412 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Dec. », 1889. 



est consideration, and the judges owed it to themselves, to 

 say nothing of their dutv to others and to the best interests 

 of' field trials, to have, followed the dictates of their own 

 judgment in selecting dogs that will now pose before the 

 public as being in the judges' opinion good enough to win a 

 place at a field trial. Not only was the spotting system 

 emasculated, but great harm was done, unintentionally of 

 course, by bringing it into dispute by keeping in dogs that 

 neither of the judges would give a five dollar note for. 



The dogs selected were by consent placed by the judges to 

 run as follows: Joy, Jr., against Miss MealJy, F. F. V. 

 against Convex, Lady Hessen against Met, and Flirt agaiust 

 Rip Rap. 



It is not necessary to describe the work in the prelimi- 

 nary series in detail, as in a large majority of eases there 

 was not much of merit in the performance of the dogs. Joy, 

 Jr. did some very good work when on game, but he did not 

 get out and hunt in very good form. Miss Meally, F. F. V. 

 and Convex, all pointed some of the many birds they were 

 shown, and all flushed some, but neither of them showed 

 iuuch inclination to hunt, nor any bird sense, although 

 Convex did strike out a little at times. Lady Hessen ran 

 her heat alone, as her brace-mate was absent and she did 

 fairly well, both in searching for birds and when they were 

 found. Met did not show much pace or range, and hunted 

 but little: he did some quick and accurate work on singles, 

 but showed little bird sense. Flirt was ordered up at High 

 Point for want of merit. She showed up here, however, in 

 better form, and had a little speed, worked her ground and 

 handled her birds fairly well. Rip Rap totally eclipsed 

 everything in the stake, going as well as he did at High 

 Point. Had the judges selected Joy, Ji\, Lady Hessen, Flirt 

 and Rip Rap, to run for the money, they would have been 

 very near the mark. 



Second Scries. 



The first brace in the second series, Joy, Jr. and Miss 

 Meally were put down at 9:45, Thursday moruing, in a la.rge 

 stubble field, some four miles south of the town. It was 

 cloudy iu the morniug and it looked like rain, but the clouds 

 broke away soon and we had a very good hunting day. 

 The fields were large and open, with but few thickets and 

 birds are said to be abundant; not many were found, how- 

 ever, but enough to test the dogs. Joy had much the best of 

 it in pace and range, and showed the most bird sense; both 

 pointed and backed nicely. When the hour was up, Joy 

 was awarded the heat. Miss Meally showed up better than 

 in her previous heat, and with more experience she may turn 

 out a fairly good dog; she appears to have an excellent nose, 

 and is quite stylish. 



The beat between F. F. V. and Convex was decided in 

 favor of F. F. V. She made two or three points when taken 

 to the birds, but neither showed much ability. 



Lady Hessen won over Met. She beat him iu pace and 

 range and bird sense. Met loafs and does not appear to be 

 hunting at all. He is quite good on scattered birds, and if 

 he takes to hunting he may make a good one. 



Rip Rap had an easy win over Flirt, ranging wide and 

 working out his ground in a manner that few old dogs can 

 equal. Flirt ranged fairly well and showed some speed, but 

 she had not much chance at the birds, although sne got the 

 first point on a single, Rap finding two bevies in capital 

 style. This ended the second series with the result as fol- 

 lows: 



Jov, Jr. beat Miss Meally. 

 F. F. V. beat Convex. 

 Lady Hessen beat Met. 

 Rip Rap beat Flirt. 



lliird Series. 



The first heat in the third series was between Joy, Jr. and 

 Pi F. V. At the start, First Flight Virginian, as she was 

 slowly walking along, put her nose to the ground and inch 

 by inch puzzled along in the grass for at least four feet and 

 greatly to the surprise of every one, rooted up a quail. 

 After this we worked slowly along with Joy well iu the lead, 

 but finding nothing until they had been down 59m. 30s., 

 when Joy made a nice point to a bevy, and before the birds 

 were fairly in the air the dogs were ordered up with Joy the 

 winner of one of the most tedious heats we ever saw' run. 

 This was the last heat for the day, as through some mis- 

 management no further progress was made, although there 

 was plenty of time to run another heat. 



