S20 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Jan. 15, 1891, 



BENCH SHOWS AND JUDGING. 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



It is a well-known fact that bench shows are a. powerful 

 impetus to breeders of the thoroughbred dog to improve the 

 Species they raise, and that many visitors at the shows become 

 dog fanciers and owners. For the encouragement of breeders 

 to exhibit their dogs and of fanciers to buy, it is absolutely 

 necessary for kennel clubs to employ competent and reliable 

 judges. Of course, Ridges with an established reputation 

 will demand a fair recompense for their arduous task, but 

 if managers of shows do not engage them, the show should 

 not be patronized. There are judges of indisputable ability 

 and impartiality here, but, nevertheless, individuals not de- 

 serving confidence are sometimes acting as judges at shows 

 in this country as well as in others. The natural consequence 

 is that fanciers who buy dogs on their records as prize 

 winners are sometimes deceived, aud that persons owning 

 inferior dogs, to which high prizes have been awarded, will 

 consider them first-class and breed poor stock from them, 

 while others will regard judges and judging with distrust. 



On March 12, 1890, a long article appeared in the Hunde- 

 Sport, of which the following is a translated epitome: 



"Unhappily our German jadgingis badly exposed both in 

 foreign conutries and in Germany itself. The words: 'Give 

 me the catalogue and I will tell you before the judging who 

 will get the prizes,' or ' Why should I exhibit; with the best 

 dogs I win no prizes,' can be heard too often. Unfortunately 

 it is true, that very often in awarding prizes only the per- 

 sonality of the owner decides. In Forest and Stream 

 the judges of German dogges were severely censured several 

 months ago, and as a principal reason it was mentioned that 

 in Germany, according to the catalogue, the dog with the 

 most prizes will get first, the next second prize, and that the 

 judges will make an exception only to favor a friend. Ger- 

 many's honor has been badly injured among German and for- 

 eign dog fanciers, and unfortunately occasion has been given 

 for it too often. You may just notice the judges at shows con- 

 stantly searching in the catalogue before they note a prize. 

 * * * Let nobody say that our reproaches are groundless. 

 There is no meaner beast than the dachshund bitch Gotter- 

 dammerung, owner His Excellency Count Waldersee, Lieu- 

 tenant-General, General-Quartermaster and Adjutant to His 

 Majesty the German Emperor, chairman of the 'Delegirten- 

 commission;' breeder Emil Meyer, secretary-gen e.ral to the 

 Delegirten-comrnission. This beast received first prize in 

 Berlin, 1883, while a number of better dogs had to stand 

 back. * * * To restore the badly damaged reputation of 

 the German judges should be the principal effort of the 

 judges at the next show, etc." 



The show alluded to was the International dog show at 

 Berlin, and what do we read about it? Among other pre- 

 dicted probabilities the above mentioned journal has iu its 

 issue of May 14, 1890: "Among the rough-coated St. Bern- 

 ards conies the old Young Barry, whom Dr. Kiinzli brings 

 again, although advised to the contrary by many of his 

 friends. What shall the judge, Dr. Sieginund, do? Place 

 the younger, more imposing Bello over the oft-preferred 

 Noting Barry? Switzerland would never forgive him that. 

 And on May 28, after first prize had been awarded to Young 

 Barry, we find in the report of the Berlin show: "We would 

 rather pass over in silence the judging of roughcoats, and 

 it may have been more than painful to Dr. Siegmund, 

 especially since the spectators manifested their dissatisfac- 

 tion by exclamations, 'Bello is the best, that's an injustice,' 

 etc. Young Barry has neither become younger nor better iu 

 loins, nor was he in better condition than on previous occa- 

 sions. Bello was in finer condition than ever; he showed 

 himself splendidly, but bad to be content with second 

 prize on account of the consequences, as was to be expected." 



