Dachshunds

Dachshunds are a recurring subject in Mrs Swettenham’s reading of newspaper advertisements, where her passing remarks about the breed help establish her conversational, digressive way of responding to the printed page. The dogs recur in her commentary rather than entering the scene as animals: her interest lies in people’s advertisements and habits, not in any reported encounter with a dachshund.

Appearances in the Personal Column

In her first sequence of remarks, Mrs Swettenham reads an advertisement for dachshunds and says she has never cared for them. She explicitly distinguishes that dislike from anti-German feeling, adding that people have moved past such sentiments; her objection is simply a personal preference. The aside places a small trace of post-war attitudes within an otherwise everyday catalogue of advertisements.

When she returns to the personal column later, another dachshund advertisement prompts her to say that people seem to have gone a little crazy about breeding the dogs. The recurrence turns an isolated notice into a running subject in her reading: the advertisements keep bringing the breed back into view, and she treats their frequency as a mild absurdity.

Contrast with Other Dogs

The second comment broadens her complaint beyond dachshunds. Mrs Swettenham insists that other dogs exist and recalls that her Uncle Simon bred Manchester Terriers, which she describes as graceful. She particularly likes dogs with legs, making her preference an explicit contrast between the dachshund advertisements and the long-legged breed she remembers. The exchange offers no further information about the dogs themselves; its emphasis is on her taste and the contrast she draws.

Narrative Function

The dachshunds belong to the busy, miscellaneous texture of the newspaper column, which Mrs Swettenham reads aloud alongside notices about jobs, goods for sale, and other dogs. Their repeated appearance gives her digression a small continuity, while her remarks reveal a dryly opinionated voice: she dismisses the breed, notices its apparent popularity, and sets it against a remembered family preference. The dogs remain a recurring detail of her reading, not participants in the events announced elsewhere in the column.