May 8, 1890.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



315 



be permitted to accompany the handler of dogs competing in any 

 heat except owners of dogs running in charge of a handler, and 

 they must retire at the termination of the neat until their dogs 

 again come into competition. Spectators shall be kept at least 

 fifty yards to the rear of handlers. Bitches in season, or dogs 

 afflicted with any contagious disease, shall not be allowed on the 

 grounds 



Rule 13.— All stakes shall be run to a finish if practicable; if 

 not, the judges shall select the winners and award the prizes ac- 

 cording to the work done by the dogs remaining in the sraUe. The 

 judges shall decide if it is practicable to finish and their decision 

 shall be final. 



THE OGDENSBURG DOG-KILLING CASE. 



OGDENSBURG, April 28.— Editor Forest and Stream: 

 In your issue of March 6 was an account of the shoot- 

 ing of Troy my pointer (A.K.R. 6630) by my next door neigh- 

 bor, A. K.*Strong, and bis subsequent arrest, trial and dis- 

 cbarge by Recorder Derwiu's decision that, although "the 

 case of cruelty was proven, the man was justified," 



On March 30 appeared au article signed by W. Wade, Hul- 

 ton, Pa. From it I saw that the writer bad apparently over- 

 looked the fact that the offender was tried simply on the 

 ground of cruelty to animals, and not for injury to my prop- 

 erty, and the comments could only be construed as applying 

 to the latter mentioned sort of a case. Considering the gen- 

 tleman inclined to be fair-minded, I wrote a good straight 

 acount of the affair to Mr. Wade, refcrriug him to gentlemen 

 who would corroborate what I said, and defiuing'the differ- 

 ence been "injury to property" and of "cruelty to animals," 

 and received au answer which satisfied me that he under- 

 stood how far from right the recorder's decision was and that 

 he would make the proper correction in your columns. 



I was not a little surprised to read in your issue of the 

 17th inst., a long drawn essay by Mr. W., which he probably 

 intended to have reference to the shooting of my dog, and 

 which contained no reference whatever to the outrageous 

 decision of the recorder on the trial of the offender. In a 

 very pretty way he describes what a paragon of a dog should 

 be, and at the same time writes as if he had been accustomed 

 to owning a dog. Well, I will wager him that he never 

 owned, a dog that wouldn't desert the finest dog biscuit 

 known, and seek the mystery of a new replenished swill 

 barrel, or that would not pause to meditate over a pile of 

 garden stuff in front of a grocery. Dogs are dogs, and to 

 many people a good dog is like what Phil Sheridan said a 

 good Indian was— "good when he is planted"— but for all 

 that there are many people who dislike dogs who tolerate 

 them because a person who owns and loves a dog is usually 

 possessed of characteristics that make their likes respected 

 by people who know them, and so clogs generally fare well 

 at the hands of the human i-ace in spite of their shortcom- 

 ings. 



Now, I wish to make a statement, and I will take issue 

 with any lawyer in the country. I deny that any person has 

 the right to injure in a cruel mannpr any dog on earth, no 

 matter how much of a nuisance the dog is, unless the person 

 so injuring the dog had a firm intent to kill the dog, and in 

 the face of the fact that the dog was there with his ear shot 

 off and his neck terribly mutilated, the recorder acquitted 

 him of cruelty to animals. 



Frora the item in Mr. Wade's letter referring to the 

 Johnstown flood subscription, 1 am inclined to think some- 

 body has been gulling him. That certainly had no reference 

 to any one in this city, as the largest subscription was 125. 



W. H. Murpht 



RUNS WITH THE FOXES. 



II. — A CHASE IN THE ALLEGHENIES. 

 "PITTSBURGH, Pa., Jan. 13— Editor Forest and Stream.: 

 X In the dense hemlock forests and laurel thickets on 

 the North Fork, a branch of Red Bank Creek, au affluent of 

 the Allegheny River way up in Jefferson county, Pa., foxes 

 are still numerous. The country is rough and rocky, 

 abounding in ruffed grouse, field mice, ground squirrels and 

 rabbits, on which the foxes feed, and being little hunted are 

 on the increase. On any tracking snow you can find their 

 straight tracks intersecting each other in all directions, and 

 many a glorious run have I had in that country, days I 

 count amoug the red-letter days of my life. 