Already on Oct. 9, 1889, the same paper had the following 

 criticism about the Cannstatt show: "The greatest mistake 

 with Young Barry is that he came to theskow aged, that 

 the judges out of pity to Young Barry and his highly es- 

 teemed owner did not dare to prefer better dogs." And in 

 the same issue: "Mr. Broadbeck's Pormann received the 

 prize of honor. This dog, that in a bad class at Esslingen 

 got only a diploma, though he was in very good condition, 

 must have improved very much, since he could get first prize 

 in Cologne in hot competition. May be it is not entirely 

 without influence that formerly he belonged to a small 

 saloon keeper in Rothenburg and now to a member of the 

 'presidium.' His hindlegs are still as bad as formerly; his 

 tail is a little thick, etc." 



That Hanno, who suffered with an incurable disease for a 

 long time and was in a miserable condition long before Mr. 

 Ulrich exhibited him in Brussels, received there second prize, 

 a month, and first prize at Apolda a week, before he was 

 shipped to me, and that I sent him back to Germany, will 

 be remembered by dog fanciers in Europe and in this 

 country. 



I could cite many more similar incidents at dog shows in 

 Germany but the above may suffice to illustrate how much 

 dependence may be placed on the prizes awarded in that 

 country, It is a pity that such transactions take place there 

 and in ether countries. 



"Mephisto" relates in Forest and Stream, of Oct. 23, 

 1890, a funny decision: "The nearest approach to a 'Meers- 

 brook Maiden Comedy' I ever knew of in England was 

 recently, when Captain Miller judged Irish setters. Here is 

 how he" did it: Open class— Yerker, third prize; Drinnagh, 

 he. Novice — Valentine, second prize; Drinnagh, third; 

 Yerker, vhc. Puppies — Drinnagh, third; Yerker, vhc, 

 Valentine, he. Cup for the best Irish setter in open classes, 

 Cloyne II. Now Cloyne II. only got a c. card in the open 

 class, yet she was awarded the cup. * * * Et tu, Brittle! 

 I thought you would be the one to keep the 'laugh and 

 grow fat' ball a rolling, and you have gone and done it. 

 Only a month or so ago (Sept. 13), in a Philadelphia paper, 

 you told us that at Wilmington sbow Blemton Rubicon's 

 skull had fined down tremendously since you last saw him 

 at Boston and he looked more like his dam than ever. * * * 

 1 know you have recently stated that a man who did not 

 know on which side his bread is buttered is a fool. * # * 

 For your own sake, don't tell us that fox-terrier 'skulls' 

 fine down tremendously with advancing years. Did you 

 ever know a child's skull to grow less as the child grew 

 older? I have known skulls to grow thicker, but fine down 

 tremendously, oh, never!" 



This Mr. "Brittle" judged some classes at the above-men- 

 tioned Wilmington show, and it maybe of interest to dog 

 fanciers if I mention a few of his adjudications. There was 

 a dog classified as a Newfoundland that got second prize, 

 about which Mr. H. W. Lacy remarked in Turf, Field- and 

 Farm of Sept. 5, 1890: "A sort of a black, curly-coated 

 great Dane showed up as the only entry in this class, and 

 we really pitied the judge in having to so rudely upset his 

 owner's fond hopes by wishing to withhold the prize. As a 

 peace offering a second prize was awarded, but disdainfully 

 refused. * * * Great Danes. * * : * The bitch class 

 was auite a good one, and the result of the shaking up was 

 a defeat for the New York winner Irene. She ought not to 

 have been shown in her condition, and if owners will persist 

 in sending dogs in such shape they deserve the consequences. 

 Weisrod and Hess's Flora is by no means a crack, besides a 

 curly tail, her faulty muzzle, open feet and tbroatiness, will 

 put her back in good company; she has a nice coat. Mr. 

