on the canine noise of the
dog hospital between Dr. D. W. Stone, its operator, and W.O. Chapman,
operator of a camp ground [Camp
Withus] near the hospital.During the reading of the minutes of the previous meeting by City Recorder M. L. Alford the members of the council, like in most legislative bodies, large and small, at such readings, paid little attention, talking quietly among themselves, reading, etc. When the reading was concluded Mayor Pipes electrified the gathering by exclaiming: "How many of you members heard those minutes?" Immediately E. M. Wilson, R. B. Hammond, Chas. A. Wing, J. J. Buchter, J. O. Grey, P. M. Kershaw, J. C. Collins and R. E. McElhose blushed, grinned sheepishly and nervously fidgeted in their chairs, but a couple of them said, "I did," and the others were eloquently silent. "You gentlemen certainly display a great confidence in Mose," smilingly remarked the mayor. The dog debate later on arose through the complaints made by a largely signed protest petition recently to the council against the howling at night at the dog hospital on North Riverside. Mr. Chapman appeared as the representative of the petitioners residing in the hospital neighborhood, and gave a detailed list of what he called unnecessary disturbing night and early morning barking for months past. Dr. Stone contended that Mr. Chapman's allegations were exaggerated. The debaters plainly showed an antagonistic personal feeling. The matter was again referred to the council committee on licenses, which has been wrestling with it for weeks, as it is a very embarrassing problem to solve with justice to each side, for the ground was sold by the city for dog hospital building purposes, and Mr. Chapman bought the auto camp after the dog hospital was long established, and knowing the hospital was there. Mayor Pipes pointed out that when the Humane Society's plans were realized in a short time for establishing a new dog pound, conditions at the hospital would be greatly ameliorated, as strays and other impounded dogs would be kept there instead of at the dog hospital. Medford Mail Tribune, November 20, 1929, page 4 Medford's Cat and Dog Hospital
Constructed a year ago through the cooperation of Medford and Southern
Oregon humanitarians and animal lovers, the cat and dog hospital,
operated by Dr. D. W. Stone on North Riverside Avenue, is filling a
long-felt want since being completed a year ago. The building is an
attractive structure of concrete and has facilities for providing for
the needs for a large number of animals, and has pens outside for dogs
that are not seriously sick.
Dr. Stone performs operations and has saved the lives of many household pets injured in accidents, poisoned and ill from distemper and other ailments. Ten years ago, dogs with broken legs would probably have been killed to relieve them of misery, but with the present equipment, a broken leg is nothing more than an inconvenience for the animals. The hospital is at the end of Riverside Avenue in pleasant surroundings, and plans call for complete landscaping of its front yard. Medford Mail Tribune, December 31, 1929, page B5 City and County License for Dogs
Every dog in Jackson County must be licensed in keeping with the state
dog license law, including dogs in city and rural districts, according
to the county court this forenoon. The license fees were due March 1,
but it is understood that due to the impression that there were 90 days
grace instead of 60 after the first of the year, the two-dollar penalty
has been lifted and will not be in effect April 1.of Medford or Banishment to Pound The present fees call for two dollars for males and three dollars for females. To take advantage of these amounts, dog owners are urged to purchase licenses as early as possible, as there will be determined effort to enforce the law to the letter. Only 81 licenses have been issued so far, in comparison to 1600 sold last year. Double Fee for City Dogs
The lot of the city dog owner will soon be a costly one in view of the
county court's determination to collect the state license fee on city
dogs, as the city administration long ago decided to collect the
municipal tax on city-owned dogs this year, instead of allowing the
county to do it as last year.All that has kept, and still keeps, the city dog ordinance from being enforced this year so far is that the council some time ago decided to give over the matter of enforcing the ordinance--that is of gathering in all dogs that do not bear city license tags to the humane society. The latter body is still without a site to build its plant, having selected several sites in the past only to have to give them up because of city government or county court objection. This tough sledding of the humane society now bids fair to to come to an end, as a new site has been chosen, and will be formally closed with the county court today or tomorrow, after which the society will at once begin the construction of its plant. When the plant is finished the city will immediately begin to enforce the municipal dog ordinance through the humane society. Thus it appears at present [that] when this time comes the Medford owner of a dog will have to pay a city license as well as the county license. The city is not taking in any dog licenses now, as Superintendent E. C. Solinsky of Crater National Park, found out today after running back and forth between city recorder's office and the court house, but he wanted to protect his house dog, so on advice of Judge Sparrow he took out the county license, with the expectation of taking out a city one later on. Medford Mail Tribune, March 13, 1930, page 1 Nameless, Crater Cat, Back on Old
Job Again
Nameless,
the cat with a nice sense of distinction between park rangers and mere
tourists, is again clearing Crater Lake Lodge of its winter supply of
mice after an unusually long summer spent in the woods. Nameless did
not report for duty until December 8, after the blizzard in the park.
The high-hat feline wandered into Crater Lake Lodge six years ago, and since that time has spent every winter with the keeper, clearing the building of mice hoping to find winter's quarters in the linen or basement stores. Inability of any of the staff to agree on suggested names led to the unusual cognomen. No tourist was ever known to break down the outraged reserve of the big cat. With the first visitor of the summer, Nameless departs forestward, to reappear only after the last tourist departs. His unusually long vacation last summer made rangers fear he might have left permanently, and a young cat named Slim was brought up to stay at the lodge. Slim did not approve of loneliness, however, and rode away on the running board of one of the last cars visiting the park. Medford Daily News, March 16, 1930, page 1 Humane Society Needs Facility to
Care for Increasing Demands;
The work of the Jackson County Humane Society in the past year has
increased 300 percent over 1929.Jackson County Work Is Listed Foreword. As the public appreciates the fact that the society is a practical, going concern, ready at all times to assist suffering animals or to investigate and prosecute cruelty to either animals or children, the society's duties increase. It is gratifying to meet, through our work, so much humane understanding. We trust that our new year will place us in a better position to serve the defenseless, and we regret our inability to do more than we have done in the past year. However, these limited funds offer no opportunity whatever for securing a permanent plant with proper housing facilities for animals and their caretaker and for disposition of the unfortunate. A permanent plant is among the immediate objects and necessities of the society's program. Work.
Dogs care for: Strays, 107; injured, 62; homes for strays, 71; cats
disposed of, 124; stock cared for during January storm--horses, 28; 31
head of cattle, 24 sheep and 2 bands of sheep, 1 burro; innumerable
cases cared for in the localities in which found.
The above work was greatly facilitated by donations of feed for stock and shelter. In one instance there was 10 tons baled alfalfa hay placed at the society's disposal. Third Annual Report.
March
17, 1930
Receipts:Condition of Treasury.
COUNCIL
GIVES DOG SITUATION HUMANE SOC.
A contract was completed between the city council and the Jackson
County Humane Society, in special session this afternoon, covering a
period of five years, during which the society will have complete
charge of the dog situation in Medford, under the jurisdiction of the
council, if contract terms are not kept. Elmer Maddox, experienced in
dog business, is expected to arrive in a few days to begin duties for
the society as dog catcher. He comes from Portland highly recommended.Medford Mail Tribune, March 27, 1930, page 1 FEW DOG
LICENSES ISSUED IN COUNTY
Although deputy county assessors in making their usual rounds assessing
property have been instrumental in selling quite a number of dog
licenses to property owners, only a comparatively small number of
licenses, when the fact is considered there are many dogs in the
county, have been sold up to date according to the records at the
county clerk's office. A total of 289 such licenses had been sold up to
today.The time limit for taking out licenses without penalty ends on April 1st, and it is probable that many dog owners will pay penalties after that time when the presence of dogs on their premises is discovered by assessors. Medford Mail Tribune, March 27, 1930, page 2 SQUARE DEAL TO DOGS IS PLEDGE OF
HUMANE SOC.
Today the Jackson County
Humane Society finally entered into a contract with the City of Medford
to conduct its pound.(Contributed) Before making this step the society, with a square deal for animals uppermost in its mind, had many problems to iron out relative to the dog ordinance. At this point the society would like to say that the city council has been very patient and done its utmost to work in harmony with the Humane Society. The society sincerely hopes that they can handle the dog situation in Medford to the satisfaction of not only the dog lover but the garden lover and all the residents in Medford. It becomes part of the society's duty to see that the dog license is paid by the owners of dogs, and it is vital for the successful conduct of the city pound that this license be rigidly enforced. It is vital for you who prize your dog to see that this fee is met in order that you may protect your animal from the neglected stray who carries disease. The city license of $2.00 on males and $3.00 on females is to be paid by April 15th, 1930 at the office of the city treasurer located on the corner of Sixth and Front streets. All dogs must bear a license which will be furnished by the city treasurer from this date or they will be impounded, which will subject their owners to additional costs. In the future there will be at all times a humane officer in charge of the pound, 365 days in the year. Medford Mail Tribune, March 29, 1930, page 8 DOG OWNERS
ARE WARNED TO KEEP PETS COOPED UP
Notice is hereby given to all dog owners that beginning today, April
1st, and continuing through April, May and June, all dogs must be kept
from running at large, and that a city license must be procured for
every dog within the city. The license fee is $2.00 for male dogs and
$3.00 for females, and the same may be procured at the city recorder's
office at Sixth and Front streets and not at the court house as was
done last year. Owners of dogs who do not procure their license by
April 15th will be subject to a fine which will be rigidly enforced by
the humane officer, who will be on the job 365 days in the year. A
rigid enforcement of the dog ordinance in Medford from this date will
be carried through as never before in the history of the city. A.
