440 



FOREST AND STREAM, 



[Dec. 18, 1890. 



not have a rabbit, or rabbits running:, excepting of course 

 when they were in the team with us. On this hill the rabbits 

 stayed out longer, making runs from twenty minutes to an 

 hour and three-quarters, and if one stands well up the hill 

 he caii see the entire chase from start to finish, and my only 

 regret is that we were not here during our trials. 



I must describe one run that occurred on this ground . 

 After this particular rabbit had run for over an hour and 

 was seen several times to play the tricks for which rabbits 

 are famous, such as running back on his track and jumping 

 to one side, running up wind till he had a good trail laid 

 and theu jumping to one side and lying perfectly still until 

 the dogs had run by and then going down wind on his back 

 track like a flash, etc, he was seen to come over the hill 

 directly toward us closely pressed by dogs; when about 75yds. 

 off, and jumping from side to side in his vain efforts to fool 

 the hounds which were on his track, Peabody raised his gun 

 and gave him the contents of the Tight barrel closely fol- 

 lowed by the left-band charge. Both shots stirred up the 

 leaves behind the rabbit but he still came manfully on -'into 

 the jaws of death," and now Vice-President Rutter seeing 

 the effects of Peabody's shot, or rather the lack of effect, 

 raises his own handsome hammerless to his shoulder with 

 the calm assurance of a man who has been there before, and 

 proceeded to wipe the eye of his friend. He fired, and with 

 startled leaps bunny strains every muscle to increase his 

 speed, still keeping, however, his fatal direction. He is now 

 so near that at the Avengeful crack of Rutter's left barrel he 

 tumbles all in a heap fairly 1 sunk" with shot. Four shots 

 and we have secured the best runner on the hill, and strange 

 to say the smallest one shot that day. 



On talking over this run I said to one of our party, who 

 by reason of his better position should have had the first 

 shot, "Why did you point your gun and thenjnot fire?" He 

 said, "Well I did take careful aim and pull" both triggers, 

 but on 'breaking' my gun down I found it was unloaded." 

 He had forgotten to load after firing the last shot, having 

 run to pick up his rabbit which was getting into a hole. He 

 was not, however, alone in misfortune, for another of us 

 forgot to push up his "safe" and missed a fine shot at a rab- 

 bit in the open. 



Looking at my watch T saw that to catch the train for our 

 several homes we should have to leave at once, so calling to 

 the dogs we started for the team and were rapidly driven to 

 the station. 



During the whole day we only bagged 10 rabbits and 2 par- 

 tridges, but were all thoroughly satisfied and ready to 

 return home, carrying with us the firm conviction that for 

 downright pleasure you can get more to the square inch 

 from one pack of beagles than from any other source. 



F. W. Chapman, Sec'y. 



COCKER SPANIELS OP 1 890. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



One of the most inconsistent letters T ever read was that 

 of your correspondent "Gothamite" under the above title. 

 Before going further I want to say that it is not only unfair, 

 but it is taking a mean advantage, when one man' attacks 

 another under a iiom de plume, and when he attacks my 

 dogs unfairly he attacks me. Fair criticism I am always 

 glad to receive. If "Gothamite" has any pecuniary interest 

 in the dogs be lauds at the. expense of others, let him boldly 

 sign his name, that we may know the true value of such 

 opinion, and what interest the defamer has in making them, 

 But I, for one, object to having ray dogs criticised by every 

 Tom, Dick and Barry, who, because he cannot breed a win- 

 ner cries out for "the working cocker." 



Tied Jacket is not perfect, and I have never held him up 

 as such. Short and somewhat thick in muzzle, he is best 

 from his ears back to the tip of his tail, and to the pads of 

 bis feet he is as near perfect as any clog in America. I wish f 

 had half a dozen like him. "Shallow bodied and over long" 

 "Gothamite" says. Why, man, be is the best ribbed and 

 hag as round a barrel as any dog in America to-day. 



He quotes Doc, Cherry Boy, Rabbi and Black Duke as 

 being nearer perfection in regards measurement. I inclose 

 you the measurement of Red Jacket and ask you, Mr. Editor, 

 to hold them until similar ones are supplied of Doc and 

 Cherry Boy, which I challenge him to produce, to be 

 published side by side. Comparison will be interesting. 



