Hero�s collar belonging to fabled canine saviour returns to Newfoundland

Legend has it that when the S.S. Ethie ran aground during a December storm in 1919 off Cow Head on Newfoundland�s western coast, there was a dog which played an active role in the rescue of the 92 souls aboard the troubled steamer. Newspapers of the day describe the efforts of a collie-type dog, which swam out to catch a line and bring it in to shore so that the passengers and crew of the Ethie could be brought to safety. Among the rescued was an 18-month old baby who was tucked inside a mailbag for the perilous ride from the sinking ship to those waiting on shore. Later accounts would describe the breed of dog as a Newfoundland dog. News of the brave canine spread, and his efforts were recognized by a Philadelphia humane society with the presentation of specially made collar with a silver plate inscribed with the word �Hero.� Later, a World War I Veteran�s hospital in Halifax would present the dog with a medal for bravery, which the dog�s owner also attached to the collar.

The dog was subsequently sold to a man in New Brunswick who made his way across Canada and ended up in Alaska, where both he and the dog spent the rest of their lives. When the dog died, his collar was given to a young neighbor who had been fond of the dog. From there, the collar goes through several pairs of hands before ending up in the collection of Dottie Olson of Wrangell, Alaska.

Which brings us up to the current day�.almost.

Bruce Ricketts of Ottawa is an Ottawa-based computer consultant by day, and webmaster of "The Mysteries of Canada" website (www.mysteriesofcanada.com) by night. Ricketts and his wife Anna have been gathering Canadian legends for the website for some years now. Included in the collection of stories presented on the website � which range from the fascinating to the bizarre � is the tale of the sinking of the S.S. Ethie, which includes a reference to the life-saving canine involved in the rescue. Dottie Olson happened across the Ricketts� website, realized that the dog collar in her collection could have belonged to the dog in the story and contacted Mr. Ricketts to let him know what she had. The Ricketts flew to Alaska to authenticate the collar and, with the help of Mrs. Olson, pieced together the missing years in the story and realized that this very likely was the collar presented to the brave animal some 80 years ago.

So how, after all these years, does the collar complete the circle back to Newfoundland? The Ricketts have a familial link to Canada�s easternmost province, as one of their children is married to a Newfoundlander. Having visited the Newfoundland Museum in the past, the Ricketts believed that Newfoundlanders deserved to see this remarkable and intriguing artifact of the province�s past, so they convinced Mrs. Olson to loan the collar to the museum.

The Ricketts presented the dog collar to Charles J. Furey, Minister for Tourism, Culture and Recreation, this morning in a short ceremony at his office. In receiving the dog collar, the minister thanked the Ricketts on behalf of the people of the province, and marveled at the remarkable story. "It�s wonderful when such a unique object is repatriated to Newfoundland so that it can be exhibited at the Newfoundland Museum," added the minister. The presentation, which took place in the minister�s office, was attended by Penny Houlden, chief curator of the Newfoundland Museum and Hilda Menchions of St. John�s. Who is Hilda Menchions? Now in her 80s, Mrs. Menchions was the baby in the mailbag which the fabled hero-dog helped to rescue on that cold winter�s night in 1919.

Media contact: Deborah Glassman, (709) 729-5002

Photo Caption: (L to R) Hilda Menchions, Minister Charles Furey and Bruce Ricketts.

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