This week’s Rearview Mirror has gone to the dogs … and turkeys … and tortoises … and horses … and cows. There’s even a bull involved!

Queenie

First up is the dog, which went to school for 10 years, and I don’t mean obedience school. She went to Baldwin High School.

My mentor, columnist Bob Krauss, wrote about her in 1997. He was excerpting the Hawaiian Humane Society’s book “Poi Dogs and Popoki.”

Her owner, Laura Wong, said Queenie began following her son, Ransome, to school in 1952. (I guess that made the boy a queen’s Ransome! Sorry, I couldn’t resist.)

Ransome graduated in 1956 and became a schoolteacher on Lanai. Queenie had gotten into the habit of going to Baldwin and continued doing so until at least 1962, when the last article on her was written.

Queenie left home each morning and greeted the students as they arrived. The students elected her “queen” of the class of 1962.

I talked to the current school principal and searched the newspapers but have not found any more about Queenie.

Evelaina

King Kamehameha III, our longest-serving monarch, also had a pet dog, a mastiff named Evelaina. In 1867 The Polynesian wrote that “among the instances of strong attachment of dogs to their masters, many interesting tales have been recorded.”

When the king died in 1854, he was buried at the Pohukaina Royal Tomb, on Iolani Palace grounds. Evelaina “took his station outside the door of the tomb, and there commenced his weary watch.” He remained there for two years, taking time off only to eat.

Freckles

Many school kids remember being visited by a tan-and-white Cocker spaniel and his handler, “Mr. Mac,” aka Arthur McCormack, who began his Caring for Your Dog program in 1935.

The star of the show was a canine named Freckles. Actually, it was seven generations of Cocker spaniels. Freckles II performed for 15 years and educated over 300,000 kids. Freckles V starred in several TV commercials, including one for United Airlines.

I looked into Mr. Mac further and learned he had to drop out of intermediate school to work when his father died during the Great Depression.

One job he found was taking care of (Fleischmann’s Yeast heir) Chris Holmes’ 30 dogs on Coconut Island in Kaneohe Bay. Six months later he joined the Hawaiian Humane Society.

The first Freckles belonged to a sergeant who was ordered overseas in 1944. He turned in the dog to the Humane Society, but instead of being adopted, Freckles became attached to McCormack, who managed the Moiliili operation.

McCormack adopted Freckles and taught him several tricks. Mr. Mac and Freckles visited schools for 47 years. When he retired in 1981, the Humane Society called him “dog’s best friend.”

Thousands of kids a year sent mail addressed to Freckles at the Humane Society.

Down payment

Krauss also mentioned a home-sick horse named Patches. In 1961 his owner, Leonard Kaiser, 21, traded in the faithful horse for a used car.

Stan’s Motors in Kalihi on Nimitz Highway put him in a corral and renamed him Down Payment. Two weeks later the horse kicked his way out of the corral at 3 a.m. and hoofed it back to Kaiser’s Manoa home, 12 miles away. He arrived at 7:30 a.m.

“That’s the first time I’ve ever had a down payment kick out the door and walk off,” said John Murray of Stan’s Motors.

Leonard’s younger sister, Kathie Kaiser, 12, was overjoyed to get him back.

Leonard and Kathie’s father, Honolulu Police Department Sgt. Leo H. Kaiser, said Patches was a smart horse. “I bet, all the way home, he never went through a red light.”

John Murray said the next time he does some horse trading, he’s going to consult the horse.

Lani Moo

The most famous bovine in Hawaii is Lani Moo. In 1950 the Dairymen’s Association held a contest to name Little Miss Golden Guernsey. The association was celebrating its 50th anniversary.

Patricia Colburn, 7, a student at Kamehameha Schools, won $100 for her proposed name and promptly donated some of it to charity. Over 3,500 kids submitted names. Several thousand others visited the calf at her corral in Niu Valley.

After her naming, Lani Moo moved to the old Waialae Ranch and later into a $1.5 million facility on the North Shore.

Former Meadow Gold President Glenn Muranaka has helped build a Keiki Corner at the Honolulu Zoo, and you can visit Lani Moo there today.

‘Da Bull’

A few weeks ago I wrote about how Holiday Mart created a publicity stunt in 1964 to draw attention to its new Kaheka Street store as Thanksgiving approached.

It bought 34 live turkeys from Parker Ranch on the Big Island and shipped them to Honolulu. The driver, pro wrestler Curtis “The Bull” Iaukea Jr., picked them up in a truck. He was told to have a “breakdown” at Bishop and King streets downtown. Several of the turkeys “escaped.”

Reporters and photographers had been alerted, and the whole scene was front-page news.

Herbert Loui, a manager at M’s Coffee Tavern, spotted one on a ledge of the Stanglewald Building. As firemen hoisted a ladder, it flew across the street.

“Let’s call the turkey down,” a fireman suggested, and the crowd went “gobble, gobble.” The turkey was not persuaded.

Loui climbed a roof and grabbed the turkey as the crowd below cheered.

Four others were captured by passers-by, who were paid 39 cents a pound for their efforts. Really. Some were never seen again, possibly sheltered by sympathetic (or hungry) citizens who aided their getaway, a Holiday Mart manager theorized.

One flew through an open Bank of Hawaii window and into the astonished arms of Pat Mark, a secretary. She and her boss grabbed the bird.

One onlooker saw a guy jump out of a bus, scoop up two turkeys and run off.

Ten of the birds made it to Holiday Mart where they were put on display outside the store. It was one of the most successful publicity stunts ever in Hawaii.

Curtis “The Bull” Iaukea Jr., for those who don’t know, was a 6-foot-5 athlete who weighed 350 pounds. He played football at Punahou, then the Oakland Raiders.

After that he became a pro wrestler. He was famous for his “Big Splash” move where he would throw himself onto a fallen opponent and pin him to the ground.

Tortoises

A few weeks ago I wrote about tortoises owned by Kamehameha III, Queen Lili‘uokalani, Mary Foster and others.

Former Honolulu Zoo Director Paul Breese, 95, called to let me know that the zoo was the first in the world to breed Galapagos tortoises in captivity.

It began in 1954, when the first one hatched. The zoo discovered the tortoises’ incubation period was about 18 months. Over time, Breese says, the zoo bred over 70 and exchanged them with zoos around the world. Millions of visitors have seen them.

The word “Galapagos” means “turtles” in old Spanish. You can read more about them in Paul and Jean DeMercer-Breese’s fascinating book, “The Honolulu Zoo.”

Do you have an interesting pet story? If so, please email me.

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In a few weeks I’ll be launching Rearview Mirror Insider. It’s a midweek email to readers who want to know what stories I’m developing for the next month or who want to help. I always have questions that I’m sure some of my readers can answer. I’ll have more information on this June 8.

Bob Sigall is the author of the five “The Companies We Keep” books, available at www.companieswekeep.com. Contact him at Sigall@Yahoo.com.