On Friday it was quite warm and a few drops of rain fell 

 in the afternoon, but soon cleared and toward evening the 

 weather was delightful. At 8:37 Lady Hessen and Rip Rap 

 were put down iu a sedge field aud worked through to a 

 large stubble. Lady started out fairly well, but she was not 

 well acquainted with her handler and did not show up so 

 well as in her trial heat ; and her work on birds was far 

 from good. Rap won the heat very easily, although he was 

 not quite up to his form in his previous heat. This ended 

 the third series with the result as follows: 



Joy, Jr., beatF. F. V. 



Rip Rap beat Lady Hessen. 



Final for Firs*. 



Joy, Jr.,' and Rip Rap were the only ones left in and they 

 were put down at 9:56 to run for first place. Joy had im- 

 proved in speed and range and worked out his ground fairly 

 well. His owner informed us that he had been worked only 

 a month previous to the trials, and that he was a bit stale 

 when he ran his first heat Rap won his heat easily and was 

 declared the winner of first prize. He did not show up at 

 his best in this heat, owing in a great measure to the man- 

 ner in which he was handled, being pulled here and there on 

 short turns before he had finished his casts until he became 

 somewhat confused, and in consequence his speed and range 

 were contracted. The heat and the briers undoubtedly had 

 something to do in slackening his speed and wind. Under 

 the circumstances we thought he held up remarkably well. 

 Final for Second. 



The judges selected Flirt to run with Joy, Jr., for second 

 place, and after a long wait Flirt., who had been, through 

 mistake of one of the drh'ers, taken in a wrong direction, 

 they were put down at 11:56. There was considerable talk 

 of throwing out Flirt on account of her absence, but as no 

 one seemed to know just how the mistake occurred, and as 

 Mr. Mears refused to take advantage of an accident, she was 

 allowed to start, Joy ran fairly well and had no trouble in 

 winning the heat. Flirt hunted as well as in her previous 

 heats, but spoiled it all by her behavior when on game, 

 being uncertain when she had scent and flushing most of 

 her birds, and she was also unsteady to wing. At the ex- 

 piration of the allotted hour Joy, Jr., was declared winner 

 of second prize, and the judges placed Miss Meally third. 



In placing Rip Rap and Joy, Jr., at the head of affairs the 

 judges made no mistake, but right there they should have 

 stopped, and shown by refusing to award third prize that 

 they placed a proper esti mate upon the performances of the 

 other do£s in the stake. The houor of a win, even of the 

 lowest position, at a field trial, is held in high estimation, 

 and it should be won by and awarded to merit alone. The 

 standard of field trial excellence is a high one, made so by 

 the ability of the very many good dogs that have gallantly 

 contested for supremacy, and wrested their hardly won 

 laurels from worthy competitors. Let us not then lower 

 this standard by placing upon the roll of honor the name of 

 any contestant that has not conclusively shown by good 

 performance that he is worthy. 



W"e have no doubt that a number of the dogs in the stake 

 with experience and proper handling will be able to do 

 creditable work, but of course nothing of this nature can be 

 taken into consideration in a competitive trial. In select- 

 ing Miss Meally for third place, the judges, perhaps, did as 

 well as any one else would have done under like conditions 



Had Flirt in her last heat behaved as well to birds as she 

 had previously done she would undoubtedly have won, and 

 even with this against her we thought her a little the best 

 of a bad lot. This ended the Pointer Derby, and it only re- 

 mained to run the winners of the two divisions, Rowdy Rod 

 and Rip Rap, together to decide which was the absolute 

 winner. As Rap had already run two heats and Rod was 

 to run in the All-Aged Setter Stake next day and Rap was 

 entered in the AllAged Pointer Stake, it was decided to 

 postpone the running of this heat until such time as would 

 place them upon even terms, and they will probably not run 

 until after the finish of both All-Aged Stakes. Following 

 is a summary of the Pointer Derby: 



Preliminary Series. 

 Joy, Jr. , beat Lou. 

 Carlgrove beat Nye. 

 F. F, V. beat Sally P. 

 Miss Meally beat Convex, 

 Tough Nut beat Naso Peshall. 

 Lady Hessen beat Mamie Bang (absent). 

 Flirt beat Heiniken. 

 Rip Rap beat Met. 



Second Series. 

 Joy, Jr., beat Miss Meally. 

 F. F. V. beat Convex. 

 Lady Hessen beat Met. 

 Rip Rap beat Flirt. 



Third Series. 

 Joy, Jr., beat F. F. V. 

 Rip Rap beat Lady Hessen. 



Final for First Place. 

 Rip Rap beat Joy, Jr., and won first prize. 



