228 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[April 12, 1888. 



large quantities of menhaden, neither of which are ever 

 seen in company feeding on live menhaden. If they con- 

 sume yearly five thousand harrels of that fish hv having it 

 fed to them by the fishermen.; is it food or bait? Probably 

 the West Island Club fed to the striped bass last season 

 more than one hundred barrels of menhaden, audit is dol- 

 lars to cents that not a striped bass east of Mon tank was 

 caught with a menhaden in its stomach that it caught 

 alive. 



We know, and can prove, that there is not a single food 

 fish on our whole coast that keeps company with and feeds 

 on the menhaden for its dailv food, but we also know, and 

 have seen, many instances of wholesale slaughter of men- 

 haden by bluefish, which usually happens when they are on 

 their way south in October aud'Novernber. The fishermen 

 tell of miles of water red as blood with fragments of men- 

 haden floating on the water, how the bluefish act like mad 

 dogs, jumping out and swiftly darting through the water. 

 The. slaughter don't usually last long, a day or so. and then 

 the menhaden are gone. 



Mr. Martin is right when he says "Inquiry into the De- 

 crease of Food Fishes" always appears on books published 

 by IT. S, Fish Commission, but is that argument!' It seems 

 curious to have a man give a title of a book as a reason for 

 the passage of a law, when the men who are in charge of the 

 Commission which publishes the book are on record as say- 

 ing the law should not pass. When the U. S. Fish Com- 

 mission was established the scup, or porgie, had all at once 

 nearly disappeared from the southern coast of New England 

 and from its harbors, rivers and bavs, and a great cry went 

 up that the trap men had destroyed them, and word went 

 forth to extinguish them by law. Prof. Spencer F. Baird 

 was at that time favorable to their restriction, and a de- 

 termined effort was made in Rhode Island and Massachusetts 

 to pass laws to that effect, but they failed of consummation 

 in both States. We at that time gave testimony to prove 

 that in Roger Williams's time they were a common fish, 

 that they left our waters before a trap or pound was thought 

 of, and probably would come back, as they did in the year 

 \800, without notice or warning, but our adversaries would 

 not be convinced and had us on the ran, aud without ques- 

 tion would have succeeded in passing a law to suit them- 

 selves, but for the return of the scup themselves during 

 1870, in quantities to suit every one, and most of our op- 

 ponents became of our way of thinking. I would recom- 

 mend Mr. Martin to read Mr. Baird's statement on the 

 above facts, as they appear in the record of the Halifax Com- 

 mission. 



I could go on aud give personal reminiscences of every 

 fish that inhabits our waters from Cape Cod to the Dela- 

 ware, and, as it would seem, their unreasonable fluctuations 

 which one would hardly believe unless he knew the truth 

 from personal observation; for instance, the appearance 

 during the summer of 1886 of a herring, which was a stran- 

 ger in these waters. They coine in countless numbers and 

 locate on our coasts, in our rivers, harbors, and bays, stay 

 four or five months and then disappear. The brigantine, 

 or bullseye-mackerel. has been absent from our coast for 

 about 50 years. It made its appearance last season in quan- 

 tities large enough to give every inhabitant of the United 

 States several meals each. Can any man give a reasonable 

 theory why they left or why they 'come back? The purse 

 seine argument don't come in, for they left before it was 

 used to catch mackerel. I am informed that the West 

 Island Club, at Secounet Point, caught less than 50 striped 

 bass during the season of 1880, and between seven and eight 

 hundred during the season of 1887. Plenty of large striped 

 bass never would have come back, as they did "on a long 

 reach of our coast, during 18S7, if the theory which has been 

 advanced was correct, that their scarcity before 1887 was 

 caused by their destruction by traps, pounds, shore seines, 

 and the purse seine destruction of menhaden, which is 

 claimed to be their food. The cause of fluctuations like the 

 above, which is the rule of all sea fish, is not man with his 

 feeble appliances. D. T. Church. 



TrVEBTON, R. I. 



THE NEW HAMPSHIRE HATCHERY.— We are in- 

 formed that Governor Sawyer has placed a sufficient sum at 

 the disposal of Col. Hodge to build a new hatchery to 

 replace the one recently burned. As the Legislature' had 

 adjourned for two years it was feared that the work would 

 be interrupted for more than this one season. This action 

 by the Governor shows that he appreciates the labors of the 

 Fish Commission, and relieves the commissioners of all sus- 

 pense. Col. Hodge will visit the hatchery at Cold Spring 

 Harbor, N. Y., before building, 



Every person who is sufficiently interested in the National 

 Park to do his share toward seeunna 2)rotection fur it, is in- 

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

 blanks. They are sent free. 