W. PIPES,
Medford Mail Tribune,
April 1, 1930, page 3Mayor. FIREMEN
RESCUE CAT FROM TREE
Medford has a versatile fire department and yesterday forenoon
demonstrated its ability when it was summoned to an elm tree on South
Central Avenue. Grady Childers, escorted by Fire Chief Roy Elliott,
answered the call and upon his arrival took the role of a tree climber.A young feline, wandering from the comfort of some fireside, climbed the tree the night before, attaining a height of 30 feet before it decided to stop for a rest. Perhaps not realizing it had left the ground so far behind, it was afraid to come down and yowled through the night, keeping residents awake and causing general disturbance. Braving scratched shins from the bark and clawed hands from the cat's paw, Childers climbed far up into the tree and made the rescue. Quite a delegation of neighborhood cats and kittens were at the foot awaiting the return of their playmate. Medford Mail Tribune, April 2, 1930, page 5 It's a
Dog's Life in Medford with Double License Is Canine Viewpoint
"I never saw in all my experience such a doggoned situation in Medford
as now exists," remarked Jerry, that wise old Airedale unofficially
associated with the county health unit, to a large group of the better
class of canine pets of the city who had gathered this noon in the
alley beside the police station entrance, both to show their contempt
for the new dog ordinance and to exchange gossip in their world. Jerry
probably is more looked up to by the dogs of the city than any other
four-footed nuisance because of his semiofficial position and the fact
that he was pinched by the dog catcher twice in one day last year."The idea," continued Jerry, "of plastering a double license on our owners is simply, simp--well it's phosphorus. I can't think of the right word, but anyhow such doings smell extra loud." "Oh year," expounded the chorus, "ain't it a hidelgious break?" "Right you are, brothers," interrupted the cultured little Solinsky poodle from Queen Anne Ave., "but the expression of disgust you are trying to think of is 'prodigious'." "Look out, here comes a strange cur--lay low," was the warning exchanged among the dogs as Birdseed, the low-browed peppermint hound from West Main Street of the Sherwood boys approached and joined the group. After the usual method of canine salutations and establishing identity had been gone through with, the subject of discussion was explained to the newcomer. "I'm with you, fellows, to the limit," ejaculated Birdseed. "Both the county and city administrations are all wet on this proposition. I, too, would like to bite both Sparrow and Pipes in the shank. Get me?" The assenting chorus was unanimous, and after further conference the assembled dogs appointed a committee of their number to take the members of the county court and city council for a ride; and they were just about to adopt resolutions of sympathy and expression of confidence in the Humane Society, when Asa Hubbard's old tomcat passed by. This broke up the gathering. Medford Mail Tribune, April 5, 1930, page 8 Medford
Dogs Ride in Style When Captured by Humane Society Cop
"In a fine carriage he shall ride"--whether he is a blooded poodle or a
"thoroughbred everything," as Penrod
called his dog, if he is found
running about town or without a license, for Elmer Maddock, humane
officer, is on the job in the new white ambulance of the Jackson County
Humane Society. He started out yesterday in the enclosed car with
sparkling blue letters on the side and a big red star, symbolic of the
Red Star animal relief, organized at the beginning of the late war by
the Secretary of War, close to the blue letters.
The dogs like riding in the "fine carriage," which takes them to Dr. Stone's hospital, which is being used as a dog pound at present, Mr. Maddock said this morning. At least he hasn't heard any of the them complain. The ambulance has four compartments, two on the main floor for dogs, one above for cats and a box underneath the body in which dead animals will be transported. A side entrance is provided for the cat compartment in order that the feline family will not have to pass through the dogs' chambers to get in and ruffle up their fur when some spitz gets conceited over his reserved seat in the new conveyance. The rubber flooring for the ambulance, which prevents the animals skating around as they travel, was donated to the Humane Society by F. F. Burk of the awning shop. Ventilators in the end and sides provide plenty of air for the animals. The machine, when not moving about the city in answer to calls, which are received at the police department headquarters and Dr. Stone's hospital, is stationed in the garage of the city hall. The ambulance was donated to the Jackson County Humane Society by the state society and is received as a material expression of the state organization's faith in the work to be accomplished by the local group and anticipated fulfillment of their contract with the city to handle the dog problem. Medford Mail Tribune, April 23, 1930, page 6 Crippled
Calf Gets First Aid Ride in Humane Society's Ambulance
He has a broken leg and it's all done up in splints--but he's not
feeling blue. For through the broken leg he won the distinction of
being the first calf to ride in the shiny white ambulance recently
placed in service by the Jackson County Humane Society.A few nights ago this calf, owned by P. H. Spray of Jacksonville, wandered away from home. Word came to the Humane Society that he was alone in the woods with a broken leg. They sent Humane Officer Maddock to look for him. He found him in the brush unable to walk home, his leg having been broken by a rock crusher. He bundled him into the ambulance and the calf ceased bawling when he viewed the interior of the fine carriage. Officer Maddock took him to Mr. Spray and they set the bones in his leg and placed it in splints. The Humane Society is busy caring for injured animals since the ambulance was placed in service. It is sanitary and so constructed as to provide separate compartments for different animals. The cats don't have to ride with the dogs, and no animals are too big to receive the attention of the society. The ambulance is just one of the many improvements the society plans to make in its service as soon as funds are available, members stated this morning. Medford Mail Tribune, May 6, 1930, page 6 LICENSED
TOWSER MAY ROAM TOWN EXCEPT SHOP DIST.
Though the calendar reads "July 1," everybody knows "dog days" are
here. For all canines with masters so good as to buy them licenses were
granted their freedom this morning. This period of servitude is ended,
the Humane Society announced today, and dogs who do not make nuisances
of themselves may roam through all parts of the city with the exception
of the business area bounded by Bear Creek, Oakdale Avenue, Eighth and
Fifth streets.Appreciation of the cooperation given the society by dog owners during the gardening period was expressed by Mrs. Sid Richardson, president of the Humane Society, this morning, with hope of continuation of this congenial attitude. The society expects to give equal consideration to flower lovers and animal lovers and will pick up dogs who are allowed to destroy the neighbor's garden. Dogs who expect to invade the business are of Medford must come to town on their master's leash. Unlicensed dogs will continue to arouse the ill repute of the humane officer and are advised to muffle their barks and keep out of sight until they can wear tags on their collars. Medford Mail Tribune, July 2, 1930, page B2 EAGLE POINTERS ASK COUNTY FOR
IMPROVED ROAD
Routine and road matters occupied the attention of the county court at
the regular session today. A delegation of citizens from the Eagle
Point district called and asked that a stretch of road connecting with
the Meridian road be graveled ere winter comes. It was taken under the
usual advisement.Report of E. M. Wilson on his audit of the county books, shows that since January 1, 284 marriage licenses have been issued in the county since the first of the year. A slight error was discovered. One of the licenses was listed as a dog license. It was corrected. There has apparently been a decrease in the dog population. This year 860 licenses were issued, with receipts $1839. Last year 1773 licenses were issued, receipts $3791. The prohibition fund contains $4,073.69, with no warrants outstanding against the same. Medford Mail Tribune, July 23, 1930, page 3 LITTLE DOG
LOST; ELDERLY LADY OF SEVEN OAKS ALONE
The Southern Pacific stage stopped at Seven Oaks last Saturday
afternoon and a little elderly lady climbed off with a smile of
greeting for the little black friend who has always met her there. But
the little black friend was gone and the smile left the lady's face. He
is still gone, she told members of the Mail Tribune staff
today, and she finds it hard to smile without his bark to inspire her.The little old lady is Mrs. W. B. Harris, who lives on her ranch alone at Seven Oaks. "Coaly," as she calls the fox terrier with shiny black coat, has been her only companion. He had always met her when she returned from trips to Medford and other cities on the stage until Saturday. A search about the ranch Saturday and Sunday revealed no "Coaly," and her conclusion is that he has strayed away or been stolen, though it it hard for her to believe that such a faithful friend would desert her. Medford Mail Tribune, August 26, 1930, page 6 'COALY' RESTORED BY MAIL TRIB AD
Mrs. W. B. Harris of the Seven Oaks district has found her little black
dog, "Coaly." He is now safe at home and happy, all because she
followed the advice of the ad which is run in the Mail Tribune
by the Humane Society and called "369." For "Coaly" was brought to the
dog hospital on North Riverside soon after he strayed away from home
Saturday, apparently in search of his mistress, Dr. D. W. Stone stated
today.
The little dog crawled into the car of an Owen-Oregon Lumber Company employee, who brought him in to the hospital. Mrs. Harris called the hospital yesterday and found her companion. As a further aid in returning lost dogs to their owners, Dr. Stone asks that the name and address of the master be placed on each dog's collar. Medford Mail Tribune, August 28, 1930, page 2 DISPOSAL OF
CAT CREATES RUMPUS IN SAMS VALLEY
SAMS VALLEY, Ore., Aug. 30.--(Special.)--There was quite a disturbance
in the usual calm home life of Sams Valley last week when two parties
who had lived peacefully together for the past year became engaged in a
grand rumpus, which resulted in the discontinuing of the two men's
companionship and the separation of their personal belongings.The war waxed warmer over the division of the house cat, which, it seemed, neither wished to divide, and neither could endure to give up to the other. Finally a loaded shotgun was brought into the picture and cooled the atmosphere. From all reports two cases rest with two Jackson County attorneys and one old man is reported to be under bonds for the protection of his former partner. Medford Mail Tribune, August 30, 1930, page 3 BURNOIL
HEATER IN NEW SHELTER
The new Jackson County
Humane Society's animal shelter, located on the Midway Road, north of
Medford, is heated by a Quaker
Burnoil system installed by William Hammett, local dealer for
these popular heaters.One of the most attractive features of Burnoil circulating heaters and parlor stoves is the fact that the oil tanks are contained within the cabinets, thus eliminating outside connections. These Burnoil models are replacing the old unsightly stoves and banishing dust and ashes from the cares of the housewife, according to Mr. Hammett. Quaker Burnoil heaters, Model 75, are used for providing clean, convenient, economical heat for all moderate-sized, individually heated rooms and for private garages, summer cottages, barber shops, waiting rooms, business offices, fishing lodges, etc. Medford Mail Tribune, November 7, 1930, page 5 Humane Society Completes Model
Shelter and Home
The beloved writer, Robert Louis Stevenson, began one of his most
quoted bits of wisdom: "To be honest, to be kind . . ." and the late
brilliant Elbert Hubbard advised: "Do your work as well as you can, and
be kind." And many years before them Wordsworth wrote:for Alleviation [of] Suffering (Contributed) "That
best portion of a good man's life,--
Born only three years ago of chaos and cruelty--chaos because Medford
had unwieldy and inadequate legislation for the regulation of stray
animals, and cruelty because of inadequate experience, method and
equipment for enforcement--the Jackson County Humane Society arose to
fill a need and satisfy aroused public sentiment."His little, nameless, unremembered acts "Of kindness and love." With a large original and influential following, backed by successive city and county administrations, and particularly by the officials at present in office, the society has gradually but steadily extended its beneficent influence, overcome almost insuperable obstacles, and despite constant discouragement at every turn and the failure to help of many who had promised and had been depended upon, the work laid out has been done from month to month and year to year until today the devoted band of those who have borne the brunt of the work are elated to realize a long-cherished ideal--the establishment and completion of an adequate and permanent animal shelter of which any community might be justly proud. During the period of preparation the emergency has been met by the use of a modern and also well-equipped animal ambulance, built to order and presented to the society by a member of the Oregon Humane Association; by the services of a trained humane officer, and by the unending and devoted service without cost by the board of directors of the society and particularly by the president, Mrs. H. D. McCaskey, and the secretary-treasurer, Mrs. Sid Richardson. After years of compromised, adjustments, and steady progress, the city "pound" is a thing of the past and by arrangement with city and county the Humane Society functions as enforcement agency for regulations relating to stray animals, to cases of cruelty to either animals or children and to enforcement of humane laws of city, county or state. The society has had its modest expenses met by membership dues, voluntary subscriptions and donations, by aid from city and county appropriations, and by special efforts such as shows and sales. It has systematically carried on a campaign of education, largely through the schools in keeping with provisions of the Oregon laws to that end, but also by means of the county fair and through public press, by which it has been most generously supported from the first. It has become affiliated with the Oregon Humane Association and has won the enthusiastic backing and support of that worthy and influential body and particularly of Mrs. Swanton, its able and brilliant manager, and has finally become a part of the American Humane Society, whose newly established building and loan endowment has thought so well of the local society that it has made the Jackson County Humane Society its first beneficiary. With land financed by the city and assistance given by the county and with its fine record of humane accomplishment to date and of the integrity, sincerity and devotion of its active executive officials, the society has been granted a loan from which the animal shelter opened today has been built. Very great credit is due Medford merchants and professional men for their assistance. The shelter will be officially opened on Saturday, Nov. 8 and is prepared to care for all needs reasonably expected of it. It is one of the most modern and well equipped on the coast--a credit to the society, its devoted officials and supporters--a milestone of progress towards that higher and more humane civilization which the intelligent and cultured community of the Rogue River Valley so well appreciate. THANK YOU!
