Feb. 19, 18850 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



71 



pack, and breeders ought to breed for tongue as much as for 

 other desirable qualities. A clear, round note is the beauty of 

 the beagle, not the little squeal we so often hear. 



I have one old -warrior in my pack whose note is as clear 

 and loud as a "bugle blast." In fact, I won't have one that 

 does not have a good, round note. 



Now, I have treated this subject as briefly as possible— in 

 fact, too much so; and I hope no one whose ideal is the ten- 

 inch beagle will think hard of the abrupt manner in which I 

 have, spoken Of his pets, but let him put his theories in prac- 

 tice and he will come to the fourteen-inch beagle. 



Woundry. 



Tine View, Va | 



ENGLISH KENNEL NOTES. 



XXIV . 



EVERYBODY'S opinion of the Crystal Palace exhibition of 

 dogs, "The best show ever held and the worst judged." 

 In merit and numbers it was an unequalled gathering, and 

 never have I heard a more universal and unanimous condem- 

 nation of the awards. It is well, iudeed, that the press do not 

 insert complaints from disappointed exhibitors, and the con- 

 tractors for the contents of the editor's waste-paper baskets 

 should have good weight this week. 



There was a comical side to the anguish of those who had 

 expected much and received little as they ran from friend 

 to friend culling sweet drops of sad consolation. "But what 

 does Doyle know about setters, oh, my!" ''Where did Byron 

 get his information about sheepdogs, oh, Lor'?" "'Who elected 

 them to Judge; whore's the joke, great goodness?" The replies 

 to these frantic queries were vague and insincere. Some said, 

 "You know it before; w T hy did you show?" Others hinted 

 that the juuges were chosen at a sparse meeting of the. com- 

 mittee when nobody was there who "knew," There is prob- 

 ably some foundation for this last suggestion, but though it 

 may exculpate the committee, for ignorance is a sound excuse, 

 it does not clear those whose weak-minded vanity prompted 

 them to accept offices for which they must have been aware 

 they totally lacked capacity. This belongs to the same class 

 of moral offenss as willfully perverting the truth to one's own 

 glory. It is acting a dishonest white lie to the confiding ex- 

 hibitors. 



As I have before, said, the entries were benefited by this 

 ruse. When a competent man is advertised to judge, the 

 Owner of a third-rate dog says to himself, "It's no good my 

 sendiug Tray, he'd stand no chance with Brown;" but when 

 Mr. Noodle i's elected, he reasons, "True, Tray is no flyer, but 

 Noodle doesn't know a good 'un from a bad ! un, so I'll specu- 

 late a sovereign." And Tray's owner was right, for the first 

 were last and the last were first, and judges dropped on the 

 winners like dipping in a lucky bag. 



And so I roamed round the Palace hearing and listening 

 with sardonic and unruffled good humor. "We have all of lis 

 sufficient fortitude to bear the misfortunes of others," said the 

 French cynic. 



One hears a good deal of the "leveling influences of the 

 hunting field." I think the dog show might be added. The 

 drinking bars were doing unusually well and the corks popped 

 a merry accompaniment to the canine chorus. Those who 

 should have won and were disappointed, sought comfort in the 

 flowing S. & B., others who expected nothing and got every- 

 thing, joyfully celebrated their success in the wine of Cham- 

 pagne. They w r ere seized with "Johnston's jolly," as described 

 by Bret Harte, which 



" -was a wild desire to treat 



Every able male white citizen he met upon the street; 



Aud tuere being several thousand— but this subject why pursue?" 



Fortunately, as Mrs. Prig told her friend Mrs. Gamp, "the 

 drinks is all good " 



Printed on the first page of the catalogue was this salutary 

 innovation that will now probably be the rule at the London 

 shows: "Mr. A. J. Sewell, M. R. C. V. S., will make a veterin- 

 ary examination of each dog before entering the show." This 

 is the wholesome outcome of the Lochinvar correspondence. 