Again he wants a dog that "will be well able to jump 

 across the street gutters or on to the bench." I challenge him 

 to produce any of the above named dogs to run a race at any 

 distance from 100yds. up to one mile, with as many 3ft. 

 ditches or 2ft. hurdles as he likes — the more the better for 

 me — against Red Jacket for any stake and at any of our 

 large shows the coming winter. Why, there was not a show 

 last season at which Red Jacket could not leap lightly into 

 the stall, as Ben Lewis can verify. 



How about "Gothamite's" pets ? 



How many cockers on the bench to-day could claim 

 when eighteen months old to having won eight firsts, two 

 of them in the challenge class, and special for the best 

 cocker in the show five times, at such fixtures as New York, 

 Chicago, Rochester, Baltimore, Cincinnati, London and 

 Toronto, under all sorts and conditions of judges? Still 

 more misleading is it for him to quote other dogs who are 

 actually longer and lower as being nearer the working type 

 than mine. 



But enough; I get thoroughly out of patience when I read 

 such absurdities, which come either from ignorance or ai'e 

 made purposely to mislead— lies. 



Chas. M. Nelles (Brant Cocker Kennels). 



Brantford, Canada, Dec. 1. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I have been waiting (not very patiently 1 must confess) for 

 five years for the chauge which I knew must come, and now 

 that my hair is getting gray I feel almost likegoing into the 

 ring again and trying to win back the laurels which I lost 

 when the long low craze set in. I have always stood by my 

 friend "Uncle Dick." and will do so. He has fought the 

 battle while we sat looking idly on. The aspersions on our 

 old friend "J. W." I think are uncalled for. I have been to 

 several bench shows with large spaniel classes, in which I 

 have failed to see any good specimens except of the long 

 low type. Even friend Fellows showed some, I suppose be- 

 cause" he found the proper type would not take. What could 

 any judge do but give the prizes to those he thought best, 

 although they did not come up to his ideas. But one decis- 

 ion of many judges I could never swallow, that was putting 

 Jerry in the first flight: and the critics, even "C. M.," went 

 wild" over him. No doubt he had a good body and coat, 

 but where were the legs to carry them? 



Now that the reaction has set in, I hope sincerely that the 

 cocker spaniel as a useful animal will take his proper place, 

 and be, as he always was, a pleasure both at home and in 

 the field. J. S. NiVEK. 



Toronto, Ont, 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



As I always like to have a hand in a discussion on span- 

 iels, and "Uncle Dick" particularly requests me to "say my 

 say," I shall do so, although not directly interested in the 

 question under dispute. 



It is no wonder that "Dick" is riled at "Gothamite's" 

 statement that the cocker spaniel of the future will not be 

 the "Fellows type," for none can deny that he has for sev- 

 eral years been fighting against the "longest and lowest" 

 fad. 



I agree with "Dick," for what I remember of it, that most 

 of your anonymous correspondent's statements are correct, 

 especially as applied to Mr. Bell's bitches. It would be 

 hard to find a better bodied bitch than Blushing Rose that 

 he showed here in September, and Idea, now owned by Mr. 

 Bush, is a rare good-bodied one, too. I saw Rufus and 

 Bambo, that he refers to, at our show here and cannot for 

 the life in me see how Mr. Oldham could have put that 

 black and tan puppy over Rufus, unnoticed; Obadiah (ne'e 

 Kildare) I have not seen, but Mr. Geddes recently showed 

 me his photo, and if it is to be relied upon he is indeed a 

 nice dog. 



Turning up your issue in which the "Gothamite" letter 

 appears, 1 see that he says my book ("The Spaniel and its 

 Training," recently published by the Forest and Stream 

 Pub. Co.) "deals with the spaniel question in a way that I 

 [he] think is just about right, though certainly it is very 

 severe." So that your readers who have not read the book in 

 question may judge for themselves whether it is "very 

 severe" or no"t 1 copy out one or two pertinent paragraphs 

 for their perusal; 



"The prevailing craze for spaniels so low that their 

 stomach feathering sweeps the ground and so short of limb 

 that they can barely waddle, has sounded the death-knell of 

 some varieties, at all events in the show division, in so far as 

 ability to work goes. Why it has been done is a mystery to 

 all, and the only reason to be adduced is that 'fancy' is to 

 blame. Even upon the score of beauty the crocodile spaniels 

 are behind. What unprejudiced man can look at an engrav- 

 ing of Kaffir and then at Moonstone and hesitate for a 

 moment as to the former being the handsomer dog? I can- 

 not see why 'low' in a standard should be construed into 

 meaning lowest, and 'long' into longest. If the craze goes 

 much further an extra pair of legs will have to be grafted on 

 amidships to help the poor seal-like spaniels to crawl along. 

