80 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Aug. 9, 1888. 



"DISGRUNTLED ASSOCIATES." 



NEWPORT, R. I., Aug. i— Editor Forest and Stream: 

 Mr. William Rewalt, Jr., President of the Hornel Is- 

 ville Keimel Club, publishes an open letter in the Forest 

 And Stream, pluming himself on the part of his club with 

 my stigma, "disgruntled associates," for their hostile atti- 

 tude toward the A. K, G., and professes to state facts, add- 

 ing the sins of omission respecting them on the part of the 

 A. K. C. 



The true facts, let me say, are quite different, and ai'e from 

 record. Let us take them in their order. 



First fact— A member of our club exposes the Chicago "special 

 steal." 



Under date of March 8, 1886, Mr. Win. Wade asked the 

 A. K. C. to investigate the case known as the Chicago special, 

 wherein he charged that the Illinois Kennel Cluli did not 

 pay a special prize, of $15, donated by Mr. F. S. Waters and 

 won by Mr. J. Otis Fellows. This matter was referred to a 

 special committee (Mr. W. H. Child) at the meeting of May 

 6 following, and at the meeting held Sept. 15, 1880, Mr. 

 Child reported that the special had been paid, the evidence 

 was ordered on tile and the committee discharged. T quote 

 from Mr. L. F. Whitman's letter of Sept, 11, 1886, to the 

 committee, a part of the testimony in the case: 



The special of §15 was donated through mo by Mr. F. S. Waters, 

 and of this 1 notified the club at its next meeting. * * * In 

 reference to the use of the funds 1 will say that the club passed a 

 resolution to scud me to the Cincinnati show to solicit entries for 

 the Chicago show, furnishing me with some funds to pay m v ex- 

 penses; this amount, however, was insufficient, and I was com- 

 pelled to use the funds in niv possession to liquidate the same, 

 Intending to place the excess in my report to the club, after the 

 show, when I made my last and only settlement, The club being 

 financially embarrassed. I did not include the amount in my set 

 tlement, but wrote Mr. J. Otis Fellows in reference to the matter, 

 saying that as soon as I could 1 personally would pay the special. 

 This I did pay before any charges were filed with tin* American 

 Kennel Club, and I now hold receipts fnr $15 from the United 

 States Express Co. and from Mr. Fellows. The amount was paid 

 beforehand not during the Pittsburgh show as charged. In ac- 

 knowledging the receipt of the. money Mr. Fellows wrote me that 

 Mr W. Wade of Pittsburgh had advised him not to accept the 

 special money from me. 



Second fact— A member of our club exposed the Pittsburgh 

 "pewter medal steal." 



At the meeting of Dec, 6, 1886, Mr. Jas. Watson charged 

 the Pittsburgh Club with awarding medals of alloy, instead 

 of silver as advertised. The Committee on Discipline, to 

 whom it was referred, reported that from evidence collected 

 it had been the custom of this club to award just such 

 medals as are now questioned, that in its opinion exhibitors 

 knew about what they would receive, but in order to prevent 

 a like occurrence, Mr. Drake, of St. Paul, offered a new rule, 

 which was adopted and is now in force, that on and after 

 that date medals advertised as gold or silver must be of the 

 purity of U. S. coiu; medals of alloy can be designated as 

 club medals. 



Third fact— Our superintendent caught one Farlev stealing here 

 and at Buffalo. He reported him to the A. K. C.', but thev said 

 they would not disqualify because ttie Buffalo Kennel Club was 

 not a member; and that, I must say, was a fine decision for a body 

 that wishes to govern the canine interest of our big country. Our 

 club, then a member of the A. K. C, disqualified Farley, but we 

 had a delegate who was so unfortuuate t hat tic bad a brain, and 

 the A. K. C. could do nothing about it, but waited until the West- 

 minster Kennel Club caught Farlev at more crooked work, and 

 then disqualified him. 



