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Show t By ELMO SCOTT WATSON f rr ' .l1 HESE are dog days, that ,'. period In the months of July and August when Sl-rlus, Sl-rlus, the dog star, rises and sets with the sun, and It Is the time when, unless I the weather Is unusually 1 capricious, man can ex t J pect the warmest weather during the whole year. But for the dog lover every day Id I Che year Is a "dog day," marked bj t the warmth of his affection for th animal which Is traditionally known as "man's best friend." That man recognizes this fact Is shown by the numerous Instances In which he has paid signal honor to certain Individuals Individ-uals of this race of what is often so Inappropriately referred to as "dumb animals." There is the case of Sergeant Major JIggs, the mascot of the United States marine corps, who died on January 9 of this year and was burled with full military honors by his friends, who are proud to call themselves "devil dogs." There is the case of Stubby, the Internationally In-ternationally famous mascot of the A. E. F., veteran of four major engagements, en-gagements, wearer of one wound stripe, and recipient of numerous medals med-als and decorations, who also died recently re-cently but who has been mounted and given a place of honor In the American Ameri-can Red Cross museum at Washington. There is Eufus. the Newfoundland hero, who accompanied Lou Weseott Beck, the "Samaritan of Death Valley," Val-ley," on all of his errands of mercy Into that earthly inferno to rescue prospectors perishing from thirst and who Is honored with his master, since their deaths, with a monument In the city of Los Angeles. Who has forgotten Balto, the Alaskan Alas-kan husky, who won fame in his dash to Nome two years ago as the leader of a dog team bearing the diphtheria serum to the plague-stricken city? According Ac-cording to press dispatches, Balto Is to have a permanent home in the Cleveland zoo for the rest of his life instead of leading the wandering life of a vaudeville trouper or a sideshow exhibit. But monuments are not the only enduring en-during memorials to the dog's fidelity to man. Another memorial, and perhaps per-haps the most famous of all is the eulogy once pronounced by Senator George G. Vest of Missouri, which, delivered de-livered before a jury in that state famous for its hound dogs, has been reprinted in newspapers and repeated as a popular bit of American oratory more times, since it was uttered fifty years ago, than any other speech of Its kind. , Famous as Is this eulogy, there has gathered around It a cloud of myth and tradition which has obscured the facts of the case and the circumstances circum-stances under which it was nttered. The true story of the lawsuit over the killing of Old Drum, the houn' dog, made famous by Vest's eulogy, was recently made public by Will C. Fer-rill, Fer-rill, editor of the Rocky Mountain Herald Her-ald at Denver, Colo., who was a nephew of the two litigants in the case and who is therefore In a position posi-tion to know the facts. Mr. Ferrill's story follows : This hound case seemg to be developing develop-ing In the East Into as much of a myth as those exaggerated tales of Jesse James. The litigants In this case were two uncles of mine. There have been many versions of the narrative, but the Inside family story Is that the killing of Old Drum really wan an accident, ac-cident, the result of an overcharge of beans In a shotgun which 'was "planted'' "plant-ed'' to fflve him a good scare. It proper prop-er explanations had been ottered, the whole affair might have been settled amicably, but the explanations were neglected and as a result two families were Involved in a bitter court feud and the hound case became famous. The squabble came Into public notice when Leonidas Hornsby, my mother's brother, was accused by Charles Burden, Bur-den, who bad married my mother's sls-tr, sls-tr, of having killed Hornsby's favorite hunting dog. Drum. Both families were well-to-do, or the case never would have been tried again and again and carried to the Supreme Su-preme court of Missouri In lengthy and expensive litigation. Drum was as populKr .at the Hornsby place in Johnston county, Missouri, as at the farm of his master. Charles Burden, Bur-den, who lived nearby. Drum would go over to the Hornsbys and during those visits was often used by Uncle Lon and others for hunting. Game was then abundant In that part of Mis-sourl, Mis-sourl, which bad been much desolated by the Civil war. Some animal, wild or tame, was disturbing dis-turbing the pans of milk at the Hornsbys; Horns-bys; finally It was discovered that Drum was the guilty one. Uncle Lon, as I have heard the story, told or suggested sug-gested to one of the younger members of the family, that he load a shotgun j with beans and pepper old Drum with ; a shot. It so happened that the shotgun shot-gun was overloaded, or the range too j close, and Instead of giving Drum a 1 rood 'peppering." the hound was I killed. There was no Intention at all, i according to this story, to kill Drum. This story about a poor man losing his j favorite hound through the wicked act of another Is Eastern myth, f The mistake was that Uncle Charley j was not Informed of the" accidental u ,i5ZGZiirrJ7?&m kiillng of Drum. The body of Drum was htd and Utter found, and. as na explanation was made, the legal row began. The Hornsbys were from Tennessee Ten-nessee and North Carolina, and the Burdens from Kentucky and Virginia. Both sides were stubborn. Burden I sued Hornsby November 9, 1S69, be-j be-j fore Justice of the Peace George Nor-I Nor-I man. The jury hung. The case wai ' tried again, and again the Jury hun. : At another hearing in January, 1870, j Burden obtained a verdict of $25 against Hornsby in a Jury trial. Hornsby appealed to the Court ol Common Pleas, where the jury gave a verdict In his favor. On May 2, 1S70, a motion for a new trial was granted. The original claim by Burden for damages dam-ages was $50, and In the new trial In the Circuit court. Burden was given a Jury verdict for $50, aa was first demanded, de-manded, and Drum, the old hound won. It was In this later litigation that the big legal guns appeared. Uncle Lon Hornsby employed Crittenden At Cockrell and Uncle Charley retained Phillips & Vest and Elliott & Blodgett. This was Col. Thomas T. Crittenden, later governor of Missouri, and Colonel Cockrell, later United Statei senator from Missouri. Blodgett became general gen-eral solicitor of the North Missouri railroad, afterward of the Wabash By stem. Elliott was also an eminent lawyer. Phillips and Vest were distinguished distin-guished In their profession and later prominent in the publio service. John P. Phillips became United States Judg at Kansas City, and George G. Vest, United States senator from Missouri, Such was the array of learned counsel when the case was tried before a Jury September 23, 1870. Judge Foster P. Wright was the presiding Judge. Blodgett Blod-gett opened for Drum, followed by Crittenden and then Cockrell in opposition, oppo-sition, all three making brilliant speeches. Oratory ran high. Then Vest spoke and won the case for the hound, for by this time the Interest centered more in Drum than either Uncle Charley, the plaintiff, or Uncle Lon, the defendant. Vest's speech has become a classlo on the dog in American literature, In the case of old Drum who was accidentally acci-dentally shot with an overcharge of beans, when he was disturbing the pans of milk at the old home place of my grand fat her, Brlnkley Hornsby. Uncle Lon appealed to the Supreme court of Missouri. f?o much for the facts In the myth story so often told, as to the pnrties Involved, the story of the poor, friendless friend-less man whose hound was ruthlessly killed, and the remarkable statement that the plaintiff demanded $200 for the death of Drum and the Jury awarded him $.r)00. |