 Maenner's Minca Mia, third, might have changed places, 

 as she is better headed, though a trifle lippy, and has better 

 bone." Mr. James Mortimer, who judged at the Baltimore 

 show, describes Minca Mia iu his report of March 29, 1890: 

 "Minca Mia, winner of first prize, is a very good specimen, 

 sound and active as a terrier, with good head, very clean 

 throat, good legs and feet, strong, well-arched loin, and 

 well d-eveloped hindquarters." And the Hunde-Sport of June 



5, 1890, in its report of the show at Cologne, where 151 Ger- 

 man dogges were, entered, surpassing those of any previous 

 show in quality: "Krehl's Minca Mia, vhc, a large bitch 

 with a beautiful head, but her tail is not first-class, she does 

 not carry it too high, but turns it a little to one side." The 

 cause of her turning ber tail may have been a temporary 

 bodily in jury, or her being in whelp by Hannibal at that 

 time. 



Now let us compare with the above criticisms Mr. R. F. 

 Mayhew's report in the Fanciers' Journal of Sept. 6, 1890: 

 "Minca Mica, third, is wide in skull and doglike iu expres- 

 sion. _ She is also far too throaty, heavy in shoulders and 

 wide in front," And about that mongrel entered as a New- 

 foundland he says: "Carlo, a black dog, with no pretension 

 to type or character, got second, first being withheld." 



In Turf, Field and Farm of Sept. 12, 1890, "Espan" makes 

 this drastic remark: "Look here, Mr. Editor, that is a very 

 delicate euphemism of yours to the effect that a clog show 

 judge was never seen drunk 'in the ring' in this country. 

 * * * I have seen some judging iu my time, that it is a pity 

 for the judge's reputation, as such that, he wasn't drunk, as 

 the remaining alternative is that he was an ass." The 

 above appearing the week after the Wilmington sbow, it 

 may be assumed that Mr. Mayhew was one of the judges 

 alluded to by "Espan." I saw Mr. Mayhew there, sober as 

 a judge, but I will not express my opinion whether "he 

 knew on which side bis bread was buttered." Not having 

 examined the thickness or width of his skull I will not posi- 

 tively assert whether "the remaining alternative" is appli- 

 cable to him, although "doglike in expression" is an asslike 

 expression. But one assertion I make: "I will never ex- 

 hibit where Mr. Mayhew judges." 



In Philadelphia, Great Danes were judged in 1889 by some- 

 body who told a gentlemau, if he would buy a certain dog 

 from him and exhibit the dog at that show, he would award 

 first prize to him. This judge awarded highest prizes to the 

 Great Danes which were "also winners" at Wilmington. 

 Fanciers may therefore be induced to mistake those winners 

 of Philadelphia and Wilmington for first-class specimens. 



It is to be hoped that managers of dog shows will be care- 

 ful to engage only competent, impartial judges, and none 

 who will discredit shows and dogs by awarding high prizes 

 to inferior specimens or mongrels "with no pretension to 

 type or character," or who^findsMinca^Mia'/'far too throaty," 

 while Mr. James Mortimer declares that she has "a very 

 clean throat," which is the truth. Probably Mr. Mayhew's 

 record as a judge is easily broken, because it is "brittle." 



J. H. H. Maenner. 



Baltimore, Md., Jan. 3. 



DOG CHAT. 



AS a Christmas supplement, the English Stock-Keeper 

 produced a very interesting account of the Prince of 

 Wales's kennels at Sandringham, Norfolk. The photograph 

 of the kennels shows a large range of buildings, built sub- 

 stantially of brick, of handsome design, and, as might be 

 expected, everything is found in the kennels themselves 

 that will conduce to the cleanliness and comfort of the dogs. 

 The inmates of the kennels are of various breeds and nation- 

 alities, Chinese dogs, Samoyede sledge dogs, rough-haired 

 Basset hounds, Lapland sledge doge, Norwegian dogs, etc., 

 running with fox-terriers, retrievers, Clumbers, collies and 

 deerhounds. In the description of the dogs we note that 

 there are nine Clumbers in the kennels which are all 

 workers and used extensively in the Royal covers. It is 

 needless to say that the Prince is a most ardent sportsman. 