 * » * A spaniel is a sporting dog; so are pointers, setters 

 and hounds. Would it not, then, be as sensible to breed 

 'long and low' setters as spaniels of that type? Common 

 sense experience must convince any thinking man that a 

 long, low dog, with comparatively weak loins, cannot pos- 

 sibly work so long or with such activity as a shorter-backed 

 animal on straight legs and with good feet, and a more per- 

 fect concentration of muscular power " 



I really think that the exhibition of abortions of the Moon- 

 stone and Glencairn order is largely to blame for the deca- 

 dence of English show spaniels. At present there seems to 

 be a reaction all around and indications show that in a few 

 years our spaniels will be not only able to "jump across the 

 street gutters." but on to their benches from the. floor. Both 

 the English Stocli-Kecper, Canine World, and Shooting 

 Times are interesting themselves in the spaniel question, 

 and Forest and Stream, I know, wants a sporting dog to 

 be able-to sport. Our most popular spaniel judge, Mr. Wil- 

 merding, is bent upon bringing about the change, while I 

 agree with "Gothamite" that Mr. West placed the cockers 



very well at Boston, except that I should have liked to have 

 seen Dolly Obo placed over Jersey in the challenge class. 



To give Mr. C. H. Mason his due, he "spotted" champion 

 Doc for a good one several years ago, repeatedly saying that 

 were he in condition the prize money was at his mercy. At 

 Boston, where I took him for Mr. Wilmerding, his coat was 

 very bad, but Mr. West very properly did not allow it to 

 interfere with his placing of him as the best in the challenge 

 class. At the show here in September I got his coat into 

 first-rate fettle and he won over all the 26 cockers with con- 

 summate ease. He is indeed a splendid little dog, and only 

 needs plenty of grooming to keep his coat straight. But 

 with all his good points where would champion Doc be in 

 the field? 



I trust Mr. Mason is right in saying that "Gothamite" "is 

 not quite through with the cocker spaniels of 1890." Just at 

 present we can do with all we can get on that subject, and I 

 trust Friend Wilmerding will steal a few minutes of the 

 Obrig Camera Co.'s time, while Friend West does the same 

 by the Colburn Co , to give your readers their views on the 

 complex question of "what is tbatype of a cocker spaniel?" 



F. H. F. Merc ee. 



Ottawa, Can. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



I note in your issue just to hand that Messrs, Mason and 

 Fellows are quite excited over my article on "The Cocker 

 Spaniels of 1890." To Mr. F. would say that Veld a was all 

 right, and that if she is his "type" he is all right, but asshe 

 is the. only good one he has turned out for some time, al- 

 though he boasts of having the biggest kennel of cockers in 

 America, it is only to be expected that people will judge his 

 stock by their general appearance and not by one good one 

 here and there in many years. "One swallow'does not make 

 a summer," neither does one Velda make the"Fellovvs type." 

 I don't presume as it ever strikes Mr. F. that it is abouttime 

 he did a little more judicious breeding and a good deal less 

 talking and with his large and old-established kennel was 

 breeding a fixed type. 



*To Mr. Chas. H. Mason would say that I don't propose to 

 spend several hours looking up his writings to convict him, 

 and don't need to, because it is a well known fact that he has 

 borne a leading a part in encouraging the "long and low 

 craze." I hope we are not through with the cocker spaniel 

 subject, though as far as he is concerned we will probably 

 hear no more. 



Mr. Watson may be a judge of working cockers, as Mr. 

 Fellows says, but all the same he refused to judge them for 

 the "working" special at Buffalo in 1888. ' Gothamite. 



New York Cttt, Nov. 26. 



Editor Forest and. Stream: 



Just a parting shot at "Gothamite." A private letter 

 just received says: "I do not want to tackle any one that 

 fires from behind a fence like 'Gothamite,' but he nor ten 

 like him could make me believe you are wixmg in your 

 position. I do not know where the liue is that divides the 

 Fellows type from the 'Gothamite' type that he is driving at. 

 You certainly deserve credit for what you have done, for 

 when I was a member of the Spaniel Club you were eveu 

 then fighting against the long and low craze; that was in 

 1883." 



I find in the English Kennel. Gazette, November, 1890, 

 Judge G. S. Lowe's x-eport of the cockers; he says: "This 

 class I found the greatest, fault with, as toys were brought 

 before me, but not working cockers. I knew a good deal 

 about this breed at one time of my life, and neither Stubbs, 

 famous picture of the cocker now in the possession of Mr. 