Mr, Fellows notified the secretary of the A, K. C. that this 

 Farley had been detected iu stealing from the Buffalo show; 

 this was submitted at the meeting held May 5. 18S7, and was 

 referred back to the Buffalo Club, with theinformation that 

 said Buffalo Club was not under our jurisdiction. Even had 

 the Buffalo Club been a member of this association it would 

 have been necessary for said club to have first investigated 

 and passed upou the Farley matter before it could be prop- 

 erly brought up before the A. K. C. This association has 

 always adhered to the principle that the club uuder whose 

 jui'isdiction the offense was committed must lirst act. the 

 A. K. C. only taking up the case on appeal, and it, only 

 assumes original jurisdiction over the acts of its own mem- 

 bers (which are clubs) as illustrated in the case of the so- 

 called Chicago special referred to in the early part of this 

 letter. Later this Farley committed the same offense at the 

 Hornell Kennel Club's show, by whom he was disqualified, 

 and said disqualification was recognized by the A K. C. and 

 notices to that effect were promptly mailed to every delegate 

 in the association. At the New York show of last spring 

 entries were made by one P. H, Foster; one of his entries 

 was protested, and during the investigation made by the 

 Westminster Kennel Club managers they discovered' that 

 Foster was a brother-in-law to Farley, who had already 

 been disqualified by the Rornell Kennel Club: and the pro- 

 test as above Indng stistai tied by proof, theW. K. 0. disquali- 

 fied the protested dog and suspended both Fost er, t he exhib- 

 itor, and Farley, the then discovered owner (under Rule >>H) 

 for fraud. Farley appealed stp the A. K. C who, after in- 

 vestigation by a committee, sustained the action of both the. 

 Hornell Kennel Club and the W. K. C. by making the dis- 

 qualification for ever. 



Fourth fact— All the above were but a fitting introduction to 

 the crowning offense of depriving our club of the right to be rep- 

 resented by the only delegate who had ever been' able to show 

 himself capable of understanding what his duties wcrs. We in- 

 structed our secretary to tell the A.K. C. the above facts, and also 

 about their violating the rules in recognizing Atlanta, just to 

 please Mr. Belmont, So they arose in their might and expelled 

 the Hornell Club, and now Mr. Belmont says we arc "dis- 

 gruntled." 



The Hornell Kennel Club was requested to name some 

 other delegate in place of Mr. James Watson, for the follow- 

 ing reasons: 



First— That he was the editor of the JLmericoM K&rvrieil 

 Register, and was publishing the same, while a delegate, in 

 opposition to the stud book of this club. 



Second— That he was the editor of the Kennel department 

 of the Sporting Life, of Philadelpia, Pa,, and while a dele- 

 gate to this association was using said position in opposition 

 to the stud book of this club. 



Under these circumstances such a delegate was certainly 

 not in accord with the principles of the club to which he was 

 a delegate, and the A. K. C. very properly refused at a sub- 

 sequent meeting to recognize Mr. Watson under Article 9. 



The Atlanta Club was elected a member of the A. K. C. 

 Aug. 23, 1887; consequently the awards at its show the fol- 

 lowing January must be counted; and, therefore, that they 

 were recognized "just to please Mr. Belmont" is pure inven- 

 tion. 



The A. K. C. expelled the Hornell Club, by unanimous 

 vote, under Article 9 of its constitution, for reasons supplied 

 by the Hornell Club itself in the following letter: 



Horxellsvxlle, N. Y., April 30. 1888.— A. P. Yrodenhurgh, See'y 

 A. K, C— Dear Sir: I replied to your letter some time ago, but 

 have received no answer to mv question about Farley ami the 

 W. K. Club; perhaps you will at some future time be at liberty to 

 explain it, 



As to the Hornell Kennel Club sending a delegate to your meet- 

 mgs, I doubt if we will ever condescend to notice you further. 

 The incompetency of your club in dealing with such giariug out- 

 rages as. the "Chicago Special Prize," "The Pittsburgh Pewter 

 Medals and the "Farley Case," all or wMich wore reported by or 

 through the undersigned, is positively disgusting and nauseating 

 to all fair-minded men. 



