Last Saturday a rosy cheeked, blue eyed little girl of five summers, Judith Ann, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Harold Ellis, who live northwest of Coldwater, came to the Star office and told the editor she had a story to tell. And a dramatic and exciting one it was, ending in true movie style.About sundown on Thursday of last week while Larry Ellis, age 9, was going to the barn, he noticed that the dogs were barking furiously and soon found the cause of the commotion.
A nearly grown raccoon had been routed by the dogs and in the fight that ensued the coon tolled Larry's large white sheep dog, Speck, into a fairly deep water hole which had formed in a ditch and extended into a field.
Larry's sister, Judith, also watched the coon hold the dog under water with its paws. When bubbles began to come up, Judith's small rat terrier, Lollipop, dashed into the water and swam to the raccoon, biting it for all she was worth.
The coon let go its hold on the white dog and turned to take care of the newcomer. Speck then came to the surface in a groggy condition but after a bit got a good breath and again began fighting the ringed animal.
The two dogs finally were able to overcome the coon and they swam with it to the shore, where Clifford Henderson, who had been in the barn milking, killed the animal.
Lollipop, the hero of the fight, came out in the worst shape, with several deep cuts on her front legs.
Clifford's three year old daughter, Sara Ann, and her little dog Skippy, also watched the melee, but he was held so tightly that he could not enter the fight.
Larry says that he is not going hunting any more unless he has a gun. Anyway, Lollipop is getting a lot of extra good food, for there wouldn't have been any speck of life in Speck had it not been for the game little terrier.
Thanks to Shirley Brier for finding, transcribing and contributing the above news article to this web site!
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