Oct. 17, 1889.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



249 



is simply a nuisance." As a newspaper it is devoid of news. 

 While as a roster of mongrels it is a success, forty-eight ap- 

 pearing in the Inst issue. 



Will Mr. Vredenburgh kindly give us the official figures 

 by making a detailed statement? Pesjiali.. 



Jersey City, Oct. 4. 



New York, Oct. 13, 18S9.— Editor Forest and St/ream: 

 I beg to inclose copy of correspondence passed between 

 Mr. Vredenburgh and myself, which will serve to explain 

 and answer certain criticisms which have appeared recently 

 in a portion of the sporting press respecting the American 

 Kennel Club. August Belmont, Jr., Pres. A, K. C. 



New York, Oct. 11. 1889.— August Belmont, Jr., Esq., 

 President A. K. C— My Dear Sir: I had the honor of being 

 elected secretary of the American Kennel Club May 6, 1886, 

 and since that time, as each annual meeting occurred, 1 

 have been highly complimented by being re-elected, with- 

 out opposition. By this action of the club, my course as its 

 secretary has been approved and indorsed. One month after 

 my first election as secretary, the office of treasurer was 

 combined with the position 1 already held, aurl my prede- 

 cessor turned over to me the balance on hand, amounting to 

 $49.15. With that capital, the club opened its office and 

 commenced the publication of its Stud Book. During the 

 time that I have held my present position, over 811,000 have 

 passed through my hands, mid I am prepared to demonstrate 

 to any committee, properly appointed, a full account, for 

 every penny that has been received by me. In ray treasurer's 

 report at each quarterly meeting 1 have duly reported the 

 receipts, disbursements and balances on hand, which with- 

 out exception, has been satisfactory to the delegates, ac- 

 cepted, and ordered on file. The action of the delegates, 

 from the time our list of members numbered thirteen, 

 Until now, embracing forty three members, has been 

 one of confidence in (uy houesty. integrity and ability to 

 care for the best interests of the club, and I assure you I 

 highly appreciate their kindness and courtesy. Within 

 the last few months certain gentlemen have seen fit to chal- 

 lenge the accuracy of my financial statements, and by infer- 

 ence question my truthfulness. They have published figures 

 entirely different from the correct ones in all of the sporting 

 press, claiming that tbey were right and that mine were 

 wrong. One of the public papers has taken up the cry and 

 called upon me to substantiate my statements. I have had 

 a personal demand made upon me to exhibit my books, 

 which I as their custodian promptly refused to do. I have 

 been advised that the machinery of the law was to be put in 

 motion to compel me to show my books, and to-day was 

 asked on the street if there was anything wrong in our 

 finances. All of this is not only very annoying, but is mis- 

 leading, and is calculated to excite suspicion in the minds 

 of a certain few who are new in the kennel world. In order 

 to correct, these erroneous statements, to remove any sus- 

 picious that may have been formed, andin justice to myself, 

 I demand a thorough investigation of my accounts, and 

 w r ould respectfully request you to appoint a committee from 

 the delegates (barring those comprising the. advisory com- 

 mittee, with whom I am most intimately connected in the 

 management of the office), with instructions to examine 

 into and report on the following points: 



First— Whether my accounts are correct or not. 



Second— Whether we have ever received any moneys, 

 by way of loans, donations, or from the guarantee fund. 



Third— Whether the income has been derived from only 

 legitimate sources or not, and 



Fourth— To state from what sources our income does 

 come. 



In conclusion, I beg to thank you for your uniform cour- 

 tesy to me in all of our business relations since you assumed 

 the presidency of this club, and to assure you of my thor- 

 ough appreciation of your valuable assistance in the trans- 

 action at many of the affairs of the club. 



I will hold myself in readiness to meet your committee at 

 any time that may be convenient and agreeable to its 

 members. 



I have the honor to be yours very truly. 



(Signed) A. P. Vredenburgh, Sec'y-Treas. A.K.C. 



