JaX 81. 1889.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



31 



NEW ENGLAND FOX HUNTING. 



Editor- Forest and Stream: 



"Awahsoose" does not need indorsement on the subject of 

 fox hunting, but I would like to be couuted in, as agreeing 

 with bim, and also your correspondent "R. S. F.," of La- 

 conia in tliis State, who has the whole matter in a nutshell. 

 "Tallyho" "put his foot iu it" decidedly, instead of in the 

 stirrup, when he mounted his hobby, which is the only 

 horse he could ever ride over the fox-haunted hillsides of Ver- 

 mout and New Hampshire. 



He says he «ha« lived in Massachusetts and knows all 

 about it, and perhaps he does, but. bis subsequent remarks 

 do not show much evidence to that effect. He is joined by 

 another Colorado man, "Wevmoutb," who says "there is 

 lots of couutrv in the Connecticut Valley where a fox 

 could be hunted in the usual way." Meaning, presumably 

 the English way. Now I happen to know something about 

 the valley, aud although there are a good many thousand 

 acres of it. over which horses might be ridden, it would puz- 

 zle the hounds to find any scent of foxes on them, unless 

 some chicken-stealing marauder had come down for the night 

 from the rocky steeps of Mt. Tom, or Mt. Holyoke, over 

 which an Englishman would as soon think of trying to 

 take a pack of hounds as be would over the top of Snow- 

 don or Helvellynl T have seen many a foxhound in Old 

 England, and 1 know the country where they are used, and 

 that the grass fields of Melton Mowbray bear about as much 

 resemblance to the hills of Vermont and New Hampshire, 

 as an Illinois prairie does to a Colorado gulch! Does 

 "'Tallyho" ride to hounds up them? 



If be and "Weymouth" would like the sport of ridiugto 

 hounds over the Connecticut meadows, I think I could pro- 

 mise them plenty of "essence peddlers," but very few foxes! 



* Von W. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



The recent discussion in your columus concerning the 

 ethics of fox hunting, seems to be of an uuusually profitless 

 nature. 



The men of Leicestershire, who may be regarded as 

 authority in these matters, ride to hog on the plains of 

 India, but think it no shame to shoot them in the hills. 



A sportsman may be true to the traditions of the craft, 

 yet not necessarily a lunatic. I have ridden all my life, and 

 enjoy a spin ac ross conntiy. J may also claim some know- 

 ledge of the New England States, and of their adaptability 

 to the English style of fox hunting. As I write, the snowy 

 summits of Waehusett, Kearsarge, Monadnock, Ascut.ney, 

 Chocorua, with many other old familiar peaks, are proudly 

 passing in review before my mental gaze. 



Since the above was written, I see that "Awahsoose" aud 

 others have pretty well disposed of this matter, and it would 

 scarce be worth while to send these notes, but that I desire 

 to be enlightened on a certainpoiut. 



It is just possible that "Tallyho" is the very ancient 

 "party" whom Scott had probably in mind when he penned 

 the following lines: 



"Sounds, too, have couie on midnight blast. 

 Of charging steeds, careering fast 

 Along Benharrow's shingly side, 

 Where, mortal horseman ne'er might ride." 



Permit me "in the most delicate manner in the world," 

 to ask: Was there any smell of sulphur about "Tallyho's" 

 communication ? i Kelpie. 



Central Lake, Mich. 



Editor Forest an d Stream.: 



I have hunted foxes in both Virginia and Maryland, and 

 have a notion of wbat hunting in New England must 

 be like from knowledge gained of the country on several 

 visits to the woods of Maine, which I suppose may be taken 

 as a sample. There is a saying that there are two sides to 

 every question, and I think the fox question no exception. 

 The physical difference between Virginia and Maryland and 

 Maryland and Maine is very great, but the difference between 

 Virginia and Maine is very slight. Be it understood that 

 when Virginia is spoken of it means Albemarle county, 

 which is in the Blue Ridge Mountains. In Maryland and 

 Virginia the hounds are almost invariably ridden to, and as 

 a result very few foxes are killed in a season, a record of 

 fourteen brushes being a large score for the season, from 

 about the first of November to the middle of April. Now 

 "Tallyho" speaks of seven foxes being killed in one day by 

 the Western Massachusetts Fox Club. 1 think I may say 

 that such a score as that is never made in Mary land or Vir- 

 ginia in one day. Certainly not in the memory of the pres- 

 ent generation, and such legends as game scores last along 

 time in the memory of Virginians. 