 It is greatly to the credit of the chief actor in that scene that 

 his persistive blows aimed at high and low should have forced 

 upon the Kennel Club a step so important and needful. The 

 labor of critically looking over each dog at the entrance of a 

 show of 1,600 dogs must be enormous, but so is the confidence 

 and ease of mind it inspires in the exhibitors. 1 heard of 

 several doggy Peris who stood disconsolate at the Crystal 

 Palace gates. The majority of the rejected I believe were 

 suffering from distemper, others were covered with dog lice, 

 etc., etc. The Kennel Club should publish a list of them in 

 the Gazette, and in c?«ses where the veterinary surgeon had 

 reason to believe that dogs suffering from infectious diseases 

 w r ere wilfully sent i think the owners' names should also be 

 published "to encourage the others," as they say in France. 



On the fourth day, Friday evening, alter the show had 

 closed, a cowardly outrage was perpetrated by some scoun- 

 drels who mutilated the champion blue Bedlington terrier dog 

 Stonehouse Bob, by cutting oft one of his ears. It is hardly 

 possible that one man could have done this alone as it is said 

 the wound was cauterized. I cannot resist inferring from the 

 facts that the author of this deed had for his accomplice one 

 of the show's keepers. The Kennel Club has, with commend- 

 able promptness, offered a liberal reward, £20, for information 

 that will lead to a conviction of the actual offender. Tne 

 whole kennel world would rejoice at the discovery of the 

 pusillanimous brute who seems to have wreaked his personal 

 wrong on a dumb and defenseless animal. The victim, Stone- 

 house Bob, whose show career this must close, is the winner of 

 several tirst prizes and only just in his prime, so the pecuniary 

 loss to his owner is also of some consequence. 



From dog to dog the show was a dreadful length; only a 

 postman in good training could have enjoyed it. The judging 

 was all behindhand as usual. Some of the judges were punc- 

 tually at their posts ready to commence at 9 A. M. sharp, but 

 there were neither ring-stewards nor keepers present to fetch 

 the dogs off their benches into the ring. It got so late that 

 several classes had to be put off till the following day. The 

 Dandie judge was unable to attend on Wednesday, so the Rev. 

 Mi-. Melior. reigned in his stead. 



At former shows the Kennel Ciub allowed no readrnission 

 without repayment. That was an uncivilized regulation and 

 provoked the boundless contempt of every decent person. 

 This time they granted readrnission tickets to gentlemen be- 

 tween 1 and 3 P. M., and the ladies all day. I should be glad 

 to know to whom this meanly conceived indulgence is due ; 

 what was formerly scornful he has made ridiculous. Before, 

 visitors despised the huckstering littleness of the club, now 

 they are laughing at its cautious favor, Under the heading 

 of "The Kennel Club vs. Nature," the Stock Keeper publishes 

 a censorious protest from an indignant visitor, who sugges- 

 tively signs himself "Gulliver." The editor in a footnote 

 appears to agree with his correspondent, that it is hard lines 

 he should have to wait till the Palace takes fire. 



To peruse the different reports through our kennel press is 

 an amusing form of self-torture. The introductory remarks 

 are comical in their diversity. The Stock Keeper does it in a 

 few lines, appearing to hold that the least said the soonest 

 mended. Mr. Fred. Gresham, in the Live Stock Journal, 

 spreads out his lick-spittle "congratulations to the club" that 

 consistently ignores his fawning praise or impotent blame. The 

 Shooting Times gentleman must have been unusually well 

 'treated," and cuddles everybody in return from Spratt's 

 biscuits to Jeyes's purifier. By the bye, I think it is carrying 

 sanitary precaution too far to put the disinfecting fluid into 

 the dogs' drinking dishes. Mr, Gresham would not have been 

 so grateful to Messrs, Jeyes if they had added to his drink a 

 dash of disinfectant. Mr, Rawdon Lee, in the Field, is the 

 ^ithor pf the triithf ullest and most accurate &ccoun$ of jh.9 



show. I am not referring to the clogs; that is another matter. 

