190 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



IApbtl 2, 1BS5. 



journal, March 28, 1885: "The show of mastiffs was very good, 

 but the judging was outrageous. In the open class, Hford 

 CroinweJl won easily, but Homer, second, was not entitled to 

 his award. He has a good head, but bayond that he has no 

 special strong points. On the contrary he has some very weak 

 ones. He is a small dog and cowkocked at that. It is bad 

 enough for a big dog to be weak in his legs, but in a small dog 

 such a fault amounts almost to disqualification." Second prize 

 to a cripple, an animal that ought to have been disqualified. 

 Why the Poolseller's friend, Mr. Mortimer, awarded first prize 

 to this cripple at the last New York show, and the independ- 

 ent (?) journal of Nov. 1, 1884, after praising the judges, said: 

 ■'Homer, giveo first, has a splendid head, but is rather under 

 size, but what he lacks in size is made up in strength aud sym- 

 metry.'" The same individual wrote, May 17, 1884: "We pre- 

 ferred Homer, placed third, for first. He has the massive head 

 of a typical mastiff, and though a small dog is symmetrical in 

 sh ape. " Will the Chicago wise-acre please explain how a cow- 

 hocked dog can be symmetrical and strong, and at the same 

 time tell us why the dog was better than Ilf ord Cromwell 

 when Mr. Mortimer judged him, and a worthless brute wheu 

 I judge him. 



These are a few clippings from the last volumes of "We 

 will Kill Mason, Davidson and Watson. " From Philadelphia I 

 learn that Mr. Watson still lives ; your humble servant never 

 felt better in his lif e, and I know Mr. Davidson is on his legs, 

 for he writes me that he hasn't seen a copy of the sportsman's 

 journal, that there isn't one to be had in Monroe, and that if 

 there was nobody would read it. He most emphatically de- 

 nies that 1 was in his judging ring at New Haven, or that I 

 tried to influence his decisions. Yes, sir, we all live, mors 

 janna vita. 



The sportsman's independent journal says. "It takes a smart 

 man to catch a rogue." It takes a smarter man to convict a 

 rogue, and a still smarter man to make a rogue return plunder 

 and blood money to the rightful owners. The N. A. K. C. 

 .Stud Book is in the printer's (0 hands. Chas. H Mason. 



Mahch 31, 1885. 



PROMPT CONTRADICTIONS. 



ONE of the reports of the New Haven dog show, printed in 

 a Western paper, was so entirely unreliable and so pal- 

 pably inspired by a vehement desire to injure the judges and 

 the New Haven Kennel Club that it has called out protests 

 from those who are in a position to know all the facts of the 

 matter. 



The ring stewards for Messrs. Davidson and Mason, by the 

 following statement, braud as an unqualified falsehood the 

 assertion that Mi*. C. H. Mason visited Mr. Davidson's ring 

 during the judging of the latter's classes. They say : 



We as rinq; stewards to Mr. C. H. Mason aud Mr. John Davidson at 

 the late show of tlie New Haven Kennel Club wish to say, in r*>pl\ ro 

 ■■i uarafcraph in your report of the show, that Mr. Mason 'did not enter 

 Mr. Davidson's ling during the judging of the latter's caves, and 

 we consider the statement as malicious in the extreme, an 1 calcu- 

 lated to do Mr. Mason and the reputation of the cl .b great injustice 

 Respectfully, Waltek D. Peck, (i B. Osborn, 



H. 8. Cowell, Chas. B. Gilbert. 



The owner of the Ashmont Kennels is equally prompt in 

 correcting the slanderous innuendoes of the same report. He 

 says: 



In your last issue, in commenting upon the New Haven show, yon 

 refer to what passed between the judge and myself when uiv mastiff 

 dogs Hero II. and Hford Cromwell were brought before him to con- 

 test for the special. You desire the fac s; it pleases me to give them. 