New York, Oct. 13, 1889.— ..4. P. Vredenburgh, Esq, Sec'y 

 and. Treas. A. K. C.— Dear Sir: I beg to acknowledge the 

 receipt of your letter of the 11th inst., in which you request 

 me to appoint a committee of three to investigate and re- 

 port upon the correctness of your accounts kept as treasurer 

 of the American Kennel Club. 



Under ordinary circumstances I would immediately com- 

 ply and name the committee without delay. 



For reasons, however, which 1 will proceed to explain to 

 you, I beg that you will permit me to hold the appointment 

 of the committee in abeyance until a desire is manifested 

 for investigation of your books by those more properly en- 

 titled to know their contents and entertaining a sincerer 

 interest for the welfare of our association. 



It is with regret that I feel compelled to speak as duty 

 obliges me in this letter respecting parties with whom my 

 personal relations are so friendly, but forced to it by the in- 

 terests of the A. K. C. I shall not mince matters. 



You will remember that early last spring I prepared you 

 for the disguised, and later for the open, hostility of the 

 Turf, Field and Farm. You must recall how at the outset 

 of the Gazette's existence Mr. Bruce, of the Turf. Field and 

 Fa rm, gave evidence in his conversation with me of a mis- 

 giving as to whether after all the Gazette would not trench 

 upon the domain of the sporting press, both respecting news 

 and advertisements, and preferred to have the A. K. C. hire 

 and pay for a certain number of columns in some sporting 

 paper (suggesting his columns as at our disposal) to be used 

 by the A. K. C. exclusively as its official mouthpiece and 

 for publishing its official records; but this we did not think 

 practicable. It is still fresh in my mind that I went to see 

 Mr. Busby and informed him, when we started publishing 

 the Gazette, that we tendered his paper complimentary 

 space for its advertisement, both as a courtesy and on the 

 principle that everything that tended to widen the circula- 

 tion of kennel news was of mutual benefit to all kennel 

 periodicals. It was accepted without condition on either 

 side. 



You will also recall the fact that later on Mr. Mayhew 

 was negotiating to regularly enter the staff of the Turf. 

 Field, and Farm, and came to both you and myself with 

 the proposition from Mr. Bruce to have the Kennel Gazette 

 divide with him the cost of having dog show reports made 

 by Mr. Mayhew. I talked with Mr. Bruce about it when 

 visiting his office one day in the early part of the year, and 

 we declined the proposition. Simultaneously with this, 

 and afterward, came the attacks upon the policy of securing 

 gratuitous judges' reports for the Kennel Gazette, and the 

 remarks found a sympathetic echo iu the Stock-Keeper, 

 which, for reasons better known to itself, has always had 

 some unpleasant criticisms or remarks to make about the 

 A. K. C. 



You will remember no action has been taken by the A. K. 

 C.'s delegates, officers or committees on the subject of com- 

 pelling judges to write their reports; it was merely a sug- 

 gestion of yours, and yet, to prejudice interested parties 

 against the practice, the matter was dexterously treated as 

 though practically disposed of, and quotations from the 

 Stocli-Keeper , condemning our arbitrary course in this 

 matter, were conspicuously printed in the Turf, Field and 

 Farm. 



A fair discussion of a subject with the pros and cons is one 

 thing and the pr ivilege of every one, and is and always will 

 be recognized by the A. K. C. in the proper spirit, but tq 



build attacks upon incorrect premises or for pecuniary con- 

 sideration is quite another matter, and I feel it my duty to 

 fight and expose them, it was with this feeling that I wrote 

 for you the. editorial of the Gazette for June and approved 

 afterward with my colleagues in the A. K. C. of your 

 omitting the Turf, Field and, Farm's gratuitous advertise- 

 ment. 



Also when it became apparent that Mr. Peshall was re- 

 ceiving encouragement and indorsement from the Turf, 

 Field and Fa rm in his malicious and hypocritical letters 

 upon the subject of the. A. K. C.'s financial condition, and 

 on top of this it withdrew its exchange from us for the per- 

 fectly groundless reason that it was part of the considera- 

 tion for the Turf, Field and Farm's free advertisement in 

 the Gazette, 1 wrote the editorial of September, with the 

 avowed object of letting our kennel world see those with 

 consciences jump for the cap and put it on, and to dispel 

 the fears their unanswered attacks might create among our 

 mutual readers. 



