Existing comment:
The Globetrotter:
In the late 1880s, a terrier-mix mutt began regularly visiting the Albany, New York, post office. There, among the mailbags and postal clerks, the dog found a home -- and a family.
Owney, as the dog was called, took it upon himself to guard the mail. He began traveling across the country by train, keeping tabs on mailbags that might otherwise have been lost along the way. The postal clerks loved Owney, and he quickly shot to fame as the mascot of the Railway Mail Service.
He ventured as far as Canada, Mexico, and even the Far East throughout his many travels. In 1895, he set sail for Japan and China and was sent by registered mail part of the way. Postal clerks created a special mail classification just for Owney: "Registered Dog Package." In all, he traveled more than 143,010 miles -- more than half the distance to the moon. |