 Th-d judge, in a bantering tone, asked me which ought to have the. 

 prize. My answer, hastily given, without Ihousrht. and in the same 

 spirit, "1 suppose the old dog should have, it." To this the judge re- 

 sponded, '•! am going to find out which deserves it. aud the dog that 

 does shall have it.'' I made the laughing reply. "Very well, it is a 

 family matter." I considered the question of the judge a bit of 

 pleasantry on Ids part, entirely without significance. ' Neither then 

 nor since have I had the remotest idea that lie would be influenced 

 in the slightest degree by any preference of mine or opinion as to 

 relative merits. Yours truly, Owner of Abjimont Kennet.s. 



The report abounds in perversions of the truth, but the 

 animus which inspires them is so evident that it is unneces- 

 sary to correct them. 



THE PITTSBURGH PIECE OF PAPER. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Mr. Mason is nothing when he is not personal. His sneer at 

 me as the "kennel man" of the Westminster Kennel Club 

 does not lesson the fact that 1 have the honor to be the super- 

 intendent of their magnificent club bouse and grotmds, as well 

 as of their kennel and of the forthcoming dog show, and I 

 trust I shall continue to merit the confidence they have thought 

 fit to place in me. His statement in your issue of last week 

 relating to the Pittsburgh show, is false and exaggerated in 

 every particular, and he is so bereft of all decency that he 

 drags in the name of my dead friend, Chas. Lincoln", who can 

 neither affirm nor deny to substantiate his inventions. 



I was not aware until reading his contribution to your col- 

 umns, that I "had broken down;" but bis commiseration has 

 put me under a lasting obligation. 



I did not ask Mr. Mason to judge the black and tan terrier 

 class for me any more than I asked him to judge the mastiffs 

 or collies, and I scarcely believe he will have the effrontery to 

 say he coached me in these classes. 



Upon my arrival at Pittsburgh, Mr. Mason was almost the 

 first whom I met with whom I was acquainted, and at his in- 

 vitation 1 roomed with him in the same hotel, and the conver- 

 sation as to the black and tan terriers took place there. I 

 simply asked him to look over the two dogs Voi tigern and 

 Reveller, and give me his opinion as to their respective merits. 

 I was "conscientiously endeavoring to place the dogs cor- 

 rectly." 



As you, Mr. Editor, are aware, it was the first time I had 

 ever beeu*called upon to act in the thankless position of judge. 

 1 had not sought the appointment, but consented to act upon 

 a request from Mr. Lincoln sent by telegraph. 



The sporting press, and especially the Forest and Stream, 

 were very flattering in their complimentary notices of my 

 ability, and I have always had the satisfaction of knowing 

 that, whether my awards were correct or otherwise. I had 

 acted there, as at all other dog shows with which I have been 

 connected, with honest purpose to all and favor to none. 



When the article entitled "Mr. Mason's Manipulations" ap- 

 peared, accusing him of sending a note to the judge request- 

 ing him to divide a certain prize, I, actuated by feelings of 

 indignation at the injustice of the accusation, promptly 

 denied, and flatly contradicted any such statement. Was it 

 necessary that I should go further, and explain exactly what 

 the "scrap" contained? I think not. 



Mr. Mason winds up this conception of his imaginative intel- 

 lect by saying, "I shall always blame him for having done 

 himself a great injustice and his brother fanciers a still greater 

 one, in accepting the judgeship at dog shows, where his tongue 

 and the record prove him to have had very little experience 

 as an exhibitor, and none whatever as a breeder or owner of 

 good dogs," and "the influence that put him into the judge's 

 ring and kept him there no longer exists." 



In this statement he may prove, as he already has in many 

 others, a false prophet. Dalziel says in his notes on "Judges, 

 Their Election," "There is a rather broad-spread opinion that 

 to be a good judge a man must have been a successful breeder. " 

 "The experience gained b.y breeding maybe beneficial or pre- 

 judicial, but it can never make a man a judge," and just here 

 I would like to ask Mr. Mason of which breed he has been a 

 successful breeder? I have carefully studied the English rec- 

 ords, and I fail to And where he has been a successful exhibi- 

 tor with any dog, pointer or other, "which he bred himself; 

 probably he sold the good ones or — raffled them. 