FIXTURES. 



DOG SHOWS. 



April 17 to -40.— Fourth Annual Show of the New Haven Kennel 

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



April 23 to 27.-Second annual bench show of the Baltimore 

 kennel Club, Baltimore, Md. Frank Hall, Manager. 



Aprd 2i to 27.— International bench show of dogs of the Cincin- 

 nati Sportsman's Club, Cincinnati, Ohio. Geo. H. Hill, Supt. 



A. K. R.-SPECIAL NOTICE. 

 rpHE AMERICAN KENNEL REGISTER, for the registration 

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

 published every month. Entries close on the 1st. Should be 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 6 104. 



COMPLIMENT TO A JUDGE. -The Rensselaer Kennel 

 Club, of Troy, at a special meeting held March 30. 1888, 

 adopted the following: Resolved, That it is the sense of the 

 management of this club that Mr. C. H. Mason, of New 

 York city, discharged the perplexing duties imposed upon 

 ™ m , as , judge at the inaugural bench show in this city, 

 March 30, ai and 22, in a manner highly satisfactory in every 

 respect to the managers and to the friends aud patrons of 

 the organization. Possessed of a wide and intelligent 

 knowledge of dogs of all classes; capable, as though intui- 

 tively, of grasping the salient favorable points of a dog and 

 at the same time detecting at a glance objectionable features; 

 exercising lair and impartial judgment in arriving at a con- 

 clusion relative to the merits of an animal judged, and 

 allowing himself in no way to be influenced by fear or favor- 

 polite and courteous in his personal relation's with exhibi- 

 tors, though firm and decided in maintaining a position once 

 assumed— it is the sense of this Board of Managers that a 

 vote ot thanks should be, and is hereby, tendered Mr. Chas 

 xl. Mason, and that the same be conveyed to him through 

 t A tie ^ r T per ° mcers of this club.-H. B. Thomas, President; 

 A. M. Ide, Secretary. ' 



THE BOSTON DOG SHOW. 



THE dog show of the New England Kennel Club held at 

 Boston last week, taken as a whole, was fully up to 

 that of last year, except perhaps, in its financial results. The 

 rain on Thursday afternoon caused a falling off in the attend- 

 ance, and consequently there will not be quite so large a bal- 

 ance on the credit side of the books as resulted last year. 

 The attendance up to this time was very good indeed, and 

 had the rain not interfered there is no doubt that the gate 

 receipts would have been the best in the history of the club. 



There were 1054 entries, 15 more than last year. In some 

 of the classes the quality was superior to that of any previous 

 show which we have attended , while two or three classes 

 were not quite up to the mark. Mr. Tallman handled the 

 show very well, but would have done better in some respects 

 if he had been given a sufficient number of attendants. The 

 lack of help was particularly noticeable during the judging, 

 as it took a long time to bring the dogs into the ring. 



Much of this trouble, however, was owing to the fact that 

 the very bad practice of benching dogs of different classes to- 

 gether was indulged in to an extent that we have never seen 

 equalled. Managers, especially of large shows, will probably 

 in the course of time learn that this plan is not only costly 

 and inconvenient to themselves, but that the public are suf- 

 ferers as well. We understand that New York will next year 

 institute a thorough reform in this respect, and we hope to 

 see every show in the country follow the example. Aside 

 from this the management was excellent. The benching and 

 judging was done by Spratts Patent in their usual good style. 

 Dr. Al. Watts was veterinarian. The proverbial hospitality 

 of the members of the club added not a little to the attraction 

 of the show. On Tuesday evening a complimentary dnmer 

 was given to a large number of guests, and it is needless to 

 say that everything in connection therewith passed off in the 

 most satisfactory manner. 



Through the courtesy of the judges we are enabled to lay 

 before our readers some of the reasons that influenced 

 the decisions, and we have no doubt that they will be read 

 with absorbing interest by all. in some instances we are 

 compelled to disagree with the decisions rendered. We do 

 this very reluctantly and perform the disagreeable task with 

 anything but pleasure. 



