S98 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[June I, 1891. 



might have of Mr. Tracy as a man? And so I am going 

 "hammer and tongs'' for Mr. Lacy's report, which doesn't 

 prove that my grandfather and his bad a row over the 

 appetite or the pedigree of a bull pitp. The criticism I 

 would like to have explained is as follows: 



Then came the open dogs, with Lord Neverstill an easy winner 

 over Jolly Ranger, in front, ribs, loin and bone. This doer after- 

 ward beat Gem of the Season for tbe special. His wonderful rib 

 development and sliort loin is what is wanted, and his excellent 

 quarters show th;it lie is well ofT for the necessary propelling 

 power, and his short back eives him a great advantage in his 

 turns when after the wily jack. Liiie all of his breeding, he is a 

 bit coarse looking in coat and not let down enough behind. 



To begin with. What, may I ask, is "wonderful rib de- 

 velopment"? This is a very misleading statement to con- 

 front a beginner. If the ribs are sprung beyond a certain 

 point, i. c, 'more than necessary to permit of the free work- 

 ing of the machinery behind them, then they are wrong. If 

 the ribs are well sprung (which does not mean sprung to 

 excess) then they are right; but " wonderful rib development," 

 as I take it, has never yet been considered essential to either 

 speed or .stamina, "A short loinlis what is wanted." Why, 

 may I ask? A short loin means lack of liberty behind. 

 What is needed is a loin of fair length and great strength, 

 which does not mean a verj' wide loin, btit a loin with depth 

 as well as width. Btit in addition to a short loin you advo- 

 cate a short back because "it gives him [Lord Neverstill] a 

 great advantage in his turns." Now, if you have a short- 

 backed and short-loined dog, you very clearly have a dog 

 short between the couplings, and this formation has never 

 yet been advocated by coursing men. To have symmetry, a 

 dog with such a body must have legs much shorter than are 

 and always have been seen in the greyhotind, and after you 

 have made these changes what remains? A dog perhaps, 

 but certainly not a greyhound. Admitting, for the sake of 

 argument, that this dog's short back "gives him a great ad- 

 vantage in his turns," I claim that in a cotirse with a dog of 

 average speed the advantages to be derived from the short- 

 ness of his back would never be seen, because this dog would 

 never have the speed to reach the hare, let alone to take pos- 

 session and keep it. He would be outclassed (otitpaced) 

 from the moment he left the slips, and quick turning would 

 never add a point to his score. He would not be on hand to 

 tui-n. But where is the evidence, written or other, to show 

 that a short back and short loin combined will give a c^nick 

 turn? Is It not far more likely that a short back and a 

 liberty-showing loin would give such a resttlt? Can you 

 name"a single instance of a short-backed and short-loined 

 greyhound beating a dog of average pace? I never saw one 

 that was worth a tinker's cuss, and, with the exception of 

 Fullerton, I have seen many of the best public performers 

 before and since the Bradford crack (Cock Robin) made such 

 a bold bid for Waterloo honors. Market Day, winner, I be- 

 lieve, of a 16S dog stake at Plumpton and a dog with a very 

 great turn of speed, had neither a short back nor short loin, 

 and I can say the same of little Coomassie, a bitch that 

 when she once got up was without exception the most bril 

 liant performer I have ever seen. 



Btit you don't halt at the short back and short loin, hut 

 add that this dog Lord Never.still is net well let down behind. 

 And this is the greyhound (?) that beat Gem of the Season 

 at Chicago, and the FoRKST AXD Stream is on record as in- 

 dorsing the award. Now, sir, I maintain that no short- 

 backed, short-loined badly-let-down-behind greyhound that 

 ever lived could faii-iy be.at Gem of the Season, beat one-half 

 of him, or beat one corner of him, because Gem is a grey- 

 hound, whereas a dog of that formation is not a greyhound. 

 Then again, what are we to understand from the statement 

 that Lord Neverstill, "like all of his breeding, is not let 

 down enoiTgh behind." This is surelya well- bred grey hound. 

 He comes of a winning family on both sides, and methinks 

 you will have a difficult task to prove that dogs of his 

 breeding are "not let down enough behind." In truth, they 

 are as well let down behind as any greyhounds in the world. 

 Now. then, if Lord Neverstill has the defects you have 

 enumerated (I don't see how he can), a very great wrong has 

 been done the owner of Gem of the Season, and the Chicago 

 judge, whoever he was, should be "roasted." If, on the 

 other hand, the decision was correct, then Neverstill does 

 not have these defects and his owner has been unfairly 

 treated. No man is going to breed to a short-backed, short- 

 loined, high-hocked greyhound, because greyhounds proper 

 are not biiilt that way. It is pretty generally conceded that 

 the late Mr. Walsh ("Stoneheuge") was either the best or 

 very nearly the best authority we Lave ever had on the grey- 

 hound. If there was one breed of dogs he knew more about 

 than all others, it was greyhotxuds. He owned greyhounds, 

 he trained them himself, he coursed them, he was essentially 

 a greyhound man. His greyhound standard stands out 

 boldly from the rest as a masterpiece in its line, and it is 

 not difficult to tell by that standard which breed "Stone- 

 henge" loved most. ' J. H. Walsh was not a Rousseau 

 writing about Russian wolfhounds. He was a good and 

 practical jtidge of greyhounds writing of a breed he most 

 thoroughly understood, and, wliat is more, he was a genuine 

 dog friend. In arriving at a conclusion as to the formation 

 of back most desirable, I think you will agree with me that 

 we need not go behind or before the "Stonehenge" standard. 