I may be wrong, but 1 am vain enough still to believe that 



exhibitors of the breeds of dogs I have judged would, notwith- 

 standing Mi-. Mason's painful endeavoi s to prove the contrary 

 as soon trust their pets to mo, as to the infallible discernment 

 of this self-asserted authority. James Mortimer, 



Babylon. U I., March 27. 



THE NATIONAL DERBY. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I send you entries for the National Fiekl Trials Club Derby 

 that have come in to date: 



Gay Gladstone.— Chas. Tucker, Stanton, Tenn., white, 

 black and tan English setter dog, April as (Gladstone— Lava- 

 lette). 



Lemon Gladstone.— Samuel S. McCuen, New Orleans, La,, 

 white, black and tan English setter dog, April 28 (Gladstone- 

 La valette). 



Nannie Gladstone.— P. H. & D. Bryson, Memphis, Tenn., 

 lemon belton English setter bitch. April 10 (Gladstone— Sue). 



Jessie Gladstone.— W. B. Gates, Memphis, Tenn., black, 

 white and tan English setter bitch, April 10 (Gladstone— Sue). 



Unnamed.— W. B. Gates, Memphis, Tenn., black, white and 

 tan English setter dog, June. U (Paul Gladstone— Bo-Peep). 



T „ „ B. M. Stephenson. 



La Hranoe, Tenn., March 11. 



ST, LOUIS DOG SHOW. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Mr. J. H. Naylor. of Chicago, has accepted the position as 

 judge at our show, for the nonsporting classes. We are very 

 well pleased with the number of entries so far received, and 

 we believe we shall have a very fine collection of dogs from 

 present indications. Applications for entry blanks come in 

 very fast. We have reason to believe we shall get a v*ry fair 

 representation from the East, notwithstanding the New York 

 show follows ours just one week. We feared at first our ten- 

 dollar prizes woidd not attract exhibitors, but we find the 

 great majority of owners care much more for the honor of 

 winning a prize than the, amount won. We shall give each 

 winner a large certificate of his winnings. 



Dogs will be received at the Fourteenth street side of the 

 Exposition Building. Our building is lighted with electricity, 

 steam heated if necessary, and is oue of the best lighted, best 

 ventilated and handsomest halls in America. Open benches 

 will be used as far as possible, since we have ample room for 

 them. I hope to be able to announce our completed railroad 

 and express arrangements uext week. The Ohio and Missis- 

 sippi Railroad has already notified us that dogs will be carried 

 free when accompanied by owners or handlers. 



Geo. Mtjnson, Manager. 



Kt. Lotus, March 28. 



THE NEW YORK DOG SHOW. 



rpHE managers of the Westminster K.C. dog show have de- 

 X cided to make additional regular classes for Clumber span 

 iels, cocker spaniels and Newfoundland bitches, and beagles 

 under 12 inches. Beagles will be judged by the staudaid of the 

 American English Beagle Club. Several very valuable special 

 prizes will be offered. Among them is a cup valued at $150, 

 for the best setter or pointer, and one of $75 for the best 

 pointer. The usual arrangements with railroad and express 

 companies have been made. The superintendent informs us 

 that, judging from present indications, the show will be the 

 most successful that the club has yet given. Following is a 

 complete list of the judges: 



LIST OF JUDGES, 1S&5. 



Mastiffs, St Bernards, Newfoundlands, greyhounds, deer- 

 hounds, English retrievers, spaniels, all classes, "basset hounds, 

 dachshunde, bulldogs aud terriers, all classes (except fox-ter- 

 riers), pugs, Italian greyhounds and miscellaneous class— Hugh 

 Dalziel, England. 