Following is a list of the judges and the classes assigned to 

 them : Chas. H. Mason, New York, mastiffs, Great Danes and 

 Ulmers, Newfoundlands, deerhounds, greyhounds, dachs- 

 bunde, spaniels, collies, poodles, Italian greyhounds, Mexi- 

 can hairless, Airedale terriers and miscellaneous over 25 lbs. 

 Miss Annie H. Whitney, Lancastez-, Mass., St. Bernards and 

 pugs. Dr. William Jarvis, Claremont, N, H. f pointers, Eng- 

 lish and Gordon setters. Wm. Dunphy, Peekskill, N. Y., 

 Irish setters. N. Elmore, Granby, Conn., beagles, basset 



spaniels and miscellaneous under 25 lbs. Thos. Dawson, New 

 York, fox-terriers, J. P, Barnard, Jr., Boston, Mass., round- 

 headed bull aud terriers. Mr. Masou, as usual, handled his 

 classes well, and we heard but few complaints that his de- 

 cisions were not entirely satisfactory. To those who were 

 not quite satisfied, we recommend a careful perusal of his 

 comments upon the different animals that came before him, 



Miss Whitney also gave very general satisfaction, and per- 

 formed her task in a very praiseworthy manuer. She labored 

 under a very great disadvantage, while judging the St, 

 Bernards, owing to the smallness of the ring. At least 80 

 more ot those magnificent animals were shown than were 

 ever before brought together in this country, and a grand lot 

 they were. The judging ring was not half large enough, and 

 how Miss Whitney ever managed to get through the classes 

 with so few mistakes is a wonder. There was no opportunity 

 to see the dogs move, except that an occasional glimpse could 

 be had of an animal that by chance was not hidden in the 

 crowd. Had the judge been given proper opportunity for a 

 careful examination, we have no doubt that Kastlehorn, 

 the winner in the open dog class for rough- coats, would have 

 been one or two pegs lower on the list. He has a fair head and 

 is quite stylish in appearance. He is too short in back, is not 

 good behind, has small feet and carries his tail too high. We 

 thought him about good enough for third place. Scotch 

 Bonivard II., winner of equal second, we thought should have 

 been first. He showed the best head in the class, with a trifle 

 more depth in head and muzzle he would be about perfect in 

 this respect. He was shown too thin, but is every inch a 

 St. Bernard. It was rather a close thing between the winner 

 of first and Visp II., given equal second. We rather preferred 

 the latter, as he is just about as good as Kastlehorn in all im- 

 portant points, aud is the better mover. So far as we could 

 see Miss Whitney handled the remainder of her classes,' 

 ncluding the pugs, in an excellent manner. 



Dr. Jarvis, we are very sorry to say, did not handle his 

 classes at all well. We believe him tc. be a good judge of an 

 Irish setter, but his decisions in the English and Gordon set- 

 ter classes show that he is not at home with these breeds, 

 whde most of his awards in the pointer classes were simply 

 inexcusable, and winners as well as losers were nearly unani- 

 mous in condemning the decisions. The pointer classes were 

 not so full as last year, but aside from the Graphic kennels, 

 which were not shown, the quality was equal to that 

 of last year behiud those dogs. In the open large dog class, 

 John Lewis led in Nick of Tell and landed him a winner. 

 This dog is a big strong animal with lots of bone and good 

 feet. Slasher, commended, was about the best in the class. 

 He had no bad faults, which is more than can be said of the 

 others. Next to him old Bang, placed third, was about as 



The con espondiiig bitch class would have been placed nearer 

 right bad the judge begun at the other end. Devou Nell, 

 commended, was about tho best in the class, with Portland 

 Lilly V. H. ft, close up for second, and Bell Randolph third. 

 Fly, H C, was good enough for the three letters, while Devon- 

 shire Queen, third, should have been content with two. Rosa 

 Croxteth, second, would have been lucky with two letters. 

 Daisy Ranger we did not find in her stall," but we remember 

 her as better than some of the others. Nearly all of the class 

 were well known. In the open class for small dogs, Brake, 

 shown too thin, was rightly placed first. Ned B.. given 

 V. H. C, was much the best of the remainder, while Sir 

 Anthony, unnoticed, was a good third. Spot Dash, also un- 

 noticed, was the next in order of merit. Don Quixote, placed 

 serond, has gone off and was not in condition. V.H.C. would 

 have been about right for him. Rapid Bang, H. C, would 

 not have disgraced the three letters. He is rather a nice 

 little dog, and the best mover in the class. In the bitch class, 

 first went to Bonanza, an easy winner. Katisha. unnoticed, 

 was the second best, with not much to choose between Belle of 

 Maine, third, and Ethel, V.H.C, for third place. Jane, second 

 has not improved on her puppv form, and V. H. C. was 

 enough for her. Daisy, commended, and Brunette, H. C 

 were both entitled to more than they received. Donald's Best 

 shotdd have received one if not two letters. This was a verv 

 good class. The puppies were notbiug extra. 