 One of the Clumbers, we note, is by Boss HI. out of Lady 

 II. As a great, many people think it somewhat of an honor 

 to present His Highness with a dog, the kennels are naturally 

 kept well filled, though most of them of course are speci- 

 mens of rare and foreign breed. The supplement is in 

 pamphlet form with an excellent photograph of the Prince 

 on the cover, and is filled with pictures of the most noted 

 dogs, taken by Mr. W. Dexter, a well-known spaniel breeder, 

 with evidently considerable skill. 



The annual meeting of the Cleveland Kennel Club was 

 held Jan. 6, and the following officers were eleeted for the 

 ensuing year: Frank De H. Robison, President; H. A. 

 Bishop, Vice-President; W. R. Huntington, Treasurer; C. 

 M. Munhall, Secretary, and also delegate to the American 

 Kennel Olub. The delegates are George W. Short, Frank 

 DeH. Robison, Joseph Perkins, W.R.Huntington, CM. 

 Munhall, A. Smithnight, John R. Chadwick, H. A. Bishop, 

 Wilbur Parker. Arrangements were also made for the dog 

 show, which takes place in April next. The gentlemen who 

 have the affair in hand are full of energy in the matter and 

 intend to do their utmost to make the venture a success. It 

 was decided to offer 81,200 in prizes, as well as a number of 

 valuable specials. Exhibitors will, we hope, bear in mind 

 their recent courteous treatment of the New England Ken- 

 nel Club in the clashing of dates and reward them when the 

 time comes with a good entry. 



The Live Stocli Journal (Eng.) has issued another of their 

 almanacs, which, as usual, is replete with valuable informa- 

 tion and interesting articles on various breeds of farm stock. 

 The kennel is not neglected either, for we find interesting 

 articles on "The Sheepdog," by Frederick Gresham, and 

 "Pointer Dogs," E. C. Norrish; with pictures of Great Alne 

 Douglass and Metchley Wonder, the noted collies, and the 

 pointers, Carlo and Carlist, in the field. Those with horsy 

 inclinations will find a very readable article on "The Model 

 Hunter," by Sir R. D. Green Price, Bart. 



Speaking of a dog hospital in Chicago, the New Orleans 

 Picayune strikes a good note when it says: "Diseases of 

 animals receive more attention now than formerly, and the 

 demand now is that the 'dog doctor' receive the respect due 

 to a man who has been educated, and to his education adds 

 the desire to ease the sufferings of dumb animals. That a 

 veterinarian be educated is necessary, and that he be a gen- 

 tleman is not incompatible with his calling." With this we 

 quite agree, and if some of our many fledgling doctors who 

 are struggling on, trying to make a living out of human 

 pathology, would devote their talent to veterinary science as 

 applied to-day, they would, no doubt, do good to themselves 

 and the poor dogs which are unfortunately bereft of the 

 faculty of making known their aches and pains, as is the case 

 with their human friends. 



The Costa Rica Indian dogs are. peculiar from the fact that 

 they can't bark naturally. These dogs are big, slouching, 

 light-colored beasts and are evidently related to the coyotes, 

 although as puppies these dogs soon learn to imitate the 

 bark of other dogs, which are kept to teach them to bark, 

 the same as one canary birds teaches another to sing, 

 while the coyote domesticated never learns to bark until the 

 third generation. These Costa Rican dogs would be of little 

 service as watch dogs, even if they were wanted for that pur- 

 pose, but it would go hard with any one who intruded on 

 premises where these silent brutes run at large. Without 

 warning he would be pounced upon immediately and torn 

 to pieces. But these dogs are not kept for household pro- 

 tection, for few of their owners have much of a household 

 to protect. They are used chiefly for hunting the puma and 

 jaguar, the two fierce and destructive members of the tiger 

 family, which are so numerous in the mountains and the 

 reedy plains of Central America and especially in the south- 

 ern province of Costa Rica. 