The Humane Society wishes to thank the public for its cooperation and
feels that the future will develop a closer understanding of its work.
The Humane Society asks the public to report any case of cruelty to
aged people, children, bird or animal to them and asks the public
instead of turning their animals out when they are tired of them to
bring them to their shelter.
Medford Mail Tribune,
November 7, 1930, page 16(Signed)
JACKSON COUNTY HUMANE SOCIETY HUMANE
WORKERS SEE BUSY WINTER AT NEW SHELTER
Plans for a busy winter are in progress at the Jackson County Humane
Society shelter, recently completed on the Midway Road north of
Medford. In addition to serving as a temporary refuge for neglected or
misused children pending their placement by the county court, one
portion of the shelter provides facilities for the care of stray or
injured animals.The management has entered into a contract with the City of Medford whereby the Humane Society will operate the city pound. Anyone desiring to report strays may do so by calling 1516. In addition, stray dogs and cats from any part of the county will be cared for if they are brought to the shelter, or the society will call for them, charging a nominal fee sufficient to cover the actual expense involved. A separate set of kennels is maintained at the shelter for the patronage of dog owners wishing to leave their dogs in the custody of the society. The animal shelter is equipped with an automatic heater which ensures an even, healthful temperature day and night. The animals are bedded down in straw and each kennel opens on an individual screened-in runway. Opie Stafford, who is at the present time connected with the Portland branch of the Humane Society, will return to Medford about December 1 to act as humane officer for the local organization. He is taking an extensive training course in humane work in Portland now, which he will have completed by the first of the month. Medford Mail Tribune, November 18, 1930, page 9 CAT
MAROONED ON POWER POLE SAVED BY COPCO WORKER
The duties of a trouble shooter for the power company are many and
varied and involve some rather unique experiences, as members of the
local Copco line crew can testify. Not only is it necessary to repair
breaks in the line in all sorts of weather any time of day or night,
but it is often found necessary to render first aid to man or beast.
Evidence of the latter type of work was presented yesterday morning
when an urgent call for help was phoned in to the Copco division office
on West Main Street. It seems that a thoughtless member of the feline
family had sought refuge on a pole in the south part of town, this
action having been precipitated no doubt by a bloodthirsty canine.
Having once acquired a lofty position of safe vantage far above the
yelps of the disappointed pup, who retired in disgust, mistress pussy
lacked the courage to come back to earth. So there she stayed, cold and
hungry, until an SOS call brought a Copco lineman to the scene. The
rescue was speedily effected though hampered rather than assisted by
the victim in distress and both the cat and her rescuer are none the
worse for their adventure.Medford Mail Tribune, December 14, 1930, page 3 DOGS MUST HAVE TAGS THIS YEAR
A determined effort to enforce the state dog license law will be made
in Jackson County this year and plans are underway to employ a dog
catcher, county authorities said today. All dogs, whether in the city
or county, must wear county license tags by March 1, an official
announcement said.Dogs found unlicensed after March 1 will be subject to shooting or cause their owners to be hailed into court to be prosecuted. During 1930, less than one-half of the dog population was licensed, resulting the the sale of approximately 800 licenses. Medford Mail Tribune, January 2, 1931, page 6 COLLECTION OF DOG TAX GIVEN OVER
TO GROUP
A contract will be signed today between the county court and the
Jackson County Humane Society, Inc., whereby the collection of dog
license fees in this county will be conducted by the Humane Society, on
a commission basis, the county to have charge of the funds. The plan
includes all towns, cities, and sections of the county.Humane Society Will Start Roundup at Once-- Under Contract with Jackson County. The collections will be made under the state law, and if a city ordinance conflicts, as is the case in this city, the state law has the right of way, and will be supreme. Last year, an attempt was made to collect both the city and county tax, and many dog owners refuse to pay either on grounds of double taxation. The dog license collecting contract becomes effective at once, and it is expected that under its provisions, all confusion of previous years will be avoided and a more thorough job performed. Uniform Fees
Under the terms of the contract, the dog license fund of the county
does not drop below $2000. The fee is $2 for male and $3 for female
dogs, irrespective of pedigree, or whether they are city or country
dogs. It is estimated there are about 1700 dogs in the county. The dog
funds are used to pay claims against the county for sheep allegedly
killed by dogs.The county court is still considering the petition of stockmen of the county, for the appointment of a varmint killer to wage war on coyotes, now reported to be hungry and active in the outer districts. The rest of the regular county court session was devoted to the transacting of routine business. Medford Mail Tribune, January 21, 1931, page 6 DOG TAX TANGLE ALL CLEAR NOW
Through the efforts of the Jackson County Humane Society and the hearty
cooperation of the city and county authorities the state dog tax
situation has been clarified. There is to be but one tax in conformance
with the state law, and it is to be enforced by the city and county
through the Jackson County Humane
Society. Every owner or keeper of a dog residing in Jackson County will be definitely required to secure a license costing $2 for male dog, $3 for female dog, and these licenses must be secured to avoid the penalty of the state law. These licenses are payable at the county clerk's office. The state tax is being rigidly enforced this season throughout the entire state of Oregon, and to this end there will be special dog tax collectors. Medford Mail Tribune, January 23, 1931, page 4 Essay on J'ville Dogs
I love dogs. I never cease to marvel at their loyalty and courage and
sagacity. I know dogs, too. I surely ought to, for each night they hold
a huge mass meeting in our back yard, mostly beneath my window.
Regularly in the wee hours of the night the assembly howl peals forth
and the whole town resounds with answering yelps. Then come the dogs.
In squads; in companies; in serried ranks they come.(By R. Clay Chappell) And what a glorious gala night they make of it! And how their dear, glad voices, from booming bass to shrill soprano, ring out to the high heavens! I used to wonder what these nocturnal jamborees, beneath my window, were all about. And then one day I chanced to dial in on Edna Wallace Hopper. I heard her voice, with zealous ardor and dramatic fire, cry out: "Be young! Sixty long winters have passed over me and yet they call me 'flapper.' You, too, my friends, can slough off the ravages of years. You, too, can cast aside the ills of human flesh! And oh! How simple it is--right living, right eating and proper exercise." How true, her words! I have met her. She is young and beautiful and vibrant with health--though over sixty. What a pity that more of us do not follow her simple formula and laugh our way through life instead of wending the weary road with grunts and groans and lamentations. As I pondered the vast stupidity of man, I bethought me of the intelligence of dogs and--like a flash it came to me--the reason for this high carnival, each night, beneath my window. These dogs in some mysterious way have sensed the meat of Edna's message and in unselfish joy are rebroadcasting it to all of dogdom. For true it is, that the dogs of Jacksonville have suddenly grown young--yes, very young. Dogs that but yesterday were old and full of rheum, with one foot in the grave, are frisking and frolicking about like pups. Indeed, these modern dogs days one scarcely can tell a puppy from its mamma. Lest someone think the picture overdrawn, hear now the words of the county dog license collector. "I stood upon that corner," he mourned, pointing to the old town pump, "and counted over fifty dogs. On other corners the counts were large. Since then I have made a thorough house to house canvass of the town and I have found just three dogs eight months or over!" "Strange," he muttered, with puzzled brow, "'Tis passing strange." But really the explanation is very clear. Our dogs live rightly, eat rightly, and take a lot of exercise. Ergo, their youth. And if the dogs of Jackson County will tune in on the nightly program, beneath my window, they too, will learn how to fool that bogeyman--the dog license collector. But why let our canine friends have all the fun? Let's all be young and happy and full of pep. It is so easy. Come on folk, follow me--one; two; down; up--Doggone it! I'm out of ink. Medford Mail Tribune, March 1, 1931, page B1 Dogs of Jackson County Sport
Modern Names
Dogs may be just dawgs--but if there's anything in names the dog
population of Jackson County is getting a bit highfalutin. A survey of
the titles turned in at the county clerk's office with applications for
1931 licenses shows a decline of old-fashioned cognomens such as Tower,
Ring, and Rover. And a tremendous increase of Toots and Toodles, Queen,
Peggy, Beauty and Marquetta. Which might also indicate that dogdom is
becoming overfeminized.Is Shown by License Books (By Eva Nealon) From garden flowers to food products and back to the dime novel, dog owners have gone to find names for their proteges. Terriers threaten to inhabit the earth, and Lindy as a popular name has been withdrawn in favor of Whoopee. Al Smith is the only presidential candidate, successful or otherwise, included in the long and impressive list. But two county officials, Commissioner Victor Bursell and Judge Alex Sparrow, have found namesakes. "Sparrow" is described as a large black-and-white hound and "Bursell" as a yellow and white of the same breed. Their hunting ability isn't lauded. For long titles first honors so to Rogue River Douglas Fairbanks, Rogue River Ranger and Cilla von der Kreiger, II. One owner has been so candid as to name his pup "Nuisance." "Smudge" and "Perry" appear on neighboring pages of the book, but are owned by different parties, and no reference is made to "Arthur." Amos and Andy could not be found in the list, but Maggie and Jiggs were present as usual, as were Spark Plug and Sonny Boy. Gin is the only beverage given prominence, but Ginger and Pepper are frequently found. "Sis Hopkins" and "Paderewski" are also listed and a pup named "Biscuits" is a close neighbor of "Heine." [Heine Fluhrer owned a bakery.] "Little Orphan Annie" and "Tilly" have not been slighted, but "Nebbs" and "Amby" have along with all motion picture stars with the exception of Rin-Tin-Tin. Shamrock, Chiquita, Golden Glow, Conrad and Apollo range in size from a huge black-and-white pointer to a little fox terrier. Snoopy, Skipper, Stockings and Bones, as well as Tubby, can be taken to indicate the characteristics of their owners. And another name, which will remind many people of the days when all "fashionable" dogs were little white dogs with long fluffy hair, appears in the list. it is Rags. But her former friends Fluff and Ruffles are not mentioned. Medford Mail Tribune, March 10, 1931, page 4 COURT TEST ON DOG LICENSE IS
ATTORNEY PLAN
Frank J. Newman, attorney for W. H. Summers, arrested for failure to
purchase a dog license, announced this afternoon in justice court that
he is filing a demurrer to the charge on the grounds that it is based
on unconstitutional law.County Will Watch Summers Case with Interest As Constitutionality Questioned. The case is of much interest to the sheriff and the owners of dogs throughout the county who have not paid the license fee. Summers resides three miles south of Medford on the Pacific Highway and was cited to appear in court today to answer the charge. The penalty for conviction is but a $10 fine. It is the first arrest this year on that charge. The dog is 12 years [old?]. If he wins the case it is regarded as probable that the majority of owners of other dogs throughout the county will also refuse to take take out licenses on their dogs with a penalty of $2 in addition for not having procured such licenses before March 1, according to law, until the courts declare otherwise. Medford Mail Tribune, March 12, 1931, page 1 FRIEND OF CATS SUFFERS GRIPPE
She is feeling better today, but she is still unable to walk downtown.