 Walter Gilbey or any evidence from Devonshire or Wales 

 will make the cocker what the Spaniel Club made him. He 

 was wanted to work from morning until night through 

 brambles and brushwood of the thickest, and will the black 

 spaniels called cockers do this? I tried to pick out the one 

 that looked like moving about the sharpest, but probably it 

 had not the points supplied by the Spaniel Club. I was 

 neither at home with the so called field spaniels, perhaps I 

 have forgotten all I knew." 



Mr. Lowe, let us shake, those are my sentiments exactly, 

 and that's a Fellows type working cocker. It would do thy 

 dear old friend Dr. Boulton good to see you in the ring 

 sending out the. crocodiles one after the other and giving the 

 ribbons to the working cockers. 



Well, every dog has his day, and the crocodile spaniel has 

 had a long inning, but his day is past now and the Fellows 

 type has the floor, but you will not now find a judge or a 

 breeder who will admit that he ever did like the long and low 

 style; all will hedge and say they always wanted a happy 

 medium. J. Otis Fellows. 



A THANKSGIVING BEAGLE RUN. 



Editor Forest, and Stream: 



For the benefit of those who "were not in it" but who may 

 be nevertheless interested in this sport, I will give a short 

 account of the Thanksgiving runs of a small portion of the 

 National Beagle Club's pack. Thursday morning saw five 

 of us and six of our dogs, Don, Mollie, Cora, Twintwo, 

 Topsey and Dot on our way to the hunting grounds, which 

 were some two miles distant from Salem depot, N. H., our 

 temporary place of abode. When we left the Peabody farm 

 at 7 A. M. the cold was intense, and after riding a short time 

 we began to think that we should have more hunting than 

 game, as it was not only cold, but very dry. However, by 

 ten o'clock, the weather moderated so that the trailing was 

 very fair. After having driven about a mile and a half we 

 alighted, and tying our horse to a tree by the roadside, we 

 unchained the dogs. 



To our right was a wall, which we jumped and made for a 

 piece of woods about 200yds. distant. Here the dogs found, 

 and after they had worked about ten minutes the rabbit was 

 spied going through a brush pile and Brown, bringing his 

 gun quickly to his shoulder, fired and stretched him out. 

 Leaving here we went to a swamp at the foot of the hill, and 

 on our way flushed three partridges. Peabody fired at one 

 of these and brought dowu a good-sized bunch of feathers, 

 but the bird kept on and escaped. 



In the meantime Don had found on the hillside and Topsey 

 and Twintwo in the swamp, and a moment later Cora gave 

 tongue away over to the right. Five minutes later we had 

 three rabbits up and running at once, and one could not 

 tell which way to turn to shoot, as the air was loaded with 

 melody and the dogs seemingly in a hundred places at once. 

 At any rate, we were so much confused that every dog ran 

 his rabbit to earth without our once getting a glimpse of our 

 prey. From this place of abundance of rabbits but almost 

 impenetrable underbrush, we adjourned to a country of 

 small scrub oaks, which grew from fifteen to twenty'feet 

 in height, and here started our first rabbit in less than a 

 minute; he gave us an exciting run oE twenty minutes be- 

 fore he was shot down, and proved to be a large one. Three 

 others were shot here. After running about seven and find- 

 ing it was getting near noon, we worked over toward the 

 team. On our way we had to pass through a patch of juni- 

 per, and started and shot two more, as well as a couple of 

 partridges. As we were now within half a mile of the team, 

 and felt as if a little lunch would do us no harm, we left the 

 woods, and putting on our "field trial" strides took to the 



road and were soon there. 



Our lunch eaten and the horse fed, we climbed in and rode 

 to a place called Hoyt's Hill. This hill consists of many 

 acres of rough country entirely covered with a thick growth 

 of scrub oak and is a perfect paradise for rabbits, and let me 

 say, that from the time we started our first rabbit until the 

 time we quit there were not ten minutes that the dogs' did 



SOME A. K. C. MATTERS. 



IN a contemporary which publishes a weekly contribution 

 from Mr. Mayhew, reference is made as follows to an 

 addition to the stud book and certain alleged omissions on 

 my part: 



I omitted last week to mention an important addition which 

 Mr. Vredenburgh intends shall be included in the next volume of 

 the stud book. It will contain all the shows held during the year 

 under A. IT. C. rules, at the same time giving a table of awards, 

 as well as the names of the gentlemen who officiated. In the E. 