There are a great many touching sights in a great city ? 

 but none much more so than to wateh a lost dog. At first 

 there is a look of startled surprise on his face when he ] oses 



the scent, quickly followed by a grim sort of humor, as 

 though pretending his bewilderment is but a joke. He 

 circles round and round, and his face grows thin and his eye 

 almost human in its anxious pleading. He starts off in one 

 direction, sure that he has found the trail; he is baffled, 

 turned back. He looks in the face of all who pass as if 

 questioning to know his way. He thinks he recognizes his 

 master, and is off like a flash, only to return more anxious 

 and eager than before. He gives himself no rest, but 

 doubles, and pursues and turns back, until all hope is dead 

 in his faithful canine breast, and he starts off with a long 

 lope down the street. Then it is that some demoniac boy or 

 some detestable man flings a stone at him, or kicks him as 

 he flies by, and the cry is raised, "Mad dog ! Kill him !" says 

 a writer in the Chicago Herald. So the great host of idlers 

 in ambush, who wait the opportunity for mischief as bees 

 await the blossom of the buckwheat, are turned loose upon 

 his track and his doom is sealed. From a lost dog to a 

 bunted and dead cur is an easy transition. And visions of 

 hydrophobia and Pasteur flash across the. mind of the ordi- 

 nary citizen.— Boston Herald. 



Here is something that might be of use to Dr. Romanes iu 

 his researches about the homing instinct in dogs. In the 

 Frisian we find that a well known sportsman of Umballa 

 when returning home from the Rawalpindi race meeting 

 last spring, lost his equally well-known fox-terrier Tip when 

 one or two stations out of Pindi. He telegraphed back to 

 friends and the railway people to find and send on the dog; 

 but all search proved fruitless, and the sporting dragoon 

 gave up his dog as lost for good. A fortnight short of a day 

 after the owner's arrival in Umballa, an emaciated, weary 

 and dejected dog crawled into his house, and was effusive in 

 its demonstrations of affection. It turned out to be Tip, but 

 quite unlike Tip. The faithful and intelligent creature, on 

 missing the train, had seen it bearing away its master, and 

 then had set off following the railway line, 'and for thirteen 

 days had traveled, passing railway crossings, through 

 stations, over girder bridges, picking i\p such subsistence as 

 it could on the way, unchecked by the onslaught of pariah 

 dogs, and encountering goodness knows what other adven- 

 tures by the way, and at length safely reached his home and 

 master. If that dog could speak, what a story it could relate. 

 Tip's^ constitution, however, is wrecked, and in all these 

 months it has in no way gotten over the effects of that jour- 

 ney. 



We hear that there will be no show at Buffalo this spring, 

 but if a fair is held in that city in the fall, a dog show will 

 in all probability be. given in connection with that, falling 

 into line with the Canadian circuit of shows. 



Mr. James Mortimer, superintendent of the Westminster 

 Kennel Club's show, writes us that the following judges 

 have been appointed for the fifteenth annual show of dogs to 

 be held at Madison Square Garden, Feb. 24-27, viz.: St. 

 Bernards and pugs, Miss A. H. Whitney. Lancaster, Mass.; 

 mastiffs, Chas. C. Marshall, New York; Great Danes, blood- 

 hounds, Newfoundlands, toy spaniels and all terriers, except 

 bull and fox-terriers, R. F. Mayhew, Brooklyn, N. Y.; Rus- 

 sian wolfhounds, deerhounds and greyhounds, H. W. Hunt- 

 ington, Brooklyn, N. Y. ; pointers, J. M. Tracy, New York; 

 English setters' and American foxhounds. Major J. M. Tay- 

 lor, New York; Irish setters, Max Wenzel, Hoboken, N. J.; 

 Gordon setters, Dr. H. Clay Glover, New York; field, cocker, 

 Clumber and Irish water spaniels, A. C. Wilmerding. New 

 York; collies and sheepdogs, A. D. Lewis, Hempstead, L. I.; 

 poodles, John G. Hecksher, New York; Chesapeake Bay dogs, 

 Jas. F. Pearson, Baltimore, Md.; fox-terriers, Fred. Hoey, 

 Long Branch, N. J.: bulldogs, bull-terriers, Basset hounds 

 and dachsbunde, E. Sheffield Porter, New Haven, Ct.; 

 beagles, H. F. Schellhass, Brooklyn, N. Y. As will be seen 

 from the above list, there is little change from those who 

 officiated last year. Mr. H. W. Huntington, for greyhounds, 

 is a good selection, and we shall be pleased to see this oldest 

 greyhound fancier don the ermine. Mr. J. M. Tracy ought 

 to know a pointer, and is a good selection, and Major J. M. 