And staying at home is lonely, even with Ruffles, Phoenix, Central
Point, Medford, Boots and her other cats giving her much attention,
Miss Frances E. Everett, who lives in the little brown house at the
corner of Stewart Avenue and Kings Highway, told friends who telephoned
yesterday.Miss Everett has been ill with flu for several weeks. She lives alone with her cats, who try their best to talk to her, but without the occasional walks downtown she formerly enjoyed, their efforts seem inadequate. Friends have been sending her apple jelly, which seems to be the only treat she can enjoy while ill. She is getting her "apple a day" in a condensed form and appreciates it. Medford Mail Tribune, March 25, 1931, page 5 EMBATTLED DOGS INJURE WOMAN
A dog fight that resulted in injuries to a woman occurred this forenoon
on North Fir Street at the intersection of Sixth. A police dog was
fighting some nameless mongrel and became so enthusiastic in its battle
that it jumped against a woman walking down the sidewalk, which caused
her to fall and rendered her unconscious.Carl Fichtner rushed to the rescue and brought the woman into his garage and in two or three minutes revived her. She thanked Mr. Fichtner for the assistance and left before her benefactor learned her name. The owners of the dogs are also unknown. Medford Mail Tribune, April 8, 1931, page 4 7 DOG OWNERS CITED TO COURT
Complaints were filed today by County Humane Officer O. R. Stafford
against seven dog owners for failure to purchase dog licenses. It is
likely more complaints will be filed before the end of the week.Paul Robertson, Gus Ditsworth and E. B. Rippon of Prospect and Margaret Germer of Medford are to appear in the Medford justice court. W. H. Laws and George Martin of Rogue River and S. N. Fleming of Gold Hill are to appear in the Gold Hill court. Medford Mail Tribune, April 14, 1931, page 2 DOG OWNERS RUSH TO GET LICENSES
The rush of belated owners of dogs to obtain licenses is still on, and
more such licenses were taken out at the county clerk's office today,
making the total number of licensed dogs to date well over the 1600
mark.Cases that have been filed against Jackson County dog owners who had so far failed to procure licenses will be prosecuted by the state within a short time. The arrest of seven more owners of dogs in various parts of the county is being made this week by the sheriff's office, and still further arrests will be made. It is the desire to avoid arrest that has caused so many dog owners to obtain licenses within the past week. Medford Mail Tribune, April 15, 1931, page 6 MANY DOGS LACK LICENSE TAGS IN
JACKSON COUNTY
Many dogs are still going about Jackson County without licenses,
according to the survey recently conducted in rural districts and
incorporated towns, it was announced yesterday.A complete record of dog ownership in this county has been compiled, and licenses paid are carefully compared with this list. Dog owners who have not paid the tax are therefore warned that county officials will not be as lenient in the future as they have been in the past regarding prosecutions. The state dog tax must be paid, and if owners fail to secure their licenses immediately prosecutions will be speeded up and continued to be made. Evaders are warned that they may have to pay ten-dollar fines and cost of court in addition to the license fee. Medford Mail Tribune, April 24, 1931, page 5 GRANGE ORATORS AND SOCIETY TO
ARGUE DOG TAX
A debate of unusual character, which is expected to draw a record crowd
to the old county court house at Jacksonville Friday evening, has been
announced by the Jacksonville Grange. The subject is, "Resolved: That
the Humane Society of Jackson County is a nuisance and should be
abolished."The affirmative will be represented by three Grangers, two of whom will be Henry Gonger and Chester Wendt, farmers of the Jacksonville district. The third member of the team will be named this week. The negative will be defended by Opie Stafford, humane officer of Jackson County, Mrs. H. D. McCaskey and Sid Richardson, prominent workers in the humane society. C. C. Hoover, lecturer, will act as referee. The public is invited and all irate dog owners who oppose payment of the dog licenses and hold the humane society responsible for the same are expected to be on the front row. Friends of the society who see the issue in another light will also be present to give moral support to the society members, who will advance the theory that the humane society administers a service to every community and is especially beneficial to the farming classes. Belief that the humane society is misunderstood by many farmers has become common, and the society members wish to explain their position in the county. At the request of the humane society the members of that society will represent their own case. The debate has been arranged as an entirely friendly basis, but nothing will be barred from discussion except personalities, it was stated yesterday. The old court house is expected to house as large a crowd Friday evening as it customarily did back in the old days when murderers and thieves were up for trial. Medford Mail Tribune, May 3, 1931, page 8 As to Dog Licenses.
To the Editor:All sums over two thousand dollars, derived from dog licenses in Jackson County, go to the Humane Society. Over four thousand dollars will be collected this year. With hundreds of property owners unable to pay their taxes when due, the "Powers that Be" will pay out over two thousand dollars to collect two thousand dollars for the county. Some business that! No wonder taxes are high if this is a sample of county business management. Collection of dog licenses is a bad business anyway, but if it just has to be done why can't our regular officers who are paid a stipulated salary do the collecting without any added expense to the county. Several citizens have been arrested and fined ten dollars for not having a dog license. What would happen if a person should refuse to pay this ten-dollar fine? A jail sentence? Wouldn't this be a splendid HUMANE example? Five days in jail for not paying a two-dollar dog license! We know a man with a wife and two children. Has has had but a few days work for weeks. They have a small dog that has been with the children and protected them all their lives. The two dollars which is demanded of him for a dog license would buy his needy family 5 lbs. of sugar, 10 lbs. of oatmeal, 10 lbs. of beans, 25 lbs. of spuds and 24 lbs. of flour. Naturally he isn't going to deprive his family of these necessary articles. If he is arrested for not getting a license he will not be able to pay a fine. So we suppose he would have to serve a jail sentence for not paying for a two-dollar dog license when over half of the license money goes to a concern that never has or never will benefit him in the least. We wonder how long the people of Jackson County will remain in hibernation and allow such conditions to exist with a protest? T.
E. M.
Medford, May 4.Not a dog owner. (Name on file.) "Communications," Medford Mail Tribune, May 4, 1931, page 3 DOG TAX CLARIFIED BY NEW STATUTE
Among the new state laws effective tomorrow is the revised dog tax law,
which will clarify the dog tax question, "once and for all."The new provisions provide for the removal from the tax rolls of dogs, gives the county court the right to fix the fee, and prohibits any municipality from creating a dog tax. The new law eliminates all further argument about "double taxation" by removing dogs from the tax rolls and prohibiting cities from having dog taxes. The county court can fix the license fees, and have the power to raise or lower as the needs demand. The county can thus maintain the dog fund, from which claims for sheep killed by dogs are paid, with some degree of certainty. The fee can still be low, but ample. Gold Hill News, June 11, 1931, page 1 COURT WILL SIGN DOG LEVY ORDER
An order will be signed by the county court tomorrow fixing the dog
license fees in Jackson County for the balance of this year at $2.00
for males and $3.00 for females, the current fee.Under a law passed by the last session of the legislature the county courts of the state are given the right to fix the dog license fees. The order simply completes a formality of the law. Next year, if conditions continue as now, the county court contemplates a reduction in the dog license fees. The new law also removes dogs from the personal property tax lists and forbids cities from inflicting a dog license. Gold Hill News, June 18, 1931, page 1 DOG POISONERS REPORTED BUSY TWO
PETS LOST
Dog poisoners are again at work in this vicinity, as a result of which
cruelty a number of dogs have been killed, including pets owned by Otto
Heckert and Dwight Phipps. The former's dog was poisoned in
Jacksonville, and the latter's in Medford.The method of the poisoner or poisoners is to put strychnine on pieces of bread or meat and toss them into the yards or places near by, either during the night or in the day time. This is the first time for many months, so far as can be learned, that dog poisoning has been reported, the vandals evidently having been deterred from such work by the general public indignation and the fact that a reward for information leading to the arrest of a dog poisoner had been offered by the association of dog owners. Cases of such poisoning should be reported to the police and the Humane Society. Medford Mail Tribune, June 22, 1931, page 1 MEDFORD'S DOGS REGAIN FREEDOM
RESIDENCE AREA
Their period of servitude has ended and dogs can be dogs again, it was
announced yesterday by the Jackson County Humane Society. They will be
permitted to roam at will after being penned up since the gardening
season, except through the business sections of the city.The business section is bounded by Bear Creek and Oakdale, Eighth and Fifth streets, and dogs visiting this section must be on leash or accompanied by their masters. The Humane Society members also expressed their appreciation yesterday of the cooperation the many dog owners have given them in enforcing the ordinance. All licensed dogs will be out of jail until the arrival of the next gardening season, April 1932. Medford Mail Tribune, July 7, 1931, page 5 Little Dog Keeps Faith Though
Left Hungry by Thoughtless Masters
The faith of a mustard seed might move a mountain, in accordance with
the scriptures, but it won't bring back a fellow's family which has
moved away, nor fill a little dog's empty stomach--so the
black-and-white fox terrier convalescing at the Humane Society shelter
learned last week.(By Eva Nealon.) He believed, and nobody came home. Each day for two long weeks he strolled about his yard, guarding the threshold over which his master customarily passed, defied neighbors who attempted to enter his domain, and all he conjured up was a very empty stomach. Neighbors attempted to inveigle him from his yard when they discovered he had been deserted, but the little dog refused to leave and waited each evening at the doorstep, with his ears perched at high "attention." He was coaxed to eat a little food, but grew thinner and thinner and appeared one day with a badly injured eye, supposedly obtained in a night conflict with a trespasser. The Humane Society was called and Opie Stafford, humane officer, after cajoling him for some time, got the fox terrier into his wagon. He is now eating three meals a day at the Humane Society shelter and gaining weight. His name has not been learned, but Mr. Stafford is thinking up a new one for him in case the old one never is told. He will probably lose the sight of one eye. There were 38 strays taken in by the Humane Society last month. Eight were sold to new masters, two taken out on approval, and seven--old and ill--put to sleep. Seventeen were given to new masters. Twenty-eight cats were housed at the shelter and 10 of them put into new homes. There are now three beautiful blue Persians awaiting adoption. Medford Mail Tribune, July 8, 1931, page 5 $500 Reward Offered for Arrest
and Conviction
Sport is dead. The little black-and-white terrier, who has been the
