Nov. la, 1885,] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



309 



like a locomotive or> a tear.-while St. Elmo V. , quite as speedy, 

 went with smoother action. South Point being soon reached 

 Dave scored a nice point, but the quail got up wild and sought 

 safer quarters. St. Elmo running down wind stopped short 

 on a. lot of birds which got up scared, St. Elmo dropping 

 to wing. Dave a moment after got a point in good style, well 

 backed by the Saint. The bu-ds flushed themselves. Dave lost 

 his patience and made a masterly dash after them, putting to 

 flight a bird or two that had remained. Another lot of quail 

 was found by the Saint. Dave, rank and excited, chased 

 Elgahi and was tlii-own out by rank disobedience, he paying 

 no attention to the commands of his handler. Taken up at 

 ten minutes before three and the last brace cast off a moment 

 afterward, 



DAN T. AND DOCTOR- 



This heat was the feature of the stake. Seldom if ever at 

 a field trial is seen a heat run out in such good form in all 

 respects. Prom start to finish it sVas exci?ptiotially fine. The 

 dogs were started near the south point and luinted through 

 the elustei-s of bayberries and bunches of blackberry canes 

 without finding a feather. Leaving the high groimd, a descent 

 was made to the foot of the bluff, wuere sand and sedge 

 makes the point extending for half a mile into the bav. 

 Turning the point to the left, the dogs hunted north. Not "a 

 dozen rods were covered before the Doctor pointed in grand 

 fashion. Dan T. proved a little fresh, roading in alongside of 

 the black dog and taking scent himself. Bu-ds were flushed 

 to order, and Judge Brucej and Dr. Speir each killed a bird as 

 they rose. Ordered to retrieve, Doctor found and brought his 

 bird to the handler in rare good style, delivering to hand 

 while on his haimches, with head well up. Dan T. also re- 

 trieved his bnd, when ordered, in nearly as taking a manner. 

 The only respect in which Doctor excelled Dan T. was in the 

 matter of obedience, the black dog appearing to know better 

 and to be more famiUar with the ways of his handler than 

 Dan T. with his. Dogs taken up at 3 P.M. The judges here 

 stopped for a consultation, which resulted in ordering up 

 Doctor, Pride of Robins Island, St. Elmo V. and St. Ives to 

 compete for the different piizes to be awarded. 



DOCTOB AND PRIDE OF ROBINS ISLAND. 



At 3 :50 P. M. these two dogs were cast off directly on south 

 point and hunted north in the open. Scai-ce had they started 

 when a number of birds were flushed by the sjaectators. 

 Quail were scarce flushed when Pride pointed. Doctor backing. 

 This proved a false stop. Pride stopped again soon, and was 

 again nicely backed. Bu'd flushed to order Oft' still to the 

 north when the Doctor located a bird, Pi'ide backed hand- 

 somely. After a moment's pause Doctor roaded on, stopping 

 after a few yards had been gone over. Birds got up wild after 

 point was established. Rattled by the shooting Doctor was a 

 httle unsteady while Pride lost his head and indulged in quite 

 a chase. Pride brought in dead bird in good fashion. Down 

 to the south beach and into the wire grass. Hardly in when 

 Pride stopped, the Doctor backing elegantly. Pride roaded 

 on after his stop. Doctor wheeled to right into scrub oak, 

 hunted through the timber, came out again to the beach and 

 picked up the birds a hundi-ed yards ahead of Pride, the latter 

 stopped his roaduig and backed the physician. A himdred 

 birds flushed wild before the point. One killed out of a dozen 

 shots. Both dogs dropped to wing. These birds flew to the 

 top of the high bluff where the bayberry bushes at its edge 

 made capital cover, followed by dogs and men. The top was 

 but reached when both dogs pointed. Here followed a scene 

 beyond comparison exciting. Judges Pratt and Bruce each 

 had gims, ditto handlers, ditto many of the on-looking club 

 members. Birds were flushed to order, as they rose were 

 fired at and missed. At the reports up got bird after bird ia 

 regular succession, until the air seemed alive with fluttering 

 pinions. Dogs dropped to wing and behaved better than the 

 men. Dog trials were forgotten, and each man that had a 

 gun went to shooting. The firing was "at will" and sounded 

 like the practice firing of a regimental company. After guns 

 were emptied a ''brace up" followed, and the business of the 

 day resumed. Ordered to retrieve not a bu'd was foimd, 

 though Superintendent Lecompt3 did bring in a wing feather 

 or two. Brace taken up and 



ST. IVES AND ST. ELMO VI. 



