March 23, 1888.J 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



169 



Every person who is sufficiently interested in the National 

 Park to do his share toward securing protection for it, is in- 

 vited* to send'. for one. of the Forest and Stream's petition 

 blanks. They are sent free. 



FIXTURES. 



DOG SHOWS. 



March 20 to 22.— Inaugural Show of the Renssalaer Kennel Club 

 Troy, N. Y. Alma M. Ido, Secretary. Entries close March 10. 



April 3 to C— Fourth Annual Dor Show of the New England 

 Kennel Club, at Boston, Mass. J. W. Newman, Secretary. 



April 17 to 20.— Fourth Anuual Show of the New Haven Kennel 

 Club, New Haven, Conn. E. Sheffield Porter, Secretary. 



A. K. R.-SPECIAL NOTICE. 

 rpHE AMERICAN KENNEL REGISTER, for the registration 

 of pedigrees, etc. (with prize lists of all shows and trials), is 

 published every month. Entries close on the 1st. Should bo in 

 early. Entry blanks sent on receipt of stamped and addressed 

 envelope. Registration fee (50 cents) must accompany each entry. 

 No entries inserted unless paid in advance. Yearly subscription 

 $1.50. Address "American Kennel Register," P. O. Box 2832, New 

 York. Number of entries already printed 5981. 



PACIFIC COAST FIELD TRIALS. 



SACRAMENTO, March 8.- Editor Forest and Stream: 

 In compliance with your request, I will endeavor to 



five your readers an account of the late field trials of the 

 'acific Coast Field Trials Club, held in Kern county in Jan- 

 uary. To enter into all the usual details of such meetings, 

 however, would at this time be out of the question, for 

 nearly two months have elapsed, and many things that go 

 to make up a full report cannot be recalled iu their order of 

 occurrence. It was understood during the trials that a prop- 

 erly accredited correspondent of the Forest AND Stream 

 was looking after its interests, hence your humble servant 

 had no occasion to equip himself with complete notes of the 

 work, To properly report a field trial is, as you are aware, 

 one of the most difficult and onerous duties connected with 

 sportsmen's journalism, and as the reporter must necessar- 

 ily carry many of his notes of each heat mhis head, he should, 

 in order to do justice to his report, write up each day's work 

 as he goes along, while the several events and incidents are 

 fresh in memory. For myself, I regret that any misunder- 

 standing occurred to prevent our late trials from having 

 been fully reported for the sportsmen's journals in the East, 

 as the meeting was an exceptionally pleasant and successful 

 one. 



The number of entries this year was larger than for any 

 previous trial, the Derby nominations amounting to thirty 

 odd, and the All- Aged to something like twenty. However, 

 th ere were the usual troubles with the puppies. Some fell 

 sick and died, and others failed to come up to their owners' 

 fond expectations and were relegated to their kennels. Per- 

 haps the most conspicuous losses (from distemper) were 

 those sustained by the California Keuuel, which had to 

 cancel the entries of three promising young English setters. 

 The Bassford brothers were also deprived of a couple of 

 their Derby entries by the. failure of their handler to appear 

 at the trials. This handler lives off in the foothills of Sola- 

 no county, and neither messengers nor telegrams succeeded 

 in fetching him to the scratch. He was notified to send the 

 dogs, in case he could not come, but he neither forwarded 

 them nor sent any explanation of his strange conduct. These 

 young dogs were sired by Vandevort's pointer Don, their 

 clam being Queeu, one of the Bassfords' best bitches. Hence 

 the Derby had but ten starters, and the All- Aged stake had 

 seven, including some of those in the puppy stake. 



The trials were held in the vicinity of Bakersfield, Kern 

 county, which is in the southern end of the great San Joa- 

 quin Valley. The country about there is very level and 

 splendidly adapted for field trials. The only timber is a 

 sparse growth of scrubby willows and cottonwoods, where 

 the overflow from Kern ' River sometimes runs across the 

 broad plains in narrow streams. Outside of these belts of 

 willow is a kind of sage weed from one to two feet high. In 

 some places it is quite thick and heavy, and in others sparse, 

 but in either case affording excellent cover for the birds. 