Sport is considered the most fair and generous when the 

 game has the most chance to escape. Well, if that is so, 

 does it not seem that riding to the hounds is the most sports- 

 manlike? Now. brother sportsmen, do not think that I am 

 "English you know," for I am not a bit so, as any one can 

 testify who knows me. Why could not ridi ug to the hounds 

 be tried in New England? The lay of the land is very much 

 the same as that of western Virginia, and if it § uld be 

 done in one place why not in another? Maryland does not 

 come into the consideration at all, as there the ground is 

 much more even and there is not so much timber. 



When 1 was studying at Annapolis under an old sea cap- 

 tain (may his shadow never grow less) we used to hunt 

 almost every day. As our pocket, money was not a fortune we 

 could not afford to hire horses, so that nine times out of ten 

 we went "footback," as the old darky says, but never with 

 guns. 



Now, if some New England clubs would try riding to the 

 hounds a few times, I think (if they were good horsemen 

 and good animals) that they would have just as much fun as 

 if they shot their foxes. 



If they do not get their fox the first time they will know 

 where he is, so let them try again; for what is more pleasant 

 than to come home tired and draggled but with a light heart, 

 sparkling eyes, and about four quarts of new blood? Well, 

 whichever is right let it predominate, and hurrah for sport 

 and the hounds! Robeson Lea Low. 



THE AMERICAN GORDON SETTER STANDARD, 



THE following standard was adopted by the American 

 Gordon Setter Club, on Jan. 12, 1889: 



VALUE OF POINTS. 



Head, including muzzle and nose '. 15 



Eyes, ears and lips. 5 



Neck 5 



Shoulders and chest 15 



Back, loins, thighs and stifles ,15 



Legs, feet, elbows and hocks 15 



Stern and flag 8 



Color and markings 8 



Texture of coat aud feather. 6 



Symmetry and quality 8 



100 



Skidl.— The skull should be lighter than in the old type of 

 Gordon setters, a3 was usually seen afc bench shows* must 

 be clean cut, with occiput well defined, and a decided stop 

 below the eyes, and from eye to occiput should be from 5 to 

 5Kin. in length. 



Muszle.-The muzzle must be straight from eyes to end of 

 nose, without any inclination to what is termed "Roman 



ncise" and without coarseness; it should be from corner of eye 

 to end of nose 4in. in length. Nostrils must be full and 

 wide, and nose black in color. Jaws should be exactly even 

 in length; a "snipe-nose" or "pig-jaw" is a decided blemish. 



Eyes, cars and Hps.— Eyes must be of medium size, and 

 a deep brown in color, mild aud intellectual in expression. 

 Ears should be set low on the head and lie flat to the cheeks, 

 without any tendency to prick; should be longer than in 

 other breeds of setters. They must bo thin in leather and 

 must be well coated with fine silky hair with as little wave 

 as possible; the hair should extend an inch or two below the 

 leather. The lips should be slightly pendulous; a trifle more 

 so than in other breeds of setters. 



Neeli.— The neck should be of good length, clean and racy, 

 with gradual rise from shoulders to head, and slightly 

 inclined to arch; should be almost free of leather, but IB not 

 expected to be as clean on underside as a pointer's. 



Shovldcrs and chest, — The. shoulders should be deep, with 

 moderately sloping blades, should be stroug and positively 

 free of lumber aud showing great liberty. The chest must 

 be flat between the forelegs, moderately deep and narrow, 

 giving the animal a racy appearance in front. The ribs 

 must be well sprung behind the shoulders, but not sufficient 

 to give the animal the appearance of being too round in 

 barrel and should extend well back toward the hip. 



Bnek, loins, thighs and stifles. — The back should be short 

 and straight, with loins strong and slightly arched, any 

 tendency to swayback beiug decidedly objectionable. Thighs 

 must be strong with the muscle extending well down toward 

 the hocks. The stifles should be moderately well bent and 

 set somewhat wide apart; they should be long from point of 

 hip to hock joint. 



Legs, feet, elbows and hocks— The forelegs must be 

 straight and sufficiently strong in bone, with elbows stand- 

 ing close to the chest, but not under it. Hindlegs to con- 

 form in bone with the forelegs; they should be moderately 

 bent. Hocks must be straight. The feet must be round, 

 bard, arched and well padded, with hair between the toes. 

