512 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[July 11, 1889. 



PETE THE DOG. 



ONE pleasant afternoon in the fall I was hunting in the 

 woods with a friend who had hunted buffalo on the 

 plains, and had been hunted by the Indians, but his scalp 

 was still where nature had placed it before the hair oil 

 period, of his existence. 



To hear that man tell the story of his hunting days was 

 to me what Othello's recital of his hairbreadth escapes was 

 to Desdemona. I wished that heaven had made me such a 

 man. His marvelous words roused the sleeping Nimrod in 

 my soul, and with an imagination so excited that 1 could 

 easily have magnified a woodchuck to a buffalo, I had ac- 

 cepted his invitation to break for the woods where we could 

 both show our contempt for civilization. 



Our happy hunting ground was easily reached. In due 

 time we found ourselves treading the tangled mazes of 

 young timber, where, though not many rods apart, we could 

 not see each other. Bang went my companion's gun. I ran 

 toward bini and exclaimed, "What's up?" "Nothing." 

 "What did you shoot, at?" "Nothiug." "Then what in the 

 world did yon shoot for?" "To encourage the dog," 



Pete was our dog's name. He was a borrowed dog. Our 

 acquaintance with him was purely accidental, but it soon 

 developed into intimacy, and ripened into a friendship far 

 more sincere than many acquaintances that are begun under 

 the conventional forms of polite society. 



It was blue Monday that we had chosen for our outing— 

 that dav of all others in the week when a minister feels the 

 least like work and the most like getting away from every 

 thing that reminds him of it,. 



My pastor, a yonng man who can fire a shot that will tell 

 upon any of the evils of the times, and who can also hit a 

 partridge on the wing about, every other time he tries, had 

 said to me: "Come; let's take our guns, get aboard the 

 cars and go where no book agent can find us." 



We stopped at an insignificant station, with woods on 

 every side of it— a place that a traveling man on the train 

 said was rather small at the center, but then it, had a tre- 

 mendous circumference. 



There was a rude cabin in a little clearing where we 

 entered the woods, and before we had gotten over the zig- 

 zag fence that inclosed it a fox squirrel started up and took 

 refuge in a huge oak tree. 



"Ye'll want a dog to tree them fellers," said a friendly 

 voice in the potato patch near by. "But we have no dog. 

 We must do our own barking." 



"Maybe Pete would go with ye, if ye can git the light side 

 of him. He's a bit partikler about his company, but when 

 he takes a likin', he'll stick to ye like a burr to yer pants; 

 and he's the best, squirrel dog ye ever saw." 



Pete came in response to a whistle from his master. He 

 was a white dog, with great liquid black eyes that were 

 really poetical in their expression. 



He looked as if he could appreciate something higher than 

 mere doggerel. 



"Poor fellow!" said his master, "it took him a good while 

 to get over it." 



"Get over what?" said the minister, for he had just seen 

 the dog get over the fence with wonderful celerity, and 

 could not understand the remark. 

 ."Why, you see," said the man, with a quiver of emotion 

 in bis voice, "Pete belonged to my boy, and last summer 

 John — that was my boy's name — was in a boat with another 

 boy. The boat was long and narrow, and the other boy 

 leaned over too far and capsized her. At least, that's the 

 only way we can account for it, for John was careful, and 

 knew all the ins and outs of a boat as well as you do of a 

 shotgun. 



"John was a good swimmer and tried his best to save the 

 other boy, but he could not swim as John could and was 

 scared out of his wits. He got his arms around John, and 

 in the struggle both went down. Pete gave the alarm, for 

 he was oil t he si i ore, and 1 got there just in time to see both 

 boys sink out of sight, but too late to help them, and besides 

 I can't swim at all. 



"I thought Pete would die. He fairly haunted the lake 

 shore, and it was days before he would notice any of us. 

 But he likes squirrel hunting. He was always treeing them 

 for John, poor boy, and if ye coax him a little, mebbe he'll 

 go along with ye. Once git him started and ye're all right." 



Both of us took to Pete at once. The pastor, after a mo- 

 ment, induced him to jump over the fence, and very soon he 

 struck the trail of the squirrel we had been after a few min- 

 utes before. 