constant companion of Miss Violet Kershaw for the past six years, ended
his battle against poisoning yesterday. Today his mistress and the
Jackson County Humane Society are offering a $500 reward for the arrest
and conviction of the person who gave him arsenic lead.of Poisoner of Kershaw Dog Sunday the little dog began to act peculiar, Miss Kershaw, who lives alone in the Lone Pine District, said this afternoon. Her voice became choked as she started to review the suffering of the pet, who constituted her only family for four years. Monday morning he become worse. Dr. D. W. Stone was summoned and informed Miss Kershaw that Sport had been poisoned. "For four days I kept him alive," Miss Kershaw added. "He took his medicine like a child, but all the time he became sicker and sicker. His mouth was badly eaten by the poison, but he would open it to take his medicine. I sat up with him nights. It seemed I couldn't have him die." She turned away. "You wouldn't understand, of course, but he was all I had. "I used to take him to school with me every day when I taught. I always brought him shopping. He was little but he protected my house. I had only left him alone a few hours when I came home Monday and found him ill. He is not the first dog to be poisoned in our neighborhood," she continued, "and I'm willing to give all I have to apprehend the person who could be so cruel. He looked at me so trustingly as if he expected me to cure him." She turned away again. "I know other people can't understand, but I am alone." She stood up to leave, when Opie Stafford, humane officer, added the story of another little dog found this morning stricken with poisoning at a home on the east side. He did not belong in the yard where he lay but stopped there, according to the residents, unable to continue down the street. He had been given strychnine, examination proved, Mr. Stafford said this afternoon. A similar or larger reward will be offered for arrest and conviction of the person who poisoned him, Mr. Stafford stated, as the Humane Society will exert every effort to apprehend persons poisoning dogs to end the "fiendish trick" which is taking on the characteristics of a campaign in Medford. Medford Mail Tribune, July 10, 1931, page 1 $25,000 DOG OF NION TUCKERS IN
DISAPPEARANCE
Larry Larter, clerk at Hotel Medford, today reported that he had found
the schnauzer terrier belonging to Mrs. Nion Tucker. The dog followed
him to his home, 107 Mistletoe, from Main Street Sunday.----
Claus von Fuerstenwall, who represents just $25,000 worth of dog, is
still missing from the Nion Tucker lodge on Rogue River today. And the
caretaker, who failed to lock up the "six times international champion
schnauzer" is ready to pack his grip.The Tuckers are in the East. The caretaker is in a sad state of mind and nobody knows where Claus is. Policemen of Oregon and California are joining the search for the beautiful schnauzer, who belongs to Mrs. Nion Tucker of Burlingame. Claus was vacationing at "Tuckaway," river lodge of the Tuckers, when "he up and went away" Friday. He's a versatile and much-traveled dog, but a true pacifist. He doesn't like guns, and when target practice opened on the hill neighboring "Tuckaway" Friday, he started from the grounds at high speed and hasn't been seen since. No reports of the returning date of the Tuckers have been received, but the caretaker is praying that Claus will come home first. Medford Mail Tribune, July 21, 1931, page 3 CHAMPION CLAUS BACK IN TUCKER
LODGE ON RIVER
Everybody's happy at "Rogue's Roost" today for the vagabond, Claus von
Fuerstenwall, has returned to his kennel. The customary feast was
prepared last night for the prodigal, who represents $25,000 worth of
dog, in spite of the fact that he ate "just plain scraps" and answered
to the name of "Spike" during his three-day sojourn in Medford."He's a grand dog. The best trained I ever saw. But I didn't suspect him being worth $25,000," Larry Larter, who found the international champion schnauzer belonging to Mrs. Nion Tucker of Burlingame, said this morning while lamenting his departure in face of the fact that the $50 reward offered for the return of Claus is his. Larry is a clerk at the Hotel Medford. Larry likes dogs and dogs like Larry, and Claus felt very safe on the Larter back porch from Sunday until yesterday, unmindful of policemen of California and Oregon, who were searching intensively for his pepper-and-salt-covered coat as news of his departure spread from New York to the Pacific Coast. Even as many men, it was his surrender to appetite that gave Claus away. There weren't enough bones at the Larter house, so Larry went to the Liberty Market to buy more. He told of his find and when Joseph Chevigny, chauffeur for Mr. and Mrs. Tucker, approached the market with a long face, the butcher informed him that Claus was probably devouring dog meat at Larry Larter's back yard. And Claus was. Claus left the Nion Tucker lodge on Rogue River Friday. Sunday he met Larry at the Triangle Service Station in this city. It is believed the dog was en route to his other home in Burlingame. He leaped upon the fender of the Larter auto and received a friendly pat. When the Larters reached home Claus was right behind them. He entered the house and when invited out climbed into the auto and expressed intentions of staying. His determination convinced the Larters that the dog was lost. They decided to give him a home and were contemplating the purchase of a license, for Claus was out without his collar when Mr. Chevigny called for him yesterday. "He isn't a common dog at all in his friendliness," Larry told friends, who gathered 'round the Medford Hotel desk this morning. "He wouldn't have anything to do with other people. Several fellows tried to pet him but he wouldn't have them around. I guess I reminded him of someone. He stayed at the house at night and wouldn't leave the yard during the day. But if I had known he was worth $25,000 I think I would at least have locked the back porch." Mrs. Tucker, to whom the dog, never defeated in competition, belongs, is in New York. When wired the news of Claus' departure she immediately telegraphed instructions to Mr. Chevigny for an intensive search with rewards. Mr. Chevigny entered the telegraph office yesterday with an extra big smile to inform her that the schnauzer had come home. Mrs. Tucker is the wife of the trustee of the de Young estate, owners of the San Francisco Chronicle. She spends much time each year at the Tucker river lodge, Rogue's Roost, beyond Eagle Point. Medford Mail Tribune, July 22, 1931, page 8 MEDFORD WOMAN SAYS DOG STOLEN
The disappearance of the French bulldog owned by Mrs. Violet Daley of
Medford is the cause of the arrest of Josephine McDonough of Ashland on
an alleged larceny charge, Mrs. Daley swearing out the information, and
the arrest being made by state policeman James O'Brien.The defendant when arraigned in the justice court here yesterday reserved her plea until 10 a.m. today; when the case was called at the latter hour this forenoon she entered a plea of not guilty. The trial was set for September 17 at 10 a.m., and Judge Taylor released the accused on her own recognizance. The affidavit charges Josephine McDonough with the larceny on August 27 of "one French toy bulldog, being a speckled brown female with a screw tail," valued at $25. Medford Mail Tribune, September 1, 1931, page 4 'JIGGS' MISSING, REWARD OFFERED
All the Mail Tribune
carriers are scouting the city for Jiggs, the black toy terrier,
four-months-old bobtailed pup of the Al Clement family, 308 Haven
Street, which trustingly followed an older dog visiting that
neighborhood last Friday and has not been seen since. Each boy is
hoping to walk back with Jiggs and collect the $1 reward Al has
offered. The other kids of the city are expected to join in the search
as soon as they hear of the reward."Although the dog is worthless but cute, he was the special pet of my daughter Emma, nine years old, who is almost heartbroken," said Al today. "However, I have eaten but little and have not slept well since Jiggs left," continued the engineer of the Hotel Medford. "He was so smart and loving." Al also said that he had been training Jiggs to do various stunts. Al had taught Jiggs to eat whenever food was put before his jaws, and was just planning to have the canine pet bring his slippers as soon as he could buy a nice pair. Medford Mail Tribune, October 15, 1931, page 2 HUMANE SOCIETY LACKS FUNDS TO
CARE FOR DOGS
The Humane
Society is "up against it" financially and will be unable to continue
its caring for dumb animals and for handling the dog license problem
for Medford after February 1st, unless it receives financial aid from
the county or city. This was explained to the city council last night
by Mr. and Mrs. Sid Richardson, representing the Humane Society.Problem Will Be Turned Over to City February 1-- County Gets Tax, But Refuses Aid Maintenance. The society does not want to quit, Mr. Richardson declared, but it is a matter of dollars and cents. It will not quit its humanitarian work for animals unless it has to, he said. The dilemma of the society is due to the county court, because of the tax decrease agitation, refusing to give one cent to the society for this year, or in declaring that mood so far, it was explained. Everything was going all right with the society until the state law was passed placing the collection of the dog tax in city and county in the hands of the county, which precluded the city adopting and enforcing a dog license ordinance of its own. For the donation of $1000 by the city to building the Humane Society plant, the society last year maintained the municipal dog pound, gathered in the city's stray dogs and collected the county dog license tax in the city. Medford Has Most Dogs
Inasmuch
as Medford, because of its being the largest community of the county,
has more dogs and therefore more dog license money is collected from it
comparatively, the county court allowed the society a share of the
license money collected in the city.It is understood that $2000 or more of the total dog license money collected throughout the county goes into the sheep fund, and the remainder into the county general fund. Now that the county has refused to give the society any money towards its maintenance this year, the organization is left flat, unless the city or county individually or together by some arrangement give money for its support. The plea of the society as voiced by Mr. and Mrs. Richardson last night is for the city officials to endeavor to persuade the county court into some sort of a financial arrangement for the support of the dumb animal part of the Humane Society. Society Unable to Continue
It was
thought by Mr. Richardson, he stated, that it was only fair to inform
the city council of this state of affairs, as after Feb. 1st the
society can no longer care for the dog problem of Medford as
heretofore, in order that they can make some arrangement by which to
help the society financially, or take over the dog problem itself.The city cannot escape this, and the matter is especially embarrassing, as the time will soon be on hand when the city requires all dogs to be locked up or in leash for several months during the growing season. Besides the collecting of the dog licenses in the city the Humane Society in its other work last year picked up and cared for or disposed of 597 dogs and other animals, maintained the pound and provided a dog catcher. The society responded to more phone calls in this work than all the calls of the police and fire departments together, Mr. Richardson said. Will Plead for Share
At the
conclusion of hearing this plea for the city and county to get together
on some sort of financial arrangement for the relief of the society,
Mayor E. M. Wilson, with the remark that the city ought to have a share
of the dog license money collected in Medford, referred the
matter of calling on the county court in effort that the Humane Society
wants might be met, at least in part, to the council's public safety
committee, consisting of Councilman P. M. Kershaw, C. C. Furnas and J.