 K. O stud book only prize winners are recorded, but the secretary 

 at "If" will go further and embrace ad dogs who gained a men- 

 tion. This new innovation, is, I am proud to say, the ontcome of 

 some remarks of mine, which appeired a few weeWs back. 



It is some time since Mr. Watson complained bitterly of his 

 duties on the stud book committee being a sinecure, and 1 then 

 suggested that his anxiety for action could ho attained in this 

 direction, but a silence has since fallen o'er his burning desires, 

 and hp. seems to have, dropped them like hot cakes. Perhaps he 

 had good reasons for not referring to the subject again. Perhaps 

 he is undemonstrative!}' compiling such a iecord. but whatever 

 reason there was for his silence I certainly regretted it, as I had 

 cajoled myself that, "here is a man of all others — and an official, 

 too -who will fulfill my dream of compiling a perfect stud book," 

 and he has proved a snare and a delusion. I know under the A. 

 K. C.'s existing "intentions'" Mr. Watson would he powerless to 

 execu'e any such scheme, but I did expect he would make some 

 move in the right direction. 



If Mr. Mayhew would keep posted on what is being done 

 and what is announced as accomplished, iu place of drawing 

 upon his imagination for his facts, he would never have 

 made as many blunders as are contained in the foregoing. 

 He says that what he is pleased to call this new innovation 

 is due to his remarks of a few weeks back. I am sorry to 

 have to undeceive him, but truth is better than fiction. ' At 

 the stud book committee meeting, held three months ago, 

 the subject of recording prize winners in the body of the. 

 book was discussed, and Mr, Vredenburgh then showed to 

 the committee a record which he had compiled for publica- 

 tion in the Gazette. The committee decided that it would 

 be better to incorporate this with the stud book, and a very 

 brief discussion as to the merits of the two plans proved con- 

 clusive to Mr. Vredenburgh. This is not a committee room 

 secret, for I am certain it is set forth in my official report as 

 secretary of the committee, which was published in the Sep- 

 tember Gazette. Mr. Vredenburgh must certainly have 

 begun the work of compiling this record a month before, the 

 committee met, for he had it fairly completed to date. 

 Hence Mr. Mayhew's idea that something he wrote a few 

 weeks back suggested the work which Mr. Vredenburgh 

 must have begun in July does not hold good. 



This will also account to Mr. Mayhew for the silence 

 which has since fallen o'er my burning desires and my 

 dropping the subject, though I might add that people don't 

 drop hot cakes— they eat them— it is 'taters that are dropped. 

 So also it will account for my being a snare and a delusion 

 — in Mr. Mayhew's eyes. As for my inability to do any- 

 thing in view of the A. K. C.'s existing intentions I can 

 state that the members of the committee were unanimous 

 in the opinion that the stud book should contain all prize 

 winners. Mr. Vredenburgh suggested that applications 

 should be made by owners for the free registry of prize win- 

 ners, but I remember very distinctly that the committee 

 held otherwise and would have so ordered had it not been 

 that Mr. Vredenburgh had gone so far toward completing 

 his exhaustive record. If Mr. Mayhew will tui*n to the 

 committee's report I think he will find something to the 

 effect that the committee decided that this would do for the 

 present year if the club did not order otherwise. I have 

 mislaid my copy of the Gazette, so cannot quote the exact 

 phraseology of the report. 



Mr. Mayhew will also observe that the very important 

 alteration of "listing" dogs, in place of "registering" them 

 in the Gazette is due to a recommendation of the stud book 

 committee, proposed at this same meeting of August last. 

 So we seem to be neither dead nor sleeping, and I think the 

 work done by the present committee will compare very 

 favorably with that of any of its predecessors. 



I think that I may personally lay claim to something else 

 quite as important in connection with the work of the 

 A. K. C. Not that it was new so far as being an idea of my 

 own, only new in connection with the A. K. C. The idea 

 was borrowed from the National Trotting Association's 

 method of setting for cases upon which decisions were ren- 

 dered. In the cases that came before the committee for dis- j 

 cussion a concise report was made. Giving each a title for 

 reference, then a statement of the facts of the case and then 

 the decision. The merit of this manner of placing cases on 

 record seems to have been at once recognized by the advisory 

 committee for the cases which came before that body at its 

 meeting of Nov. 1. and are set forth iu a nearly similar man- 

 ner. That is a third point to score to the credit of the stud 

 book committee. 



