November 1, 1909 
The Young Folks. 
The Friend of Man : Some uses 
of the Dog. 
aT 
I—THE TURNSPIT DOG, 
Not only has the dog been trained to 
draw sledges and carts, but it has also 
been taught to perform other kinds of 
work. In some of the little workshops on 
the Continent, dogs may be seen running 
in large wheels or drums, which are 
turned round in this way, and are utilised 
to turn the grindstone, saws, bellows, or 
other machines for the workmen. The 
wheels are about ten feet in diameter, and 
a little more than a foot wide, and they 
are raised upon high axles, which hold 
them off the ground and leave them free 
to turn, like small water-wheels. Across 
the inside of each wheel bars of wood are 
placed all around the circumference, and 
these serye as steps for the feet of the 
dog, which is put inside the wheel and 
Made to keep running, and thus treads 
the wheel round. At the end of the axle 
cf the treadwheel there is a pulley, and a 
belt passing round the pulley carries the 
Motion ot the treadwheel to the machine 
which is to be driven by it. 
At the present time there are no wheels 
like these in use in England, but not 
very long ago they were rather common. 
Tn some old houses we may still see tho 
large open fireplaces and wide chinineys 
which were in use before the iron kitchen 
Tanges, with their ovens and boilers, wore 
invented. In these open fireplaces the 
fire was placed simply on the hearth or in 
large iron, basket-like grates, standing 
Upon feet. The joints of meat were put 
Upon spits and roasted before the fire. It 
Was very necessary to keep the spits 
turning, in order that the meat might be 
“ooked on every side, and in the kitchens 
of palaces and great houses men were at 
®ne time employed to turn the spits, But 
ata later time it was customary to turn 
them by means of dog-wheels, and the 
dogs Were in consequence called turn- 
Spits, 
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It is rather doubtful whether the 
turnspit-dogs were a special breed, like 
the bulldog, the foxhound, or the collie. 
It is more likely that the name was given 
to any dog which was fitted to run in the 
wheels, and could be trained to do 
so. The kind of dog which was mest 
useful was a rather small, short-legged 
one, which was at the same time strong 
and fairly heavy ; and such dogs are still 
sometimes called turnspits, though they 
may differ from each other a great deal in 
appearance, 
The use cf dog-wheels was not confined 
to the turning of spits. More than three 
hundred years ago they were .used at 
Royston, in Cambridgeshire, for drawing 
water out of deep wells; the dogs in this 
instance were mastiffs. I frequently see 
in an old chemist’s shop a large pestle 
and mortar, the former of which was 
worked by turnspit-dogs about sixty or 
seventy years ago, In one remote part of 
Wales, turnspit dogs were kept.in use 
until only a little more than thirty years 
ago. 
We may be sure that the turnspit often 
rebelled against his task work, A story 
which is related of the French astronomer 
Arago, shows this, and reveals also a sense 
of fairness or justice in one of these 
dogs, ‘The astronomer was overtaken by 
_the other. 
a storm as he was passing through a small 
village. He took shelter ina cottage, and 
as it was about the hour for dinner, he 
asked the cottazers to cook him a 
chicken. The fowl was placed upon the 
spit, which, as it happened, was turned by 
awheel, One of the turnspit-dogs was 
nthe kitchen, but when he.was called to 
enter the wheel, he showed his teeth and 
tried to slink away. His owner explained 
to Arago that there were two turnspits in 
the house, and this one objected to enter 
the wheel because it was not his turn. 
Arago requested the cottager to bring the 
other dog, and order it into the wheel. The 
dog was brought, and at the first sign it 
took up its task and turned the wheel for 
about ten minutes, The astronomer then 
requested the cottager to stop the wheel ~ 
release the working turnspit, and call up 
The cottager did so, and the 
dog which had previously been so 
rebellious entered the wheel immediately 
and began to turn it. 
W. A. Atkinson in § The Prize” 
E. BLACKEBY, 
BOOT & SHOE MANUFACTURER, 
226 Rundle Street, Adelaide. 
CUT SOLES A SPECIALITY 