O. Grey.An erroneous impression prevailed in many quarters that the Humane Society is supported by some of its well-to-do members. Mr. Richardson said that all the donations to the society during the year do not run over $30 a month, whereas it costs $200 a month to maintain the plant. Medford Mail Tribune, January 20, 1932, page 4 HUMANE SOCIETY WORK CONTINUES
SAYS SECRETARY
An
erroneous impression seems to have been gained in some quarters that
the Humane Society is going out of business due to financial stress,
which false rumor probably arose through representatives of the society
appearing before the city council last Tuesday evening and asking that
the city government contribute to the operation of the dog pound and
license collecting which the society has been operating for the city
for the past year or so, else because of lack of funds for this purpose
the society could no longer shoulder the city's dog problem after this
month.The Humane Society is well established in its humanitarian work, is here to stay, and is doing a wonderful work in relieving suffering among needy and distressed children and adults. It is only the city pound and dog license collection feature that it asks the city government to support, and it feels justified in so doing because of taking all this necessary work off of the city's hands. The directors of the organization do far more for the relief of human suffering in dollars and cents that they do for animal suffering, Mrs. Richardson, the secretary of the society, points out, and adds: "And if these so-called howlers about the pitiful shelters for humans would get out and work for better ones they could do it 100 times easier than the animal shelter was built, because there isn't a human being but who is not interested in children and human relief. "The Humane Society is well established and at present is adding an isolation ward in the shelter to care for further human suffering. We have in connection with our humane officer's home a room, perfectly appointed for any human cruelly treated, or in distress. "In going before the city council the society only asked the city officials to permit us to assist them in the performance of one of the city's civic duties, which we cannot perform for nothing. "The humane idea does not enter our appearing before the city council, and the only reason the city has hired us in the past to take care of its dog problems is due to the fact that we can do it for less money than the city can do it, itself. "The city council was approached to do something for the city of Medford, not the Humane Society, and the garden lovers within the city certainly insist that dogs be controlled, according to the city ordinance requiring them being locked up or held in leash for three months after April 1st." The Humane Society, besides its other humane work of the past week, provided for three different destitute families and assisted in getting jobs for needy unemployed. The society in its animal relief department does not receive over $30 a month in private contributions. Medford Mail Tribune, January 24, 1932, page 3 AIRPORT MASCOT LOST IN TABLE ROCK AREA
Medford airport's mascot, a little yellow dog belonging to Phil Sharp,
local United Air Lines superintendent, is lost. Sandy went hunting
yesterday with Pilot C. B. Stead and became lost in the vicinity of the
Modoc orchards.A reward for the little hound is being offered, as the airport staff is quite lonely without the pet, the group said today. Medford Mail Tribune, February 29, 1932, page 2 DOG OWNERS RUSH TO LICENSE PETS
There was
a rush of dog owners to the county clerk's office this morning to pay
their dog tax, and 461 licenses had been issued up to noon. This is a
small portion of the estimated 2000 dogs in the county. The
registrations to date have chiefly been for bulldogs, bird dogs and
children's pets. It is expected the bloodhounds, of which there are
about thirty in the county, will start appearing this afternoon.Dog license fees are used by the county to pay losses for sheep and other stock killed by dogs. The budget committee makes no provisions for funds from other sources. This year the fees are payable direct to the county clerk, as no solicitors will be sent out by the county. Medford Mail Tribune, February 29, 1932, page 4 LICENSE FOR DOG MAY BE SECURED WITHOUT PENALTY
The county court issued an order yesterday extending time for securing
dog licenses for 30 days--or until April 1--without penalty. The county
clerk is refunding the penalties already paid. The fee for male dogs is
$1 and females $1.50.To date 959 dog licenses have been issued. This is about half the number of the dog population and half the number issued last year. It is thought that the period of grace will increase the funds, which are used in paying stockmen and farmers for losses from sheep-killing dogs. Some citizens of the country have as high as 13 dogs and, strange to say, the owner of a family of dogs has paid more promptly than the possessor of one dog. The dog license records show a decline in the number of police dogs in the county, and increase in the number of bulldogs. The decline is attributed to the unpopularity of the police dog because of a mean disposition and farmers accidentally shooting them for a timber wolf when sauntering across their pastures toward a band of sheep. Medford Mail Tribune, March 10, 1932, page 9 DOG TAX VALID AVERS NORTON IN
TEST CASE
Validity of the state dog tax has been sustained by Judge Norton's
court in the test case of the State versus W. H. Summers of Phoenix.Action of State Against Phoenix Man Clarifies License Situation-- Promise Other Prosecutions Summers was drawn into Judge Taylor's court last month for failure to pay his 1931 dog tax. The case filed in the justice court was reviewed by the higher court. The decision was rendered yesterday, upholding the license law. This is the first case to be taken up by the authorities, and it will be followed immediately by many more prosecutions, it was announced this morning. Must Pay at Once.
The county officials have tried to make it clear that this state tax
must be paid this season. They have temporarily waived the penalty of
two dollars for failure to secure a dog license by March 1, to make it
easier on dog owners, but the state tax of two dollars for male dogs
and three dollars for female dogs must be paid at once, officials say.A complete survey of the dog population of city and county is being made by the tax collectors, according to the report. Since the state tax is a license imposed on all dog owners by the farmers themselves, to reimburse them for sheep losses incurred by dogs, their cooperation is expected in the collection of the tax. Medford Mail Tribune, April 9, 1932, page 1 Tiny Terrier Tortured by Medford Fiend's Act
Although his body is bound from head to tail with great white bandages,
and sores inhabit his back where a wiry coat of black and white used to
take on a special curl--Rough still wags a welcome to callers today at
the Jackson County Humane Society shelter, where he is receiving
treatment for burns inflicted by someone who poured sulphuric acid on
his back.The little wire-haired terrier, owned by Chas. Rose of Spring Street, does not whimper. He is a very good patient, according to Dr. James F. Horr, and shows no inclination to do anybody harm. Rough returned to his home on Spring Street Saturday evening appearing very tired, his master reports. He lay down on the living room floor and soon showed his owner he was troubled by something more than fatigue. Mr. Rose went to him, noticed a peculiar substance on his back and picked him up. Where his hands touched the little dog's back, acid burns appeared. The floor on which Rough had lain was blackened. His master bundled him up and started for the Humane Society shelter. Analysis made there by Dr. Horr showed the dog had been burned with sulphuric acid. His black and white coat has been destroyed in several places. His condition is critical. And even though he recovers from the burns, the doctor reports he will probably never regain the wiry hairs of black and white which used to protect his body, now sheathed in bandages. A party of humane officers and other county officials will make a tour of the community neighboring Rough's home this afternoon in an attempt to apprehend the perpetrator of the fiendish crime. Medford Mail Tribune, April 12, 1932, page 1 YOUTH CHARGED WITH THROWING ACID OVER DOG
George Higgins, a junior high school student, is scheduled to appear
before the juvenile court tomorrow to answer to the charge of throwing
acid on a dog belonging to Charles Rose, Spring Street, this city.Young Higgins, according to the sheriff, admitted throwing the acid and told a frank story of the incident. Both Sheriff Jennings and County Judge Lamkin believe that the act was committed thoughtlessly and not maliciously. According to the youth, he obtained the sulphuric acid thrown upon the dog from the junior high laboratory, where is was used in making tests in the chemical classes. He says that the dog chased little chickens in his yard and the threw the acid upon the animal, thinking it "would tickle him up and then he would go home." Instead, the fiery fluid burned the hide and hair off the rear portions of the dog. Young Higgins was detained late yesterday and allowed to go on his own recognizance pending the hearing. County Judge Lamkin and Sheriff Jennings investigated the case. At the home of one suspect Judge Lamkin took a severe test. It was figured that acid had been thrown from an auto battery. Judge Lamkin stuck his finger in the battery and did not lose his finger, or fingernail, proving it was not strong enough to take the hair off the dog. Medford Mail Tribune, April 15, 1932, page 2 THOUGHTLESS BOY ASSESSED $2 FOR ACID CAST ON DOG
George Higgins, 15, junior high school boy charged with throwing acid
on a wire-haired terrier dog in a thoughtless moment, appeared before
County Judge C. B. Lamkin in juvenile court Saturday morning and was
fined $2 and given six months in which to pay."I want it strictly understood," said Judge Lamkin in passing sentence, "that if this fine in any way interferes with the necessities of life in the home, it will not be collected." The court approved the suggestion of the lad's mother that he visit the Humane Society shelter and view the stricken dog. Teachers of the boy testified that he "was an exceptionally good boy without a vicious tendency." B. R. Finch, principal of the junior high school, said he came to oppose "any undue punishment." "George did what any other boy is apt to do in a thoughtless moment," said Prof. Finch. "As far as punishment goes, he has been punished severely already by the attitude of his schoolmates. The justice of children is sure and swift. The humiliation of having the sheriff come to a school for a boy is a hard blow. George has been a perfect student and there is no meanness in him." George told the court he had taken the sulphuric acid from the school laboratory to make a battery and threw the acid, not to maim the dog, but to scare him home as he was chasing young chickens. Mrs. S. I. Richardson and Mrs. H. D. McCaskey represented the Humane Society and recommended that "corrective means be taken," and that the boy be instructed to visit the animal. The mother agreed to this. The Humane Society leaders agreed to provide work for George, so he could pay the fine. Medford Mail Tribune, April 17, 1932, page 10 POLICE DOG BITES BOY; TEARS MAN'S CLOTHES