Pete seemed to think we were good fellows, and hurried 

 from one piece of woods to another, often getting far ahead 

 of us, but always barking furiously when he started a squir- 

 rel, and always placing himself at the foot of the tree in 

 which the squirrel was and then waiting for us to come up 

 snd shoot him if we could. Pete was a dog who had opin- 

 ions. I make his relative pronoun "who" because I am 

 more than half inclined to think he has a soul. He cer- 

 tainly seemed to have a more clearly defined sense of duty 

 than some bipeds who expect a dog to come and serve them 

 whenever they choose to whistle. 



Pete's eyes were far more effective than ours, and he could 

 see a squirrel when we could not. At first we were dis- 

 posed to think the dog was mistaken and that, misled by 

 the scent on the ground, he had tracked the squirrel to a 

 tree that he had left some time before, but we always found 

 it next to impossible to get him away from a tree in which 

 we could see nothing, when his view of the case did not 

 coincide with ours. Even when almost compelled to come 

 with us he would turn back, run toward the tree we were 

 leaving, and bark as if to say, "There's your squirrel, now 

 shoot him." 



At last we tried an experiment. Unable to discover the 

 squirrel that Pete said he knew was there, one of us fired 

 into the tree and then called Pete to come away. He came, 

 but quite reluctantly. 1 half believe Pete said to himself, 

 "Well, perhaps you've done the best you can, and if you 

 really can't fetch him, why try another tree." 



Pete certainly had a delicate sense of the eternal fitness of 

 things. Once when we had treed a squirrel, the pastor 

 fired and wounded him. He sprang from the tree and by a 

 series of vigorous bounds traveled over the tops of several 

 tall oaks, landing on one at a considerable distance from 

 his starting point. 



It was now my turn. I fired and for a moment the victim 

 hung by one claw, every nerve in his body quivering, and 

 then fell to the ground. I never saw a nobler fox squirrel 

 in all my life. Pete caught him as he fell, gave him one 

 vigorous shake, and still holding the fellow between his 

 jaws walked deliberately away from the spot, a distance of 

 several rods and carefully laid dowu his prize at the foot of 

 the very tree where he had discovered him. What in the 

 world did that dog mean? Any other dog would have 

 dropped his game anywhere on the dry loaves, but Pete 

 seemed to think the squirrel should have fallen from the 

 tree he found him in, but as he did not, the best thing to do 

 under the circumstances -was to make believe. So Pete 

 placed him where he ought to have fallen and seemed im- 

 mensely pleased when we patted him and called him an in- 

 telligent dog. 



About noon we found ourselves at the. little cabin where 

 Pete's master lives. We spread our lunch upon a side 

 table and were favored with a cup of tea that had steeped 

 upon the kitchen stove. A tramp through the woods is a 

 wonderful appetizer. And yet after two hungry men were 

 fully satisfied, there was a generous pile of fragments left. 



"These will make a glorious dinner for Pete," said the 

 parson as we stood by the pump at the back door, ready for 

 another start, "He don't get such a meal as that every day; 

 but where is he ?" "Hark," said I, "there he is," and sure 



enough, half a mile away Pete was barking enthuiastically, 

 and we knew that he was calling for us to come. We took 

 a generous meal to him, for no doubt he was hungry. The 

 parson offered him the leg of a turkey. He actually turned 

 away from it in huge disdain. Was it because he did not 

 consider the second table good enough ? Did he scorn to eat 

 our leavings ? No; Pete had no false pride, but he kept his 

 bright eyes fixed wistfully upon the tree. Nothing would 

 induce him to eat. "What shall we do ?" said the parson, 

 "he won't be satisfied till we do something." 



Carefully following the direction of Pet's eyes I thought I 

 could distinguish a small grayish hump on one of the high 

 branches. I fired at it. Down came a gray squirrel. Pete 

 was delighted. We again offered him the turkey leg, and 

 this time he crunched it, meat, bone, marrow and all be- 

 tween his ravenous jaws. His white teeth were not like the 

 mills of the gods, for now they ground with fearful rapidity. 