 His remarks are worth digesting. Mr. Stephens has improved 

 as manager, and I was pleased to hear high encomium passed 

 upon Ids civility and attention. 



The St. Bernard men got their little share of excitement 

 When Mr. Wyatt put the grand old Bayard behind Valentine 

 in the champion class. I "know what a splendid specimen of 

 type Mr. Macdona's dog is, but as 1 had not the opportunity to 

 see Valentine "down," i. e„ off the bench, I hesitate to write 

 in decided tones on the decision. I can only place on record 

 the fact that f did not hear one St. Bernard man express ap- 

 proval; but I must also acknowledge that 1 did not ask the 

 owner of Valentine what he thought. Bayard is old, and he 

 is not rough but "broken-coated;" still, his benevolent expres- 

 sion and perfect head, markings, and rich orange-tawny color, 

 count for a lot of points. Valentine's coat is no longer, and it 

 is an unsightly Esquimaux color. Merchant Prince made up 

 the ground I foretold he would when I wrote of him at Birm- 

 ingham; next to him I preferred Laudgrave. All little 

 Smith's "merchants arc priuces." 



Mr. Nicholls added to his reputation as a breeder when he 

 brought, forward his noble young dog Lord Nelson, aud 

 knocked the breath out of the old winners' bodies; but New- 

 foundlands are out of fashion. The St. Bernards flirted their 

 admirers away, and just as the fickle fancier began to weary 

 of the monastic fad, the German mastiff pokedhisnose in, and 

 the life-saving interest continues to remain in the background. 

 Both Mr. Portier, who bought him at the auction, and the 

 lady who paid a profit on the purchase, must have experienced 

 a glow of satisfaction when Colonel Gamier handed Maximil- 

 ian the champion prize. I cannot help considering Crown 

 Prince the better mastiff, but 1 think the curious and secret 

 dealings in connection with his mock sale by auction have 

 richly deserved bad luck. The sour-loolring brindle Cai-dinal 

 I never cared for. 



The judge, Col. Gamier, had his own ideas of the nature of 

 those points that constitute perfection in a mastiff. He is 

 probably a good representative of the "old school," but in uhese 

 days of specialist clubs, it would give more satisfaction to 

 bi-eeders if their dogs were judged by men whose know ledge 

 has been brought "up to date." 



The Great Danes made a gaudy show and were unfortu- 

 nately benched in a dark passage. They are a hot-tempered 

 breed, and I thought several of them might have been chained 

 a few inches shorter. It is not just from a bench inspection to 

 quarrel with the award that put the brindle Sultan II. over 

 Harlequiu Nero, but personally I would sooner own the latter 

 and breed from him. The yellow-red Cedric the Saxon 

 literally, almost, walked over his opponents in the open class. 

 It was said in the Palace that he woidd change hands after the 

 show and the price spoken of was £300. He is well worth it 

 for show purposes. The best bitch of the breed is still Mr. 

 Petrzvvalski's huge Mirza, but a prodigious pup named Linda 

 is creeping up to her. 



Scotland is looking to her native breeds, and sent along a 

 worthy show oi Sir Walter Scott's favorite deerhounds. As 

 coursing is going on all over the country a large entry of grey- 

 hounds was not to be expected. 



Graphic took his accustomed post of honor; his owner must 

 mean selling when he prices him at £2.50. A good youngster 

 by him named Paragon was tirst in the open class, though 

 several pointer men preferred the less fashionably bred Don 

 IX. Revel III. brought her sire's name again to the front; 

 she is beautiful. All through 1 noticed an exceptional excel- 

 lence in those classes, 



Mr. Doyle is apparently quite impervious to criticism, so it 

 won't hurt his feelings to repeat that his awards were deris- 

 ively received by those who knew better. The lucky Young 

 Rock HI. has been pulled to pieces by his good-natured friends. 