 Where this sage is not found, the ground is covered with a 

 short salt or alkali grass, from four to eight inches high. 

 In this cover the birds lie closer than in the sage, and as the 

 country is so open spectators have an excellent opportunity 

 to witness the work of the dogs (and, I might add, of the 

 handlers, which often varies in character more strikingly 

 than that of the canines). There are no burrs, thisties, 

 briers, nor anything whatever to interfere with the dogs' 

 work. One can follow in a wagon, buggy, on horseback, or 

 afoot, and be in sight of the contesting brace all the time. 



At the time of the trials (which commenced on Monday, 

 January 16, and lasted all the week) we were baring t lie 

 coldest snap experienced in the lowlands of California since 

 the country was settled by the whites, and it continued dur- 

 ing the first three days of the week, when it broke, and from 

 that time on it was almost summer weather, The ground 

 selected was some thirteen miles from Bakersfield, and the 

 drive out and back each day iu that nipping weather was 

 rather trying to all of us. Some of those mornings the mer- 

 cury was down to 25 degrees above zero and this, mind you, 

 is what we call "blizzard" weather. On Wednesday new 

 and better grounds were found within half an hour's drive 

 of town, and this fact, together with the moderation of the 

 weather, served to render the remainder of the meeting en- 

 joyable. Among those who came from a distance to witness 

 the week's events in the field was a young lady from San 

 Francisco, chaperoned by the stalwart and handsome field 

 marshal, Colonel Linville. While great, burly men com- 

 plained of the cold or fatigue, this charming young lady — 

 with cheeks glowing with crimson and eyes sparkling with 

 delight— was scampering across the fields on horseback, or 

 interestedly watching the graceful maneuvers of the dogs as 

 they dashed hither and thither in their work. Not a day in 

 the field nor a heat did this young lady miss, and more than 

 one sportsman cast envious glances at the lucky dogs whose 

 success won for them the smiles and caresses of the lovely 

 Diana. 



The judges selected for the trials were R. T. Vandevort, 

 of Pasadena. Fred. A. Taft, of Truckee, and Frank Satter- 

 thwaite, of New York. These are all gentlemen well known 

 to old-time Eastern sportsmen, and it would be difficult for 

 any club to find men more competent for such duty. The 

 last named, however, failed to reach here, and in his stead 

 Mr. Joseph A. Bassford, Jr., and ex-State Railroad Com- 

 missioner W. W. Foote officiated alternately. Probably 

 there never was a field trial the results of which did not 

 occasion more or less individual fault finding, and there 

 probably never will be. It is quite natural that men should 

 become so interested in their own dogs as to be blind to 

 some of their faults. Were it otherwise, men might engage 

 in contests of this kind and permit each to judge his own 

 dog's work. Hence the necessity for having gentlemen to 

 judge the dogs who have no personal nor pecuniary interest 

 in their success. But even they are not infallible, and it 

 may be that the judges on this occasion made mistakes. At 

 all events, some little fault has been found with the decis- 

 ions in some instances, but the "kicking" has not been at all 

 vigorous nor of an offensive character. Indeed* there was 



not, during the entire week, an unpleasant incident. On 

 the other hand, it was full of delightful episodes. 



Then there was the annual business meeting of the club; 

 the election of new members and collections of funds: the 

 distribution of purses; speech-making by Messrs. Judge 

 Foote, Briggs, Vandevort, Judge Post and others, etc. 

 One pleasant incident was the awarding of ribbons and 

 rosettes, handsomely inscribed, to the winning dogs in both 

 stakes— the handiwork of Mrs. Judge Post, of Sacramento. 

 And while mentioning some of these little outside incidents, 

 I cannot help referring to one that occurred at the close of 

 the annual business meeting. Mr. "Vandevort was called 

 upon to relate some of the incidents of the great race (in 1883 

 I think it was) between his celebrated pointer Don and the 

 equally noted setter Gath. You are probably aware that 

 Don died only a few months ago, and so deeply was his 

 owner affected by the loss that he has foresworn dogs for the 

 future and turned his attention to horses. He talked for 

 some time on field matters generally, giving good advice to 

 the novices present, and only switched off to the Don — 

 Gath race at the repeated and 'urgent calls of those present. 

