686 
A more jealous chap I never saw on either two or four 
igs, and I can tell a most amusing inoident illustrative 
the abnormal development of that passion in him, 
Soon after 1 had possession of Brush a pointer puppy 
if three weeks old, out of one. of the oldest and best 
mown strains in the State, was given to me. My wife 
Uni I vied in friendly rivalry as to who should take the 
>est care of her, and not a dav passed that she did not 
receive a lesson in house-breaking, till there was scarcely 
i trick to be acquired or a faculty undeveloped. 
In time she became a first class retriever, and the fast- 
SBt swimmer 1 ever saw, be it3 coat long or short, 
I was once shooting snipe on the banks of a creek, and 
having royal sport. Brush and Sappho. Jr., a puppy 
pf eighteen months, hunting steadily on the rush-covered 
[banks, and retriev ing birds beautifully, so that I lost not 
one that was hit (and I missed but two), when two 
feprang closely together and flew to cross the creek. Ere 
I they got half way one fell to each barrel, and both dogs 
©lunged in to retrieve. Now, Sappho, Jr.’s power in the 
[water was simply marvelous, ana she swam five feet at 
least to Brush's two. Making for the nearest bird she 
name back, gave it to me, and leaping in again overtook 
the older dog, and ere he could gather the second bird 
.snatched it from under his nose, and returned in triumph 
to me. If ever 1 saw sulky, mortified vanity, Brush 
showed it then, nor could I induce him to hunt another 
foot or retrieve another bird that day. He slunk at my 
feet with downcast head and drooping tail till we reached 
jjiome. 
[ Whether Philip of Macedon or his royal son was the 
greater man, is still a mooted point, But I have no such 
doubt as to the transcendant merit of Sappho the second, 
and to her, with your leave, Mi-. Editor, 1 will devote an¬ 
other chapter. W. B. B. 
The Dog Pound Closed.— The New York City dog 
pound was closed last Friday, the laBt installment of 
doomed dogs, 300 in number, being drowned. The whole 
number killed during the season was 5,400. The contrac¬ 
tor is said to have realized a fine profit on the dog skins 
which he sold to glove makers. 
Richmond Dog Show.—A dog show will be held in 
Richmond, Va., in connection with the State Fair on the 
28th inst. The prize list reaches us too late for this issue, 
but will be printed nest week. The judges are J. S. Wise, 
Esq. , Capt, J. W. Foster, and Judge Theo. Garnett. 
London (Ontario) Dog Show. —The proposed show at 
Loudon. Ontario, will not be held. Coming so close to 
that of the St. Louis Kennel Club, the entries from the 
United States would have been very few, and altogether 
the committee did not feel warranted in going to the ex¬ 
pense of erecting a building, and incurring the outlay 
necessary to make the affair a success. We hope our 
Canadian friends will try again at some more propitious 
season. 
Field Trials.— St. Louis, Sept. 26th. — Editor Forest 
arid t>l ream I am instructed by the Committee on 
Field Trial ltules of the National American Kennel Club, 
to inform you, for the benefit of your readers, that the 
scale of points has been changed as follows : Pointing, 
from thirty, changed to 35 ; Backing, from 10, changed to 
8 ; obedience and disposition, from 10, changed to 7; thus 
leaving the total the same. 
Mr. K u. Sterling, the President of the Club, is now in 
Communication with sportsmen in different places in the 
State ut iiiiuois, relative to a selection of suitable grounds 
for holding the Trials in Bovember, and as soon as a de¬ 
cision is arrived at, you will be promptly- informed. We 
already have positive promises of quite a number of en¬ 
tries, and there is every reason to hope that we shall have 
the im ist important Trials ever seen in this country. Two 
prominent gentlemen, one Eastern and one Western, have 
already consented to act as judges, and as soon as the 
tturd is selected you will be notified, and their names can 
be made public.' We desire owners of dogs to communi¬ 
cate with Mr. Sterling, 701 Pine St., St. Louis, as to the 
probability of entering for the Trials, At this time it is 
impossible to get entries from all who expect to make 
them, but we desire to be able to form some idea of the 
number we shall have, and we will thank the gentlemen 
to let us hear from them. Dr. Samuel Ohoppiu, of Bow 
Orleans, was in St. Louis yesterday ou his way to Ken¬ 
tucky, from a month of sport in Minnesota. He joined 
the B, A. K. Club, and will visit the Trials in November. 
The Doctor is owner of some fine dogs, and is an ardent 
sportsman. The membership of the Club now numbers 
about one hundred. John W. Munson, Sec. 
