268. 



& 



FOREST AND STREAM 



termined to accept none of the "spurious imitations" of the 

 breed which others less particular than he are bringing for- 

 ward ready at his hand. Like genuine antiquities, such an- 

 cient breeds of dogs as the Irish wolf-bound are interesting 

 and valuable, if only as memorials of early times. The early 

 Britons were, it is well known, celebrated for their breeds of 

 dogs, and of these the most remarkable were the mastiff and 

 the large, rough wolf or gaze hound. The mastiff, it need 

 scarcely be said, has been resuscitated, in fact, " very much" 

 resuscitated, for there are two or three sections of mastiff 

 breeders, each equally certain that the other's mastiffs are no 

 mastiff a at all, and that they only themselves possess the 

 genuine, unadulterated article. If one is to put any faith 

 whatever in what history says, however, about mastiffs, the 

 modern animal, magnificent a creature as he is, must be but a 

 puny descendant of a breed, two of which were, in early 

 times, more than a match for a lion or a tiger. 



No organized attempt, however, has, as far as I am aware, 

 beon made to reproduce the Irish wolf-hound until thepresent. 

 The Irish wolf-hound is of as undoubted antiquity as the 

 mastiff, and, although his primogenitors were the breed of 

 ctler es of the early Britons, it was in Ireland that he retained 

 most of the characteristics of that ancient breed for many 

 years after he lost his identity elsewhere in the British Islands. 

 The Scotch deerhound, beyond doubt, is descended from the 

 same source, but climate and other influences have had the 

 effect of producing the modifications now presented in the 

 modern animal. 



The Irish wolf-hound, however, as long as he was known to 

 exist, even under the appellation of the great Irish greyhound 

 (Canis graim 7iibernieus) retained his size and other charac- 

 teristics" of the wolf-hound, with which he really was synony- 

 mous. The Irish wolf-dog existed in the third century, and 

 having in addition to his power of speed, great size, strength, 

 agility and courage, was exported to Rome for fighting with 

 the wild beasts in the arena. It has been held by some 

 writers that it was the British mastiff alone that was sent to 

 Borne for this purpose, but there is strong evidence that both 

 the Irish wolf-doif and English mastiff were fought in the 

 arena against wild beasts in the third and fourth centuries. 

 Scrope, writing at the beginning of the present century, says 

 that the gigantic Irish greyhounds or wolf dogs "at one time 

 existed in Ireland," but " are now extinct." The Sligo 

 family are mentioned by some authorities as having retained 

 the breed in purity up to a comparatively modern date ; but 

 as I believe several large German boarhounds were imported 

 and crossed with them, it seems doubtful whether that family 

 actually has ever possessed the breed in its unadulterated state 

 during the past century or more. H. G. Daltbt. 