Very pleasantly the hours "sped. The slant light of the 

 setting sun on the leaves and underbrush admonished us 

 that we must leave this enchanted ground and go back to 

 the haunts of busy men — one of us to study up original sin 

 and convert original sinners, the other to 'show the honor- 

 able court that his client is in the right and that the man 

 on the other side has neither law in his head nor a regard for 

 justice iu his heart. 



Pete followed us to the little station. We stood upon the 

 platform till a curve in the road hid him from our eyes. 

 As long as we could see him he was on the track gazing 

 after the train, as if some one that he loved was leaving 

 him. 



I pity a man who cannot return the love of a dog. I am 

 sure my pastor would enjoy a pastoral call on Pete far bet- 

 ter than he does his regular calls on some of the Peters and 

 other good saints in his parish. 



I hate to think that when Pete dies his career will be 

 utterly and forever ended. So much intelligence, fidelity 

 and gentle affection seem worthy to live a little longer than 

 the ordinary life of a white dog. Egbert L. Bangs. 



Flint, Michigan . 



LOS ANGELES DOG SHOW. 



LOS ANGELES, June 29.— Editor Forest and Stream: 

 The first dog show of the Southern California Kennel 

 Club was held in this city June 24 to 29, in connection with 

 the exhibition of the Los Angeles County Poultry Associa- 

 tion. The show was a very good one indeed, much better 

 than I anticipated, as before the time of closing entries I 

 did not know, nor did any one else, where the dogs were to 

 come from to make it, and thought if we could get 40 or pos- 

 sibly 50, it would be as much as we could expect, but you 

 will see we had '.)(), and quite a number of them were really 

 good ones and will compare favorably with those of the best 

 at shows of this size. Next year, if all goes well, we will 

 give a rattler I think, as the interest is now awakened and 

 all are talking dog. It has been the best attended show I 

 have ever seen, the hall being completely crowded from the 

 time of opening till the close, so it has been a paying one. 

 Mr. H. H. Briggs, kennel editor of the Breeder and Sports- 

 man, judged all classes and gave very general satisfaction, 

 indeed I have heard no complaint whatever regarding his 

 decisions. The only kick I have heard is from a party who 

 showed a mastiff which was catalogued at $100, that was 

 claimed at that price, but the owner refused to part with 

 him. and proceedings at law may result. Below is a com- 

 plete list of the winners. H. 

 AWARDS. 



MASTIFFS.-Do(/s: 1st, W. Piutti's Amado; 2d, Kirkhoven Mas- 

 tiff Kennels' Imperial Arno. Bitches; 1st, Kirkhoven Mastiff 

 Kennels' Leila M. Punpics: Absent. 



ST. BERNARDS— Rouqh-Coaied— Dogs: No entry. Bitches: 

 1st, W. Bowring's Sheila— Smooth-Coated— No entry. 



NEWFOUNDLANDS.— 1st, withheld; 3d, A. A. Montano's Prince 

 Myra. 



GREAT DANES.— 1st, Baron Rogniat's Montebello. Puppies: 

 1st, W. Beach's Strahgofi.— Harlequin— Dogs: 1st. Dr. W. LeMoyne 

 Wills's Tiger. Bitches: 1st, Dr. W. LeMoyne Wills's Clio. 



GREYHOUNDS.— Dogs: 1st, withheld; 2d, A. D. Machado's Na- 

 rlan. Bitches: Absent.— Puppies— Dogs: 1st, G. W. Gordon's Leo; 

 3d, A. S. Henderson's Muldoon. Very high com., Mrs. A. S. Hen- 

 derson's Pete. 



FOXHOUNDS.— Dom: 1st, C. S. Campbell-Johnston's Jack. 

 Biiclit*: 1st, A. N. Camphell- Johnston's Dina; 3d, C. Haskell's 

 Venus. Puppies: 1st, M. Ramerwass's Sport. 



POINTERS— Lahge— No entries.— Small— Dogs: 1st, K. E. 

 Benchley's Kan Koo. Bitches: 1st, A. B. Truman's Patti Orox- 

 teth T.; 2d, F. Handley's Nell. I'uppies: No entry. 