Cocker Spaniels — Hamilton, Ont., Sept. 23 d.—Editor 
Forest and Stream .-—According to my promise in a for¬ 
mer letter, 1 herewith give my idea of a cocker-spaniel 
useful for sporting purposes, ignoring the fine silky pets 
..niy lit. lor ladies .lap dogs. The cocker spaniel able to 
stand a long day's work should not be less than twenty- 
tour pounds weight, or more than thirty, remarkably 
strong built, full ol courage and endurance ; in fact a 
very compact, strong dog, not afraid of water though it 
may he near freezing point. . They should he first-class 
retrievers from land or water. Cockers should not be 
mute ; they ought to give tongue when on the scent of 
game. Coior no object, 1 have seen good ones of all 
colors. 1 never saw a good dog a bad color, The 
coat may be wavy, but should not be curled nor 
have a decided tuft between the ears. They are more 
energetic then the Clumber, and a mure useful general 
purpose dog. The Clumber-spaniels are useful dogs 
where game is abundant. Twenty-five yeai-8 ago I saw a 
team or twelve of them shot over at Clumber park. They 
were not allowed to retrieve. The man working them 
kept a large black retriever to heel for that purpose. To 
spui wt.hi. whose time is limited and whose shooting is 
varied, and who can only afford to keep one dog, I would 
auvise such to get a cocker-spaniel as 1 have described, a 
dog that will do his work effectively whether he be huut- 
tiug woodcock, snipe, quail, ruffed grouse or retrieving 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
ducks. I admit it is a line sight to see a brace of well 
broken pointers or setters with heads well up ranging and 
quartering to perfection, standing and backing in a way 
that only- sportsmen can appreciate. But, what I affirm 
is, that the beauty and usefulness of pointers and setters 
should not be impaired by using them in cover where 
their fine qualities cannot possibly be brought out and 
seen to their fullest extent. 
In company with a friend shooting woodcock over a 
brace of Irish setters in a piece of low ground where the 
nettles were of immense growth, some twenty or thirty 
minutes elapsed without our seeing one of the setters, a 
bitch eight months old. After calling her for some time 
she came out of the nettles with a fullgrown woodcock in 
her mouth. The bird was alive and uninjured. The in¬ 
ference is, that she was setting the bird a few feet from 
her nose, and in response to our repeated calls, had sprung 
on the bird, a lesson not desirable for pointers or setters 
to learn. Ranger. 
How to Mark a Dog. — Editor Forest and Stream ,:— 
Some years ago a farmer in Washington recognized a fine 
setter that had been given to him when a pup, in the 
street. He seized his lost dog and was assailed by the 
person who had got possession ot him. 
“This is my dog gentlemen, and you don't take him 
from me unless you take my life at the same time.” 
Finally the parties were taken before a magistrate. 
“ Jedge, this is my dog, and I can prove it to you." So 
he stooped, pinched up the skin of the chest below the 
fore leg, made a straight incision with a knife, and took 
out a bird shot which he Bliowed to the judge and which 
had certain knife marks or crosses on it. 
" Jedge, this pup was given to me three years ago, by 
Gus. T-, and Mr. I—the grocer on L street at the 
corner ; can tell you that as soon as I got the dog I took 
him to his store, marked a shot, and put it under his skin, 
first making these crosses with my knife on the lead.” 
After this, the oaths of the other party that he had 
raised the dog from a pup were of no avail. The farmer 
took his dog. This will suggest to the reader a safe 
method of marking their valuable dogs. 
Died. —In Cazenovia, N. Y., on the morning of Septem¬ 
ber 8th, 1879, Old Jack ; age unknown. He cameamongus 
in 1868 or ’69, and even then looked anything but young. 
Was owned by two or three people here ; but finally fell 
into the hands of W. D. Smith, a sportsman of no mean 
ability, whose forte is better in killing grouse and wood¬ 
cock than in breaking glass balls. With the exception of 
Mr. Smith, the writer has killed more birds over him 
th an any one else. Old Jack was not what we would 
call a'liandsome dog, and would make but a poor appear¬ 
ance in a Bench Show, for it would be hard to tell whether 
he was a setter or a spaniel. But he stood most of his 
birds; and while he lacked the graceful lines of a setter 
when on a point, there was a rigid firmness in his atti- 
titude that told to a certainty that game was there. He 
was what some would call a “kicker,” for, if he had 
hunted a bush and flushed a bird which flew away with¬ 
out being shot, and was afterward driven back into the 
same bush, no amount of coaxing or driving could induce 
him to enter it again ; and, if too much force was used, he 
would run home. While he had (like all of us) some faults, 
be had a good many virtues. On the morning of his death 
he appeared as well as usual, and was on his way to the 
hunting grounds—dying in the harness, all ready for the 
fight. He had a way of rolling on the ground and growl¬ 
ing ; and, while doing this, something different in his 
maimer attracted attention; but before any one could, 
get to him lie was dead ; dying as I trust “ Jersey" may 
when his time comes. Ana if there is a Heaven where 
good dogs go, I sincerely hope that Old Jack has found 
it. We buried him atFrogmoor, theshooting club's ground, 
where he has often been. The funeral was attended by 
most of tbe sportsmen for whom he had hunted, and by 
the dogs who had been with him in field and flood. 
