126 
FOREST AND STREAM 
[Aug. 12, 1905. 
Stories of Some Sea Dogs, 
I. — How My MoDgreIj.Dog Saved the Ship. 
With as trim a little ship under my feet as ever went 
to sea, we left New York bound to Buenos Ayres, with 
a crew list numbering twenty-one as good men as ever 
crossed a royal yard, or stood a watch, and a mongrel 
dog. The cargo was a very valuable one, and we hoped 
that within between thirty-five and forty days we should 
be at our anchorage in the Rio La Plata, and in half as 
many days more be loaded with a cargo of hides and start 
on our homeward' journey. 
This mongrel dog I had picked up one wintry night on 
the wharf and brought on board half starved, and shiver- 
ing with the cold, and although here last enumerated in 
the number of living things on board, in a few weeks 
he was destined to he the first to head the list when the 
ship’s crew was mentioned. He was a cross, part collie ; 
the cleverest dog fancier in the country could not have 
told the other breed. But all the same, mongrel that he 
was, he was a lovable and most intelligent fellow, and 
from his actions we reasoned that he was not making 
his first voyage on a ship; in fact, from the start he ap- 
peared to be quite at home, knew that he belonged aft, 
and while friendly to a certain degree with the crew, i^et 
never permitted any familiarities on their part. He would 
go forward with one of the mates or myself, but never 
would go forward of the galley door, unless sent. He 
was a great favorite with the cook, who frequently left 
him to watch the tid-bits intended for the cabin table, 
while the cook went aft to get water from the scuttle 
butt, or to confer with the steward. Sometimes, he would 
be given a book or some old newspapers and told to “go 
forward and give it to the men,” and he would trot oft' 
and deliver the books or papers to a favorite man, receive 
caresses and run aft apparently pleased to think that his 
chore was done. Occasionally at night he would go up 
on the topgallant forecastle and spend some time with the 
man on the lookout, provided he liked the man; but he 
was never known to enter the forecastle or go forward 
at meal time. 
It was not long before the men came to be very fond 
of Bob. They made him a very nice collar which he 
wore with pride ; and one day Bob came trotting aft with 
a water-proof coat that one of the men made him. It 
was raining hard at the time and I never shall forget how 
proud the dog seemed to be of his present. He ran up 
to me wagging his bushy tail and looked at me inquiring- 
ly as much as to say, “Can I wear this,” and to assure 
him that it had my approval I went forward with him 
and asked the man who had made it, and when the man 
presented himself I thanked him and patted him on the 
back, and then Bob jumped up and putting his fore paws 
on the man’s shoulder stood still while his head was 
patted. That settled it, and from “that hour the maker 
of his rain coat was Bob’s especial favorite, and when the 
man was at the wheel the dog would often be found at 
his feet fast asleep. Bob always wore his coat when it 
rained, and some willing hands always stood ready to 
fasten it on for him. 
Scarcely a day passed over our heads but . Bob would 
do something in his quiet way, that would set us talking 
about his w'onderful display of intelligence and lovable 
nature. He had no opportunity to show any temper, for 
no one would provoke him tO’ show it. That he was a 
model dog no one disputed. Never a ship passed at night 
within the range of Bob’s scent, but that he apprised us 
of the fact, and although w^e often did not see the ship 
owing to the darkness, we knew that we were passing one, 
and even when we did see the vessel Bob had always 
given warning of our proximity to it before the lookouts 
had seen it. Sometimes he would smell a whale at night, 
but we soon learned to know by his bark whether it was 
a vessel or a whale that he ‘had discovered. For this 
keen scent he was held in high esteem by all on board, 
and the lookouts felt that if Bob was around he was cer- 
tain to give them due notice tO' keep a brighter lookout. 
The star event on Bob’s record came one dark night 
when we were about twenty days out from New York. 
There was no moon, and there was a remarkable dense 
mass of clouds. We were jogging along with the royals 
furled, the wind on the quarter. The sea was quiet and 
the weather did not betoken any immediate storm, yet 
it was a night which called for doubling up the lookouts, 
for we were in the track of vessels crossing over from 
Europe to the West Indies and the northern ports of 
Brazil. I was down below in the cabin looking over the 
chart, and had just been reading the barometer, when Bob 
rushed forward and mounting the topgallant forecastle 
snuffed the air several times and then set up a fierce bark- 
ing, his keen eyes being directed right ahead. The look- 
out men could not induce him to stop, and as the seconds 
passed he increased the volume of barks, and jumped 
around the forecastle as if mad. The w^atch below w'ere 
awakened, and by the time I got forward half the watch 
were on deck tO' see what was the matter with Bob. By 
this time wm all felt sure that the dog had seen or scented 
something, but none of us could see anything ahead that 
should provoke such anxiety on the part of the animal. 