What a glorious feeling comes over a man when tramp- 

 ing through the primeval forest on a beautiful winter day, 

 the lungs filled with the pure invigorating ozone-laden 

 mountain air, every muscle and nerve tingling with vigor, 

 with that feeling of strength and health pervading the 

 whole being, a sensation of which a man who has always 

 followed a sedentary life has no conception, and which is 

 the reward of vigorous, manly, outdoor exercise. Three 

 kinds of foxes are found, the little wood gray, the red and 

 the cross fox, with an occasional wildcat. 



With old Leader, the veteran foxhound, and four of his 

 descendants, we started out one beautiful winter morning. 

 There was three or four inches of soft tracking snow on the 

 ground, the air was crisp, just cold enough to make exereise 

 agreeable, and little or no wind— an ideal fox-hunting day. 

 Old Hank Peters, a typical backwoods hunter, woodsman 

 and basketmaker, a character in his way, living in his little 

 cabin up the creek. Ed Emery, Steel Hartnian, the druggist, 

 a keen hunter and lover of nature and a manly good fellow, 

 and myself, composed the party. 



The hounds were diligently huutiug through the thicket, 

 trying to find a track fresh enough to work out, but, up to 

 dinner time we had started nothing. The chances looked 

 very small for the day, for unless we could jumpreynard 

 from the rock or stump on the sunny side of the hill, where 

 he is wont to take his day nap under such circumstances, 

 we were about sure to draw a, blank. After lunch I pro- 

 posed to follow the crest of the bluffs overlooking the North 

 Fork Creek, where the hounds could hunt down hill among 

 the laurel and small pines, and the wind being in our favor 

 perhaps wind a sleeping fox. We had proceeded perhaps a 

 couple of miles, old Leader hunting close to me, when all at 

 once I saw the noble old fellow throw up his head, sniff the 

 air in the direction of the creek, and make a bee line down 

 the bluff. In a few minutes I heard his bugle note, soon 

 followed by the whole pack in full my. We all stopped, 

 trying to make out the direction of the hunt, in order to 

 choose our respective stands, as being well acquainted with 

 the lay of the country we had a reasonable chance to inter- 

 cept reynard at some point of the circle he was sure to make. 

 The hounds ran down perhaps half a mile, then turned, and 

 I knew the fox was coming our way. I ran down the hill 

 about half way, while Ed took position about 100yds. to the 

 right, a little higher up, old Hank remaining on the crest of 

 the bluff. I carried that day my .45-85-290 Billiard repeater, 

 with Lyman back and ivory bead front sights, an excellent 

 weapon, by the way, with which I have killed many a deer 

 and a number of foxes. In a very few minutes I caught 

 sight of the fox, a magnificent red, ascending the bluff 

 directly toward me and between me and Ed. 



As soon as I could, 1 turned loose several times in quick 

 succession, the fox continuing to climb slowly the steep hill 

 all the time, as if bewildered by the howling pack on its 

 heels and the gunshots in front. L T nder any ordinary cir- 

 cumstances I would have killed that fox at a single shot; 

 but I believe I had a bad attack of fox ague just then, never 

 looking at my sights, for I did not touch a hair. Now the 

 fox was in a nearly direct line between me and Ed. who 

 turned loose both barrels at once, and the fox went still 

 climbing that hill higher and higher, as if he had a charmed 

 life. It was now nearly opposite Hank, standing on top of 

 the bluff, and I was afraid to empty the remainder of my 

 magazine for fear of hitting him, and I thought Hank had 

 a sure thing of it anyhow, the fox walking past him not 20ft. 

 away. I can see now Hank snapping his old rifle several 



THE MASTIFF DO& BEAUFORT The Property of Mr. W. K. Taunton, London, Eng. 



times, stamping the ground iu anger, but the cap was wet 

 and it missed fire, and that fox went on without a scratch. 