All these were but a fitting Introduction to the crowning offense 

 of depriving us of the right to be represented by the only dele- 

 gate who has been able to show himself capable, of Understanding 

 what his duties were. (Please imagime the above. paragraph 

 printed in bold-faced type.) 



The A. K. C. has never amounted to anything, and is likely to 

 peter out now with a new candidate in the field. It is not a club 



which reflects auy honor upon its members, its aims and objects 

 being too well understood by those who bave Watched the course 

 of events, winding up with the Atlanta recognition iu direct vio- 

 lation of your own rules and sirnplv to please Mr. Belmont, It. is 

 no wonder that Mr. Child declined in disgust to he anv longer 

 connected with an association that would not be elevated. He 

 has the respect of all honest dog owners, audit is further en- 

 hanced by his late action in resigning. 



The Hornell Kennel Club decline to send any delegate but Mr. 

 James Watson, and as you ha ve bounced him by compelling him to 

 withdraw from your deliberations, the clique now running the 

 A. K. C. can run it until they run in into the ground or else see 

 their errors and recognize, our inalienable right as a club. 



lhe above was read before a special meeting of our club and 

 approved with applause. 



(Signed) J. Otis FeulowS, Sec'y Hornell Kennel Club. 



August Belmont, Jr., Pres. American Kennel Clnb. 



"A BIT OF KENNEL HISTORY." 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Your editorial under the above heading surprised me. 

 Mr. Peshall's reply shocked me. I was shocked because Mr. 

 Peshall, whom I had always believed to be a truthful man, 

 had tarnished the fair pages of Forest and Stream with 

 a half denial of what he knows to be a perfectly true 

 statement of facts. Mr. Peshall remembers every word that 

 passed between us, "about the time the late Kenn el and d u n 

 went off," which was more than twelve months ago, and I 

 Judge from his weekly contributions to a horse paper that 

 he is conversant, with the doings and sayiugs of every 

 prominent person from the time of Adam down to Hanni- 

 bal, and from Hannibal down to Chas. J. Peshall. But 

 when the half dozen individuals who control and get fat on 

 the A. K. C. (Mr. Belmont is not one of these; the wolves 

 are "feeding" him for a f£te royal) think it advisable that 

 Mr. Peshall should not have a memory, he loses it to oblige 

 them and forthwith becomes wholly incapable of recalling 

 what transpired a few short weeks ago. It has been said 

 tli.it these fellows expelled a delegate for having a brain, 

 and I do uot think that it would be" unreasonable to assume 

 that Mr. Peshall, who is said to be a retired lawyer, has 

 taken warning therefrom and decided not to be expelled for 

 having a memory. 



The facts concerning "a bit of kennel history" are as fol- 

 lows; On the afternoon of the same Thursday that vOUr edi- 

 torial condemning Rule a, and exposing the' trickery Of the 

 44 Broadway clique was published, 1 met Ml*. Peshall, acci- 

 dentally. He told me that he wished to see me, aild we at 

 once proceeded to a place where they sell water. Mr. Peshall 

 was, 1 admit, considerably excited, He said that the A.K.C. 

 would have a paper of their own. To which I replied there 

 was no oue to edit it unless they felt disposed to get men 

 like Reudle, Mortimer and Goodman; men who have none 

 but a superficial knowledge of dogs, and no record as 

 breeders or owners. 1 also told him that to do this would 

 be suicidal, as nobody would care to read a dog paper that 

 was not managed by a man who had a first-class record as 

 owner, breeder or exhibitor. Mr. Peshall then said, ''What 

 is there to prevent our getting you f If we cannot, we, will 

 get a good man from the other side." To this I replied that 

 it was clear to me that the American Kennel Club did not 

 intend to do the right thing by exhibitors; that I could not 

 afford to become associated with it in any way until it had 

 shown itself capable and willing to deal justly by all, and 

 that I had enough work on hand with my book," judging, 

 and writing reports to occupy my spare time. After having 

 assured me that if I took a hand in the controversy against 

 the wolves I would surely injure the sale of mv book, all of 

 which I was green enough to see, Mr, Peshall and I parted, 

 the best of friends. 