 Taylor will no doubt carry the suffrages of the English Setter 

 Club men. Mr. Wenzel is a good choice for the Irish setters, 

 for if every man's does not get first prize, the kickers will 

 know that there is a man in the ring who has had about as 

 much experience as any of them in this breed. Mr. A. D. 

 Lewis is a new face, but through his connection with the 

 Hempstead Farm Kennels he ought to know a good collie 

 when he sees it. No doubt Chesapeakes will be safe in Mr. 

 Pearson's bands. For the sake of the mastiff it is a pity 

 that the list of judges is so limited. The other names on the 

 list will no doubt command confidence among the exhibitors, 

 and St. Bernard exhibitors will be pleased to meet Miss 

 Whitney in the ring again, for, from all we hear, this clever 

 judge will have no sinecure. Premiumlists and entry forms 

 can be obtained from Jas. Mortimer, Supt., 44 Broadway, 

 New York. Entries close Feb. 9. 



A correspondent writes us that be cannot understand how 

 a supposed crack field trial dog should break down in a four- 

 hour race. Mentioning as a reason for his query that he has 

 a setter that is what is familiarly known "an all-day dog," 

 which he worked for three weeks, excepting one rainy day 

 and Sundays. Our correspondent must remember that a 

 race such as this cannot be compared with an ordinary day's 

 shooting. In such a heat the dogs are made to range fast 

 and wide, each handler pushing bis dog along for all he is 

 worth, and as fast as horses can walk. No delay is allowed, 

 and here is where the ordinary day's shooting dog has the 

 advantage, any one familiar with both will know the differ- 

 ence. Out for pleasure, one does not walk as if for a wager, 

 and the many little rests that the shooting of the bird, the 

 filling of the pipe, the little loaf on the top of that handy 

 fence, all serve to lighten the labors of the day. There is no 

 such thing in the trials. There the nature of the ground 

 must be taken into consideration, during those days it was 

 very heavy and clinging, a light frost after heavy rain mak- 

 ing a slight crust, which gave way under pressure, this and 

 the creeping briers must have helped to fatigue the dogs 

 considerably. Then again, neither of the two who gave out 

 were in as hard a condition as they might have been, King's 

 Mark especially. We think that from this our correspondent 

 can form some idea of the work done. 



We hear that inquiries for entry blanks of the National 

 Greyhound Club's show are coming from Chicago, Toronto, 

 Massachusetts, Maine and other States, so it is likely the 

 entry will be considerable. 



Inlview of the excitement among St. Bernard breeders 

 which the purchase of Sir Bedivere by Mr. Sears has caused, 

 it would be as well for our readers to form some idea of this 

 grand dog. Our illustration is a few simile of a photograph 

 taken about eighteen months since, and is considered a good 

 likeness of the dog. Full particulars as to pedigree and 

 prize winnings were published in our last issue. 



In speaking of the standing and improvement of the differ- 

 ent breeds of dogs during the past year the Canine World 

 says, that although the classes at some of the shows have 

 not filled well never could they muster so many really 

 grand pointers as at the present day. Naso of Upton, by all 

 accounts, seems to be the best heavy dog. The outlook for 

 English setters, in fact all setters, is not so good. Their 

 prizes were not so liberal and the judges do not seem so 

 popular as those selected for the pointers. Contrary to our 

 '; custom, the setter prizes in most of the shows are hardly 

 worth competing for, henccthey have not maintained their 