Hammerless. 
An American Dog in Africa, —The true liver-pointer 
Sky, formerly owned by J. Hopkins Smith, which was 
purchased last summer from its then owner by W. E. 
Sevan, of Malaga, Spain, arrived safely at its destina¬ 
tion on the other side of the Atlantic about September 
1st. Mr. Bevan writes that be intends to take tbe dog 
over into Morocco, and try him on the birds there. We 
hope to hear of his performances in African fields. 
Hard Luck. —Only last week we noted the whelping 
of a litter of puppies by Snapshot, out of Mr. J. W. Cof¬ 
fin’s Venus. Mr. Coffin writes us that all of the litter are 
dead except two, and he has small hopes of saving these. 
But as misfortunes never come singly, the same gentle¬ 
man has also lost his pointer bitch, Lola, by Sensation, 
out of -Mi'. Chas. Scheifflin’s Juno. Lola was winner of 
first prize in the puppy class both at New York and Bos¬ 
ton, and having been broken, had turned out a most ex¬ 
cellent field dog. 
—The pointer bitch, Venus, by Rake II, out of Had¬ 
ley's Buff, owned by Mr. J. VV. Coffin, of Providence, R. 
I., whelped on the 33(1 inst., nine puppies, five dogs, and 
four bitches, all white and lemon, sired by Snapshot. 
The bitches will be destroyed. 
—The setter bitch, Mattie Boyle, belonging to P. Mealy, 
of Gloucester City, N. J., whelped on the 20th inst., 13 
puppies, 9 of them dogs. 
—Mr. L. F. Mercilliot has purchased from Mr. John 
H. Meyer the prize pointer dog Sport ; and the same gen- 
tleman’s English setter bitch Pet has been bred to Mr. 
H. P. Morris’ champion Lark. 
—The Clumber spaniels, Triinbush and Fairy, are offered 
for sale. Triinbush was imported direct from the Duke 
of Newcastle’s kennels, at Clumber. For price and par¬ 
ticulars apply to Kennel Editor of this paper. 
—In another column will be found an advertisement of 
a Colorado ranch, stocked with oattle and ready for occu¬ 
pancy, for sale. Such an opportunity rarely occurs to pur¬ 
chase on easy terms a valuable and productive property 
in such excellent condition. 
§dn\e m\d §m\. 
CAME IN SEASON FOR OCTOBER. 
Moose, Alee Americana. I Wild turkey, MeXeayria (iixlitrpam. 
Caribou, Kanfftfer caribou. Pinnated grouse or prairie 
Elk or wapiti, Cermet canadensis, chickens, Cuflijonta cujrido. 
Red or Va. deer. C. virytriiamw. I Ruffed grouse or pheasant, Bo- 
Boulrrelg, red, black and gray. I hum umtiellUs. 
Hares, brown and gray. Quail or partridge, Orlyx vtrgint- 
lteed or rice bird, DoUchunyx or- \ mw. 
yztnorous. 
@y~ThIs table does notapply to all the States. It is meant to 
represent the game which Is generally in season at this time. State 
regulations may prohibit the killing of some species of game here 
mentioned. 
Captain Bogardus.— Captain Bogavdus has been shoot¬ 
ing at Pittsburgh, where he and Eugene have succeeded 
in performing some unusual feats with the shot-gun and 
rifle. The Captain is now out with a new challenge, 
which reads as follows :— 
Pittsburgh, Sept. 27th. 