Ten days or so after this Mr. Peshall called late in the 

 evening to sec me, and 1 was surprised, for his visits had for 

 months been few and far between. Possibly the hungry 

 wolves at -14 Broadway had gone for "that fellow Mason" to 

 such an extent that Mr. Peshall began to doubt his judg- 

 ment or the right to choose his own friends. 1 don't know 

 about that, but his visits were fewer than thev had ever been 

 before. It occurred to me at once that Mr. Peshall had come 

 to endeavor to persuade me to reconsider my decision about 

 the paper. He, however, quickly dispelled that notion by 

 asking me if I would take hold of the A. K. C. Stud Book 

 and oh what terms. I gave him a prompt and negative re- 

 ply, and turned the conversation to a discussion of the merits 

 of the portraits for my forthcoming book. Mr. Peshall did 

 not remain more than a few minutes after he got my final 

 decision on the question, and has only been to see me once 

 since. A very short time after this I learned that Mr. Y re- 

 den burgh contemplated resigning the management of the 

 Stud Book, and that the only candidate for the position was 

 the younger half of the Hempstead Farm Company, the indi- 

 vidual who makes a separate heading for Prince Charles 

 spaniels and classifies tri-color spaniels with the Blenheims. 

 In order that the subscribers may not again have cause to 

 regret the young man's making the "official" a laughing 

 stock for dog owners, let me tell him that a tri-color spaniel 

 is a Prince Charles and must go under that heading, and 

 that a ruby spaniel is not a Blenheim. 



Mr. Peshall says that he has never had any controversy 

 with me of any name or nature. The files of Forest and 

 Stream contain a letter written by me several years ago, 

 stating that while I am ever ready for a discussion with 

 men who have had experience as dog owners, 1 cannot and 

 will not waste time over those who have not. How is it 

 that Mr. Peshall has never forgotten that letter and yet 

 cannot remember what has transpired since Christmas? 

 Mr. Peshall's statement that he has only replied to my at 

 tacks on the A. K. C. is misleading. I do not think that up 

 to February I had ever written a line against the club. I 

 always said that the A. K. C. should be given a chance to do 

 good. It has had the chance and refused to take it. When 

 a member of the A. K. C. returned an entry of mine to let 

 his own dog win, I thought it time to "attack," notwith- 

 standing Mr. Peshall's gratuitous advice in regard to the 

 sale of my book; and I would like to know now why the 

 protest that was lodged by Mr. Winslow was hushed 

 up, and what became of the $5 bill that was deposited. 

 Did it find its way into the coffers of the A. K. C, 

 or was it invested in a feed for the wolves? Perhaps 

 as the W. K. C. was the. offender the protest was frivo- 

 lous. We all know that when these people entered Sensa- 

 tion in a wrong class at Boston and refused to return the 

 prize, the A. K. C. backed them up, because it was not 

 strong enough to take action against itself. If the owner of 

 Kenmore had done such a thing he would probably have 

 been kicked out of the shows, and in quick time. Brit with 

 F. ft. Hitchcock and T. Terry in one corner of the A. K. C. 

 office, and P. C, Ohl and that lovely creature Schellhass in 

 another, how are you going to act against the W. K. C. ? It 

 seems to me that if Mr. C. J. Peshall would utilize a little 

 of his time in trying to reform abuses instead of allowing 

 his memory to leave his head to take shelter in his clothes, 

 and filling the papers with quotations from the Scriptures, 

 he might to some extent regain the respect of the dog loving 

 community. 



"Let him be kept from paper, pen and ink, 



So he may cease to write, and learn to think."— Priar. 



