A RUSSIAN POODLE.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE "EPECTAT012.1
SIR,—The following story can be vouched for, and in recog- nition of the timely action of the dog, the Alliance Assurance Company, with whom the premises were insured, have awarded a silver medal to 'Zulu,' fully realising his saga- city in preventing what would otherwise have been a disastrous fire, with considerable danger to the occupiers of the house. Zulu,' who sleeps in the basement of a large house in a fashionable quarter of one of our largest cities, was early one Sunday morning lately roused by an outbreak of fire, which had apparently been smouldering for some time between the floor of the dining-room and ceiling of the room below. He, after repeatedly scratching at the bed- room door of one of the servants, succeeded in waking her. Thinking the dog must be unwell, she let him into her room, and got into bed again, but was not allowed to sleep, as 'Zulu,' sitting close by her bedside, kept " talking " to her as she describes it) so vigorously that she suspected some- thing must be wrong. On getting up the dog appeared so delighted that she followed him out of the room, and on looking into one of the rooms discovered the ceiling burning. Upon rousing the owner of the house, who immediately had the fire-alarm rung (which was fortunately close at hand), Zulu,' seeming to know he had done his duty, rushed upstairs to his mistress and left the house with the children, evidently satis- fied that he had fulfilled his part. On the fire brigade's arrival it was found that the fire had taken serious hold, and only required more air (which would have been given in another ten minutes by the collapse of the hearthstone, 16c.) to burst into fall flame in several places. The damage by heat and smoke was very great, and had air been admitted nothing could have saved the entire dwelling, as the joists between the flooring were burning from end to end of the the Secretary of the Alliance Assurance Company. — ED. Spectator.]
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