If the A. K. C. members individually or collectively be- 

 lieve with Messrs. Bruce, Wade, Peshall and his dependent 

 Livesey, that the editorials referred to are not decorous, jus- 

 tified and legitimately within the province of our official 

 organ, ( take the entire responsibility of them and will an- 

 swer for them to the A. K. C. at the next quarterly meeting. 



The criticisms in all our other sporting papers have been 

 criticisms on the merits of the question, some merely pass- 

 ing remarks, others complete arguments, and for those the 

 June and September editorials were not meant, and they 

 proved that they knew it by not crying out that they were 

 stung. 



Why should you ask to have your accounts investigated 

 to confute a false interpretation put upon them by pari ;ies 

 who merely desire material for further misrepresentation? 

 You have made the same sort of general reports as the last 

 one at all the previous quarterly meetings, reserving your 

 detailed report, tor the annual meeting. 



If the delegates of the A. K. C. or some one of recognized 

 authority desires to change our custom and to have a de- 

 tailed report now, it can be called for in the proper way and 

 will be complied with iu the proper manner. The A. K. C. 

 is not a rabble; it is an organized body, and you and its 

 officers, I am sure, will be sustained by its members in keep- 

 ing its ranks closed up, discipline good, organization effec- 

 tive, and finances and treasury in order and above suspi- 

 cion. We were not put in our positions to scare and run at 

 every popgun which Mr. Peshall chooses to lire oft', or at the 

 stage thunder of some part of the press, intended to iutimi 

 date and drive us from pursuing a policy for the benefit of 

 the A. K. C, which, however, may not redound to the pecu- 

 niary profit of that dissatisfied portion of the press. The 

 cries ot arrogance, dictatorial methods, cliques, society, arc 

 heaped upon us the while forgetting that we are nothing 

 but the elected representatives of a big body of breeders and 

 exhibitors in the United States, who can and do control us 

 through their duly elected delegates, and can and will drive 

 us out at the next election it we fail in our duty. 



The Stock-Keeper is running a very clumsy second in this 

 attack, making a mess of its criticism by treating the 

 mooted question of compulsory reports by judges as an ar- 

 rogant edict, while it had on ly r been broached at that time 

 iu 'vour secretary's report at the spring quarterly meeting;, 

 and the Gazette's June editorial expressly indicated that it 

 had not been acted upon, but intimated that when it was, it 

 would be by the delegates, and if approved, would be the 

 edict of the A. K. C. through its representatives and not its 

 officers, and under those conditions would have to be obeyed. 

 It is even now only proposed by Dr. Perry and is to be. acted 

 upon at the December meeting. 



The A. K. C. is not likely to ill-treat itself. When its 

 officers undertake to ill-treat it in an unauthorized manner, 

 they will hear from the A. K. C. promptly. We court re- 

 view of our actions in this connection. 



The Turf, Field and Farm conspicuously quoted an arti- 

 cle from the Stock-Keeper, and I could not insult Mr. Brace's 

 intelligence as a kennel authority by accusing him of ignor- 

 ance of its absurd inaccuracy. Yet itwas given currency to 

 help in the unfriendly work. This article was on the Stud 

 Book Committee's advance of the price of registration in 

 the. American Stud Book from 50 cents to $1, and our action 

 was in it termed arbitrary and stigmatized as a miscarried 

 attempt to be "English, you know." The American Kennel 

 Club is anything but English in its composition or construc- 

 tion. Every man of reputable character is eligible to asso- 

 ciate membership, and any one can have indirect right of 

 membership through a club a member of the American 

 Kennel Club. Every one is represented through annually 

 elected delegates, and all officers serve but for one year. It 

 is perfectly republican and very "'American;" while the 

 English Kennel Club is an exclusive club with a limited 

 membership, and many, many dog men in England do not 

 and cannot belong toil. The English associate member has 

 no voice in the English Kennel Club; he simply has certain 

 privileges for his annual subscription of a guinea, but he is 

 not received at the club house, nor has he any voice in the 

 conduct of affairs whatsoever. 