Final for Second Place. 

 Joy, Jr., beat Flirt, aud won second prize. Miss Meally 

 placed third. 



First, Rip Rap, §400; second, Joy, Jr., S200; third, Miss 

 Meally, S100. 



THE ALL-AGED SETTER. STAKE. 



The running of the All-Aged Setter Stake begun on Fri- 

 day, Dec. 6, at 1:37. There were 16 starters, and they were 

 drawn to run in the preliminary series in the following 

 order: Cora of Wetheral and Chance,Princess Beatrice II. and 

 Little Gift, Count Howard and King Leo, Cassio and Des- 

 mond II., Rowdy Rod and Roger, King's Mark and Whitie, 

 Blue Mark and Miss Monarch, King's Dan and Dash. The 

 work in this series covered a wide range from very good to 

 very bad, and some of the heats were tiresome. The judges 

 profited by their experience in other stakes, and iu spotting 

 the dogs they made an excellent selection, keeping in only 

 those that had showu considerable merit. The 8 left in 

 were drawn to run as follows: Little Gift against Roger, 

 Chance agaiust Desmond II., Cassio against King's Mark 

 and King's Dan against Rowdy Rod. The last named brace 

 was drawn first, but as King's Dan ran in the last heat in 

 the first series the order of running was changed, and Little 

 Gift and Roger were put down at 3:35 to run the first heat in 

 the second series, Roger was showing the better pace, range 

 and style when in motion. Gift showed the most style when 

 on game. Both were steady to wing and shot and did fairly 

 good work; with the advantage slightly in favor of Roger. 



Chance and Desmond II. were tout down at 4:37, and after 

 running a half hour they were taken up to finish their heat 

 on Monday. This finished the work for the week. The 

 weather has been as good as could be wished and with the 

 exception of a few unnecessary delays as good progress has 

 been made as was possible under the rules. The club has 

 been very fortunate in securing good grounds for the trials 

 and good accommodations for those who attend, The 

 March House, where most of us are stopping, is excellently 

 kept with plenty of well cooked food and good comfortable 

 rooms, and no pains are spared to make the guests feel at 

 home, and, as the trials will continue at least two weeks 

 longer, we are all thankful that we are so pleasantly 

 situated. Matters so far have run with perhaps as little 

 friction as could be expected at a first meeting, and as ex- 

 perience is gained we have no doubt that the management 

 will be all that could be desired. 



[Specirt? to Forest and Stream.'] 



Lexington, Dec, 9.— The weather to-day has been warm 

 and cloudy. In the unfinished heat between Chance and 

 Desmond II. both did good work, Chance winning. Rowdy 

 Rod beat King's Dan and King's Mark beat Cassio. In the 

 third series Roger beat Rowdy Rod and King's Mark beat 

 Chance. This ended the work for the day. 



There were fourteen that filled their entry for the Pointer 

 Stake. They were drawn as follows: Arthur and Duke of 

 Hessen. Bannerman and Roger Williams. Rod's Sal and 

 Tammany Boy. Sally Brass II. and Rip Rap. Ajax and 

 Pontiac. Meally and Lebanon. Duke of Vernon and Lalla 

 Rookh. 



Lexington, Dec. 10.— In the deciding heat for first place 

 won first prize. The heat was a long" and very poor one. 

 Chance then beat Roger for second place, and Roger was 

 in the All-Aged Setter Stake, King's Mark beat Roger and 

 placed third. Three heats were run in the Pointer Stake. 

 Weather warm and birds not plentiful. 



INDIANA KENNEL CLUB. 



INDIANAPOLIS, Ind., Dec. 7 .—Editor Forest and Stream: 

 The annual meeting of the Indiana Kennel Club was 

 held Dec. 2. The following officers were elected: D. C. Ber- 

 gundthal, President; R. P. Daggett, 1st Vice-President; J. 

 E. Dougherty, 2d Vice-President; J. M. Freeman, 3d Vice- 

 President: S. H. Socwell, Treasurer: P. T. Madison, Secre- 

 tary; J. W. Patterson, Royal Robinson, A. P. Craft, W. B. 

 Allen, F. W. Samuels and H. Hulman, Jr., Directors. The 

 reports of the treasurer and secretary were accepted. On 

 motion of Mr. Socwell, the awards of the judges at the club's 

 late field trials were concurred in. 



