The St. Bernard Dog 583 



Bonivard was of beautiful type and decidedly the best dog so far imported, 

 Mr. Benson's other dogs being nowhere near his quality. During the 

 winter of 1883-84 Mr. Hearn again took up the breed in earnest and bought 

 the dog that was always called " the giant Rector." His greatest claim to 

 notice was his immense size. We measured him to be 34^ inches at the 

 shoulder, standard measure. He was never shown here, however; for Em- 

 mett's Bayard Jr. not being any longer useful for stage business, his owner 

 wrote to us about getting another; and as he discarded Bonivard as too 

 small, we sent him to Mr. Hearn to see Rector. Mr. Hearn had no idea 

 of selling the dog, but being pressed to name a price said $4,000. Mr. Em- 

 mett took the first train to Passaic, saw Rector and at once sent a telegram 

 to Mr. Hearn that he would take the dog. He was a very bad-tempered 

 animal and when left one night in the billiard room at Mr. Emmett's famed 

 house up the Hudson ripped the expensive furnishings to pieces. After 

 that he was kept on chain a good deal, and one night jumped his stall and 

 was found hanging dead the next morning. 



Mr. Hearn speedily reinvested the Rector money and in addition to 

 purchasing Bonivard imported Duke of Leeds, Gertie and Rohna in roughs, 

 and Don II. and the grand Leila in smooths. The latter was a low, long- 

 bodied bitch with a grand head and was by far the best of his purchases. 

 Duke of Leeds, though tall and well-built, was poor in head, and the rest 

 of the dogs were not up to the mark at all. 



With regard to Leila we wrote as follows in the American Kennel Re- 

 gister for July, 1892: "It was stated by a St. Bernard exhibitor at the last 

 New York show that Empress of Contocook was a better bitch than Leila, 

 but good bitch as Colonel Rupperts'undoubtedly is she yet falls a good deal 

 short of the quality of Mr. Hearn's wonder. I cannot bring myself to believe 

 that any later importation possessed or possesses the grandeur of type so 

 conspicuous in Leila. They are all bigger, for Leila stood but 29 inches at 

 the shoulder, but size never makes a dog good if other much more important 

 qualities are lacking. Sir Bedivere has been preached to us as the acme of all 

 that is grand and desirable in the St. Bernard, and while it would doubtless 

 be correct to place him over Leila in one's estimation, it would not be by 

 head properties that he would win. She was the first specimen we had of 

 the deep face and narrower skull to which the fancy has tended so much of 

 late." The remark, "narrower skull," does not mean narrow compared 

 with dogs of to-day, but only with reference to what we had had up to that 