The Doa as a Shkef Hbstroyeii.— If the statistics which 

 we find in a late number of the Baltimore Sun are accurate, 

 legislation regarding the hordes of dogs infesting certain dis- 

 tricts is imperatively needed. Here, for instance, is Mary- 

 land, with her 4,000,000 acres of uncultivated land and 1,000, 

 000 acres of wild pasturage, and yet only 151,200 sheep ; and 

 all because sheep farmers know that seven per cent, of their 

 sheep must annually be destroyed by dogs. The Southern 

 States have summer pasturage for 150,000,000 sheep and win- 

 ter keep for over 60,000,000, but in 1878 there were only 

 6,887,000 sheep, and of these over half a million were de- 

 stroyed by dogs. Of course we cannot lay the whole blame 

 of the non-developement of this pursuit alone upon tin 

 dogs. But the voice of the farmers is very unanimous in de 

 signaling the danger of destruction by curs as the most 

 powerful deterrent from any extensive participation in sheep 

 culture. No one is willing to expend time and capital upon 

 mutton to see it go to the dogs. There are millions and mil- 

 lions of curs in tie South which are altogether worthless and 

 worse than good-for-nothing— a positive nuisance. It is a 

 curious spectacle, this nursing of a domestic wild beast to 

 prey upon the flocks of husbandry. The cur-dogs should be 

 put out of existence. If their owners do not see the necessity 

 of such action farmers and capitalists may find the remedy in 

 legislation. To sacrifice a profitable industry to the fostering 

 of these droves of canine pests is simply monstrous. We 

 shall always uphold most strenuously all law making tending 

 to protect the owners of valuable breeds of dogs ; but when 

 in any section of the country the dog becomes a pest we 

 shall advocate with equal force the only remedy, extermina- 

 tion, 



. ■•■ i 



A Good Movb. — The Monroe County Sportsmen's Olub, 

 of Rochester, N. Y., at their last meeting adapted the fol- 

 lowing resolutions : 



Whereas, The absence from the statute books of New York 

 of a law defining the rate of compensation per mile at wliicb 

 railroad companies shall carry dogs in baggage cars is a 

 source of great annoyance to thousands of persons annually, 

 who are in consequence subject in many cases to extortionate 

 charges by irresponsible employes of the railroad com- 

 panies ; therefore, ■ ■ 



Resolved, That the Monr e County Sportsmen's Club re- 

 quest the representatives of Monroe County in the Legisla- 

 ture to procure , if possible, and without delay, the passage 

 of a law that shall compel railroad companies in this State, 

 under a penalty of twenty dollars for refusal, to carry dogs 

 in baggage cars, when the owner, or other person having such 

 dog or dogs (not to exceed two) in charge, is a passenger on 

 the train to which the baggage car is attached, the compensa- 

 tion to the company for carrying a dog not to exceed half a 

 cent a mile. 



ThiB is an eminently sensible way of correcting the much- 

 complained-of abuse and imposition met by sportsmen with 

 their dogs. Monroe County iB strong in sportsmen, and we 

 may confidently expect good work from her representative 

 at Albany. If they succeed in carrying tho bill through, 

 they will have placed the sportsmen of the whole State under 

 obligations to them. 



Dogs fob the Southern States.— If?'. Editor. My ex- 

 perience has been that the Gordon is hardly so hardy as 

 the Irish or English, and at the same time, from his 

 excessive nervousness, hardly so staunch. But the Gordon 

 will amply repay all the time that is devoted to him. The 



Irish I think the finest natural ranger in the world, but more 

 headstrong and almost as excitable as the Gordon. The Eng- 

 lish seller is by far the easiest to train, and in truth it would 

 be hard to find a better dog for the service, or for service. I 

 have a theory, however, that the harder a dog is lo train the 

 better he is after that consummation has been reached, My 

 own fancy, therefore, inclines most to the Irish setter. Bat 

 may my right hand forget its cunning, and may I never again 

 bring down another bird, if I pass unnoticed the glorious 

 pointer. The first dog I ever owned was a pointer — peace to 

 his ashes— and many a day's sport have I had with him. But 

 he long since rests with his fathers, and I do hope that in the 

 happy hunting-grounds, set apart for dogs in the hereafter, he 

 has the place of honor. But they cannot Stand the warm 

 climate as well as setters. Something seems to disarrange the 

 stomach and liver, and one rarely meets a healthy pointer. 



I found by reading "Hallock'sSportsmsu's Gazetteer," that 

 on the dog question we were entirely congenial, and I want 

 you to see what we call at the South a broken dog. Let me 

 summarize a little. To drop to shot or command whenever 

 given, if on a point; controlled by motion of hand to range 

 right or left or front, or to come to heel, and as I walk up my 

 own birds never to flush under any circumstances ; trained to 

 range out or hunt close, as occasion requires, and always to 

 go with head up, for deliver me from a dog who potters over 

 a ground scent. NBmo. 



Cairo, Georgia, April 10. 



