THE MYOPIA 



called him away during the season of 1 898. His place was filled by Mr. 

 T. G. Frothingham for a season, until Mr. Appleton returned and again took 

 up the reins of government, resigning in 1900, when the present Master, 

 Mr. George S. Mandell, was elected in his place. Fox-hunting had ceased, 

 the reasons for this being evident from Mr. Mandell's own remarks, which 

 follow : 



" The country is such as might be expected when chosen from a New 

 England landscape. It lies in Essex County about a forty-minute train 

 ride from Boston, principally in the tovras of Wenham, Hamilton, Ipswich, 

 Rowley and Topsfield, with a few of the choicest runs in West Newbury, 

 Newburyport, and even across the New Hampshire Ime. To make this 

 latter available, it is necessary for the hounds and horses to lie out over 

 night, usually the night before the meets. 



It is a land of small holdings; and by actual estimate, the Club enjoys its 

 sport through the courtesy of not less than five hundred famiers. The 

 problem is to tie together the odd bits of reclaimed land and old pastures 

 into a continuous gallop. Added to its natural rockiness, it suffers from salt 

 marshes, while directly through its centre runs a river hedged by the exten- 

 sive Wenham Swamp. There is also much impenetrable woodland, while 

 scarcely a field is without wire. 



" These conditions preclude many of the niceties of hunting. To take 

 one's own line would be extremely hazardous. Fences are usually »tone 

 walls, generally of small size, but occurring higher and more strongly built 

 with sufficient frequency to demand a good jumper. Wire is combated 

 with the usual panels of stout fencing. The jumps are noted for their trap- 

 piness rather than their height, and require an intelligent, rather than a big 

 jumper, and consequently the horses are highly bred with a very considera- 

 ble proportion of pure blood. In class they have steadily improved each 

 year." 



Consequently, Mr. Mandell, claiming the requirements of a draghound 

 to be materially different from those of a hound engaged in the pursuit of 

 the fox, bred along lines which he conceded were unorthodox, but which 

 he believed would give him better results, with the material he had at hand 



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