cast off at 3:40. In but few moments Saint stopped indecis- 

 ively, puppy fashion. One or two quail got up under Judge 

 Brace's feet, who fairlj'- executed a pa.s- seul to vring. Tnese 

 birds followed, found by the Elmo pup, who had but stopped 

 when the game flushed wild some yards ahead of him. A bad 

 quarter of an hour fohowed. The birds had been so rattled 

 they lay like stones, and only got up when about to be trodden 

 on. " Reaching southwest point St. Ives false pointed on top 

 of bluff, the puppy dropping to a back. On the west bank 

 both dogs stopped, but a hundred yards apart. Each handler 

 claimed a point. Ordered to flush, Dr. Speir stepped to side 

 of Elmo, who roaded on a dozen yards and again stopped; 

 St. Ives on Ms original point. Speu- flushed the bird. St. 

 Ives evidently was working on back track, as no bird could be 

 toimd iu his front. Ac the flushing of Elmo's bird a big bevy 

 rose but a short distance ahead. Another quarter of an hour 

 followed, in which a half dozen bevies got up, but all wild and 

 out of distance. Along the west shore to gravel pit. Here St. 

 Ives got in some good work, stopping and roadmg for a hun- 

 dred yards, followed in good fashion by the puppy. Birds 

 were flushed to order, Judge Brue« getting in a good double. 

 Dogs ordered to retrieve. St. Ives failed altogether, and the 

 puppy brought in his bii-d cleverly. Another move ahead, 

 each "dog scoring a false point. Judges stopped for argument, 

 and dogs ordered up. Time 5 P. M. As it was now nearly 

 dark it was decided not to commence the Brace Stakes until 

 Thursday morning. At the setting of the sun was seen a cloud 

 effect of surprising beauty. This sunset was alone worth the 

 trip to PtObins Island to see. Words even the most effulgent 

 would fail to describe the beauty of the various tints and 

 shadows. Following is the 



ALL-AGED STAKES SUMMARY. 



Name of Dog. 



Doctor 



St.. lilaio VI 



Pi"ide of Robins Island 



Bessie ; . . 



St. Ives , 



St. Elmo v.. ; , 



Dan T 



Fred ... 



Blade of Grass 



Beau Suffolk 



Uout 



Prince Hal, Count Jack, Brighton and Dave, no record taken. 



Thursday afternoon opened bright and mild. Topcoats 

 were discarded, and before the work was done many wished 

 for summer suits. A move was made from the club house 

 at S :50, and at 9 o'clock the first of the br aces, 



FORCE AND BESSIE, ^ 



were started in the big field east of buildings. Force showed 

 much more style and speed than Bessie, she appearing a little 

 off. Through this big pasture lot to east bluff, then a sharp 



turnabout and the little fringe of woods hunted west, then 

 another turn to open field of center of island. Here Force 

 located birds in a little patch of corn, Bessie Imcking in un- 

 steady fashion. Bii-ds flushed themselves, marked down and 

 followed. At noi-theast beach Bessie made a half.hearted 

 point, which was backed nicely by Force. Quail got up wild. 

 As the character of the work was" of inferior order, dogs were 

 taken up at 9 :.50 and the second of the braces, 

 DOCTOR AND ST. IVBS, 



sent to the front. The flushed birds were followed. A mom- 

 ent or so after stai-ting, Doctor false pointed, this backed in 

 good fashion by St. Ives. Started on Doctor went not over a 

 hundred yards when he stopped again. St. Cves coming up 

 failed to back but ranged up alongside of Doctor and took 

 scent himself. Ordered to flush no bird was found. On again 

 for not over a dozen rods when both stopped stiff, roaded on 

 a yard or so, then each dog circled off in a wide reach. In 

 this run sevei-al birds were either flushed or got up wild, the 

 wi-iter knows not which. At last Doctor got on scent and 

 stopped short and sharp, St. Ives unsteady at back, and 

 moved up past the Doctor, deliberately flushing what proved 

 a big bevy. The Doctor was steady to wing. St. Ives a 

 rusher. Ordered on, Doctor again pointed; this time St. Ives 

 obeyed his handler and backed at a "down charge" iiosition. 

 Birds flushed by Judge Pratt, Doctor steady to wing and to 

 gim, St. Ives broke shot and indulged in quite a chase after 

 iixe flying bu-ds. Dogs taken up at 10:30 and the third of the 

 braces immediately started. 