W. J. Welch of 1018 West Ninth Street reported to the city police last
evening that the police dog belonging to Mrs. H. M. Welshaar of 104
South Newtown Street bit his little boy's hand. Mr. Welch's suit was
badly torn by the animal also, he told officers.The dog, which Mrs. Welshaar keeps tied, was let loose yesterday by children of the neighborhood, she told police today. She offered to settle any damages caused by the dog. Medford Mail Tribune, May 11, 1932, page 8 DRINK IN GUTTER BRINGS DEATH TO LITTLE BLACK DOG
He wasn't particular, the little black dog who romped Saturday
with June Earhart at her home on North Riverside. He drank where a
drink seemed handiest and had no disdain for the gutter. That's
where he had his nose when a shiny car came alone and bumped him
off with one big swerve, without a stop, Saturday morning."He was standing on the curb," the little girl, whose screams arrested Mrs. Sid Richardson of the Humane Society a short time after the accident, explained. "He saw the water and leaned over to drink. I was standing right with him. Two cars passed and one swerved and hit him." As proof of her story, the little black bundle of dog still lay in the gutter. "We'll get you another one right away at the Humane [Society] shelter," Mrs. Richardson attempted to silence her sobbing. "I don't want any other dog," June replied. "I don't ever want any other dog." Sharing the same sentiment, her older sister stood beside her, gazing down upon their very silent pet. "He just looked at me and drove right on," the little girl repeated her story of the incident. "He didn't say a word." Seeing that consolation was futile for the hour, Mrs. Richardson assisting in moving the little black animal., just plain dog, sans pedigrees, from the gutter to a shady spot under a tree, where a funeral was held for him later in the day. With the description recalled by the dog's little mistress, the Humane Society will carry on an extensive search this week for the driver who killed him, Mrs. Richardson announced last night, stressing the claim that the hit and run driver who kills the pet of a little child, without apologies, is as criminal as one who hits the child. Medford Mail Tribune, June 27, 1932, page 7
OFFICIALS SOLVE BURIAL OF ‘BABY'
Traveling at a white heat "with his hair in a braid," a
gentleman made a call at the city police station Friday evening,
excited over the idea that someone has apparently killed a small
baby, and buried it at the airport near his farm.The man's wife had seen a couple dig the grave and place a small bundle in it, jump into their black car with a tan top and speed away. Unable to stand the thoughts of unwrapping the "child" after he had opened the grave, the resident came to ask police help. After a great deal of preparation and mustering of enough courage to stand the ordeal, George Prescott, city officer, and H. W. Conger, county coroner, traveled to the scene of the grave where all of the white wrappings were removed from the body of--a Maltese cat. Coroner Conger "refused to comment" on the case yesterday, and Officer Prescott said he would "make no statement" until his attorney (whom he named as Conger) was consulted. Medford Mail Tribune, July 3, 1932, page 10
WOMAN FINED $15 ON CHARGES OF CRUELTY TO DOG AT GOLD HILL
Mrs. Ivan Wilson of Gold Ray, charged with inflicting cruelty
upon "Rex," little fox terrier belonging to Charles Stanaford, when
she recently found the dog on her premises, was fined $15 and costs
in Judge Reed's court in Gold Hill yesterday afternoon.The fine, according to members of the Jackson County Humane Society, interested in the case, was based not only on the crime, but also upon the woman's failure to relieve the dog in its suffering and her failure to notify his master. Members of the humane society today voiced their appreciation of Judge Reed's verdict and emphasized the need in the world for a little more of compassion and pity for animals. "The big person," it was stated, "is the one, who after committing a wrong, admits it and makes an attempt to correct it." Mrs. Wilson, it was explained, notwithstanding the fact that she knew she had caused suffering, describing in the court room the agony the animal experienced, did nothing to relieve it. The nine-year-old terrier which came upon her premises has only three legs and one eye, but is a prized possession of Mr. Stanaford, a Spanish and World War veteran, and a great lover of animals. Medford Mail Tribune, August 10, 1932, page 10
Guardian Angel of Cats Happy Though Alone, Ill
Miss Frances Everett, friend of all living things, who has
welcomed into her little brown house at the end of King Street,
where the weeds grow high, a great family of cats, for which she
became famous throughout the town, is ill this week and alone, but
happy, although she was unable to decorate a Christmas tree for her
cats this year, she told a caller at her cottage yesterday.With her very familiar market basket and umbrella, she has been absent from the streets since December 8 and wants her friends to know that it was not the zero weather which kept her from church, but illness. Cold weather doesn't bother her, Miss Everett explained yesterday, shifting her body to give "Lily White," her favorite cat, cuddled in her arms, a more comfortable position. When the thermometers were registering 25 below zero, she went to church each Sunday morning from her old home in the East and being sick in bed was the only thing that kept her from church Christmas morning. She hopes to be able to go New Year's Day if someone will just drive by for her, as she was sitting up in bed yesterday. Although she was unable to give them a Christmas tree this year, the cats gathered about her bed appeared to be in a very friendly mood. "Black Oscar" was purring in front of the stove, while "Jasper," a blue-gray, rested peacefully in the rocking chair and "Lily White" in Miss Everett's arms. "Ruffles," who is a bit temperamental, fled from the room to join other cats on the doorstep when the guest arrived. Many friends have been kind to Miss Everett during her illness, she stated, carrying wood and water to her bedside and bringing her gifts for Christmas and her birthday, the day after Christmas, on which she was 79 years old. Medford Mail Tribune, December 29, 1932, page 4 "Doggy Dance" Featured at Pavilion Saturday Night
The Gold Hill Commercial Club, sponsors of the popular Saturday night
dances at the highway pavilion, announce that this Saturday night, May
6, a "Doggy Dance" will be the feature. One hundred puppies have been
secured which will be given away free to the first 100 patrons.
This "doggy dance" feature is something new to Southern Oregon dance lovers, and a record-breaking crowd is expected at the affair. Dom Provost and His Pep Peddlers promise another program of the latest dance numbers. Persons wanting one of the puppies are advised to be on hand early. Gold Hill News, May 4, 1933, page 1 283 Sheep Killed by Dogs During Year in County, Claims Show
Dogs have killed 283 sheep on the ranges of Jackson County, according
to records of the county clerk's office, so far this year. The ravage
is blamed mostly upon police dogs, whose wolfish instincts have come to
the front, causing them to run wild in the rural areas. The county pays
$2 per head for each sheep killed, payments being made from the dog
license fund.Whenever a sheep owner gets a chance, he shoots the dog that is molesting his flock. Several have thus had their sheep-killing days and nights terminated. Reports of the county clerk show that so far "no dog with a license tag" has been killed. While the police dog gets all the odium, sheepmen say that a hunting dog has strong inclinations in the same direction, and that most any dog, licensed or unlicensed, will slay a sheep when opportunity offers. Phillipi and Rohr, sheepmen, filed a claim with the county court for 30 sheep killed last week by raids of dogs. They have been the heaviest losers. C. J. Hass of the Beagle district has also suffered heavily, losing between 15 and 20 sheep. A number of sheepmen of the Applegate district have also sustained losses. Gold Hill News, November 2, 1933, page 1 FRIEND OF CATS LOSES HER PURSE
Word has been received at the Mail Tribune that
Miss Frances Everett, the "cat woman" who has become quite a part of
the Medford scene, has recently lost her purse containing keys and $6
in cash, all the money that the lady possessed.
The purse, a brown one, was lost at or near the Alexander grocery store January 9, and she is very anxious to recover it. Miss Everett is the lady who is host to any number of otherwise stray cats and kittens at her home on the corner of King and Stewart Avenue here. Any member of the feline tribe who is lost or deserted always finds a welcome at the Everett home. That lady had apparently never heard that "there are other ways of killing cats besides choking them to death with cream," for she spends most of the little money she manages to scrape together in caring for them. Any person who knows anything of the purse would be doing a real kindness to either take it to the aged lady, or leave it at the Mail Tribune office, from where it will be delivered to her. Medford Mail Tribune, January 20, 1935, page 3 FRANCES EVERETT, CATS' FRIEND,
DIES
Frances Everett, Medford resident for many years, passed away yesterday
afternoon at the Jacksonville Sanitarium, after an illness of several
weeks. She was approximately 80 years of age. Services will be
conducted by Perl Funeral Home at 10:30 tomorrow morning. Rev. W. R.
Baird will officiate, and burial will be in the I.O.O.F. cemetery. The
deceased has no known relatives.
Frances Everett was a well-known figure to local people, her eccentricity of adopting large numbers of stray cats leading to the appellation of "cat woman." For a number of years she lived in a small house at the corner of Stewart Avenue and Kings Highway, where passersby were accustomed to seeing the overgrown yard apparently alive with cats. She frequently cared for between 10 and 20, calling them all by name and finding food for them before thinking of her own needs. She not only knew practically everyone in town, but was also familiar with dog and cat pets throughout the community, often walking long distances to "visit" them. Although living alone and apparently completely wrapped up in her feline friends, the "cat woman" greatly enjoyed visits and conversation with whomsoever had time to talk to her. She attended every funeral and public gathering she knew of and could get to, and was a constant visitor to the downtown district. Medford Mail Tribune, December 18, 1935, page 1 STRAY MEDFORD CATS FACE LONELY
CHRISTMAS
AS THEIR BENEFACTOR, MISS EVERETT, ANSWERS LAST CALL By EVA NEALON HAMILTON
When all humanity is drawn inside by the fragrance of fir and pine, and
darkness claims Medford's outdoors, somewhere near the southern
outskirts the stillness of Christmas Eve will be broken this year by
the mournful cry of a cat. And the prophetic starshine will be
reflected in the gleam of feline eyes, as one by one the cats, who for
the past 12 years were fed and feted in the little brown house at the
end of King Street, pass unnoticed through the frosted grass. For the
"cat woman" is dead.