As to the registration in the English^ Stud Book, it is 

 much dearer than that iu the A. K. C. S. B. to-day, eveu 

 with the new charge of $1, which includes the 35 cents for 

 compulsory registration in the Gazette. In England the 

 compulsory registration in the Gazette is 1 shilling (35 

 cents), and registration iu the Stud Book 5 shillings (SI. 35), 

 so that both cost in England 6 shillings ($1.50), as against $1. 

 True, about one-fifth of the dogs are registered free by the 

 English Stud Book's secretary and without the owners' in- 

 tervention, as winners are put in without charge. In 

 America we have not this practice, so that all our stud book 

 registrations are voluntary and cost $1. 



If you still insist upon the appointment of a committee of 

 investigation I will appoint one. 



After receiving my reply to your letter I trust you will 

 come to the conclusion that the necessity for the appoint- 

 ment of an examination committee does not exist. Yours 

 respectfully, August Belmont. Jr., President A. K. C. 



"THE 'STOCK-KEEPER' AND ITS ASSAILANTS." 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



The statements of Mr. Ceo. R. Krehl in your issue of Oct. 

 3 I will analyze accurately and briefly as possible. He says 

 I attacked the Stock-Keeper, etc. Now, if he, or any one 

 else, cares to take the trouble to re-read my notes, it will be 

 found that I aver the Stock-Keeper would be a good paper 

 if Mr. Krehl didu't do this, that and the other, or in other 

 words, what a grand paper it would be were not he its 

 editor. It was not my intention to attack the paper per se, 

 but simply to assert that Mr. Krehl was not the proper man 

 to have the handling of it, and this 1 still maintain. 



Now, with regard to his biography of myself, he says: "I 

 will proceed to furnish the clew to Mr. Mayhew's bitterness. 

 When the respectable portion of the terrier world started 

 their crusade against trimming, they met an active oppo- 

 sition from a body of men who made a considerable share of 

 their living by exhibiting and dealing in a breed of dogs that 

 are by some exhibitors trimmed," etc. 



In the assertion about the men who made a considerable 

 share, etc., with one exception must be included the whole of 

 the wire-haired exhibitors. These include such men as Wm. 

 Car-rick (an exhibitor for at least 30 years), Harding Cox, Ar- 

 thur Maxwell, H. Haywood Field, J. G. Pim, A. E. Clear, C. 

 W. Wharton, W. Easton, Geo. Raper, and a host of others; in 

 fact, Mr. Krehl's statement includes, as I have said before, 

 every man— except one (P. C. Reid) — who had an interest in 

 wire-hairs, so that I am not in such bad. company as Mr. 



Krehl would wish to iufer. With regard to my attack on 

 Mr. Tinne, I was perfectly justified, for. for two years had 

 this gentleman been attacking at every opportunity this 

 breed, and a* he had never owned such a thing, and openly 

 stated he knew nothing about them, nor did lie care to, his 

 evident fauaticism was treated as it should be; but at last 

 he overstepped the bounds, and it was necessary for some 

 one to uphold the breed. This I did in a letter I shall always 

 be proud of; not, as Mr. Krehl states, countenancing trim- 

 ming and faking, but, to the best of my ability, definimr 

 what was trimming and faking and what was not. ' and con- 

 tending that Mr. Tinne. and bis supporters (none of whom 

 were real wire-men) had no right to dictate about that 

 which they were ignorant of to those who were not, and to 

 those who were also the most interested parties. 