GENERAL ARTHUR AND ST. ELMO VI. 



Cast of toward south point. Hunting to southwest Saint 

 pointed ; Arthur coming round patch of high bayberry bushes 

 pointed also. Dr. Speir put up bird, both dogs staunch on 

 point and to wing. Judge Pratt flusher) a bevy, Dr. Speir shot 

 and killed. St. Elmo ordered to retiieve, did so in good style. 

 The bird, a crippled one, was delivered to handler still afive. 

 More birds were then located, each dog getting several points 

 and mutually backing each the other. Arthur retrieved in 

 even better fashion than Elmo VT. , as befitted his greater age 

 and experience. Taken up at 10:45, the last of the braces, 



PRIDE OF ROBINS ISLAND AND PRINCE HAL, 



were put down at ten minutes before 11 . Worked toward 

 south point, which location never failed of birds. The dogs 

 soon found game and both pointed. Marshall put up birds to 

 order and a general fusillade followed, but without result. 

 The dogs were all off, Prince Hal entirely so. The character 

 of the work was such that dogs were ordered u^j at II :li5. 

 Alter the capital work of the preceding heat they had not a 

 siiow to win. Had Pride been running with a better mate the 

 contest might have been prolonged, but the result would not 

 have been changed. So ended the contest for the Brace 

 Stakes of 18S,5. 



BRACE STAKES— SUMMARY. 



Name of Dog. 



General Arthur i 

 St. Elmo VI. f 

 Pride of Robins Island ( 

 Prince Hal )' 

 Doctor ( 

 St. Ives 1' 

 Force ( 



At conclusion of running in brace stakes no rest was allowed 

 by the judges, but the first of the puppies in order of drawing 

 were instantly called up and cast oft" at south side at 11 :30. 



ST. ELMO VI. AND LADY FLOSS. 



Hardly had a moment elapsed ere the Saint located and 

 stopped. Floss, new to her handler and apparently to her 

 work, paid no attention to backing or to the scent. Starting 

 to flush, no bii'd was found from edge of bluff down to wire 

 grass of the beach. Here Saint made a point ; bird got up 

 wild, followed by three others. Moving on, Elmo got a point 

 in undecided manner ; bird put up. Lady Floss to all ap- 

 pearances entirely ignorant of field work audits requirements. 

 Dogs taken up and 



PARADOX AND FORCE 



cast oft" a few moments before 13. Force behaved nicely, but 

 Paradox too young to understand what was required of him. 

 He minded well, but was puppyish in the extreme. Force 

 had so easy a thing that the judges ordered the puppy with- 

 drawn and G-ypsy Queen to be put down in his place. Dogs 

 ordered on afresh at quarter past 13. The south side followed 

 and around the southwest point, and then the west side 

 hunted to north. Queen wild as an untamed colt and scored 

 to her credit two or three grand flushes, in one of them the 

 bird getting up within a foot of her nose. Force, his conduct 

 influenced by such example, also flushed a bird. At edge of 

 wood at top of hill overlooking "Devil's half-acre," a tremen- 

 dous bevy of birds flushed themselves and flew to the thick 

 cover of the low -lying branches of the sciiib oak. These were 

 followed. Force here did some capital work, pointing and 

 I'oading until he located them to his satisfaction, when he 

 stopped staunchly. Queen, who had been acting as ' 'Siu'- 

 veyor-General" of the Robins Island Department, caught sight 

 of "Force and swooped down upon him as a hawk to a crippled 

 bird. Rushing past his point, she went for the birds, and they 

 went also in aU directions, a half hundred at least. Although 

 the dogs were hunted a quarter of an hour longer, this prac- 

 tically decided the heat. 



DERBY, 1885— SUMMARY. 





Poin 





Bad 



w 



Staun 



Ban 



Quari 



Obed 

 dispo 



Retrii 



i 



Name of Dog. 



5" 



n 

 ? 



f" 





n 



1" 







2. 



E 





an? 





J? 





i 





1 



l| 



5" 



w 







35 



so 



7 



6 



6 



6 



6 



4 



10 







25 



16 







6 



5 



5 



4 



4 



4 



69 





20 



15 







5 



5 



4 



4 



3 



8 



64 



Lady Floss, Qypsey Queen, Parades and CJount Fred no record 

 taken. 



So ended the fourth annual trials of the Robins Island, 

 a success in eve:-y possible way. As for the number of birds, 

 well, one can say that nowhere can such bevies be foimd. The 

 only thing that approaches it is the quail in the foothills of 

 California, and there only in numbers, not in the gameness of 

 the bird. Peconic. 