ENGLISH SETTERS.— Dogs: 1st, J. F. Ho] brook's Tom Paine; 

 3d, T. Bright's Royal Sport; 3d, E. Unger's Tripler. Reserve, E. 

 E. White's Jack. Very high com., E. B. Tuft's Dike II. High 

 com., C. E. Fowl's Signet. Bitches: 1st and 3d, H. T. Payne's 

 Princess Claude and Los Angeles; 2d, A. (1. Rusehhaupt's Daisy.— 

 Puppies— Dogs: 1st, S. A. Wattson's Peerless. Biteties: No entry. 



IRISH SETTERS.— Dogs: 1st, A. B. Truman's Mike T.; 23, E. B. 

 Tuft's Duke Alexis. Bitches: 1st, A. B. Truman's Lady Elcho T. 

 Puppies: No entries. 



GORDON SETTERS.— Dogs: 1st, B. A. Breakey, Jr.'s, Duke; 2d, 



A. E. Dixon's Colonel; 3d, M. Katz's Dude. Bitches: 1st and 3d, J. 



B. Proctor's Lady Lupton and Burton Lass; 3d,, J. Machell's Nun. 

 Very high com., M. Katz's Queen. Puppies: No entries. 



FIELD SPANIELS— Dogs; 1st, withheld; 3d, T. C. Mark's Zip. 

 Bitches: 1st, withheld; 3d, B. A. Heinman's Queen. IHippies: 1st 

 and 2d, withheld; 3d, J. Singer's Venice. 



COCKER .SPANIEL 5 *.— Dogs: 1st, H. P. Rennie's GLffee. Biidies: 

 1st, Mrs. H. P. F„enuie's Woodstock Belle; 2d, H. S. Sheppard's 

 Lady. Puppies: No entries. 



RETRIEVERS.— Dogs: No entries. Bitches; Absent.— Puppies 

 — Dogs: 1st, withheld; 2d, J. J. Schallert's Pasha. 



COLLIES.— Dogs: No entries. Bitches: 1st, withheld; 2d, J. J. 

 Hanford'a Bounce. High com., C. H. Gardner's Sport. Puppies: 

 No entries. 



DALM ATI ANS.— Do(/s: 1st, withheld; 2d, C. D. Sherman's 

 Prince IL Bitches: 1st, withheld; 3d, J. C. Preston's Flora. 

 BULLDOGS.— No entries. 



BULL-TERRIERS.— Challenge— 1st, C. Barnes's Little Nell. 

 —Open— No entries. Puppies; 1st, T. Savage's Nancy; 2d, H. 

 Chevallier's Billy. 



FOX-TERRIERS.— Doffs: 1st, Miss Susie Glassed Pattern's Don 

 Carlos; 3d, C. S. Campbell-Johnston's Rennis; 3d, Clara Bow- 

 ring's Lory. Bitches: 1st, J. B. Martin's Golden Patch; 2d, Dr. C. 

 P. Murry's Fan. Puppies: 1st and very high com., Ballyhooly 

 Kennels' Rags and Tatters; 2d, Dr. C. P. Murry's Toby; 3d, J. G. 

 Holborew's Don. Reserve, E. Bowling's Aphrodite. High com., 



C. W. Page's Trot. 



BLACK AND TAN TERRIERS —1st, F. Donaldson's Dick; 2d, 

 Mrs. T. Bright's Ben Harrison. 



SCOTCH TERRIERS.— 1st, C. S. Campbell- Johnston's Tatters. 



MEXICAN TERRIERS.— 1st, Mrs. A. A. Sau sergh's Rob Roy. 



PUGS.— Dogs: 1st, Miss Julia M. Taylor's Pat. Bitches: 1st, Mrs. 

 W. H. Lucas's unnamed; 2d, Rev. D. F. Mackenzie's Queen. 



MISCELLANEOUS.— 1st, H. Marteen's Bismarck: 2d, Mrs. E. 

 Williams's Sir William. 



SPECIAL PRIZES. 



Kennel mastiffs, Kirkhoven Mastiff Kennel; greyhounds, A. S. 