Fox Hunting in Georgia— Editor Forest and Stream : 

 We have raised a lot of pupB to have ready and seasoned for 

 next fall fox hunting. We like to have them one and a half 

 year old before putting them down to hard work, as they 

 stand it better and last longer. They are ten months old, 

 and, as Jim Johnson said of the bear, " as fine as split Bilk." 

 On the last day of March we got word from John R. to meet 

 him at the cross roads below the ferry next morniug, an hour 

 before day. The place was ten miles away and the ■ .. 

 some one suggested that to-morrow was April 1, Well, so it 

 was; but although neighbor John enticed Bill Smith into a 

 swimming hole, we didn't believe he would try to April fool 

 us, and as our old friend P. was over from Alabama and 

 wished to see the puppies porform, we were off n< 

 ing on time, determined to perpetrate the joke on Master Key- 

 nard or a goodly sized pack of hounds. But when we ar- 

 rived, there was John armed and equipped as the law directs 

 —With horn, horse and hounds — and along with him our old 

 comrade, Ben, just up from his orange grove in Florida and 

 spoiling for a chase. We had eighteen dogs, with the puppies 

 thrown in, and everybody present, except the man who put 

 on hie best suit once for a similar occasion, There, was an 

 old fellow, with a "monstrous" track that fed across the 

 straw fields of the plantation, that had been chased by other 

 dogs enough to give him a reputation, and we decided to try 

 for him. The track was soon struck, and after a long and 

 exciting trail, he was routed from cover just at sunrise, The 

 morning was calm and the ground firm, and we knew he was 

 up for his final run. But who can describe a hunter's feel 

 ings as the pack go thundering over the hid ? The puppies 

 were all in and square up, and off they struck for the hills, 

 five miles away, but taking a turn near Chokee, led out for 

 the piney woods, and then we were in for it. He was a sharp 

 scholar in tactics, but a foolish effort to cross an open field 

 ruined his plans and forever ended his sport of being chased 

 by coon dogs. We have hung his brush high on the wall 

 and fastened it with a vow not to place any more there until 

 some frosty morning in October, when we know our " purps " 

 will round up for the old dogs in handsome style. 



Our Ben tells me that in going to Florida last fall by pri- 

 vate conveyance, he carried a hound from bis father's, in 

 Dooley County. He lost the dog in Lake City, Florida, one 

 hundred and fifty miles from home, and in just one day (34 

 hours) from the time he lost him he was back in Dooley. 



Ame?icus, Ga., April 20, 1879. Suot. 



Judging at Philadelphia. — Editor Forest an 

 I notice in your paper of May 1 the remarks about the Phila- 

 delphia Dog Show, and am pleased to learn that some one be- 

 sides myself is dissatisfied with private judging. I know that 

 some of the dogs when taken before the judges were scarcely 

 looked at, let alone examined as to their points of breeding. 

 There was a gentleman who had a very fine Irish setter that 

 he expected would carry off first prize, but when the colors 

 were tacked up over the kennel next door to his own, he gave 

 vent to his feelings in a way not calculated to please the 

 judges ; but they, hearing how much disappointment was oc- 

 casioned by this little mistake, slipped around and gave the 

 dog a third prize almost twenty-four hours after the first 

 prize had been awarded to bis neighbor. This can be proven 

 by the attendant who had the dog in charge. Again, they 

 gave a v. h. c. to a Gordon setter that the owner bai 

 to find out of what breed he was. There was also much dis- 

 satisfaction about Petrel winning over Rhoda, and I speak 

 the truth when I say that nineteen out of twenty that drew 

 comparison between tho two bitches gave Rhoda the prefer- 

 ence. As one dog-man remarked, " Rhoda had co mmi tted the 

 unpardonable sin of having taken the first prize at the New 

 York show in 1878." You are at liberty to publish 

 can prove every word. H. G. Jennings. 



West Philadelphia, May 2. 