ABOUT THOSE WHO KICK.— Hartford, Nov 6.— Editor 

 Forest and Stream: Your very interesting corresjjondent, 

 Mr. W. Wade, writes at different times the foUowing: "I 

 never 'kicked' at a judge's ruling yet; and I think it a poor 

 business." Again he says: "For myself, Iglory in belonging 

 to the noble army of 'kickers'." If Mr. Wade would kindly 

 explain why he has met with a change of heart he would con- 

 fer a favor on— A. E. Collins. 



THE EASTERN FIELD TRIALS. 



THE foUowing additional entries for the All-Aged setter and 

 pointer stakes of the Eastern Field Trials Club have been 

 received. Mr. Coster, the Secretary, is at High Point. He 

 has received notice of registered letters at Flatbush which 

 probably contain other entries that we shall not be able to 

 pubhsh until next week : 



SETTERS. 



BucKELLEW (W. A. Co.ster, Flatbush, L. I.), orange and 

 white English setter dog, fivrs. (Druid— Ruby). 



Elcho, Jr. (Dr. Wilham Jai-vis, Claremont, N. H.), red Irish 

 setter dog, 4i;^yrs, (Elcho— Noreen). 



Slocum (Bayard Thayer, Boston, Mass.), Gordon setter dog 

 (Thayer's Turk— Beauty). 



Gath's Mark (Dr. J. N. Maclin, KeeHng, Tenn.), black, 

 white and tan dog, 17mos. (Gath— Gem). 



Gladstone's Boy (Dr. G. G. Ware, Stanton, Tenn.), black, 

 white and tan dog (Gladstone— Sue), 



Sportsman (J. W. Muman, Keeling, Tenn.), black, white 

 and tan dog (Gladstone— Sue). 



Rose of Ilillarney (L. W. White, Bridgeport, Conn.), red 

 Irish bitch, !3yrs. 3mos. (KUIaraey— Lill II.). 



pointers. 



Rue (Bayard Thayer, Boston, Mass.), lemon and white 

 bitch, 6yrs. (Snapshot— Ruby). 



Bloom (James L. Anthony, New York), white and liver 

 ticked bitch, iyrs. (Leach's Bang — Whipple's Lady). 



Bang Bang (Westminster Kennel Club. Babylon, L. I.), 

 white and lemon dog, 4yTs. (Bang — Princess Kate), 



Madtone (Westminster Kennel Club, Babylon, L. L), liver 

 and white bitch, 2yrs. (Tory— Moonstone). 



Jilt (Neversink Lodge Kennels, Giiymard, IS. Y.), Uver and 

 white bitch. SJ^yi-s, (Croxteth— Lady Gwendoline). 



NEWS FROM HIGH POINT. 



IEAVIKG New York on Thursday, Oct. 29, at 3:40 P. M., I 

 -J expected to reach High Point the next morning at 10:06, 

 but the severe storm had changed the babbling brooks into 

 roai-ing torrents and two bridges on the A^irginia Midland 

 road were damaged, necessitating tedious waits, and I did not 

 aiTive here untO. after 2 o'clock Sunday moraing, over forty 

 hours late. This was exasperating, as 1 had intended to make 

 good use of the lost time in getting in condition for the trials 

 among the ipiail. Mi*. Jas. Cai-swell, of the U. S. Fish Com- 

 mission, was on board the train with a consignment of German 

 carp for Wv the ville, Va. There were sixteen large ones for 

 breeding and one thousand small onces for distribution in the 

 vicinity. He had also fifty blue carp, fifty tench and one hun- 

 dred and fifty goldfish. At Lynchburg, where he changed 

 cars, he had lost four of the large fish and one of the small 

 ones. This was doing very, well considering the delay and 

 many transfers. He will" return with some two-year old 

 Penobscot 'salmon, rainbow trout, grayling and salmon front 

 and one thousand rainbow ti'out of last spring's hatching. 



On Monday after my arrival here I looked up old friends 

 and spent a few hours very pleasantly. In the afternoon, in 

 company with Mr. Coster and a f j iend resichng here, we took 

 a short turn among the quail. As this was not a pubhc trial 

 I do not feel called upon to record the score; suffice it bo say 

 that the dogs performed veiy well, finding seven large bevies 

 of well-grown birds — highly-educated bu'ds, too, for although 

 we held dead on them they knew just the instant to dodge, 

 and many of them escaped. A dozen of them, however, 

 dodged the wrong way and wiU never more play their tricks 

 upon the too-confiding sportsman. On Tuesday aiternoon we 

 tried a different locality and found about the same number of 

 birds, but Mr. Coster had Buckellew along, and, like Col. 