It was not ntany minutes, however, before we all saw a 
long, low black object on the surface of the water dead 
ahead, and calling all hands to the braces, I shouted 
“Hard down your helm, for God’s sake !” and by the time 
the ship came up to the wind we j ust barely escaped run- 
ning bow on into a large half-sunken vessel which lay 
directly in our path. But for the timely warning of that 
faithful creature we should have run into her plump amid- 
ships, with a certainty that it would have stove in our 
bows, sent the masts and spars tumbling about our heads, 
probably killing all of us; many of us would have been 
below at that time. I have had many a close escape from 
collisions in fogs, but never one so close as that one. 
As soon as we had given the direlict a wide berth, the 
ship was put on her course, the yards decked in, and we 
began to congratulate ourselves on our miraculous escape, 
and were giving Bob his full share of the credit, but he 
was very uneasy and would run to the taffrail and bark 
occasionally, but when he realized that we were leaving 
the craft for good he set up a terrific rmlly of barks, 
winnings and canine pleadings, looking at me in a most 
human way. . At last I said to the mate, “I wonder if 
there can be any persons alive on that craft?” The mate 
thought not, but the action of Boh so appealed to my 
feelings that at last I ordered the topgallant sails clewed 
up, put the helm down and resolved to stay by the wreck 
till morning, and then send a boat on board and settle the 
question forever. 'We stood close to the wreck but could 
neither see any living thing nor hear any sounds, save 
the splash of the water against her side. 
When daylight came we were alongside and laying 
the maintopsail to the mast, we lowered a boat and the 
mate went off to board her. It was not long before he 
made signal for us to come within hail, and from him we 
learned that there were fourteen human beings on board, 
and four dead bodies in the cabin. He told us tO' send 
another boat at once. Bob was the most interested spec- 
tator on our ship, running to and fro in great stress of 
mind, at times whining and showing an anxiety almost 
human. It did not take long to get those poor creatures on 
board of our ship; one of them, the captain’s wife, strange 
to say, had more life in her than any other one of the 
rescued. The mate buried as best he could the four that 
had perished from starvation the day previous, and we 
again made sail for our destination. Bob’s attention was 
attracted to the captain’s wife, and as we carried her 
down into the cabin he followed, and during the time she 
was in her room he was her constant companion. For 
several days we had our hands full in nursing back to 
life the poor unfortunates, but we saved them all, and 
when they were so far advanced in strength as to be able 
to be about the decks it was really touching to see Bob’s 
sharing his attention first with one and then another, re- 
ceiving the pats so lovingly given, and licking their hands 
and at times laying his head on their laps to receive their 
caressings. But when he had made his round of visits 
he would return to the captain’s wife and sit by her side 
for hours at a time. 
Fine weather and favoring winds brought us to our 
destination with no further incidents. The ship from 
which we had taken the people had been bound from 
Liverpool to Rio de Janeiro laden with an assorted cargo, 
but had a large quantity of lumber on board, which kept 
her afloat. She had encountered a series of gales, had 
been dismasted, then had sprung a leak, and before they 
could secure enough provisions to last them for any 
length of time the most of it had been destroyed by salt 
water. For some days they had been on short rations, 
when another gale came upon them, and for over a week, 
before we fell in with them, they had had but very little 
to eat, three men had been killed when the masts went 
over the side of the ship. The three that had been killed 
were buried in the ocean by their shipmates and the four 
that the mate had found dead wdien he went on board 
had died during the preceding twenty-four hours, but 
those left were too weak to bury them; another twelve 
or twenty hours at the most would have ended the earth- 
ly career of all of them. They certainly would have per- 
ished but for the persistent pleadings of my mongrel dog, 
Bob. To say that the dog was idolized or worshipped 
by every soul on board gives but faint expression of the 
facts ; still, the dog took the tributes showered upon him 
with becoming grace, and was as vigilant as ever in his 
nightly lookouts ; in fact, some of the men said he spent 
more time on the topgallant forecastle than he had before 
we fell in with the wreck. 
When we arrived at Buenos Ayres we soon had our 
passengers in the hands of the British Consul, who pro- 
vided for them liberally. It was a scene I never shall 
forget — the parting of that rescued crew and Bob. They 
hugged and kissed him and blessed him, and the captain’s 
wife begged that I would give her Bob ; but I believe 
that much as the men liked her, if I had concluded to let 
Bob go there would have been a mutiny. The story of 
the dog soon reached the shore and the ships in the har- 
bor, and hundreds of people came off to see him. Before 
we sailed my passengers clubbed together and bought a 
collar for Bob, a most elaborate affair. On a small plate 
of solid gold/was inscribed: “To Faithful Bob, 'Who 
Saved Our Lives.” On a silver band riveted on the 
leather collar was engraved the names of each of the 
party, the name of the ship, the date of the rescue, and 
the name of our ship and its master. I did not dare take 
Bob on shore lest he. might be stolen or because the 
crowds to see him would prevent me from doing any 
business. 
Bob and I were shipmates for over three years, and at 
last he was stricken with some malady beyond my limited 
veterinary .skill to combat, and died at sea. You would 
think me childish were I to tell you of my grief at his 
death; a grief that was equal to any I ever experienced. 