 Both Birket Foster and Priuce Fred can beat him. The judge 

 gave least displeasure when he selected the sweet Tarn o' 

 Shanter bitch Wild Rose for honors. 



The Irish setter puppy class contained an unusually nice lot 

 of pups. There are three breeders, the Rev. B. Q'Callaghan, 

 R.N. (who is the best of winners and the worst of losers). Mr. 

 A. Taylor and Mr. C. J. Wade, who ought to, between them, 

 be able to keep this handsome breed of setters prominently 

 before the public. Mr. S. E. Shirley always wins all the 

 money in the wavy-coated retriever classes. I made a note of 

 a grand puppy named Ivy. with such a corkscrew coat. 



The collie judge's award kept his confreres in face. The 

 dreadful news soon traversed the show when poor, much-to- 

 be-commiserated Mr. Byron put Rutland, the child of luck, 

 over the magnificent Charlemagne. Cross times indeed when 

 the old champion goes down before the dog of commerce. The 

 judge did not see it but Rockingham was the best in the open 

 class, and behind him were a string of beauties. Matchless, 

 the £100 Birmingham claim, was absurdly passed over in favor 

 of Dahlia, on whom Mr. Byron proceeded to lavish prize after 

 prize. When these bitches come before a proper authority 

 the tale will be less flattering and more truthful. The puppy 

 class was an awful jumble. I got lost in the double numbers 

 and profusion of notices. 



I listened a while at the benches of the crooked-legged can- 

 ines and heard discontented growls over the prizes. The Basset 

 men were complaining that the wrong type had won, but 

 looking at them with an uninitiated eye, I should say if these 

 hounds were meant for work the judging was nob so far out. 

 Taurus had nothing to beat, so he received the £4 for best 

 champion bulldog over 50 pounds. He was catalogued at £45 

 and has since been sold for £5 less. 



Britomartis beat champions Ida and Wheel of Fortune. She 

 was last week purchased by the American fancier, Mr. 

 Livington, for £80. She is a bargain ; it is less than she cost 

 Mr. Benjamin before she had won a prize. Rustic King fol- 

 lowed up his Birmingham success and won handsomely. 



The day was getting drowsy before Mr. Doyle started to 

 pick out his idea of a good fox-terrier. This breed was benched 

 down a narrow gangway, and it was nothing but "Move on, 

 please, " whenever one stopped to make notes. Mr. Langdale, 

 m his exhaustive report (Shooting Times), speaking of the 

 fox-terrier judges, Messrs. Doyle and Percy Reid, says: "We 

 do not for a moment say that either of these gentlemeu, as we 

 heard it said, 'got to the wrong end of the chain,' for we be- 

 lieve that both honestly gave the prizes to the best in their 

 judgment. Others affirm that as both club men and non-club 

 men pay the same fees, etc., they should both be represented 

 in the ring." I can't fathom the meaning of the second sen- 

 tence; it looks as if the reporter had something weighty to 

 disclose, and has so coated it over that the pill can neither be 

 tasted nor seen. This is a half-hearted way of giving medi- 

 cine ; it should be administered with a firm' hand. The won- 

 derful Result vigorously maintains his pride of position, and 

 galloped away with money and cups. 



An odd little incident happened in the Dandie classes that I 

 have not seen referred to in the papers. The judge on the 

 first day made an attempt to perform his duty, and got as far 

 as awarding one first prize. He was then interfered with and 

 went home. The following day his work was assigned to Mr. 

 Melior, who gaily reversed the only decision the advertised 

 judge had been able to make. Now I wonder what does the 

 owner think? 