 Not a drop of blood did we find, and in all my fox hunts I 

 never knew a fox to run such a gauntlet and escape un- 

 harmed. Down the creek went the chase a couple of miles, 

 with us after the hounds, until we struck a dense laurel 

 thicket, where the fox tried its favorite tactics of short, 

 sharp curves and circles to throw the hounds off. They kept 

 him running around more than an hour without any of us 

 getting a shot, when finally Ed caught a glimpse of him 

 through the brush and gave him a load of BB. We found 

 blood, and the fox ran down the creek a couple of miles, 

 the blood spurting over t he snow at every jump, and sought 

 refuge under a big boulder. I never before could under- 

 stand the endurance and wonderful tenacity of life of this 

 animal and the amount of blood lost by such a small crea- 

 ture. By this time It was getting dark. We were several 

 miles from home, tired, cold and hungry. We stopped the 

 hole with rocks and earth, and the following day Hank dug 

 out the quarry, still alive, but weak from loss of blood. I 

 was sorry we could not put it out of misery the day before, 

 but we had no tools to dig it out. This ended one of the 

 most exciting fox chases I have enjoyed, the memory of 

 which sends a thrill through my whole frame even now 

 while I am sitting here in my city office. In my next I will 

 give you an account of a wildcat chase, which did not end 

 quite as well for one of us. Julius the Fox Hunter. 



THE ST. BERNARD CLUB MEDAL. 



"VTEW YORK, April 23.— Editor Forest and Stream: We 

 _Li send you a photogravure of the design for the medal 

 of the St. Bernard Club of America, which has been com- 

 peted for at the difference shows during the season, 



The head on the obverse will readily be recognized as rep- 

 resenting theoneof Otho; it is from-a photograph of the late 



champion and rests on the center of a Swiss cross, the arms 

 of which are protruding, giving the medal a very unique 

 shape. On the reverse are two sprigs of edelweiss, the im- 



mortelle of the Alps, with space for the name of the winner. 



The well known silversmiths, the Whiting Manufactur- 

 ing Company, of New York, are getting up the medal, which 

 is a guarantee that it will be first-class in every respect. It 

 will be of solid silver and the same size as the photogravure. 

 Committee on prizes (K. E. Hopf, Chairman). 



EASTERN FIELD TRIALS CLUB. — The sovernors' 

 meeting of the E. F. T. C. will be held at 44 Broadway, New 

 York city, at F. R. Hitchcock's office, on Tuesday, May 13, 

 at 3 P. M.— W. A. COSTER, Sec, and Treas, 



BEAUFORT. 



THE mastiff dog Beaufort, of which a cut is given this 

 week, was recently imported from England, making 

 his first appearance in this country at New York. He was 

 whelped July 29, 1884, and is by Beau and out of The Lady 

 Isabel. His career in England was a brilliant one, both on 

 the show bench and as a sire. His winnings there were too 

 numerous to mention, some of the more important are wins 

 in challenge classes at Crystal Palace, Brighton, Ports- 

 mouth, Warwick, Barn Elms, Uford and Birmingham. In 

 addition to these he has won firsts at many other shows, 

 besides specials innumerable, including cups and gold 

 medals of the Old English Mastiff Club. At New York last 

 February he won first in the open class and the challenge 

 cup of the American Mastiff Club, and at Boston in April 

 he also won first in the open clas3. These are the only 

 shows at which he has made his appearance in this country. 

 He is the property of Mr. W. K. Taunton, London, Eng., 

 who has placed him in the hands of Mr. J. Winchell, Fair 

 Haven, Vt., during his sojourn in this country. 



COLOR IN ST. BERNARDS. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



In attending the circuit of shows the past winter I have 

 frequently heard the remark that nothing but orange-col- 

 ored St. Bernards stood any chance of winning. To be sure. 

 I heard such remarks more from admirers than from breed- 

 ers; but the fallacy is quite prevalent and should be cor- 

 rected. 



