Nor Gleam of Fang

Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night poses so painful a threat to the U.S. postman as the common dog. Last year 7,372 mail carriers were bitten by Fido; many more were stayed by a snarl from the swift completion of their appointed rounds. But the postman is about to snap back.

Since 1958, the post office's Safety and Health Division has been experimenting with various deterrents. Candy pacifiers were gratefully chomped by attacking dogs, but after the appetizers disappeared, the mailman still took it on the shin.

Noisome chemicals and tear gas proved as repellent to the courier as to the cur. An electrified "shock stick" showed promise, but postmen preferred to use it as a club.

This spring, selected postmen will set out on their rounds armed with slim aluminum cans shaped like outsize perfume atomizers. If a dog attacks, it will be greeted with a jet of "Halt," an odorless fluid containing mineral oil and an extract of cayenne pepper. Halt's pungency irritates the dog's respiratory system, has not yet given the Humane Society any cause for complaint. Says one safety engineer: "The dog puts his tail between his legs and slinks away to the back of the house." Where, no doubt, he meets the milkman.

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