The dear old Field generally gets her foot well into it when- 

 ever she drops into "leaders." She lately in big periods told 

 the quaking honorary secretaries that they should stand fast 

 by their rules, the rules and nothing but rules. About a week 

 after one of the. reporters is permitted to castigate an exhib- 

 itor, who acting within his rights, lodged an objection against 

 a successful opponent's dog, on the ground that it "wore a 

 paper collar," I mean a fancy collar, whereas that show's 

 regulation ran that the dogs should be provided with plain 

 collars bearing no signs of identification. The owner of the 

 dog is.Mr. Harding Cox, part proprietor of the Field, there- 

 fore it was in. execrable ta§te, fa eat. thw Pwn words, 90 b 



half of one of themselves. Mr. Cox has written that it is a 

 ridiculous and obsolete rule. So far he and I are of accord, 

 but then he should induce his fellow committeemen of the 

 Kennel Club to insist that those shows Which adopt then- rules 

 should also accept their regulations. The Kennel Club have 

 long since abandoned that trumpery restriction. Advocates 

 of plain collars can only advance the insulting plea that it. 

 prevents the judge seeing to whom the dog belongs. In the 

 first place, is it likely that a man is going down on his knees in 

 the ring to peer out the address, andthen so long as exhibitors 

 are allowed to lead in their own dogs, which is the ease at all 

 shows, oxcept Birmingham, "why should he try to ferret out 

 the address when he can see the proprietor himself at the other 

 end of 1 1 io chain? Against this we have the fact that the 

 address being on the collar lias over and over again been the 

 means of recovering dogs that have escaped from the show at 

 en route. When the champion question was intrusted to a 

 man of such ability as Mr. Percy Reid there was no difficulty 

 in foretelling that it would end in a bungling braggart busi- 

 ness; Mr. Reid has not disappointed his friends. IJ is arrange- 

 ment scores one for the Kennel Club and one for himself. 



This is the mousey deformity damo Kennel Club mountain 

 has produced from her connection with the "bruised reed." 

 "Iu future a dog must win four first prizes before he is eligible 

 to compete in a champion class, Avhich heucefortti shall be 

 called the 'challenge class;' to obtain the title of champion 

 he must then win three prizes in the challenge class, one at 

 least, of these three being at the Kennel Club's own show." 



This sellish, commercial, and partial scheme is similar in de- 

 sign to a biscuit firm offeriug a prize to the best dog fed on 

 "our biscuits." 



A querist writes to the Stock-Keener asking the editor "who 

 appoints the Kennel Club's judges?" Come uow, that is nor a 

 pertinent inquiry ! One. should as soon ask a man who ap- 

 points his washerwoman, surely he has a light to give it out 

 where he expects to get it best' and cheapest done. 



At Mr. Harding Cox's fox-terrier sale I am informed that 

 the majority of the lots was withdrawn. This method is 

 getting too frequent and savors of a trick. It seems as if 

 famous dogs are only put up as "a draw." There is nothiug 

 dishonorable about it but it is not absolutely straightforward. 



The price that Mr. J. F. Smith, the owner of Save and 

 Leonard, paid the Rev. Arthur Carter for his toweringly grand 

 young dog Plinlimmon has not yet transpired, but it is cur- 

 rently reported that the cash was there, and about £400, 

 The priests of the day have found a more profitable employ- 

 ment for their heavy time than their shorn ancestors, who 

 passed it in severe and secluded meditation, gravely calculat- 

 ing how many angels could stand upon the point of a needle. 

 We should have lost that poetic figure if Goldsmith's lovable 

 village parson, who was 



•'passing rich with forty pounds a year, 1 ' 

 had bred the holy dogs of St. Bernard. 



There is an unworthy rumor afloat that "Birmingham has 

 caved in to the. Kennel Club." I cannot believe it. If this be 

 true, Brum, haul down your colors, turn your facings, muffle 

 your drums, reverse your arms, aud march out of the good 

 opinion of Lillibtjlero. 



Jam. 2?, 18S5. 



THE NEW DOG SHOW RULES. 