Scratches on the worn, weather-browned door will bring no answer. No light will shine through the small square (the cat entrance), and the pan, filled with warm milk for cats of all breeds and colors each year that St. Nick came, will be empty. Funeral services were held at the Perl parlors yesterday for Miss Frances C. Everett. There will be no paper-trimmed Christmas tree. There will be no purring of Christmas carols in the brown shack this year. Familiar Form Recalled Thirteen years ago the bent, gray figure which for more than 18 years walked Medford's streets, arms locked over market basket and umbrella, inaugurated a Christmas tree for cats. Innumerable ones (no one ever knew how many), who made their home with her, were joined by additional strays on the night before Christmas and warm milk was served to all. A small fir tree was decked with colorful papers to be rattled by cat claws, and maintained throughout the Yuletide. It was a custom Miss Everett never abandoned no matter how severe the rheumatism got. The day after Christmas, with the cats she celebrated her birthday. This year she would have been 82. Known as the "Cat Woman" While to most people she was just the "cat woman," who wandered about the city--into church, funerals and markets, her heavy shoes each year beating a slower tattoo on the pavements, to those who ventured beyond her door, drawn at first by curiosity, she was a different creature. A woman sitting alone in the dim light of a kerosene lamp, within walls hung with bed quilts, designed to keep out the cold, asking about the babies of the town. The "Smith" boy's cold. She was so glad he was better. Loved Everyone's Baby She had never been in the "Smith" house. Mrs. Smith probably never knew that she lived, where King Street is crossed by Stewart Avenue. But Miss Everett knew when the Smith baby was born. It was the same night that "Spot" first came to her door, hungry and with wet fur. She took him in, as she took in every cat that was dropped in the road. The next day she saw in the papers (for she always read the papers) that the Smiths had a baby boy. "Fortunate," she would say, whether it was the "Smiths" or the "Joneses," and then it became obvious to the visitor that she loved cats not because she preferred them but because they were what life happened to bring her--she had to have something to love, for she was that kind of person--"Fanny, Fern, Pretty Tail, Halloween (who had come with the ghosts on that night), Blossom, Toots, Fluffy, Ruffles, Buttercup and Casper" were the answer. Just where she came from to befriend the cats of Medford, no one knew. She never revealed the identity of her family. She crossed the plains in an ox wagon many years ago, she often related, expressing the desire to travel once by plane before completing her stay here. Arrangements were made for a flight at the Medford airport, but that day arrived and Miss Everett, who believed in the will of the Lord, dismissed the desire. She wanted to see "San Francisco, Barbary Coast and all," she answered once, when asked why she came to Medford. She saw it "and nothing happened." On the return she stopped in Medford. "I'm getting a bit short of breath," she complained last Christmas eve as she lighted the kerosene lamp to show the cats' Christmas tree. And so she must have been. Quietly she came to the little brown house. Quietly she left it for the Jacksonville Sanitarium, where she died Tuesday. And the only question Medford asks is, "Did you know that the cat woman was dead?" Medford News, December 20, 1935, page 1 OTTOMANS WONDER IF THEIR CAT IS
THE OLDEST IN TOWN
Lord of the manor is Duffie, who long ago took over supervision of the
household at 514 South Holly Street.
"Lord, what a manner," is the way the Scottie expresses it. He has been trying to make friends with Duffie for all of the three years he has been there, but Duffie is conservative and may consider Scottie as a friend after eight or ten more years but accepts no friends on a short three years' acquaintance. Duffie is a Persian cat. He took over the Ottoman household just 15 years ago. Bob Ottoman, a sophomore in forestry at Oregon State College, was six then and wanted a cat. Bob's father, M. Ottoman, ticket clerk for the Southern Pacific, did not want a cat, and so Bob won and they have had the cat ever since. Bob and his sister, Ruth, teacher in the school at Talent, gave birthday parties for Duffie. They even remembered him during each Christmas holiday. Duffie always got a catnip mouse for a present, and on such occasions unbent somewhat and chased the catnip mouse round and round the tree. Of late years, Duffie has felt that he must put away kittenish things and so the catnip mouse was discontinued. These days, Duffie confines his activities to taking a walk a few doors down the street. Reversing the usual procedure, he does his visiting during the day and is taken in at night, for Duffie is no gadabout. Nowadays he may be seen lying in the sun on the Ottoman front porch. He hopes to attend Bob Ottoman's graduation in two years more, and the Ottomans are all hoping he will be around to join in the celebration. He is wondering if he has not the distinction of being the cat in Medford who has been longest in one family at the same location. Medford Mail Tribune, May 30, 1937, page 10 Medford Character Disappears
For more than a few years Arthur
Perry, author of the Medford
Mail Tribune's
column Ye Smudge Pot, has been ably assisted in his literary stint by a
feline character styled "the Elks' old tomcat." That is to say, this
tomcat-ward of a great fraternal order was more than occasionally
employed as a character in Mr. Perry's column, to such degree that
almost he had risen, in the public fancy, to the status of assistant
director. To the best of our recollection the columnist never has
described the Elks' tomcat save by the adjective of age and the
designation of sex. Yet as the slow, fleet seasons passed, and the
meanderings and maraudings and meowings of the tomcat repeatedly were
chronicled, and engagingly, one came to feel that one knew him well,
the cynic eye of him, the moth-eaten but valiant tail, the jaunty,
swaggering intrepidity.
And this is mentioned for the reason that recently Mr. Perry reported in the Smudge Pot that for a matter of two weeks the Elks' old tomcat has been absent from his accustomed haunts in the clubroom, and though rumor has it that he has been seen in various far places, none of these accounts has been substantiated. "Hope," sighs Mr. Perry, "has about faded . . . he is ten years old." In the vernal period of a tomcat's life, when all the geese are swans, an absence of a fortnight might pass without other than [the] lightest of suggestive remarks--but, as the columnist intimates, the Elks' old tomcat has begun the descent, as the moon of the tomcats declines, and in any case it is late in the season for him to neglect the more substantial comforts of existence for the illusions of romance and the spurious glory of combat. It may, indeed, be that some strange ashcan now affords a resting place for his heroic but weary remains; or some weed patch to which the crows are stooping. For he ought to have been home long ago, at this time of life. When a cat is a tomcat and also an Elk by adoption, and likewise a sort of newspaper man, as assistant to a columnist and that columnist Arthur Perry, heaven alone, in any instance, knows when the cat will come stalking out of the gloaming. In addition to the natural excitements and impulses to which any proper tomcat is heir, he has acquired three hazards not common to tomcats--and we may fear, as does Mr. Perry and the B.P.O.E., that which is gloomily styled the worst. Yet we once knew a cat, of the masculine gender, who by positive count squandered not nine but twenty-seven lives, and lived to breathe peacefully his last on a cushion at home, in an odor of catnip and sanctity. On this, as well as similar observation, we consider it at least even money that the Elks' old tomcat has yet to finish his saga. Kitty! kitty! kitty!--The Oregonian. Medford Mail Tribune, July 14, 1941, page 4 Reprinted from the Oregonian of July 3, page 6 TRIBUNE CARRIERS BITTEN BY DOGS
Careful attention to dogs after their annual three months' confinement
is now needed so that the pets will not let their protective instinct
develop so much as to endanger newspaper carriers, mail carriers, milk
men and others, the Southern Oregon Humane Society advised pet owners
today.
Dogs also should have plenty of fresh, cool water in this hot weather so that they will not become irritable, the society said. The advice was given after two Mail Tribune carriers, Jackie Clark and Tommy Tam, were bitten by dogs Wednesday afternoon. Jackie was bitten on the left side as he delivered papers on West 11th Street, Tommy on the right foot at West Jackson Boulevard. Medford Mail Tribune, July 18, 1941, page 7 Heartbroken Boy Seeks Body of
Lost Dog
So He Can Give it Proper Burial
Broken-hearted over the apparent death of his pet dog, which fell into
Bear Creek and disappeared Sunday, 11-year-old Duane Denney has made an
appeal to the Tribune to
help him find the animal's body in order that he may bury it.
"While playing in Bear Creek Park Sunday afternoon I saw my dog fall in the water under Bear Creek bridge," Duane wrote. "Then he was washed over the falls at the west end. He never came out of the whirling water. If someone finds my little pal washed somewhere along the bank please let me know. For this information I cannot pay, but will thank you sincerely," the boy's note concluded. Was Blue Terrier The dog, which Duane called Diablo, was a blue terrier with white markings. He wore a rabies vaccination tag No. 117598 and a 1950 license number on his collar. Duane's mother, Mrs. Laura Denney, 504½ North Grape Street, said that Duane and a companion were playing in the park and were skipping rocks along the banks of the creek. Diablo had been trained to fetch rocks and sticks, and when one went too far and fell into the water, he rushed after it. The two boys and Mrs. Denney spent about two hours searching along the edges of the creek after the accident, the mother said, but no trace of the dog could be found. She said Duane and the dog had been constant companions for three years, and the dog had been trained to ride in a basket on the boy's bicycle. Duane got up early both Monday and Tuesday mornings and hopefully hurried out to look in the dog's box, thinking he might not have drowned and might have come home during the night, she said. "The reason Duane is so anxious to find the pet and bury the body is because Diablo was following orders when he was drowned," Mrs. Denney explained. "This really means a lot to Duane." The Denneys' telephone number is 2-8390. Medford Mail Tribune, March 7, 1950, page 4 Barking Bedlam
To the
editor: I would like to bring to the attention of your readers a
subject that is vitally important to the growth of Medford and the
peace and happiness of its citizens.
I refer to the hundreds of barking dogs we seem to possess and the hundreds of dog owners who do not seem to realize that such goings-on are only to be normally found in an Indian encampment or a Mexican slum village. At any time of the day or night almost anywhere outside the immediate downtown area several dogs can be heard barking or howling. In some sections it is almost a bedlam. An owner who permits his dog to do this in the daytime disturbs the peace of the home, and one who permits it at night disturbs the peace of the home, and one who permits it at night disturbs the peace and sleep of his neighbor. And seriously reduces working efficiency. In many cases actual breakdown of health is caused by this constant racket. I am very fond of dogs myself, and have raised and trained dogs all my life. I would not be without one. But I would as soon beat a dishpan in front of my neighbor's house as to permit my dog to bark and howl. I have never owned a barking dog for the simple reason that I had consideration for the peace of my neighbors and trained them to act as a dog should. I would be glad to offer my services to any person who would like to have their dog broken of this habit. It is very simple. Or could we form an anti-dog barking club to function somewhat as does our Chamber of Commerce. When one leaves San Antonio, Texas, after a visit one has long-lingering memories of cooing turtledoves, from Los Angeles one remembers the sirens and the mockingbirds, from San Francisco the foghorns, and from Medford the bedlam of barking dogs. This is not a very nice situation and is a direct reflection on we who live here. Cannot something be done about it? Yours for peace and quiet, FRANCIS
H. AMES
Medford
Mail Tribune, June 1, 1945, page 9Rt. 2, Box 147. Duane Buries Diablo Today; Pet's
Body Found in Creek
Today
after school Duane Denny was to bury his pet blue terrier, Diablo, in
the yard of the home, 504½ North Grape Street, where the
11-year-old boy and his mother live. Diablo was drowned in Bear Creek
Sunday afternoon when he chased after a rock thrown by Duane when the
two were playing on the banks of the creek in the city park.
Tuesday the small boy made an appeal though The Tribune in an effort to find his pet's body, and Wednesday morning a schoolboy phoned to say that he could see the dog's body lodged against a pipe jutting into the stream under the Jackson Street bridge. Later in the day it was recovered. Expresses Gratitude In a second note to The Tribune, Duane expressed his gratitude to the paper and to others who helped him recover the pet's body. "I would like to thank The Tribune for helping me find my little dog," he wrote. "Also thank the schoolboy that phoned me Wednesday morning, telling me where Diablo was, and I also want to thank Mr. Bill Millett, Route 1, Box 443, who waded under Jackson Street bridge and brought Diablo out to me, where I gave my little pal his last ride in the basket on my bicycle where he had enjoyed riding so many times before. "I thank you, one and all, for your kind words." Medford Mail Tribune, March
7, 1950, page 4
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