The Brits have got a new kind of gun called the Armstrong gun, far more powerful than anything that'd been seen before." "Initially, it does seem a very one-sided affair. Writer and broadcaster Chris Bowlby says the Chinese weren't a great military power. Wars over who controlled the flow of lucrative opium, who had to pay whom for tariffs and trade, and who really held sovereignty over China. ![]() These were wars over drugs, money and power. ![]() The Old Summer Palace was much, much richer and more beautiful."īut the Opium Wars of the mid-1800s would see that paradise reduced to rubble. "The Forbidden City is man-made, it's rigid, formal, symmetrical. "The style is nature, it's beauty, it's everything," she says. Qinghua Guo, an architectural historian at Melbourne University, says the original designs, and paintings of the palace, give us an idea of its grandeur. Its marble palaces, temples, and towers were adorned with jade, bronze and precious stones. Brutality and revengeįor the Qing dynasty Yuanmingyuan, the 'garden of perfect brightness', wasn't just a palace - it was a city.Īll told, its grounds stretched the size of 650 football fields. This little Pekingese, taken after a series of brutal and destructive acts, will come to symbolise British imperialism and its long, complicated legacy. Queen Victoria is about to get a new pet. A dog.Ī dog that is destined to swap this palace for another. They're seeking reward too - looting silks, vases, paintings … and something else. If you have questions or concerns about your pet's health or nutrition, please talk with your veterinarian.Beijing's Old Summer Palace burns as British soldiers seek retribution. The information in this blog has been developed with our veterinarian and is designed to help educate pet parents. ![]() Now that you can entertain others with the history of the Dalmatian as firehouse dog, here’s one more bit of trivia for you: Dalmatians are born white and only develop spots as they grow. To keep them sharp, the dogs must be recertified every year. After certification, arson dogs live with their handlers and usually investigate fire scenes every week. Labrador retrievers or Lab crosses are typically preferred for this work because of their tracking abilities and easy-going natures.Įach dog is teamed with a handler, usually an investigative firefighter or police officer, and undergoes weeks of intensive training. Most arson dogs in the United States are trained and certified by the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms and Tobacco or according to Maine Criminal Justice Academy guidelines in a special program funded by State Farm Insurance Company. In the 1980s, fire departments started employing arson dogs, or accelerant-detection canines, to use their powerful noses to whiff out gasoline, lighter fluid and other flammables used to spark fires. Some firehouses may still keep one around, and firefighters occasionally adopt dogs they’ve saved from fires, but these are often other breeds. Back at the firehouse, the dogs made short work of rats and other vermin.īut with the advent of motorized fire engines, there was little need for the Dalmatian, so they were essentially retired. At the scene of the fire, these same dogs helped calm skittish horses and made sure no one stole the equipment or horses while the firefighters were doing their jobs. When horse-drawn fire wagons came on the scene, it was a natural transition to use barking Dalmatians to clear a path for the rushing wagon. And the more Dalmatians that accompanied a carriage, the more likely its occupants were wealthy or of higher social stature. The dogs also guarded the carriage and alerted the driver of highwaymen with nefarious intentions. (An engraving of a spotted dog running behind an Egyptian chariot hints that Dalmatians may have held similar jobs much earlier.) As a result, Dalmatians were used as “carriage dogs” or “English coach dogs,” sprinting on either side of horse-drawn carriages to protect the equines from animals that might spook them. ![]() Some 200 years ago, the British discovered that this spotted breed had three useful qualities: speed, endurance and an affinity for horses. While he or she once was considered an integral part of the fire crew, today the Dalmatian is a rare sight at firehouses and is more likely to fulfill a less active role as mascot. Few things are more closely associated with the roar of a fire engine, the clang of bells and the wail of a siren than the Dalmatian.
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