“BILLY.”

Otaki Mail, Volume 26, 15 September 1919, Page 4

“BILLY.”

AN INTERESTING CANINE. Billy is a bright little Sealyham ter- I rier, as keen aud alert as a terrier I should be, but with it all he possesses a kindly and friendly disposition. Al- j though only two years old, this gay 1 little dog has had experiences which fall to the lot of few members of the canine world. He has spent months in the trenches, has been under lire, and has had an experience of Hun gas. I Billy has also crossed the Channel in P an aeroplane, and finally made the I voyage from England to Now Zealand, £ and now appears (says the Taranaki S Herald) to have thoroughly settled J down with his owner, Lieut.-Colonel ‘ Weston, in New Plymouth. } Billy was purchased from some fain- 1 ous dog people of New Oxford street, London. He was just a wee ball of white fluff at the time, only a few weoks old, and was taken- across to Franco under the great* coat of his purchaser. He was soon the pride of the 3rd Battalion of the Wellington Regiment;* everybody loved little Billy and Billy himself, like a sensible little dog, reciprocated. Then his master was wounded and carried out of the lines, and Billy himself was attacked with distemper, and following upon this ho was also gassed so that for a while he was a very sick little dog. But everything possible was done lor him, and,he was*tenderly, nursed back to health and eventually dispatched to an aerodrome at Boulogne, where he stayed for a few months before being taken across to England by Flight-Captain C. H. Drew. Billy did not make the flight in any unceremonious fashion, but was strapped alongside the pilot as any passenger might be, and appeared to be keenly interested in ail that was to he seen fur down below. Later Billy was permitted to go to Wakoii-on-Tkames. and he also accompanied his master to a convalescent home at Bournemouth. Subsequently Colonel Weston took Billy to London preparatory to leaving for New Zealand, but there were so many formalities to be gone through that the dog had to be left behind for the time being. He was sent out ultimately on the Hororata, and after undergoing the necessary quarantine period on Somes Island arrived in New Plymouth a day or two ago appearing none the worse for the many adventures he has experienced.