Pointers and Irish setters— J. M. Tracy, Greenwich, Conn. 



English setters— John C. Higgins, Delaware City, Del 



Black and tan setters— H. Clay Glover, New York. 



Chesapeake Bay dogs — Isaac Townsend, New York. 



Foxhounds— A. Belmont Purdy. Long Island. 



Beagles and collies — Dr. J. W. Downey, New Market, Fred- 

 erick- county, Md. 



Fox-terriers— L. M. Rutherfurd, ,Tr,, New York. 



Poodles — John G. Heckseher. New York. 



CINCINNATI DOG SHOW. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Many very valuable special prizes have been subscribed for 

 different classes. The list will be furnished for your next 

 issue. Hugh Dalziel has been selected as judge for non-sport- 

 ing classes. Major J. M. Taylor will judge English setters. 

 The appointment of a judge for Irish setters, and Gordon 

 setters, and pointers, will be given to the press for next issue, 

 or as soon as it can be done. This exhibition promises to be 

 the best ever held iu the United States. Certainly in spotting 

 classes this show will distance all others in quality and 

 quantity, and the promises for non-sporting classes are very 

 encouraging. There has never been but one regular bench 

 show held in Cincinnati, and that, I am informed by the 

 officers of Ihe Cincinnati Sportsmen's Club, was a private 

 affair of Mr. Lincoln. This show was held in a hall on the 

 second floor, about ninety feet square, with nearly three 

 hundred dogs on exhibition, not giving one quarter of the room 

 necessary to accommodate the public. It is estimated by those 

 best informed that many thousand jjeople will attend this 

 show, provided the weather is fair, as there is a great deal of 

 interest displayed in the matter by the citizens generally, and 

 the enterprise meets with the hearty support of the press and 

 public spirited citizens. This is a good opportunity for breed- 

 ing kennels of non-sporting dogs. I find here but a very few 

 non-sporting thoroughbred dogs, especially mastiffs, St. Ber- 

 nards, Newfoundlands, Scotch terriers, and bull-terriers. 

 There is a great demand for thoroughbreds of these kinds, in 

 fact of all non-sporting kinds. From a business point of view 

 breeders of non-sporting dogs will find it greatly to their ad- 

 vantage to exhibit at this show. 



Washington A. Coster, Supt. 



Cincinnati, March 28. 



THE TORONTO DOG SHOW. 



\\ J"Ei have received the premium list of the third annual 



V \ dog show of the Dominion of Canada Kennel Club, to 



be held at the Horticultural Gardens, Toronto, Canada, on 



May 13, 14 and 15. The premiums are liberal, and the mana- 



fers will spare no pains to make the show the best of the year, 

 nstead of champion classes there are challenge sweepstakes 

 for English setters, English setter bitches, Irish setters, black 

 and tan setters, pointers, Irish water spaniels, field spaniels, 

 cocker spaniels, greyhounds, fox-terriers and collies. The en- 

 try fee is $5 with 810 added by the club, all to the winner. 

 The rule governing entry in the challenge classes is as follows: 

 Rule VIII. —A dog to compete in a challenge class must have 

 won a first prize in an open class at New York, Pittsburgh, 

 Boston, London (Ontario), Ottawa, Chicago, Cleveland, St. 

 Louis, Toronto (D. C. K. C), New Haven, Montreal (18S4), 

 Boston, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, St. John, New Orleans, or 

 Ontario Collie Club: and a dog having won a first prize at any 

 show held as above, cannot compete in an open class when 

 there is a challenge class of its kind, but must compete in such 

 challenge class. 