 The "cat foot" should have the preference. 



Stern and \fla-g.— The stern should be set on slightly below 

 the line, of back and carried in very nearly a straight line 

 from the body, the straighter the better, a "teapot, tail is 

 a decided blemish. When carried down with the hand it 

 should not reach below the hock joint, should tapergradually 

 from the body to a "stinglike" end. The flag must be fine 

 and straight," auy inclination to cull or ropiness being ob- 

 jectionable, it should taper to nothing at the end. 



Color and jnrirkings. — The color should be a rich, glossy, 

 plumb black, with deep sienna or dark mahogany tan mark- 

 ings, clearly defined and without admixture of black, though 

 a little penciling of black on the toes is admissible. The 

 tan should show on lips, cheeks, throat, spot over eyes, 

 underside of each ear, on front of chest, on feet and legs| 

 also at vent, but must not extend into flag more than three 

 inches. The tan should show nearly to elbows on inside of 

 forelegs and to the hocks or above them on inside of hindlegs. 

 An American Gordon setter with a white frill must not lie 

 cast aside, but aim to breed them with as little white as 

 possible. A good dog must not be disqualified for having 

 white as above described. Any white on feet or tail is a 

 blemish. 



Texture of coat aud feather.— The coat should be fine 

 and flat, any inclination to curl being objectionable, though 

 a slight wave is admissible. The feather should be about 

 the same in quantity as in the English setter, running down 

 to feet on forelegs, and to hocks on hindlegs, but only 

 slightly feathered below the hocks. 



Symmetry and quality.— The American Gordon setter 

 should display much character, the general outline must 

 look the thorough workman all over, and must absolutely 

 be without lumber. He should be very blood-like in ap- 

 pearance, combining great quality with symmetry. 



I. T. Nokris, ) 



Feed M. Bennett, Committee. 



H. Malcolm, ) 



COURSING. 



Editor Forest and. Stream.: 



In Dr. Van Hummel's reply to my article under the above 

 heading, he gives us an account of the severe struggle, he 

 and his co-workers had to bring coursing in the West to its 

 present state of existence, and tells me how that very few 

 either understood or appreciated its beauties and exhilar- 

 ating effects; how at their first meet there was scarce a 

 corporal's guard and a very few dogs, yet how from time to 

 time they have educated, as it were, their brothers to a full 

 appreciation of the glories of coursing and instilled into 

 them a determination to try conclusions with whoever 

 might care to compete. The result of the combined efforts 

 of the Doctor and his friends is now plainly visible in the 

 grand exhibition they had at Great Bend last October, and 

 illustrates most beautifully what can be achieved by dint 

 of hard work and perseverance. My only regret is that the 

 genial Doctor could not be induced te remain here in the 

 East a little longer, and through the medium of his enthus- 

 iasm instil into some of our greyhound owners a bit of the 

 push, backbone and "get- thereness" which', he imparted to 

 his Western friends, resulting finally in the formation of 

 the American Coursing Club. To the great discredit of our 

 greyhound men of the East I must say rhey are very lethargic. 

 There seems to be nothing that will rouse them to the un- 

 derstanding that greyhounds are not intended to be blank- 

 eted in winter and follow "my lady" and be fed on sponge 

 cake and bon-bons. We have some royally bred dogs here, 

 and it is a thousand pities to see them made utterly useless 

 by the life to which they are consigned. 



Dr. Van Hummel predicts that before many years we will 

 have coursing meets in the East and near West as fre- 

 quent and of as great value and interest as anywhere in the 

 world. I sincerely hope the prediction will be fully realized, 

 but in order that it may be, it is necessary for our West- 

 ern coursers to give to the East a helping hand, and the 

 question now is, will they do it ? Will they aid us wherein 

 we most need it, namely, the procurement of the jacks ? I 

 have from time to time advertised in the Western papers, 

 have written to a dozen different gentlemeu on the subject, 

 and yet in all cases I have received negative replies. This is 

 especially discouraging, since I know that jacks are very 

 plentiful, and that those who decline to aid us can procure 

 for themselves all they want without any apparent trouble. 