 The Engbsh setters were fully up to those of last year in 



. _ - n~. * ujj.'- V^CU UliXO^, 111 C li 



was given to Dad Wilson, a dog of some quality with good 

 legs and feet. Except in color, he is nearly the type of the 

 Irish setter, although we doubt that with the proper coat 

 .or. Jarvis would place him very high up in tue Irish 

 class, as he is too flat ribbed, leggy and lathy and lacking in 

 substance. Roger, placed third, was the best in the class, with 

 Gus„ Bondhu perhaps second, although Phil Warwick, H C 



crowded him very closely. Count Petrel and Leroy, both V. 

 H. C, Royal Kent, C. and Draco, H. C, were all better than 

 the winner. In the bitch class, first went to Mr. Crawford's 

 recently imported Blue Nell. She is a sweet little bitch, and 

 just about good enough for second place. She is somewhat 

 deficient in stop, and her ears are not quite right. She is also 

 throaty, and a trifle long in lorn, her hocks are carried too 

 close together and consequently she is not an easy mover. 

 She is a taking looking bitch, with good shoulders, chest, fore 

 legs and feet, and when put in condition, will undoubtedly do 

 a lot of winning, the class was fairly good, as it looked in 

 the ring, but as we failed to find several of them when we 

 visited their stalls, we will not attempt further criticism ex- 

 cept to say that the three winners appeared to be the best in 

 the lot, with Haphazzard a good bit ahead, The puppies 

 we did not compare as we could find only a portion of 

 them. With the exception of placing Little Boy over 

 Beaumont, the awards in the Gordon classes were per- 

 haps as well made as was possible. This decision is all 

 wrong even in a class for black and tans, and much more so 

 in a class for Gordons. 



In Irish setters, Mr. Dunphy selected the small dogs for the 

 honors. While we cannot quite agree with him as to the rela- 

 tive worth of some of the dogs, we must admit that he stuck 

 to the type that he fancies, and that lie gave us no bad ones 

 among the winners. Kenmore was d eservedly first. Chip, 

 placed second, is a nice little dog, worth third or V.H.C. in al- 

 most any class. We thought Banker, V. H. C, good for 

 second; with Lurry S., also V. H. C, just a little ahead of 

 Chip, although the former showed lacs of grooming. In the 

 bitch class we liked IjuIu n. about as well as any, although 

 there was not much to choose between the winners. 



Mr. Elmore did very well indeed with his classes, and suc- 

 ceeded in placing them about right. We thought that he had 

 not done justice to Royal Krueger, but an examination 

 showed that he was all off. He was tucked up, bad in coat, 

 and did not carry himself at all well. The foxhounds were 

 much better than we often see, and had the judge given all of 

 the commended dogs the three letters each we should not 

 have found fault. 



Mr. Lever also handled his classes Very nic ly. The bull- 

 dogs Were a better lot than are often seen together. 

 The same ma y be said of the Irish terriers. The Skyes were 

 also very well represented, In the bitch class of the latter 

 breed, by some misunderstanding, Kirkella was taken from 

 the ring before the judge had decided upon her merits She 

 is a capital specimen of the drop-eaied variety, of fair length 

 and good coat. She is too large, otherwise she was much the 

 best m the class. Yorkshires were a numerous class, but 

 nearly all of them were off in coat. Bradford Harry, the 

 winner in the dog class is a good specimen with much 

 better coat and color than we are accustomed to . see at our 

 shows. Nothing new showed up that was above the average 

 in the other classes assigned to Mr. Lever. 



Mr. Dawson placed the fox-terriers about right, except that 

 Luke, placed third, is enough better in head and expression 

 to just about beat Reckoner, the winner of second, notwith- 

 standing the latter has a trifle the best of it in loin. The only 

 wire-haired dog shown is not good enough for a first prize 

 winner. Second place was plenty good enough for him. Mr. 