Well, the carpenter made him a coffin, one that would re- 
main intact for a long time; it was laden with plenty of 
iron so that it would sink well down in the depths of 
the ocean, and just before sundown, '-with colors half- 
mast, we laid the maintopsail to the mast and when the 
ship stood still, all hands with uncovered heads stood in 
the starboard waist, and faithful, loving, intelligent Bob 
was committed to the deep — gone forever, but to me an 
-ever precious memory of devotion, a dumb animal that 
had been the direct medium of saving thirty-five lives in 
one day, a constant comfort, a delightful companion in 
sunshine or storm, a true friend who never lied to me. 
Bob was not the only dog of the sea that has rendered 
vital service to me, and not the only one that by his 
vigilance and intelligence has warned me of impend- 
ing danger in time to avert it, and when I hear a man 
abuse a dog, I must confess that I am tempted to say that 
a sign should be placed on his door post, “Beware of the 
man.” B. S. Osbon. 
Summer Roof Trees*"^ — II* 
The plans and perspective sketches of the three rustic 
cottages which we illustrate in this issue were the prize 
winning designs submitted in a competition given by the 
Brochure Series for a shooting box. All the plans and 
exteriors differ greatly in character, and they offer a wide 
choice to the prospective builder of a woodland home. 
Design_ No. i shows an attractive building with long 
overhanging roof having very much the feeling of a 
Swiss chalet._ The author intended that the structure 
should be built on the shore of a lake or stream, as the 
sketch shows, and a rough stone retaining wall is built 
in the front where the ground slopes toward the beach 
to form the porch or terrace, which extends around three 
sides. The great projection of the roof protects the ter- 
race from the sun and rain. The construction of the roof 
is of such a nature that nO' posts or columns are neces- 
sary, and a porch roof is secured without, the usual ob- 
structions. This requires a strong construction, especial- 
ly if the building is to be erected where there are heavy 
snowfalls, for the strains resulting from the great weight 
imposed upon it would be tremendous. 
The plan show's an excellent arrangement. The main 
feature is the living room, or, as it is labeled on the plan, 
gun room. It is here that, when indoors, all hands lounge 
and eat, and as the room has no ceiling, being left open 
to the roof, a very attractive and home-like spot can be 
made. The narrow end wall overlooking the lake is 
pierced by large windows, and both inside and out a wide 
seat extends the entire width under these openings. In 
pleasant weather the occupants would sit on the outside 
seat to watch the sun set behind the hills across the lake, 
while in bad weather the indoor lounge would enable 
those in the house to see what was going on outside. 
At the opposite end of the room is the huge fire-place, 
which immediately suggests comfort, warmth and cama- 
raderie when the nights are chilly. 
Generously wide doors directly opposite one another 
open on the porch. Having doors on each side is an ex- 
cellent scheme, not only because it affords good ventila- 
tion when the weather is warm, but one has always a lee 
side to enter or leave the building by. 
_ Shelves and gun racks extend along the walls on either 
side between the doors leading to the porch and those 
wdiich give access to the bedrooms. The bedrooms are 
not large, but a.s they are used as sleeping apartments 
only they are of ample size. They are separated by the 
kitchen, and the occupants of each are reasonably sure 
not to be disturbed or annoyed until morning, when 
breakfast preparations would serve as an alarm clock. 
The big living room fire-place does double duty, for 
the kitchen flue leads into it. A door from the kitchen 
opens on the rear of the house, and a simple porch would 
be an addition, as it would protect the doorway and serve 
as a wash room and a shed where firewood could be kept 
dry. 
The building is constructed of logs and the whole is 
of a most substantial kind. The big stone chimney adds 
much to the dignity of the building. Chimneys can hard- 
ly be made too big, and nothing adds so much to the at- 
tractions of a home in the woods, for there fuel is abun- 
dant, and it is only natural that we associate with such 
an abode a huge cordwood fire crackling on a generous 
hearth. 
_ This house could be built of ordinary frame construc- 
tion in most localities at less cost and less pains, and if 
proper care is exercised and the work is done thoroughly, 
as satisfactory a building will result. 
The plan of design No- 2 is not as good as the one just 
described, but the exterior is rather more attractive, and' 
the sketch shows considerable refinement of design. The 
construction is most simple yet most attractive withal. 
This plan, like the last, has for its predominating fea- 
ture the big living room, and in this case it has, to serve 
as a kitchen as well. In a' simple camp which is to be 
occupied by men alone perhaps, this is no objection, but 
whenever possible it is more cleanly and healthful to have 
the food prepared and cooked in a separate room. 
_ The three bedrooms in this plan are hardly more than 
little alcoves with bunks built in on the sides. One man 
each is about all these little alcoves would accommodate. 
It is usually better to have bedrooms of more liberal size 
and let two or more occupy them. 
*For the first paper of this series see issue of June 25 , 1905 .' 