An Intelligent Our.— Mr. Editor : Not long ago one of 

 the doctors of Michigan University related to his class a little 

 incident about a dog of hia. He thought of trying an experi- 

 ment, so he made an incision into the stomach of the dog and 

 placed a silver tube into the orifice, and plugged it up with a 

 cork. At first it was doubtful whether the animal would sur- 

 vive, but he came around all right, and was seen running 

 around the streets in a very healthy condition. Now eoraes 

 the story. Well, in running around one day he caught the 

 plug on a Bhrub and pulled it out. The doctor seeing this, 

 and having become much attached to the dog, tried to save 

 him by sewing up the orifice ; but after every incal the gastric 

 juices would flow into the wound and irritate it so it could not 

 heal. The doctor gave him up for lost, but in a few days the 

 dog grew better: and the doctor watched one day, and found 

 that after every meal the sagacious animal would run to the 

 barn and (here lie down on his back for an hour or so till the 

 juices of the stomach had acted on the food, and then gel up. 

 The dog was running around in a healthy condition for a long 

 time. Can any one say thai a dog is not almost human now. 



Ann Arbor, Mich. , April 27. Tiro. 



—A litter sister of Malcom, out of Zilley's Green by 

 Munn's Duke of Gordon, was poisoned at Orange, N. J., by 

 a gentleman who styles himself a nerve doctor. 



§<ttwtial gzstimp. 



RIFLED ARROWS. 



Editor Foeest and Stream : 



In response to the query of "A. B." in your issue of tin- 

 24th of April, permit me to say that the feathers of all good 

 arrows are "rifled," not by any spiral position of the rib of 

 the feather on the arrow shaft, but by the natural curvature 

 of the vanes, which causes a rotary flight of the arrow. 

 Long before f had ever seen an English arrow I feathered 

 my hunting arrows by "rifling," giving a one-fourth turn to 

 each feather. I found this much the best way, where one 

 has to feather his own arrows, for the reason, that not being 

 able to do the nice and perfectly accurate work necessary to 

 cause a straight feathering to shoot well, he can perform the 

 less difficult! task of "rifling" very satisfactorily. Even a 

 considerable deviation from regularity will not materially af- 

 fect the flight of an arrow feathered spirally with broad 

 feathers, for the strong whirling of the broad vanes will 

 necessarily keep the flight straight. For short distances— 60 

 yards and under— the spiral feathers are much the best . but 

 for long-range shooting, the trajectory of such arrows arc 

 not flat enough, and they are useless. This " rifling " of the 

 feathers is no new thing, as I supposed it was when I feath- 

 ered my hunting arrows thus, and even removed the feathers 

 from Ilighncld's best footed arrows last season and re-feath- 

 ered them spirally for my own use, all my matches last sea- 

 son being shot with such arrows. Conceiving that I was tbe 

 inventor of a " good thing," I began proceedings for secur- 

 ing a patent, and had partially bargained with a leading ar- 

 chciy house in your city for the right of making such ar- 

 rows, whenlo! I received the following printed letter from 

 the venerable Peter Mulr, of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is a 

 copy of a letter sent to the editor of the London Field : 



Sin— If you will allow spaoe in The Field for the inaertion of 

 following remarks on that most important part of an archer's 

 equipment, the arrow, you wilt oblige the writer, and, it may be, 

 do an acceptable service to archery : 



At present there is some discussion among archers as to tho merits 



of an arrow said to be invented, and c 

 of London. The only difference in this arro 

 use is that the feathers are twisted round 

 This is no new invention, and', therefore, car 

 I made and experimented with such more 

 I have no remembrance in what those o:q- 

 believe they must have been unsatisi'ae! 

 screw was not adopted. I have m my poss 

 feathers twisted round the stele in-tl 

 reason to I made and ased befc 



present oentury. 1 shall therefore conti 



customers, with their manv tastes, may oh< 



test tho 



latented. 



by Dr. Croft 



general 



But, to 



ictly ihe 



' pal 



ten! 



