When Theodore Roosevelt was Police Commissioner of New York City (1895-97), he often dined at Michael F. Lyons’ restaurant on Bowery Street. The future president no doubt crossed paths with Jack the fire dog, a Dalmation attached to Ladder 9 nearby. Jack would eat at Lyon's several times a day, and while Roosevelt was expected to pay for his meals, Jack never did, and was never turned away. That's because Jack was a bona fide hero.
At the time, Dalmations were valuable to fire departments because they would clear traffic to get a fire wagon out of the station, run ahead as an alarm, and keep the horses calm at the scene of a fire. They were not expected to enter a burning building. Jack had already been a fire dog for several years when a fire broke out at Military Hall on December 20, 1895. Jack rushed into the building saved a man who had fallen asleep upstairs. Read about the life of Jack the fire dog and the night he earned free meals for life at The Hatching Cat. -via Strange Company
(Image credit: Department of Agriculture)