 The East now asks the West to aid it in its effort to secure 

 the wary jacks, so that it too may enjoy what has been the 

 West's privilege for years past. Could we procure a moder- 

 ate number, say 50, a dozen friends stand ready to buy them, 

 and thus form the nucleus of a club, which has for so many- 

 years been my cherished hope. If they can supply to us the 

 deficiency that now bothers us, there will soon be such a 

 federation of clubs twixt the East and the near West that 

 England will no longer be able to hold her best and fastest 

 dogs against the influences of the Yankee dollars. We are 

 a progressive nation, and come honestly by it. The one ab- 

 sorbing thought and desire is always to be. "on top," always 

 at the front, regardless of what it 'costs to "get there," and 

 so it is I will predict that ere five years have rolled by the 

 dogs that now are considered fast by us will be laid aside as 

 paliug before the veritable flyers that will grace our meet- 

 ings, 



1 am sorry that the Doctor takes issue with me at my 

 having stated my doubts as to the speed of Whitelips. The 

 standard of excellence and' beauty is arrived at solely by 

 comparison, and while I do not tor a single moment wish to 

 be thought as belittling that beautiful bitch, I still adhere 

 to my former statement as to her speed and cleverness 



when the price paid for her is considered. That she is bred 

 most fashionably, that she has some of the very best run- 

 ning blood in her veins, goes without saying; and my only- 

 regret is that I do not own her, for I consider her to be fully 

 worth all that was paid for her for breeding purposes alone. 

 My Western f riends must not think me either presumptuous 

 or disposed in the slightest degree to belittle their dogs or 

 their performances, as such thoughts are furthest from my 

 intention. My remarks in the former article on coursing, 

 though referring to Whitelips, were not intended to prove 

 her to be other than what she really is, viz,., the fastest and 

 probably the best greyhound bitch in the West, but rather 

 that she is not what is considered by coursers of the world 

 "fast and clever." 1 cannot recede from my position, which 

 holds good now, and is tacitly acknowledged by the Doctor, 

 though not intentionally. He says Lord Neversettle, Mr. 

 Deut's trial dog, has just arrived m America, and I believe 

 he told me Whitelips is from the same kennel. Now, a trial 

 dog bears the same relation to a kennel that a running mate 

 does to a stable, viz., to be slipped with a sapling in order to 

 arrive at a knowledge of his speed when pushed to the ut- 

 most. 



Dr. Van Hummel says .?300 will buy an untried dog of the 

 very best blood to be found in England. This I do not deny 

 in tbe least, though the cases are very, v ery rare where an 

 owner or breeder of high class stock will sell any of his dogs 

 until they have been tried. In case they should make a 

 habit of doing so, they would probably by mistake sell the 

 very best and have the worst left on their hands. This is 

 very often the breeders' luck, aud I am not the only one that- 

 has experienced it. From the Doctor's remarks one would 

 infer that Whitelips was an uutried dog when bought, yet I 

 am told that she was 21 months old before she left England. 

 Mr. Dent is an old courser and kept Lord Neversettle, weare 

 told, for trial purposes. The chances therefore are greatly 

 against the supposition that Mr. Dent kept Whitelips for 21 

 months, and yet never ran her with Lord Neversettle in 

 order to see what she could do. The probability is that he 

 did it on more than one occasion and was satisfied that she 

 was neither fast nor clever according to the English accepta - 

 tion of the term; that is, fast and clever enough to win a 

 stake of even ordinary value, such as are constantly being 

 run there. Had she borne to the English dogs the same re- 

 lation that she does to ours in point of speed, etc., £1.000 

 would hot have bought her. 



We are told she can beat Bessie Lee, the winner of the 

 Great Bend meeting, completely off her legs in two courses, 

 but continue it to five courses in one day and the case will 

 be reversed. This simply proves that Whitelips is an out 

 and out greyhound and that Bessie Lee is simply a very 

 slow dog but a stayer and depends upon that quality to win. 

 It seems to me a great want of consideration for a dog, 

 when a courser will submit to its being run in five courses 

 in one day. Treating a dog in such a manner will soon 

 break it down, as not one in ten thousand is able to stand 

 tbe strain of mind and body that such treatment entails. 

 Instead of such coursing being regarded as cruelty to the 

 jacks I certainly should say it is cruelty to the dogs, and it 

 seems to me any man who truly values his dog would 

 never put him to such a test. If our Western dogs have to 

 be submitted to such sort of work, in one season at most 

 they will be run "stale," and every year see a new set of 

 dogs in the field. 