 He was giving a most minute and graphic account of the 

 contest, and had reached that important point in the 

 race, where Don did some of his grandest work, and for 

 which, it is claimed, the judges did not give him credit, 

 when the narrator, overcome with emotion, broke down. 

 He struggled hard to regain his composure, but the 

 memory ot that December day in the far-off East, when his 

 noble clog covered himself with glory, only to be denied its 

 legitimate fruits, and the fact that the beloved companion 

 of his former days was now no more, came all too vividly 

 before him, and his voice continued broken with emotion, 

 while he recounted the remaining incidents of the heat and 

 its disheartening result. During its recital he seemed to 

 forget his surroundings and for a time appeared to see only 

 the old battle ground in North Carolina. He knelt upon 

 one knee, and with his left hand pressed upon his brow, 

 with his right he drew imaginary lines upon the carpet in- 

 dicating the courses pursued by the canine gladiators, his 

 utterance all the time broken by sobs that could not be 

 mastered. Coldly stated on paper the incident may not 

 strike the reader as one of such pathetic interest; neverthe- 

 less it was one of the most touching aud dramatic the writer 

 ever witnessed, and there was not a dry eye among those 

 present when vandevort had concluded his story. All who 

 know him are aware of his retiring and unobtrusive man- 

 ner, and it was with the greatest difficulty that he was per- 

 suaded to talk on the subject, which it appears was so 

 painful to himself. But, all unconsciously, he touched the 

 deepest chords of the sportsman's heart with a master hand, 

 and the. sympathies of_ that little party went out freely to 

 their bereaved companion, whom to know is but to love. 



In this connection there was a very singular coincidence. 

 The first brace of dogs drawn that evening to run on the 

 following morning was Judge Post's Harold and L. J. Rose's 

 Point. Harold was sired by Gath, and Point was sired by 

 Don. So here were the sons of those two noted dogs to come 

 together under Vandevort's judgment, some 3,000 miles 

 distant from the scene of that (to him) ever memorable con- 

 test. 



It was determined at the annual meeting to hold next year's 

 trials on the same ground, commencing on the third Monday 

 in January. The superintendent of the ranch, Mr. Flough- 

 tou, got the trials fever, joined the club, an d promised to 

 have the grounds preserved for its uses. No better arrange 

 ment could possibly be made, as there are lots of birds on 

 the place, excellent cover, etc. The grouuds are less than 

 half an hour's drive from the thriving town of Bakersfield, 

 a burg that boasts of three newspapers, several good hotels, 

 stables, etc. An idea may be formed of the, number of birds 

 in that locality when I assure you that on one morning a 

 covev of not less than 200 birds was flushed, and the natives 

 say that early in the season that would be called .a small 

 covey. 



Having covered many of the incidents collateral to the 

 trials proper, your correspondent must, for reasons given at 

 the outset, depart from the usual custom of reporting 

 minutely all the work of each individual dog, and give only 

 a general resume thereof. Following was the result of the 

 drawing in the puppy stake: 



Herold. — H. Gerber's blue belton English setter dog (Har 

 old— Janet) 



against 



GALATEA.— J. M. Barney's liver and white pointer hitch 

 (Nick of Naso— Temptation). 



Blossom.— G. W. Bassford's lemon and white pointer 

 bitch (Glen R. — Josie Bow) 



against 



Hidalgo.— J. E. Edwards's lemon and white pointer dog 

 (Vandevort's Don— Beautiful Queen). 



Haroldine.— Win. DeMott's blue, belton English setter 

 bitch (Harold— Janet) 



against 



Point.— L. J. Rose's lemon and white pointer dog (Vande- 

 vort's Don— Drab). 



Sunlit. — California Kennels' black, white and tan English 

 setter .bitch. (Sportsman — Sweetheart) 

 against 



Dottie Shafter.— Wm. Kaeding's black, white and tan 

 setter , bitch (Regent— Fanny) . 



MAID.— W. S. Kittle's lemon and white pointer bitch 

 (Lemmie B.— Surf) 



against 



Dick.— W. W. Foote's black, white and tan setter dog 

 (Royal Duke II. — Adams's Nelly). 