[The following criticism was prepared for the American Kennel 

 itegtster by the editor of that publication. Having befn crowded out 

 of the Reyister, it is, by request, given place here.— Ed. F. and S. | 



WHEN the American Kennel Club was first put in a fair 

 way of being established, those interested in seeing a radi- 

 cal improvement in the method of conducting dog shows were 

 hopetul of the result. If it had not been advisable to make 

 some improvement there was no necessity for a kennel club, 

 and if we are to judge by the improvements outlined in the 

 new code of rules we can onlv «ay that with such a meagre 

 result to put before the public the necessity for the club's 

 establishment does not seem very apparent. 



The constitution and by-laws are matters concerning the 

 club alone and not the great body of exhibitors, but the latter 

 after a perusal of them cannot tail to note the' extremely on- 

 erous duties of the treasurer, who according to Clause 3 

 Article VI, "shall receive the funds of the Association and 

 disburse the same under the direction of the Executive Com- 

 mittee" We have carefully read the copy of the constitution 

 and by-laws, but fail to find that the Association can collect 

 any funds from its members. It is the show rules and regu- 

 lations that are of the main importance to all supporters of 

 dog shows and we will now proceed to criticise them a seria- 

 tim. 



1. The term dog where used in these rules is general in its applica- 

 tion, and includes bitches unless they are otherwise mentioned. 



The rule should stop at the comma, as the word "bitch" 

 never occurs in the rules. 



2. All dogs entered for competition or exhibition only shall be en- 

 tered in the name of the b >nna fide owner. Such entries must be 

 identified by name of dog, its age, and, if known, the names of its 

 sire and dam; if the name of a dog which has won a first prize has 

 been changed, its name at the time of winning any and every such 

 prize, and the place thereof, as well as its present name, must be 

 given. If the names of the sire and dam are not known, it may be 

 entered "pedigree unknown." 



Instead of "such entries" the rule should read "such entry.' 

 The words "if known" are not necessary, as the final clause 

 covers unknown pedigrees. The word "first" before "prize" 

 had better have been omitted. At the close of the same sen- 

 tence the words "as well as its present name" are quite un- 

 necessary, as the name is of necessity given in making the 

 entry. In the concluding sentence it is of the utmost necessity 

 that no halfway measures should be permitted in the case of 

 unknown pedigrees, therefore the rule should beyond all doubt . 

 read "must be entered 'pedigree unknown.' " 



2. If a dog shall be entered without being identified, as directed in 

 Rule 2, it shall be disqualified from competition. 



This wotdd read better if it was "If a dog is entered." The 

 rule is a salutory one, and we would stiggest that an officer 

 of each club be instructed to make every objection of this 

 nature just as Mi-. S. E. Shirley, of the English Kennel Club is 

 understood to do. To some exhibitors it is very obnoxious to 

 make objections, and it would not unlikely happen that at 

 one and the same show a dog in one class would be disquali- 

 fied, while another would escape because of the want of an 

 objection. 



4. Puppies may compete in grown classes, except in classes where 

 they are. specially excluded, aud will be judged as if matured. 



This should either be cancelled or come to a stop at the first 

 comma. The second division of the rule is unnecessary, be- 

 cause, if a class is made from which they are specially ex- 

 cluded, that of itself settles the business without any rule. 

 The concluding portion of the rule is an absurdity. The mean- 

 ing of it is that the judge is not to be allowed to exercise his 

 judgment as to the probable development of the puppy. The 

 dog in front of him. whether five months or two years old, is 

 to be supposed by him to have completed its growth. It savors 

 also of instructions to judges on a matter entirely within their 

 province. 



5. A dog which has, when a puppy, won a first prize in a puppy 

 class, is not thereby disqualified from competition in a class where 

 first-prize winners are excluded. 



A good rale, laboriously worded. "A prize won in a puppy 

 class does not count as a win under the champion rule," is a 

 much simpler and clearer way of putting it. 



6. Dogs can be entered for the special prizes when ehgible, but 

 they must in all cases be previously entered in their regular class. 



Entirely unnecessary. If a rule had been made to the effect 

 that no dog which was ehgible could be withdrawn from a 

 special prize competition unless, so stated on the entry I >]a 