The premiums in the open classes are: English setter dogs, 

 $20, $10 and $5; bitches, the same; puppies, $10 and $5; Irish 

 setters, black and tan setters and pointers, same as English 

 setters; field spaniels, black or liver dogs, $15, $7 and 55. 

 bitches, the same; any other color, dogs and bitches, the same- 



puppies (including cocker), $10 and $5; fox- terriers, smooth^ 

 haired dogs, the same; bitches, the same; collies, dogs, the 

 same; hitches, the same: bulldogs, dogs and bitches, $15, -10 

 and $5. Most of the remaining classes are $10, $7 and 85, ex- 

 cept that in some cases the third is omitted and the prizes 

 are $10 and $5. There are two foreign or miscellaneous 

 classes with $15 each. Should anv one so desire, silver plate 



ml 10 value of P r!ZG will be given instead of cash. 



There will be a large number of valuable special prizes 

 offered. Following is the list of the judges ; 



Jno. Davidson, Esq.— For setters, pointers, collies and 

 hounds. 



J. S. Niven, M. D.— Fjr spaniels, Scotch, Irish, Dahdie Din- 

 mont and rough-haired terriers. 



Ronald H. Barlow, Esq -For mastiffs, St. Bernards, New- 

 foundlands, bulls, pugs and terriers (other than above). 



The judges in concert will judge the foreign and iniacellam 

 eous classes. 



Entries dose May 6. W. S. Jackson, Seo'y, 



Upper CanaDa College, Toronto, Canada. 



BOSTON DOG SHOW. 



Editor Forest and Stream; 



We have closed our entries, which number 628; the classes 

 are Well filled : Mastiffs, .35 ; St. Bernards, So ; Newfoundlands, 1 8 , 

 pointers, 50 ; English setters, 58 ; Gordon setters, 27; Irish setters, 

 00; spaniels, 2-i; greyhounds. 10, deerhounds, 7; foxhounds, 20; 

 beagles, 18; collies, 75; fox-terriers, 27; bull-terriers, 22; other 

 terriers, 86; bulldogs, 18, pugs 25; the remaining classes are 

 well represented, and the dogs entered are mostlv well known, 

 so that our show will compare favorably with the best. Our 

 list of specials is not yet completed, the 'same being added to 

 daily. We would call attention to the fact that each aud 

 every one. of the special prizes to be given at our show is con- 

 tributed by friends, and in many cases we have no acquaint- 

 ance with the donor. The club does not give a single special 

 and has no control over the giving of them. 



The prospect for a successful show is good; it is the topic of 

 the day here, and even if the clerk of the weather should be 

 unfriendly to us, we believe that we shall have a full house. 



Three dogs, when accompanied by owner, can come free to 

 and from our show via Fall River line. 



We have decided to issue a marked catalogue. 



J. A. Nickerson, Secretary. 



Boston. Mass., March 38. 



THE SIZE OF BEAGLES. 



Eiitor Forest and Stream: 



The article of "Sedge" which appeared under the above, 

 heading in your last issue, savors strongly of prejudice against 

 the small beagle, and certainly does that grand little dog an 

 injustice. "The Size of Beagles" is a heading which clearly 

 shows the purposo of the articles under the same, viz., to de- 

 termine which size of beagles is the most useful, I take it for 

 f ranted that under the general term beagle, the only true 

 eagle, i, e., the English beagles, are meant. "Sedge," there- 

 fere, is wrong in assuming that this discussion is carried on to 

 show which dog (or breed) is best suited for rabbit hunting, and 

 whether his preference is for the American beagle or any other 

 mongrel, is foreign to this controversy. It is wrong for any 

 one to condemn a certain size of beagles just because, they are 

 not suited to their locality, or the specimens of that size owned 

 by them were worthless. It should be taken into considera- 

 tion that the nature of ground and cover should govern the 

 selection of beagles as to sifce, for most any one will admit 

 that the larger beagle is preferable in a rough country with 

 heavy cover. It must also be remembered that worthless 

 specimens exist in all breeds and sifces of dogs, no one, there- 

 fore, is warranted In making his condemnation general in its 

 application as "Sedge" has done. 