 Barnard handled the "round-headed bull and terriers " in a 

 masterly manner, at least we concluded that he must have 

 done so, as we heard not a single growl at his decisions. This 

 class was made for the benefit of local owners, and it is 

 scarcely necessary to state that Stonehenge gives no standard 

 whereby they are to be judged. They were a very miscel- 

 laneous looking lot, not nearly good enough to compete in 

 the regular classes, and not quite bad enough for the pit. 

 Until fanciers of the breed can give us something better in 

 the way of looks and show some approach to uniformity in 

 type,we should advise all bench show committees to have 

 nothing to do with them in the future, Following are the 

 comments of the judges upon their several classes, except 

 those of Miss Wnitney and Mr. Dawson, which, having 

 reached us too late for this issue, witl appear next weeK ! 



This was the best, and I believe the largest, class ever seen 

 iu an American show. Dogs that would have been good 

 enough for first prize a few years ago were sent out of the 

 ring without a card; the marked progress that has been 

 made, and made recently, reflects credit on breeders and im- 

 porters. Probably no writer has more persistently con- 

 demned the awarding of prizes to long-faced, leggy yellow 

 dogs than I have since 1881. If I have ever missed an oppor- 

 tunity to have a hack at them in my reports I am unaware 

 of it, and Boston's splendid exhibit is proof sufficient that I 

 the fiddle-faced brigade must retire in favor of the mastiff I 

 proper. Beset by erroneous and conflicting awards, by 

 trashy reports and unreliable effusions from the pens of 1 

 men who, until about a year ago, had never seen a mastiff, 

 the American breeder has indeed hadtotravel arugged road, 

 but to his credit be it said, he has kept right on, and un- 

 daunted and determined to overcome all obstacles has made ■ 

 commendable progress. It is safe to say that the old Eng- 

 lish mastiff in this country is no longer a disgrace to his , 

 brethren across the water. While taking notes I availed 

 myself of the occasion to speak with a number of mastiff 

 breeders, and very few believe in the type of dog that was 

 winning six or seven years ago. They have evidently been . 

 studying the points and characteristics of the breed, and 

 have made up their minds to produce a different and better 

 looking dog. Even the reporter of the Chicago Letter Press, 

 and he it is that is responsible for the idiotic decision in 

 favor of Nevison over Creole, at Pittsburgh, 1883, was telling 

 it up and down the show that Hford Caution "is the right 

 type." In view of this rapid march of progress, which is 

 largely due to the position assumed aud held by Forest 

 AND Stream, you, Mr. Editor, will readily judge of my feel- 

 ings when this excellent class was brought before me. 

 Champion dogs were, of course, the first called out, and as 

 the owner of Minting and Hford Caution preferred to win 

 with the latter. Minting was not brought into the ring, 

 although he was on hand to take care of the specials. Cau- 

 tiou was in tip-top condition, in fact I never saw him looking 

 better, This is the dog that wdien first shown at Boston 

 was ridiculed by bagman judges and incompetent reporters. 

 By some mysterious process he has been transformed into a 

 good dog, and all because your humble servant awarded him 

 first prize at the Fanciers' Show over Homer and others and 

 in his report said he was a good one. The best thing that 

 ever happened for the mastiff interests of this country was 

 the importation of Hford Caution. Which of our mastiff 

 breeders had ever seen a mastiff head before they saw his? 

 It is doubtful if a better stud dog than Hford Caution ever 

 breathed, and if he lives and is bred to good-looking and 

 purely-bred bitches, I shall expect to find in him a second 

 Rajah. Lady Clare, of Pittsburgh notoriety, was alone in 

 the champion class for bitches. I gave her the special for 

 the best mastiff bitch in the show. Mr. H. Goodman gave 

 her he. in a poor class. "Doctors differ," etc. She was bred 

 to Minting some time ago, but did not prove in whelp. Her 

 owners are young in the dog business, and if they keep on 

 will learn a thing or two about breeding large dogs. There 

 were fifteen entries in the open class for dogs, and although 

 I failed to find anything of superlative merit, the whole class 

 was level and a vast improvement on any I had. previously 

 seen in this country. Hford Coroner, a rare-bred one, was 

 first, but very closely pressed by Sears's Monarch, who has 

 filled out and shows marked improvement on his puppy 

 form. My notes on this young dog, taken twelve months 

 ago, were as follows: "Skull promising. Muzzle should 

 have greater width. Eyes a shade too light in color. Ears 

 a trifle large. Neck, chest, back, loin and quarters all fairly 



