THE MEADOW BROOK 



end to these pioneer efforts, and, as was the case with the hunting about 

 Philadelphia, there was a period of inactivity among fox-hunters. 



As far as can be discovered, there was little or no hunting about New 

 York City until 1 874, when Colonel Frederick S. Skinner and Mr. Joseph 

 Donohue maintained a pack of hounds on the edge of the Jersey meadows, 

 at Hackensack. Messrs. Skinner and Donohue were in the habit of draw- 

 ing their coverts on foot and when hounds found, of retreating to a horse and 

 buggy which stood in the fields nearby and follovsong as best they could along 

 the roads. When hounds killed, however, they were generally there or there- 

 abouts, and although their methods could hardly be endorsed by any previ- 

 ous customs of the hunting-field, they were hard to beat at their game. 



Eventually the "goings-on" at Hackensack came to the ears of half-a- 

 dozen young men of New York, one or two of whom had hunted in Eng- 

 land and all of whom were keen for sport of any kind. One by one they 

 stole across to Hackensack and the New Jersey pack began to have a fol- 

 lowing of straight riders. The joint Masters, Messrs. Skinner and Donohue, 

 still kept to their faithful buggy, but welcomed the riders who flew timber 

 and stone and rode out of their way to get the jumping. 



But the fences were simple, the country was small and the pace was slow, 

 and although a large Field came from New York on Thanksgiving Day of 

 1 876 to join in the fun, it was soon found that both hounds and country 

 were unsuitable to attain the best results and it was decided to make a move. 

 To Messrs. Skinner and Donohue, however, should be given the credit of 

 whetting the appetites of the slow-moving New Yorkers and inciting them 

 to an appreciation of the possibihties of fox-hunting on Long Island. 



Early in 1877, four gentlemen, A. Belmont Purdy, William E. Peet, F. 

 Gray Griswold and Robert Center, met at the latter's rooms in New York 

 and subscribed $250 each, to go toward the purchasing of a pack. Mr. 

 Griswold, who was going abroad, was entrusted with their selection and pur- 

 chase, and on his arrival in Ireland he obtained, through Mr. Thomas Tur- 

 bitt of Scribblestown, a pack of harriers. 



During Mr. Griswold's absence, the other three gentlemen cast about for 

 a suitable country, and eventually selected that now hunted over by the 



73 