A rather late start was had on Monday, and it was nearly 

 noon when the party reached the grounds. After a nice 

 lunch had been partaken of the dogs were put down on the 

 spot, a covey of quail having been driven off the lunch 

 ground as the crowd pulled up. P. D. Linville, of San 

 Francisco, was unanimously chosen as marshal for the 

 week. 



HEROLD AND GALATEA 

 are both of medium size in their respective classes. Herold 

 was handled by Mr. H. Clay Chipman (his owner being 

 absent), and Galatea by her owner. Herold's handler was 

 an utter stranger to him, and as the puppy had been broken 

 to obey commands given in the French tongue, he of course 

 was badly handicapped. Although a young dog of palpable 

 merit, he did not do Himself justice. "Broken to work in the. 

 close cover of the foothills, his range was limited, but he 

 showed good style and hunting instinct. Galatea was a 

 little bundle of concentrated chain lightning. The dogs, 

 handlers, judges and spectators were soon all among the 

 birds, but Galatea was everywhere seemingly at the same 

 time. She was very short ot work, and so rank that for a 

 time she seemed to be having a sort of private circus with 

 the quail. In the meantime Herold was doing a little quiet 

 work on his own hook, coming to a stand on a couple of 

 | birds, which rose as the handlers approached. Galatea, in 

 , one of her wild sweeps, swung to a very stylish point on a 

 ! single bird. The bird was flushed and both were steady to 

 wing. Both half poiuted on several occasions, but the birds 

 ; flashed wild, the dogs generally being steady to wing and 

 shot. After being down one hour the dogs were taken up 

 i and the heat awarded to Galatea. 



BLOSSOM AND HIDALGO. 

 1 At 2:35 Blossom, handled by owner, and Hidalgo, handled 

 by Allender, were put down in a wide field of sage weed. 



Both showed good action and ranging qualities. Bassford 

 soon flushed a bird and shot. Blossom dropped, but Hidalgo 

 came to heel, evidently, afraid of the gun. His handler ex- 

 plained that the puppy was short of work and had not re- 

 covered from his first gun shyness, and was drawn to run 

 against his advice, simply to gratify the desire of Mr owner 

 to have him go. The dogs were ordered up and the heat 

 awarded to Blossom. 



HAROLDINE AND POINT. 

 Haroldine, handled by her owner, and Point, handled by 

 Allender, were put down on the same ground at 3:10. Har- 

 oldine showed the greater speed at the start, and both 

 covered their ground nicely. As the heat progressed the 

 pointer, a big, slashing fellow, increased his pace and range. 

 Both dogs made points to which no birds were found, and 

 at other times stopped as the birds rose wild. The birds 

 seemed to be restless and moving, and the dogs were greatly 

 bothered. Their handlers were constantly claiming points, 

 but the judges seemed to regard many of them as flushes, 

 though doubtless excusable ones. In one instance Haroldine 

 pointed on the outer circle of a wide cast, and some time was 

 lost in a vain attempt to call in the dog to back her. She 

 held her position staunchly for many minutes, but when it 

 was sought to flush the bird none could be found. A little 

 later the dog came to a fine stand. The bitch was brought 

 up and she backed him. Allender put up a covey of birds 

 in front of the dog, shot and killed, both dogs being steady. 

 This was really a grand bit of work, and one of the features 

 of the trials. After being down an' hour and a quarter the 

 honors were so nearly evenly divided that the conclusion of 

 the heat was postponed, and at 4:30 the party set out on the 

 long ride to town. On Tuesday a half hour was devoted to 

 the unfinished heat, which was awarded to the pointer. 

 SUNLIT AND DOTTIE SHAFTER. 



The next brace to run was the California Kennels' setter 

 bitch Sunltit. handled by Judge Post, and Wm. Kaeding's 

 setter bitch Dottie Shafter. handled by Allender. This was 

 altogether a one-sided contest, Sunlit outranking her adver- 

 sary in every way. She showed speed, range, scenting quali- 

 ties an d staunchness of a high order, and readily won/ Dottie, 

 however, gave evidence of a future of usefulness in the field, 

 and will yet doubtless justify the high estimate set upon 

 her by her owner. 



Owing to the loss of time in reaching and returning from 

 the grounds, and the fact that one of the next brace to run 

 had not arrived, no further work was done on the second 

 day. 