On motion of Mr. Allen, which was seconded by Mr. Daggett 

 the club decided to hold field trials again next year, and de- 

 cided on the first Monday in November as the date, at which 

 two stakes will be run, viz.: a Derby for all setters and 

 pointers born on or after Jan. 1, 1889, and an all-aged stake 

 for all setters and pointers that have never been placed first, 

 in any all-aged stake in any recognized field trials in the 

 world. The forfeit in each stake will be £10, with $20 to fill. 

 The sweepstakes plan adopted by this club will again pre- 

 vail. The purses will be divided as follows, after deducting 

 expenses: 40 per cent, to first, 30 per cent, to second, 20 per 

 cent, to third and 10 per cent, to fourth. 



After the chair had appointed Robinson, Socwell and 

 Madison a committee to revise the running rules the meet- 

 ing adjourned. P. T. Madison, Sec'y. 



SPANIELS AT TORONTO. — Editor Forest and Stream,: 

 Mr. P. G. Keys, of Ottawa, Canada, writes me as follows: 

 "My attention has been called to your report of the Toronto 

 (Ont. ) show in the Forest and Stream, in which you have 

 my dogs misnamed, or rather the right name applied to the 

 wrong dog. It was Bob Obo and not Obo, Jr., that won 

 first and special at Toronto; Bob is a new importation, 

 made by me last summer; Obo, Jr., has been in this coun- 

 try for some years. Your criticism of Obo, Jr., applies to 

 Bob Obo, and vice versa. The mistake no doubt arose 

 owing to an error in the catalogue of the show, which gave 

 Obo, Jr., the number attached to Rob Obo'scnllnrand stall.'' 

 — Chas. H. Mason. 



THE EASTERN COURSING MEET. 



A MORE perfect day for the inaugural meet of the Eastern 

 xjL Coursing Club could not have been bad than Saturday, 

 Dec. 7. The cold snap had vanished, the sun was warm, the 

 air balmy as an October day, the ground jusfr right, and all 

 the dogs in perfect condition and spirits. The owners and 

 guests of the club were jubilant over the prospects of an en- 

 joyable day. for they had had an inkling that the Society 

 for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals would not inter- 

 fere unless they saw evidence of wanton torture and cruelty. 

 So firm were they all in the conviction that the meet was 

 sportsmanlike in the broadest and truest sense of the word, 

 that they felt sure of generous treatment at the hands of 

 the society. 



The large preserve where the jacks were kept was furn- 

 ished with a corral, and from this a gate opened into a long 

 and wide lane, beyond wdrich was an immense field, which 

 opened on to the Hempstead Plains, reaching far beyond 

 the vision. 



The following is the drawing of the dogs as was to have 

 been run, and among them will be found some rare good 

 ones, with wonderful field and bench show records and blood 

 from the best and raciest stock England possesses: 



VVoodhaven Kennels' blue bitch Fleet 

 against 



Mr. J. H. Watson's fawn dog Waverly, 



M. H. W. Huntington's black and white dog Balkis 

 against 



Hornell-Harmouy Kennels' black dog Hazelhurst. 



Mr. W. R. Caminoni's blue bitch Wanda 



against 



Mr. W. H. Huntington's white and black dog Highland 

 Chief. 



Hornell -Harmony Kennels' black and white bitch Har- 

 mony against 



Mr. R. Lambert's black dog Timor. 



Mr. C. L. Griffith's brin die bitch Gypsey 

 against 



Mr. H. W Huntington's black and white dog Andv Mc- 

 Gregor. 



Mr. C. S. Webber's black bitch Sister in Black 

 against 



Ide & McCoy's fawn dog Glenboig. 



Mr. W. H. Blackham's black bitch Clio 

 against 



Mr. E. A. Garbtttt's fawn bitch Forest Queen. 



Mr. J. H. Work's brindle dog Princ e 



against 



Mr. C. D. Webber's white and black bitch Mother Dem- 

 dike. 