The statement that English flyers cannot stand a loug and 

 punishing course is not substantiated by facts. We are 

 constantly hearing of the bare being run till it drops dead, 

 while it is no uncommon thing for a dog to run both itself 

 and its quarry to a standstill. Take, for instance, Dr. 

 Brown's old Sport, which ran into the last six of 178 dogs. 

 Then, again, Mr. Reed's Sultan, that won the stake (South 

 port). Is there want of staying powers in such dogs? Then 

 there was Lord Sertoli's Senabe, which ran a hare for 16 min- 

 utes by the watch, at Ly than, at top speed, and the very 

 next week turned about and won the Waterloo cup. How 

 about Riot, who won seventy-four out of eighty-six courses, 

 all large stakes, aud against crack dogs. Such dogs must 

 have marvelous bottom to perform such deeds, yet we are 

 told by the Doctor that English flyers can't stay. Again, 

 we have Trip the Daisy, who ran her hare such a terrible 

 course that her quarry dropped dead in its tracks, while she 

 had to be carried on Mr. Cortwright's rug to the carriage. 

 I could cite a hundred cases in refutation of the Doctor's 

 assertion. 



The fact that none of the imported dogs have proved to 

 be fast simply substantiates my statement that we did not 

 buy what was called "fast" in England. Our cousins on 

 the other side have been coursing with grey r houuds for over 

 £00 years, and have spent for the sport £1,000 where we have 

 spent as many cents. It seems to me rather presumptuous 

 to tell those coursers of half a century that they do not 

 know what a fast dog is, and that £50 dogs become 'fast and 

 clever as soon as they reach our shores. Whitelips was 

 never given a fair show, it seems to me. To have run her at 

 her best, she should have been kept here a year at least 

 before working her, in order to acclimate her. build her up 

 and enable her to be put in good shape so as to do credit to 

 both her owner and breeder. I have, imported probably as 

 many grej r houndss as any man in this country, yet I have 

 never been able to get any* of them into real good health and 

 spirits under one year. The ocean trip is very debilitating, 

 and our climate is so variable that even the dogs' coats can- 

 not be gotten right in much less than a year, hence I feel 

 that Whitelips would have rendered a better account of her- 

 self had she been kept quiet for a year. 



Though I am not quite positive that she came from 

 Mr. Dent's kennels and so had been slipped with Lord 

 Neversettle, still the fact that she was twenty-one mouths 

 old ere she left England leads to the belief that she had been 

 tried and was not considered fast nor clever as their under- 

 standing of the words goes. A dog is quite in his prime at 

 eighteen months, and it is hardly probable that any courser 

 would keep a dog beyond that age still untried. English 

 men are ever on the qui vine for "good things," and they are 

 not letting them slip through their fingers at the rate or £ v, 

 each. Mr. Dent might have presented her to Mr. Lowe, but 

 had he considered her to be what is claimed of her, £60 would 

 not have bought her, any more than ¥50 would buy Balkis. 



I believe in giving all due credit to both breeder and 

 owner as well as to the dog, but I hold it is unfair to the 

 brotherhood to pronounce encomiums upon a dog which is 

 not deserving of them, as evidenced in calling Lord Never- 

 settle one of tbe best in England (where there are over 

 80,000 of this one breed) simply because he is nearly related 

 to a very fast one which recently brought $3,000 at "auction. 

 Possessing two such wonderful dogs we ought no doubt to 

 be satisfied, but I hope we are not. 



I believe within the next five years there will be the same 

 evolution in greyhounds that the past five .years have shown 

 in our other dogs. We were satisfied with a Croxteth aud a 

 Thunder, to-day we crave such as Revel III., Graphic and 

 Count Howard. I believe the time is not far distant when 

 some of our enthusiastic and wealthy sportsmen will go 

 over to England, and witnessing some grand coursing such 

 as is seen at Haydock and Gosforth Parks, or on the plains 

 of Altcar, buy some grand youngsters, veritable flyers of 

 rarest blood and staying qualities, and bring them over for 

 us to witness their performances. A hundred years of prac- 

 tical knowledge and vast experience has produced t© the. 

 English their present superior dogs, and I shall not rest con- 

 tent till I see a Herschel, Greater Scot, Barnaby or Misterton 

 galloping after our jacks, whether he be bred here or in 

 England, whether he belongs to me or our genial Doctor 

 who has done so much to advance the sport that is nearest 

 our hearts. H. W. Huntinoton. 



