Dr. Walter Steele Fends Off Vicious Dog With Newspaper, 1922

 From the March 2, 1922 issue of the Rockingham Post-Dispatch

The Raleigh News and Observer carried a thrilling paragraph last week to the effect that as Dr. Walter L. Steele was coming down the street of that city he was attacked by a vicious dog. The only weapon handy a copy of the News and Observer that he carried in his hand, and so with this as a deadly weapon, he warded off the animal and escaped being crunched to bits. It must have been a harrowing experience for the doctor—who, it might be added, is rather fond of lending color to personal incidents, such as how many birds he killed in a day’s hunt, or what super-intelligence his own dogs are possessed of.

The News and Observer has been used for many purposes, but hardly before as a deadly weapon against a dog.

It is known of all men how deadly it is against Republicans and everything pertaining to that persuasion. It is even said that in the mountain counties Republican mothers used to frighten their children into quietness by telling them if they didn’t hush she would read the News and Observer to them. And now Dr. Watt has found still another classification for the “Old Reliable.”