After some delay the blue bitch Fleet (George Washington 

 — Loisette) and the large, well-muscled fawn dog Waverly 

 were put into the slips and made ready to decide which wa's 

 the faster and better dog. Quick from out the cover shot a 

 wbitetail jack rabbit, the quickest and wariest of the whole 

 family. It seemed but a second before he had gained his 

 freedom, for with great bounds he flew over the ground, 

 beading for the plains. Tbe slioper watched her closely, 

 his 100yds. law was increased to 125 ere he was able to sight 

 his dogs, when quicker than thought both dogs strained to 

 the jack, the slips were loosened, and the first brace of grey- 

 hounds of the Eastern Coursing Club meet bounded after 

 the nimble, fleet-footed jack. Fleet was thought to have 

 been sighted, but as the slips fell it was seen that she had 

 not been, and seeing her owner she made for him; but a 

 "Loo! loo!" to her directed her attention, she sighted her 

 game, and away she went, straining every muscle and mak 

 ihg every effort to do her best. Waverly, however, had full 

 ten lengths the start. The jack was scarcely touching the 

 ground, when right in front of her, not 50yds. away, she 

 caught sight of the Society officers' blue coats. Of ail the 

 wild animals, none perhaps is so afraid of man as a jack rab- 

 bit; and puss, true to her fears, turned not less than 45 de- 

 grees from her course. Fleet, coming up at a rattling good 

 pace, forced her again to turn, when Waverly got in a 

 rapid succession of points, held her well in hand, and fin 

 ally killed, with a score of 20 to the bitch's 6, A season's 

 coursing could scarcely have brought out a prettier sight of 

 nimble, quick turning on the part of the jack; and had she 

 not been frightened out of her course by the presence 

 of the S. F. P. C, A. officers, she would never have 

 been headed, and the officers would have been deprived of 

 the excuse for arresting both slipper and slip steward. This 

 they did; and the officers with their prisoners set off for the 

 Court house. Here Judge SteinerJaeld session, and the slip 

 steward demanding immediate trial bv jury one was im- 

 paneled and the trial for "willfully and unlawfully set- 

 ting on foot, instigating and engaging in an act of cruelty 

 to a certain animal, to wit, a rabbit," was begun. The de- 

 fense admitted the killing, but claimed it to be as legiti- 

 mate, honest, and as sportsmanlike as any other mode. Dr. 

 Cryer on cross-examination stated that the sport was 

 acknowledged and recognized all over the known world; 

 and it was the law to allow 60 or 80yds. before slipping the 

 dogs, whereas the Eastern Coursing Club gave him, as 

 judge, instructions not to give order to slip till full 100 to 

 to 125yds. had been allowed. He further added and was 

 corroborated by Mr. E. H. Morris that this particular jack 

 was allowed even more than instructed to him, aud had not 

 the officers of the S. P. C. A. been so situated in the field, 

 the jack would never have been caught and would probably 

 have reached the end of Long Island before the jury was 

 impaneled. The officers in question stationed themselves 

 at the far end of the large lot, and though twice requested 

 by a gentleman on horseback to return to the center of the 

 field, so as not to be in a position to interfere with the jack 

 reaching the plains, they stubbornly refused to stir one 

 foot. The result was that when the jack was within 50yds. 

 of them they were sighted, and quick as lightning she 

 darted across the field at a perfect 'angle of 45deg., which 

 enabled the dogs to close in upon her. To them alone 

 should be attributed the kill of the jack and not to the E. 

 C. C. or the dogs. She was simply dying over the ground, 

 gaining rapidly on the dogs, but once turned from ber 

 course her death was certain, and though she doubled and 

 turned with great quickness she was unable to elude her 

 pursuers. One of the Society officers acknowledged on 

 cross-examination that the jack could not be caught by a 

 greyhound if she was allowed fair play, and the interference 

 of the officers by their presence in an obstructive position 

 led to her death. 



The jack was taken from Waverly's mouth, her back and 

 leg broken, yet because there was still a slight pulsation of 

 the heart the officer who claimed he was a sportsman clubbed 

 the poor dead animal till he broke her thick frontal bone, 

 and the blood flowed copiously from her nostrils. The society 

 tried to prove this flow was caused by the dog's bite, but Dr. 

 Cryer, an expert from the Philadelphia College of Surgeons, 

 proved it was the inhuman, unnecessary blow of the officer. 

 Such an officer as this is called upon to decide what is 

 and what is not true sportsmanship, and his utter ignorance 

 of the fact that a rabbit needs but one stroke of the hand on 

 the neck to kill it, proves he knew as little of sport as he 

 does of humanity. The wretched complaint of the society, 

 the want of knowledge of distance, L e, calling 100yds, 100ft., 

 in apparent ignorance of the fact that the dividing fence on 

 the plains was taken down, and many other items of vital 

 importance to a defender of the jack elicited such outbursts 

 of repeated laughter from the people who crowded the court 