There will be plenty of work for Mr. Peshall and the 

 wolves before long, In conclusion let me express my thor- 

 ough contempt and disgust for the individuals who have 

 been trying to ruin the Buffalo show because it refused to 

 pay blood money or be dictated to in the matter of the ap- 

 pointment of judges. There has been no opposition to the 

 Bondon show, although it is not given under A. K. C. rules. 



That Was overcome by engaging a member of the clique to 

 judge. 



Now, Mr, Peshall, let me ask you what is your opinion 

 and what is the opinion of the honorable members of the 

 A. K. C, and of the dog fancy throughout the civilized 

 world of a kennel club that sanctions and encourages the 

 appointment of judges who are in the pay of certain exhib- 

 itors? This thoroughly rotten state of affairs must some 

 day be explained to the right-thinking men who are so pecu- 

 liarly represented in the A, K. O. When the time comes 

 for a clear showing up of the whole business, Mr. C. J 

 Peshall will perhaps do me thekindness to have his memory 

 about him. He will need it. Chas, H. Mason. 



BENCH VERSUS FIELD. 



THE Kennel Club managers are chiefly composed of gentle- 

 men who breed, for sale to a large extent, some one or 

 more sorts of dogs. These gentlemen influence the selection 

 of judges. In our opinion their appointments are good ones. 

 The breeding for sale we have no earthly objection to in the 

 abstract, and as far as non-sporting dogs are concerned, we 

 see no disadvantage in one man breeding and keeping just as • 

 many dogs as he chooses; whether it is fair that these 

 breeders should also appoint the judges is the question which 

 does not concern us or, in fact, anybody but the other ex- 

 hibitors, among which we arc not to be found. What does 

 concern us is that the same principle of breeding in great 

 numbers should be. applied by the managers of dog shows to 

 the breeding in their own kennels of dogs which deceive the 

 public under the guise of champion sporting dogs. When 

 we see a dog show manager with twenty to forty retrievers 

 in his kennel, and upon inquiry find that' his sporting is of a 

 very limited character, while his dogs, broken or unbroken, 

 figure as dog show champions, we are aware that he is keep- 

 mg far more dogs than lie can give work euough to do to 

 render them really useful sporting dogs; and We al'e aware 

 also that the public buy them and breed from them under 

 the impression that they are procuring really sporting. dogs; 

 when as a matter of fact, they are ottering nothing better 

 than toys which have been bred fdr generations entirely f Or 

 dog shows, some of which have incidentally been broken, • 

 and a milch sinaller proportion used in sport to any useful 

 extent, This case bears a strong likeness to that of the suc- 

 cessful breeders and exhibitors at Kennel Club shows. If 

 the club were to inaugurate retriever trials in the field, and 

 make entry at the shows dependupon success in the held, we j 

 should expect to find all these celebrities conspicuous by | 

 their absence. We know, as a fact, that field merit is not I 

 considered, in the breeding of the majority of show pointers 

 and setters, and we are morally certain that it is the same 

 with retrievers and spaniels. In fact, it must be so when | 

 they are bred iu large quantities in any single establishment. 

 There cannot be enough work to bring out and exercise the 

 intelligence of the stud dogs and bitches and the instinct in 

 every succeeding generation becomes weaker as a conse- 

 quence. 



What one prominent member's kennel is among retriev- j 

 era, we are inclined to think another's kennel of Irish .setters 

 is among setters. We have made particular inquiries as 

 to what amount of shooting these dogs get, but we cannot 

 hear of any one who can affirm that they do get work to any j 

 considerable extent. Doubtless both these gentlemen occa- j 

 sionally breed a good dog, but that does not show a good f 

 working blood. What does show it is when every puppy in 

 a litter may be depended upon to be up to the average of 

 good dogs, and many of them far above it. This we should 1 

 not expect from either of the above kennels, where an occa- 

 sional dog up to the average is all we should look for. The 

 English setters and the black and tan setters at the show 

 just past show us that there can be even lower grades of. I 

 breeders of sportingdogs than those reached by the retrieves 

 breeders of both sorts. Here we find that breeding for show i 

 points for so long has defeated itself, and has physically inca- 

 pacitated the outcome of the system for hard work, even if j 

 they possessed the Will to do it, which we do not suspect they ] 

