Rescue Work on the Great St. Bernard Pass.

Otago Witness, Issue 2892, 18 August 1909, Page 76

Rescue Work on the Great St. Bernard Pass.

In "The Rescue Dogs of v St. Bernard," Father Darbeliay, writing in the- WitfeWorld Magazine,- says that the animals frequently remain out on the mountains searching for lost travellers for 15, 18, and even, 24 hours at a stretch.

" On one occasion," he writes, "we went down the pass to seek some travellers who, we knew, could not possibly find, their tray, as it was snowing hard, bitterly cold, .and very dark. We had three dogs with us, and sent them on ahead. Presently we heard one barking. I hastened in Jh« direction of the sound, and there found the animal pawing away in the snow. I knew someone was buried there, and. pushing away the snow with our hands, we soon came across the body of a man. Hearing another dog barking, I was hastening away when the animal that had found the individual mentioned gripped me by the ooat and pulled me over in the snow. I wondered what was the matter, and got up quickly, discovering, with the aid of a lantern, that I was on the brink of a precipice; the dog had caved me from stepping over to my death. On this particular hunt we found eight persons, including one woman and a little child. The latter was very - weak and ill. One of the brethren removed^ his outer coat, wrapped the child in it, tied it to the back of one of the dogs, and sent it off to the hospice-. We then wended our way in the same direction."