Editor (Forest and Stream :— 
As there are a great many good glass ball shots in the 
country, I will make the following challenge :—I will 
shoot against any six men in the world for from $100 to 
$500 aside each man ; and for from $500 up to $2,500 that 
I make a better score than all the six. I will give each 
man 300 broken balls in 1,000, each of them to shoot at 
800 apiece, and I to shoot at 6,000—1,000 each day for 
six days. The match to be shot in Boston, New York or 
Philadelphia between the loth day of December and the 
1st day of January. Cartridges to be loaded and brought 
on to the ground, and each man to shoot from the same 
rifle, and each man to stand his share of expenses and 
take his share of the gate money. The match to be shot 
from three of my traps and according to my rules, with 
this exception — the rise to be fifteen yards, and if shot in¬ 
doors the distance between the traps to suit the place of 
shooting. Each man who accepts this must send $100 to 
the Clipper office, New York, between now and the first 
day of December. I have sent $1,100 to the Clipper office 
to-day, which is the whole amount of stakes, unless the 
parties that accept wish to shoot for more money. 
A. H. Bogardus, 
Champion Wing Shot of the World. 
The Pleasures of Gunning.— Cohoes, Sept. 22d. — 
Editor Forest and Stream: — Your correspondent, “ R. 
W. H.inquires why some people despise hunting. I do 
not see how they do it, but they do. There is no 
better way to study nature than to take gun and dog and 
start for the woods. When I go gunning I do not go on 
a murdering expedition. I always make it a rule never 
to kill more than three or four birds ; do not care if I 
come home with empty bag. The beauties in nature are 
always something to occupy one’s attention. You can 
find specimens that have escaped your eye should you 
visit the woods every day for a lifetime. 
If some of those old, dried-up fossils would get a gun 
and dog, and hunt a little, perhaps it would thaw out the 
milk of human kindness which has been congealed in 
their hearts so long. For my part, I was well pleased 
with “ R. W. H.'s ” article ; it is right to the point. Hunt¬ 
ing and fishing are among the greatest blessings that God 
has given us. We can for a time lay aside ail bustle and 
wear and tear of life in the deepest solitude of the woods, 
and when we emerge again it seems as though we were 
men ready to buckle on the armor, and begin anew the 
battle of life, and look back on our hunting and fishing 
exploits as the happiest periods of our existence. 
H. Mills. 
American vs. English Guns. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: —When 1 hear a man nowadays talking about 
buying a foreign gun, and no other, I put it down as pure 
ignorance or affectation. The American guninakers 
make as good a gun as the best shot in the country could 
possibly desire. In fact, since muzzle-loaders went out 
of fashion, pretty much everything is made in this coun¬ 
try superior to anything in Europe. 
I brought down a wild pigeon the other day flying 
directly from me at sixteen rods with No. 6 shot. This 
shows how close and strong American guns shoot, and 
mine is only a $55 gun. It was not a chance shot either. 
In my statement as to loading in a late number, 
I should say that the manner of loading there given is 
for tolerably course powder, but for those who can buy 
only fine rifle powder the results are the same, if, as 
should be, 4“ drs. of powder are used, instead of 5 drs. 
Veritas. 
Tending Vent. — Editor Forest and Stream .-—After 
some careful inquiries of my unfortunate neighbor, I am 
satisfied that the accident described in my recent article, 
“ Last Day on the Delaware," was not attributable to the 
cause assigned, and therefore the man who was serving 
vent cannot be held responsible for the premature dis¬ 
charge of the gun. It was so reported at the time, and 
this explanation seemed sufficiently authentic to satisfy 
the local reporters ; but it turns out that, although no 
thumbstaU was employed, a new buckskin glove sup¬ 
plied the vent, and enabled the wearer to keep his thumb 
over the vent until after the explosion of the charge had 
taken place. His thumb was not injured. Brevet Briga¬ 
dier-General Hagner to the contrary, notwithstanding. 
The explanation of the cause is that the cartridge was not 
properly made, and that it broke before reaching the bot¬ 
tom of the bore, when some loose fire ignited the scat¬ 
tered powder, and sent the rammer in slivers across the 
square. The loader felt the cartridge break, and leaped 
aside instantly. Had he not done bo the charge would 
have blown him to pieces. 
If I remember rightly, the gun was not sponged at all. 
I have no doubt that the Colonel of ordnance, whose 
opinion you reprinted on the 18th inst,, is good authority, 
but be is certainly mistaken about the liability of the 
vent server losing his thumb. Nevertheless, from my 
own observation and the experience which all boys gain 
with small cannon, I am satisfied that his exception is well 
taken, and that the old-fashioned method of tending vent 
(not “ serving vent,” which is pricking the cartridge), is 
wholly useless and unavailable, so far as preventing ac¬ 
cidents is concerned. The only way to prevent a prema¬ 
ture discharge is to carefully sponge, and repeat it traces 
of tire in the bore are encountered. Ego, 
Some, Sept. 60th, 