 Henderson; English setters (2), A. B, Truman; Irish setters, the 

 same; best display, the same; best kennel (3), the same; best mas- 

 tiff, Leila M.; St. Bernard, Sheila; Great Dane. Montebello; New- 

 foundland, Prince, Myra; greyhound C2), Leo; owned by a lady, 

 Pete; foxhound. Jack; pointer, Patti Croxteth T.: dog, Kan Koo; 

 English setter, Princess Claude; brood bitch (2). the same: English 

 setter dog. Tom Paine; Irish setter (2), Lady Elcho T.; bitch, the 

 same; Gordon setter, Lady Lupton; bitch (2), the same; spaniel 

 (Sj, Woodstock Belle; cocker, the same; retriever, Pasha; collie 

 (2), Bounce; Dalmatian, Flora; bull-terrier, Little Nell; fox-ter- 

 rier (2), Don Carlos: rough-haired terrier, Tatters; toy terrier 

 owned by a lady (2), Rob Roy; pug (3), Mrs. W. H. Lucas's un- 

 named; any breed, owned by a lady, Woodstock Belle; sporting 

 dog puppy, Kan Koo; bitoh Aphrodite. 



IMPORTING DOGS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



It occurs to me that there is a great deal of confusion on 

 the above matter, and that parties importing dogs may be 

 frequently, although innocently, violating the law. Of 

 course the case of Mr. Morris is the suggestion here, but I do 

 not mean to say that I refer to it in any way whatever, as I 

 know nothing of the facts. 



As I understand the case, the consular certificate sets 

 forth that the animal is of a superior breed, calculated to 

 improve the stock in the U. S., is imported for breeding 

 purposes and not for sale. In the last paragraph lies the 

 danger to the importer; he really does import the dog for 

 his own breeding purposes, and at the time does not intend 

 to sell it, but suppose he changes his mind, say six months 

 or six years after, does he violate the law by selling? Iu 

 point of fact, I think a great number of dogs' are imported 

 especially for sale, and passed through on consular certifi- 

 cates of the above character, and it seems to me that these 

 are clear violations of the law, and that as the consular cer- 

 tificate is sworn to on the other side by the agent of the im- 

 porter, and the latter presumably knows all the statements 

 contained in the certificate (in point of fact generally knows 

 them fully), he is clearly bound by the conditions, and comes 

 within the pale of the criminal law if he violates conditions 

 made for him, and in which he concurs. Disregard of cus- 

 tom laws is so general, and is so commonly looked on as not 

 criminal, that the distinction between simple smuggling 

 and evasion of the law, by what verges on perjury, is com- 

 monly overlooked, and it strikes me that one or two causes 

 celehrcs of late occurrence might bring the parties iato 

 trouble with the Custom House authorities. 



Parties living outside the port of entry commonly have 

 their animals consigned to some one in New York, invoiced 

 to them, etc., etc., the name of the owner and real importer 

 never appearing, as for instance, all dogs coming to me are 

 consigned to a friend who keeps a Custom House stable in 

 New York, and most satisfactory have I found him. This 

 is to avoid the bother of executing Custom House papers at 

 some distant point, forwarding them to the port of eutry, 

 delays, charges for keep, extra Custom House fees and an 

 everlasting amount of bother. This is certainly all right 

 and above board, no deceit being involved and no wrong 

 done anybody. But I apprehend that even here the impor- 

 ter is liable to prosecution if he sells the dog imported under 

 consular certificate. This is a point for lawyers to answer, 

 but it seems to me that as he is the party who actually does 

 the business, he is responsible for any wrong that is done. 



I have a case coming up myself that will involve consider 

 able "whipping the devil round the post" to steer clear of 

 technicalities. I have bought the Russian greyhound bitch 

 Iskra; I do not propose to keep her but to send her to the 

 kennels of a friend. When she whelps and the sales of pup- 

 pies clear me of expenses, all further profit goes to the friend 

 who keeps her, practically she will belong to him, but I 

 don't propose to formally sell her. In this case the real 

 transaction is that I really do not buy her, but simply ad- 

 vance the money for my friend, and as she goes into my 

 friend's possession direct from New York, the law is com- 

 plied with as far as I can see. I merely quote the case t« 

 show the complication that may arise in such matters. 