In order to show how unwarranted are Mr. Krehl's re- 

 marks concerning my upholding trimming and faking, and 

 also my "outrageous" attacks against Mr. Tinne, in justice 

 to myself I must further ask you to publish the letter to 

 which he alludes, at the same time explaining that a meet- 

 ing was to be held at the time, to decide as to whether 

 "wire-hairs" were worthy of a place in the "Fox-Terrier 

 Club." I may add, I am or Avas on the committee of the 

 Fox-Terrier Club, and also on the list of judges. 



To the Editor of the Fox-Tcrricr Chronicle: 



Sin: So long hack as last January, the question of trimming 

 wire-haired fox-Terriers was publicly dismissed, fir the first time, 

 by the Fox-terrier Club; the decision arrived at by that bi.dy, or 

 I should say by a. section of that body, was, that, unless this prac- 

 tice ceased the wire division would ho asked to retire at the moot- 

 ing to be held in the following -January, 1889. 



.Such was the resolution blazoned forth by two prominent. mem- 

 bers of the club, and though it elicited much eorrespondenoe at 

 the time, not one regular wire-haired exhibitor thought fit to 

 enter into the discussion, presumably with the hope that the 

 advocates of such a scheme would, as time rolled on, perceive 

 how unjust, and I may say tyrannical, was their proposition. 

 Nor would I now have broached such a subject had it not been 

 (or the open manner in which Mr. Tinne, the. smooth judge at 

 the late York show, made manifest his extreme prejudice where 

 the. interests of the rougher variety were at stake. And as his 

 eccentricity in this respect seems unbounded and never ceasing, 

 it is surely time his numoply of this subject was contested Uy 

 those who do not. appreciate this peculiar trait in his character. ' 



I do not intend entering into the pros and com of the trim- 

 ming question, firstly, because denials are of no avail, even iu the 

 many cases where dogs are untrimmed; secondly, that, with one 

 exception, no regular wire-haired exhibitor has yet complained, 

 or considered it dishonest, to show his dog to the best advantage, 

 provided he kept within the bounds of producing that effect, 

 which would be the same as though the dog had been combed or 

 groomed. Hero it is where the imaginative mind of the immacu- 

 late (?) smooth exhibitor runs rife— mingling the fantasies of 

 rumor with the solidities of truth—for all sorts of atrocities are 

 laid at the door of the wire exhibitor. Ah! he is a base, black 

 monster who owns a wire! Once lot him own such an art icle, all 

 Nebuchadnezzar's fiery furnaces, and all the possible and impos- 

 sible tortures in this or any other world will not be sufficient to 

 expiate that most terrible of crimes— contamination with a wire- 

 haired fox-terrier. What that most debased of animals will have 

 to answer for in the hereafter is known but to the gods! His con- 

 nections are every! hing that is dishonest! discreditable!! and dis- 

 reputable!!! What a contrast to his smooth cousin. He is every- 

 thing that is honorable? creditable?? and respectable??? How 

 utterly hopeless must be the case of the iutended outcast, to whom 

 even the expanded minds of 'Varsity men ref use a helping hand. 

 Why all this thusness? Because a few men object to some old 

 loose eoat, which has a ragged and tattered appearance, having 

 rather been extracted by a quicker process of plucking with the 

 fingers than by the slower and more tedious operation of the 

 comb and brush. Yet the most persistent of these objectors does 

 uot consider putting weights on his terrier's ears— even to just 

 before the time of judging— tampering with nature in anv 

 way. Now, I dare say this man, who can for himself so 

 satisfactorily determine two such crucial points, should 

 have all credit due to him; but 1, myself, utterly fail 

 to appreciate the logic emanating from a man in such 

 a condition of mental exaltation. If Mr. Tiune has really that 

 innate dieUke ibx wire-hairs which he professes to have, then he 

 is the wrong man in the wroug place; and how much more digni- 

 fied would it be on his part to retire from his post on the score of 

 (•"uscientous scruples than to foiever have the stigma of being 

 the cause of disruption of a club, which under ordinary circum- 

 stances should be happy and thriving; revered by those minor 

 bodies, whose pleasure it should be to look up to this, their parent 

 club. It seems such a shame to think that men who have been 

 laboring together for so many years for one and the same object, 

 viz., the Improvement of the fox-terrier, wire and smooth, should 

 be suddenly severed and rent asunder for the sake of a whim of a 

 few men, which is a great deal more imaginary than real. Purely 

 those men who, though in a. minority, stand in the kennel world 

 higher than the majority can be magnanimous and, for the sake 

 of 8 * the majority, pocket all likes and dislikes, and so save two 

 bodies, which cannot possibly exist singly, from drifting asunder. 