 do. If the Kennel Club interfered with the present system", , 

 by making entry at their shows depend upon dogs having 

 done something at field trials, Othello's occupation would 

 begone. All the champions and coming champions would J 

 be excluded from competition, and a dog show, instead of i] 

 being a great assembly of dealers, would become a rendez- j 

 vous of sportsmen who breed dogs because they want them, .] 

 A few years ago we had hopes that dog shows might be \ 

 drifted into something of this kind, and we used the little 

 influence we possess to induce the establishment of field-trial H 

 classes at dog shows. A few gentlemen very honorably 

 attempted to combine good looks and good work and public 

 form. These were Mr. Lonsdale. Mr. Lloyd-Price, Mr. Barclay 

 Field, Mr. Purcell Llewcllin, Col. Cotes and Mr. Pilkington. . 

 Doubtless if the absence of these gentlemen had not been I 

 more or less preferable to their company at Kennel Club I 

 meetings, they would have been encouraged to continue to 

 exhibit; but then, as before, Othello's occupation would be . 

 gone, so that, in one way or another, they have all been made 

 to prefer to keep their dogs without the sphere of action of 'j 

 the Kennel Club. Only one of these gentlemen exhibits one i 

 entry, viz., Mr. Pilkington, and we are constrained to say | 

 that the exhibition of Woolton Game is the remnant of the 

 better spirit and more sporting character of dog shows. 



We have already said that we used ourinfluence to induce 

 classes for field trial dogs; and at one time, before the Bir- 

 mingham dog show fell under the boycotting influence of 

 the Kennel Club, it looked as if it might become the fashion | 

 to send field trial dogs to the shows. * We remember a class 

 containing about a dozen magnificent field trial winning 

 setters: but, unfortunately, the Kennel Club followed Bir- 

 mingham with a sort of feeble imitation such as to make 

 the whole thing ridiculous; thus they give a first prize of £3 

 for pointers, and a second of one pound, and throw the prize 

 open to any dogs which may have been entered twice, or 

 called up twice at a field trial; for such is the meaning of 

 the words of the regulation; whether it was intended or not 

 we cannot say. But so little is the prize regarded by those 

 who are ambitious to wiu field trials that, although thrown 

 open practically to all entries at field trials, neither pointer 

 nor setter field-trial class secured more than lour entries, 

 showing that those who have really valuable dogs do not 

 regard the inducements of Kennel Club honors as equiva- 

 lent to the risks ran by the dogs in obtaining them. ' 

 When, therefore, we see the name of a Held trial owner in 

 the catalogue, it is generally a sign that he has a draft to 

 sell which he will not personally recommend to apurchaser. 



For these reasons we strongly advise our readers who , 

 want dogs for the moors to leave dog show dogs entirely 

 alone, and instead, to attend Aldridge's sales, where they 

 may generally find dogs which some friend can tell them 

 about, or if not, they may rely upon the affirmative descrip- 

 tions in the catalogues when a well known name is attached 

 thereto. 



How much the classes of dogs supposed to be used with 

 the gun depend upon a fancied connection with working 

 dogs is this year very obvious in the paucity of the entries 

 of black and tan setters. Four entries, and but three ex- 

 hibits, is the result of the entire non-appearance of black 

 and tan setters to field trials. The connection of the Eng- 

 lish and Irish setter classes, and the pointers with field 

 trials, is nearly as remote. It is a necessity to keep up the 

 connection in appearance, and every effort is made conse- 

 quently to press into service the name of a field trial sister, 

 cousin," or aunt; but when a show dog is successful as a field 

 trialer it is usually because he has a pedigree on the other 

 side as well. This was the case with Master Sam this year, 