My experience with the small beagles will not bear out the 

 assertions made by "Sedge." I find them true on the trail, 

 tnakmg by far fewer losses than the larger beages, owing to 

 their comparative slOwhess on the trail, The large beagle 

 with their naturally increased speed will, as a rule, overrun 

 all doubles, and so much so that a great deal of time is lost 

 thereby, whereas the small beagles coming to a double with 

 far less speed, will quickly discover it and almost turn with 

 the double, "Sedge' to the contrary notwithstanding. My 

 preference is for a twelve or thirteen-: nch beagle. I do not 

 desire or look for great speed in a beagle, in fact. I would not 

 keep a fast one, although for hunting without a gun where 

 the rabbit is run down, they are undoubtedly the dog; but 

 this is not my idea, neither of the dog nor of the way of hunt- 

 ing rabbits. ' I love to listen to the musical tongue of the 

 merry little hounds, and would rather topple over a rabbit 

 with a well directed shot, then to pick up the mangled re- 

 mains of one caught by fast hounds. 



Oftentimes during the past autumn have I stood with gun 

 resting in my arms and listened to the music of three of nry 

 favorites as they slowly but surely brought a rabbit back 

 from hence they had started him from its "form." Oftentimes 

 I would perceive the rabbit, ere it came within the reach of 

 my gim, sitting upon its haunches, listening to the hounds in 

 the. rear, and seemingly enjoying the music. As the dogs 

 burst from the brush, which had so far hidden them from my 

 view, the rabbit skips away rather lively, and as I look upon 

 my dogs with nose close to ground and 



•'With ears that sweep away the morning dew," 

 and their cries prolonged and exultant, almost making me 

 forget the rabbit, who is now almost beyond gun shot or in 

 the bushes out of sight, but quickly turning and catching sight 

 of his white tail I venture a snap shot, and walking up there 

 lays my game, and just as my little hounds come up I pick up 

 my rabbit and stow him away in my capacious game pockets, 

 and givine my dogs, who are" anxious to mouth the game, a 

 few friendly pats while we are making for another place they 

 are again ready to repeat the performance. 



Such is my ideal of rabbit hunting and of the dogs best 

 adapted to. this sport; but remember, 1 do not condemn other 

 sizes. Different localities require different sizes, according to 

 the nature of the country, nevertheless the size I advocate I 

 think will be found a good average, a compromise so to say. 

 Give the small beagles a place in your kennel and they will 

 win a place in the hearts of your family; you cannot deny to 

 them your friendship, their large lustrous eyes are always 

 pleading for vour love. 



1 hope N. Elmore, "Rusticus," "Briar," and others will give 

 us their views. A. C, Krueger. 



Wkiriitsville. Pa,, March '■) 



THE FOX-TERRIER CLUB.— At the meeting held in 

 January last, at Madison Square Garden, for the purpose of 

 taking steps to form a fox-terrier club, a temporary committee 

 was appointed for the purpose of drafting constitution and by- 

 laws and a standard. This committee having completed their 

 work, a meeting of the club will be held to consider it. It is 

 probable that the standard of the English Fox -Terrier Club 

 will be adopted. A call has been issued to those interested, 

 which reads as follows : "March 80,1885. Dear Sir— At the 

 call of Mr. Edward Kelly, Chairman of the preliminary meet- 

 ing held at Madison Square Garden, in January last,' bavins 

 in han3 the formation of an American Fox-Terrier Club, I 

 hereby notify you that a meeting for organization will be held 

 at Delmonico's, Twenty-sixth street and Broadway, New York 

 City, on the evening of April 7, 1885, at 9 o'clock; at which 

 meeting the tenmorary committee will submit for approval 

 a,nd adoption, the rides and standard of the English Fox-Terrier 

 Club, modified to suit our American requirements.-- A. E, 

 Godeffrot, Sec. pro tern. P. S. — Communications will please 

 be addressed to the Hon. Chairman, Edward Kelly, Esq., 185 

 Fifth avenue, New York city. 



