148 The Fox Terrier. 



appearance Powderham Jack was quite up to " show form ;" 

 indeed, on several occasions before his great fight, he had 

 appeared on the bench, where he met with considerable 

 success. On his sire's side he was descended from Jack 

 Terry's Wasp and champion Broome, but his dam's pedigree 

 was never ascertained. 



Some of the earlier wire-haired terriers were remarkably 

 savage and ill-tempered, or perhaps it was the writer's 

 misfortune to possess such. However, about seventeen 

 years ago I had one sent me from Shropshire, which 

 originally came from the huntsman of the Albrighton 

 hounds. Anyhow, rare good-looking dog though he 

 seemed, his excellence was sadly marred by his de- 

 testable disposition. He was never safe, and always as 

 willing to growl at his owner as to take a piece out of 

 the leg of a tramp or anyone else. Entered for Darlington 

 Show at a few pounds, if he was not sold I had promised 

 him as a present to a friend ; as it happened he won 

 the first prize and the special cup, and was at once 

 claimed by a well-known admirer of the breed. Avenger 

 (the dog's name) was a little high on the legs, i81b. 

 weight, straight in front and terrier-like in head, with a 

 hard jacket, but not much of it. I need scarcely say he 

 did not need trimming, or " faking," to make him look 

 his best. 



Owing to one cause or another, the wire-haired fox 

 terrier has occupied longer in popularising himself than 

 the smooth-coated one. For years he was without a 

 class at any of the shows, and when he became so im- 

 portant as to be honoured by being so provided, he was 

 relegated to the non-sporting division ! Birmingham gave 

 him his first class in 1873, nine years subsequent to the 