MAID AND DICK. 



On Wednesday the trials were held only four miles from 

 town, and an earlier start was had. The first dogs put down 

 were Maid, handled by Allender, aud Dick, handled by J. G. 

 Edwards. Some time was spent in finding birds, as no one 

 was familiar with the grounds. The pointer showed speed 

 and ranging qualities, but when birds were found neither 

 showed sufficient merit to warrant a long heat, and they 

 were ordered up without any point having been made, and 

 the heat declared oil'. It must be said, however, that neither 

 dog had much chance. The birds on which they were 

 worked were found on ground that was almost bare, aud 

 flushed before the dogs could get near them. Under more 

 favorable conditions better results would no doubt have 

 been obtained. 



Second Series. 



GALATEA AND BLOSSOM. 

 At 11:20 Barney's pointer bitch Galatea and G. W. Bass- 

 ford's pointer bitch Blossom were put down, handled by 

 their owners. The former cut out her work on the same 

 scale as on the first day, going like a shot through the cover, 

 while Blossom worked closer, but still with good speed. 

 She was far more tractable than her high-mettled competi- 

 tor, and made the greater number of points. Both clogs 

 were steady to wing and shot, except on one occasion, when 

 Blossom chased a winged bird a short distance. At one time 

 the dogs got among an immense covey that had scattered in 

 the short grass and sage, and seemed to become rattled by 

 the numbers that rose on all sides. Just as they were 

 ordered up after a fifty-minutes heat, Galatea made a grand 

 point on the bank of a slough, but it was just a few seconds 

 too late to go to her credit. The heat was awarded to Blos- 

 som. 



SUNLIT AND POINT 

 were started at ten minutes past twelve. Both went off at a 

 rattling gait, and throughout the heat worked both wide 

 and fast. Some of the neatest work of the entire week was 

 done in this heat. It was a succession of points from the 

 start, Sunlit having the best of it, although both put up 

 birds which it seemed they should have stood. After run- 

 ning an hour they were ordered up for lunch. At two 

 o'clock the heat was resumed in another part of the ranch 

 and continued for fifteen minutes. During this time Sunlit 

 pointed a covey, and was handsomely backed by Point, The 

 bitch won the "heat. One of the features of this heat was a 

 "rank" flush made by the field editor of the Breeder a nd 

 Sportsman, who almost stepped on a polecat, and that too 

 while working up wind. To his credit, however, it can be 

 said that he didn't break in and chase. 



Tlvlrd Series. 



SUNLIT AND BLOSSOM 

 next came together and were sent off at 2:20 to contest for 

 first place. This heat lasted an hour and was well contested. 

 The pointer showed perhaps the better style, but the setter 

 was faster and ranged wider. Both were obedient and gave 

 evidence of careful handling. Each made a number of 

 points, but the setter had the best of it. Once she found a 

 eovey and was neatly backed by Blossom. Neither was dis- 

 turbed by shot or wing. Sunlit was awarded the heat, 



Fourth Series. 



POINT AND BLOSSOM 

 then ran off for second place, stai-ting in at 3:30. They were 

 down about an hour and did some very creditable work. 

 The dog first nailed his bird and Blossom honored it and 

 this was repeated later on. Allender shot and killed and 

 both dogs were steady, but on one occasion each broke in on 

 moving birds. The dog had a little the better luck in find- 

 ing birds and was awarded the heat. 



The owners of Blossom and Haroldine held a consultation 

 and agreed to divide third instead of running it off. 



SUMMARY. 

 First Series. 



Galatea beat Herold. 

 Blossom beat Hidalgo. 

 Poiut beat Haroldine. 

 Sunlit beat Dollie Shafter. 

 Maid and Dick heat off. 



Second Series. 

 Blossom beat Galatea. 

 Sunlit beat Point. 



Third Series. 

 Suulit beat Blossom and won first. 

 Point beat Blossom and won second. 

 Blossom and Haroldine divided third. 



ALL-AGED STAKE. 



Two of the Derby entries by the consent of the owners of 

 the other dogs were permitted to enter the All-Aged stake, 

 as 'several of the regular entries failed to put in an appear- 