intents 



sight and style of t 

 or my own quiver, Hedged one straight, as an ordinary at 

 with a slight twist, and one each Hedged with the right and left 

 wings, and with as much screw as would allow the arrow to pass 

 over Without striking tho bow, there I, ' "' objection 



which wdl bo referred to afterward; then another arrow with 

 only two wings and as much screw as would allow it lo pass over 

 the bow. With these 1 took one of my own arrows, whose quali- 

 ties I knew aud could trust, making iii all sit arrows in my belt, 

 with which I went to the field to test them for distance and 

 Btroightneas of lino. 1 did not consider the target as the best 

 mark to try these qualities, but stuck two pieces of white wood 

 (like the " Willow Wand'') in the ground, at about 100 yards dis- 

 tance, doing my best to give each arrow the same direction as to 

 line, and the same draw, elevation and quit, for distance. They 

 were taken from the belt at random, and need as they came to 

 hand. 



The line was well maintained, with rarely a deviation of more 

 thau a foot to il i, :nl sometimes striking the wand. To 



record the distances, I ruled a sheet of paper iu,o sit columns, 

 one for each arrow, and twelve lines for the ends I shot each day. 



Tho arrow which was foil 



1 ml 1 i,'.,i 

 which mi 



the s 



at v.hielj days might be tsii 

 etod tho most favorable I 

 summed up ■ Mv own arn 

 twist, 36 ; screwed arrow, h 



1 : i iL'J. right wing, 02. 



sion that a screw Hedged an 



the ordinary strai.i 



so oeai each other that tho tusc or a I 



received them. Tin 



their wings, the steli 



at the result, as it seemed of little 001 



fledged, provided the shaft was proj 



material, straight and stiff, f intend 



shooting a match, to use one arrow st 



wings spiral, and another with two 



the same hitting can bo mad 



a settled conviction with me that an a 



of the Bame wing of a turkey or 



id in the grouud furthest from where it 

 its own column as 1 ; the next, 

 eg shorter, was recorded as 2 ; and 

 lioh was 6. On several days 1 shot 

 x dozen) with various results, any 

 as a sample ; but the day I oonsid- 

 an impartial test showed, when 

 23 ; two wings, 24 ; with slight 

 wing, -li : straight Hedged arrow, 

 came to the moBt distinct conclu- 

 has no advantage whatever over 

 row. These arrows were generally 

 :of a four-foot target wonld have 



nt in the 



sot equal, I 



^formation of 



i 



ion. when 

 with three 

 iving that 

 long been 



inside of the broad part of the feather nearest to the nock. The 

 Bame arrow fledged from different wings has its rotation spoiled, 

 the ono wing oth< •- Ltiflebal 



a half or three-quarter turn when passing through the barrel, 

 and it recer. on in rotation with the 



1 ,j1. Not SO an arrow ; it leaves the power that sends 

 light forward motion, and only begins to rotate by 

 the resistance it meets from tho atmoi dug on the 



carved faces of the feathers, and thereby, in tho nisi 

 retards the Bigl the natu- 



ral enrve of tho feather is enough, and fully us much twist as a 

 rifle ball getB. 



In a recent publication of Messrs. Howell, James & 00., opin- 

 ions in tavor of this arrow are given from Mrs. Hone 

 Eethimi, etc., etc. Mr. Edwards, on the other hand, writes me: 

 "Have you seen Dr. Croft's arrow? He has sent ma three for 

 trial. Tho invention , such as it is, is not new. The Doctor says 

 they have steadiness of ffijrht, with extreme lownesB, making 



thorn invaluable at 100 yards, etc. After giving them 



minced that they had neither the oue quality nor the 

 other. The effect of the sp"iral feathers, as ho puts <<■ 

 that it hits the bow so abruptly as to throw the arrow off, mostly 

 to the left, with a kick and a , jump." 



I would conclude by remarking that had Dr. Croft known some- 

 thing more of an arrow, its use and history, he might have Bayed 

 himself the expense of a patent. 



Yours respectfully, fitTER Miua. 



Edinburgh Arelu-rf Halt, Deo, 21, 1864. 