Neither in Switzerland nor England can an orange-colored 

 dog beat a nearly all white or brindle that is its superior in 

 other respects. 



It frequently happens that all the prizes at a show are won 

 by orange-coloredldogs, but it is only because they possessed 

 superior character, massiveness of skull, etc. To prove my 

 assertion. I would mention champion Miranda, Gemma, 

 Merchant; Prince and our new acquisition, Watch; though it 

 is well to bear in mind that all winners of renown, three- 

 fourths or more white in color, have orange or brindle heads, 

 properly marked. 



In England there is champion Peggotty and champion 

 Plautius three-fourths white, and champion Angelo a dark 

 brindle. Champion Leonard was nearly all white; but I 

 will speak of the "dogs of the day." 



That grand bitch of Dr. In man's, Haidee, I think, is a dull 

 brown, with no white at all worth mentioning. Most of 

 these have won championship honors— by no means as easy 

 a task as in this country— and must surely be admitted by 

 the most ignorant to be first-class specimens. I will admit 

 that orange and orange tawny are the most popular colors, 

 but the preponderance of white should not be despised by 

 any means. One of our best-made specimens, a son of 

 champion Save, is pure white. 



While on this subject of color I will touch on breeding 

 for color, and would like to read the views of breeders on 

 this subject, In my experience the sire has been the repro- 

 ducer of color. That is, you are far more apt to get orange 

 puppies from a white and orange bitch than from an orange 

 bitch mated to a white and orange dog if there is no in- 

 breeding. In inbred puppies there is a much greater ten- 

 dency to "throw back" than if outbred. I am convinced 

 that breeders of all varieties of dogs resort to too much hap- 

 hazard breeding. If we would look more to the grand- 

 parents we would have better success with our puppies. 

 For instance, some very ordinary white and orange bitch, 

 whose parents were orange, if bred to an orange dog may 

 prove the most valuable dog in your kennel. 



If some of my readers will look over the pedigree of their 

 best dogs arid try to recall the color of the parents and 

 grand- parents I think they will be astonished at their own 

 ignorance. Yet the breeder cannot afford to be ignorant on 

 this matter. Judicious inbreeding will prove of the great- 

 est benefit, but doubtless in no other breed will injudicious 

 inbreeding prove so disastrous. Namquoit. 



ONE REASON WRY.— Editor Forest atid Stream: Your 

 vivacious, spicy and always readable correspondent, Mr. W. 

 Wade, in his letter the other day asked why a man had not 

 a perfect "right" to shoot a dog, when the dog annoyed him 

 by trespassing and other nuisances. There is at least one 

 good and sufficient reason, as I see it; and this is 

 that, being a "man," with the God-given privilege of 

 being a manly man, no individual should arrogate to 

 himself the "right" or claim privilege to do a demeaning 

 act. I am not particularly fond of dogs; in fact I detest 

 those that bark at night and murder my sheep. But to 

 shoot a dog, not for the purpose of killing it, but as in this 

 case, with intent to wound and cause suffering, I hold to be 

 an unmanly, demeaning act. And I repeat, cannot see bow 

 any "man" can claim the "right" to do an unmanly act. Do 

 we not all of us owe it to ourselves and to each other to be 

 manly? and is not humanity to dumb brutes a quality of 

 true manliness? I submit that it is startling doctrine for 

 a person to preach in print, this contention of Mr. Wade's 

 that any man has a "right" to lower himself to the brutal 

 level of a dog shooter.— Geo, B. Manson. 



SMOOTH ST. BERNARD IMPORTATION.— Mr. Poag, 

 of Toledo, O., has concluded his arrangements and cabled 

 Friday last for the smooth-coated St. Bernard bitch Sunrise. 

 Mr. Smith, of whom she is purchased, says she is a grand 

 bitch, one he selected particularly to breed to Watch. He 

 has bred her to Keeper, and she will beshipped immediately. 

 She stands 30in. at shoulder and weighs about 1501bs. If 

 nothing happens to her she will be a great addition to the 

 Poag Kennels. 