I trust that my valued friend, Elliot Smith, Esq., will not 

 deem it too much to ask him to spare time to enlighten us 

 poor laymen on what the law is in the matter; what an im- 

 porter has a right to do as to the sale of a dog imported 

 under consular certificate; has he not an undoubted right to 

 sell puppies imported in utero, and generally what »is the 

 right as well as honest thing to do in such cases? The case 

 of my Russian greyhound bitch seems to me exactly one the 

 Custom House exemption as to breeding animals isdesigned 

 to cover, i. e., the improvement, and as a consequence, the 

 introduction, of a breed to this country. I know that Mr. 

 Smith is a busy man, and has practically withdrawn his 

 attention from doggy things to the more important ones of 

 his business, but lhave always found him willing to take 

 much more trouble than I dared ask for, when it was a 

 matter of rendering service to his doggy friends; and with 

 "taffy" kept most strictly under lock ana key, lean honestly 

 say that there is none whose opinion and advice will carry 

 greater weight. W. WADE 



IIui/roN, Pa., Jine 28. 



DOG TALK. 



IN advocating compulsory reports from judges at dog 

 shows the June issue of the American Kennel Gazette 

 says. * * * "But what the Asseciation requires for 

 official record it demands to be furnished as a duty under 

 penalties prescribed for non-compliance, and if the American 

 hlennel Club decides to compel official reports from judges 

 at shows to be included in these duties and deliberately 

 through its delegates so enacts, we venture not only to pre- 

 dict that the enactment will be most strictly complied with, 

 but that the judges themselves will support it." Our ad- 

 vice to the. delegates is to go slow in the matter and not 

 trade off a good judge for a poor report. 



The ninth annual show of the St. Bernard Club, of Eng- 

 land, was held at Windsor the last week in June. There 

 were 202 entries, including all the best specimens of the 

 breed in the country. The London Field says: "It was 

 gratifying to find some few young dogs not shown before 

 which are likely to take a high position for themselves in 

 the future. This was most particularly noticable among 

 the bitches, which, taken all through, form better groups 

 than the dogs, the open all-aged class of the former being 

 probably the best of the kind we have yet seen. There was 

 also a marked improvement in the quality of the smooth- 

 haired or short-coated variety: and, although the grand 

 prize did not go to one of them, the immense Watch made 

 quite a good fight for the trophy with the great Sir Bedivere, 

 who secured the challenge cup for the third time, although 

 this grand dog is not yet two years old. " 



Fanciers' Gazette publishes an interview with Mr. Sidney 

 W. Smith, of Leeds, Eng., the well known St. Bernard 

 fancier, who has recently returned from a trip to this 

 country. Mr. Smith was greatly taken with Plinlimmon, 

 Jr.. owned by Mr. E. B. Sears, of Melrose, Mass, and would 

 have taken him to England with him, but Mr. Sears refused 

 to part with him. In answer to the query, "What do you 

 think of canine prospects there," Mr. Smith replied: "From 

 beginning to end I find a wish to purchase the best blood 

 and the praiseworthy ambition to breed and come over here 

 and beat us on our own grounds, and which they will suc- 

 ceed in doing unless we are very careful. * * * It seems 

 to me the Americans have a good eye for a dog, and if only 

 they knew where and how to lay their hands on the best 

 blood they would soon be a trouble to us." 



Spratts Patent, have made a new departure that will prove 

 of great convenience to many dog owners iu this vicinity. 

 The firm have established extensive kennels at Northvale, 

 N. J., where they will board and care for dogs. Mr. Michael 

 Murphy will have charge of the dogs, and as the kennels 

 are iu a healthy locality and convenient to New York, we 

 have no doubt that they will be well patronized. 



We learn that the Clumber spaniel bitch Bromine, winner 

 of first at Barn Elms and Warwick, will soon leave England 

 for Ottawa, Canada. 



We have received from the Memphis and Aveut Kennel 

 an excellent picture of their well-knowm setter Roderigo, 