 Scott's coon, they knew thas it was of no use, and we brought 

 home about thirty. This was an afternoon of rare sport. The 

 weather was simply all that we could ask, the- dogs did capital 

 work, and the guns did just enough execution to make it in- 

 teresting. It is not all of shooting to shoot, and all of us can 

 bear witness tliat an occasional miss— not too many — greatly 

 enhances the sport. 



Wednesday was very nearly a repetition of the previous 

 day, except that the wind was high ; but perhaps this was all 

 for the best, as we had a good excuse for the misses. 



On Thursday— oh, that Thursday! I wish that you would 

 record it in big red letters— on Thursday I circumvented and 

 laid low a proud yoimg gobbler. My pen utterly refuses to 

 record the description of a tithe of the joy and satisfaction 

 that fiUed my heart as I stood alone in the silent forest gazing 

 upon the noble form and beautfful plumage of my long-sought 

 quarry. More than thh-ty years have passed since last I 

 bagged one of these royal birds. Last year while here I per- 

 sistently haunted their range, but only succeeded in getting 

 two or three shots at long range and one or two feathers. 

 The boys chaft"ed me unmercifully and talked turkey to me 

 until I was tired; but now the whole aspect of affaii-s is 

 changed. Securely fortified with the bright memoiy of that 

 successful chase, I can complacently smile at their feeble 

 attempts at wit. 



Quail shooting around High Point is capital, birds are very 

 plenty, and for the most pai't well grown. There have been 

 several hard frosts and the weeds are cut down so that the 

 dogs can be seen fairly well. There has been an abundance of 

 rain and the ground is soft and the fhnty stones give under 

 the dog's feet instead of standing on edge fh-mly imbedded in 

 the hard baked clay, as was the case last year. The most 

 serious drawback to the enjoyment of sport about here is the 

 unwillingness of many of the land owners to shooting over 

 then- grounds. I have had no trouble on this score, but on the 

 contrary have uniformly met with a cordial welcome. Many 

 of the handlers complain that they have considerable difficulty 

 in obtaining sufficient groimd to work their dogs over. This 

 state of affairs should not continue, for the trials bring a large 

 amount of money to the place, which is largely distributed 

 among the land owners iu payment for their produce, and they 

 should certamly be wLQing to make some return by according 

 fuU privilege to those who promote and support the trials. 

 There is a decided feehng among members of the club that 

 unless there is a change for the better in this respect some 

 other locality wiU be selected. 



Some of the handlers are located near here, and all of them 

 report their dogs in much better condition and doing better 

 work than last year. 1 have seen many of the dogs, and 

 instead of wearing the tired out, used up appearance of last 

 yeai-, they are all in splendid form. TaUman is at Thomas- 

 ville, eight miles from here, with the setters Foreman, Plan- 

 tagenet, NeUie 11. and Elcho, Jr., and the pointers Beaufort 

 and Bradford. He reports them all as doing well, and speaks 

 very highly of Beaiffort and Plantagenet. Luke White is at 

 the same place with the pointers Bang Bang, Bang Grace, 

 Madstone, Duke of Bergen and Pocahontas and the Irish setter 

 Rose of Killarney. Bang Bang, he says, is doing much better 

 work than he did last year; he also says that Bang Grace 

 and Madstone are doing finely. Pocahontas is in season and 

 probably will not mn. John Wnite is also at ThomasviUe with 

 the pointers Tammany and Vision. He reports both as 



freatly improved. Vision will only run in the Members' 

 take. W. T. Mitchell is located here with the pointers 

 Graphic, Bloom, Sport and Ned and the setters Pendenis and 

 Blue Lily, for the All-Aged Stakes, and thi-ee Derby entries. 

 He says that all are doing well, and speaks highly of the 

 natural abilities of Graphic, Bloom and Pendenis. The latter 

 is entered in both the All- Aged and Derby. Hart Haight is 

 at Salisbui-y, about thirty miles from here, with the pointers 

 Donald II. ," Flash R. and Lucia. He will also have in a few 

 days Dr. Speir 's settei-s St. Elmo IV. and Windermere. He 

 also has one or two starters in the Derby. He also had Scout, 

 a notice of whose death may be found in another col umn .. 

 This morning I received a telegram from Mr. Gregoiy request- 