 Is there onlv one opinion among smooth men? Do they all so 

 utterly detest wire terriers, or is it only that the voices of two or 

 thrfee are stronger than the voices of those who still feel a regard 

 and respect for their rough cousins? If there be any men who 

 would protect the two varieties, now is their time to proclaim 

 their intention, now is the time to show these high officials that 

 they are not the Alpha and Omega of the fox-terrier world. But 

 if there be no smooth men who consider the two breeds closely 

 allied, then is the Fox-Terrier Club— as it should be— a thing of 

 the past. It was openly avowed at the last York show that there 

 was nothing in common between the two varieties, and therefore, 

 the two boilies should separate. For this reason, and this only, 

 have I written, hoping that I may arouse some feeling of indigna- 

 tion and anger among those who thoroughly appreciate, without 

 distinction of coat, that individuality tha t characterizes the fox- 

 terrier. ' R- Mayhew. 



The end of the whole thing was that, in fact, my defini- 

 tion of trimmiug was accepted, through the proposition of 

 my friend Arthur Maxwell (a member of the Kennel Club) 

 by the Fox-Terrier Club. 



'Now for my dealing transactions; Until I came here and 

 split up my kennel I had sold two dogs and bought probably 

 a hundred, so my dealing was all on the side of purchases, 

 and twice did I refuse $750 for my favorite. 



Concerning his statement about the libel, Mr. Krehl, 

 through probably placing too much credence in a deaf friend 

 of his, who got iuto a four-wheeler with Maxwell, Geo. 

 Raper', and myself at Birmingham, is all wrong, as it was 

 their opinion it was libelous, not mine; for myselt I never 

 troubled whether it was or not, as I had been previously 

 initiated into the ways of their money transactions, when 

 not in their favor. 



About my connection with the press, I had the pleasure, 

 of writing reports for the Field (London), as well as con- 

 tributing angling articles; but if having at that time inde- 

 pendent means, and not being in any way dependent on my 

 own exertions, and doing such things for the pleasure of 

 having some little employment, comes in the category of 

 feeing "employed on odd jobs." then was I an "odd jobber" 

 on the Field. With respect to this and my doggy position 

 I inclose a letter which will speak for itself: 



The Press Club, 107 Fleet Street (Ludgate Circus), E. C, 

 London, March 3. 1889.— Dear Mayhew: 1 have pleasure iu testify- 

 ing r<> :,[icexc. lleuce and reliability of the reports of dog shows 

 you have at times contributed (through me as the kennel editor) 

 ro the Field, London, and believe that your practical knowledge 

 of dogs and sport generally, angling in particular, would be of 

 great service to any paper requiring such service. I hope that 

 you may be able to secure such employment as I have found you 

 fitted fo'r here and regret that we are likely to lose your services, 

 at anv rate for a time. As a judge of terriers of all varieties, 

 pugs and tov dogs. I believe you to have no superior in England, 

 and vour knowledge of other varieties will no doubt prove of use 

 to you in the future. I wish you every success in your new home, 

 and believe me faithfully, etc., Rawbon B. Lee. 



Mr. Krehl goes on to say I never, to his knowledge, did 

 work on the Stocli-Kcepci\ Now, in this he is mistakeu. 

 At a show held by the Pug Club, at the Aquarium, he him- 

 self, in the presence of Mr. Berrie, " asked me to do a report 



of the show," adding he would pay the usual rate, and so 

 lucrative did this turn out that I have never yet received the 



" usual rat.e." though the paper did not forget to badger me 