Here it is: "It must be self-evident that every additional 

 inch in length of back increases the stride by that amount 

 exactly, and therefore if prolonged indeliaiteiy it would be 

 advantageous, till counterbalanced by the disadvantages 

 inseparably connected with this form, in consequence of the 

 diminished strength. The length of back should therefore 

 be looked for between the neck and the last rib, rather than 

 between the last rib and tbe hip bone; and this is a very im^ 

 portant consideration too often neglected." 



There is another matter pertaining to greyhounds that I 

 would direct your attention to. You have recently .stated th at 

 certain dog owners in Canada had attacked Miss Whitney 

 and the writer in some of the daily papers. Are you aware 

 that two of my friends, Mr. H. W. Lacy and Mr. J. Otis 

 Fellows, are respon-sible for nearly all the abuse that has 

 been hurled at me! ]Nlr. Fellows awarded first prize to a 

 prick-eared greyhound at Kingston and Mr. Lacy gave the 

 same dog a prize at Ottawa, You will remember that when 

 this dog was bi-ought before me I fired him out of the ring 

 in quick time, and the owner, who is a beginner and for any- 

 thing I know to the contrary a well-meaning one, has been 

 shedding tears and spilling ink ever since. Because my 

 friends just named missed the prick ears, or had orders not 

 to withhold prizes, and because they did award prizes to an 

 animal, by name Elcho, they have been written up in the 

 Canada papers as wonderlail judges, whereas I, who refused 

 to confer honors upon a little prick-eared brindle dog, am 

 very much no good and a perfect ignoramus on dogs. It's 

 the old racket over again. A young man, a dog, a fever, 

 papers packed with trashy articles, a noise and a funeral, 

 "jjow often, O, how often," have we been through all this 

 and still they come. 



Mr. Lacy and Mr. Fellows may have been justified in 

 awarding prizes to a prick-eared dog, they may have been 

 instructed to award tbe prizes, "small show," "first at- 

 tempt," "don't wish to displease these men," "committee 

 decided that prizes must be given in all classes," etc., etc. 

 But I wish to ask these gentlemen in the interest of dogs 

 and for the benefit of tininitiated beginners, wotxld they 

 award high honors to prick-eared greyhounds if such dogs 

 were shown in fairly good company? Look at the harm that 

 may be done by such judgments unless they are qualified. 

 The owner of this dog Elcho has already stated that he liad 

 been requested to pltice him in the public stud. No sane 

 person, that has had any experience with dogs, is going to 



breed to prick-eared greyhounds that have neither a 

 fashionable pedigree nor a first-class record in the field 

 behind the defect. But what is to become of a novice, 

 with no friend at hand to advise him ? He will breed 

 to anything that has won a prize, anything with four legs, 

 type is destroyed and improvement 'becomes an utter im- 

 possibility. So I beg of you straighten out these matters, 

 clear the mist from the beginner's eyes, give him a chance 

 and thus avert the possibility of unnecessary controversies 

 'n the near- future. 



It seems a bit hard to criticise the work of one who, while 

 still suffering from la grippe, had the pluck to tackle a 

 report of probably TOO dogs and get to Cleveland in time for 

 tbe opening there. But neither Forest akd Stream nor 

 Mr. Lacy can afford to have that report hurled at them in 

 dnys to come. So I think the better plan is to correct it and 

 do it now. ChAS. H, MASON. 



New Youk, May 12. 



[We are not as a rule given to pleading the baby act, but 



in this instance we must say that our intention was to write 

 short loin instead of back, and our copy would no doubt so 

 have it could it at this late day be found; but unfortttnately 

 it cannot. Not having the opnortunity to read the proof 

 before insertion in Forest and Stream, the mistake had to 

 go uncorrected, and until our attention was drawn to it by 

 the above letter we did not know it had been made. To 

 show how easily such a mistake may be made, even ]Mr. 

 Mason himself in quoting from "Stonehenge" wrote in the 

 above letter, "The length of back should, therefore, be 

 looked for between the last rib anrl the hip hone.'" (The 

 italics are ours.) This he corrected, when sent the proof, 

 to the way it stands now. So, after all, we may be excused 

 when writing our rei3ort while traveling from one show to 

 another in letting an error slip in now and then. To prove 

 that we did not mean that a gi'eyhound should have a short 

 back, it was only the week before, while judging at Boston, 

 that we put back an otherwise good hound, Imperator, for 

 that very fault. Now, then, as to rib de%"elopment. To our 

 mind rib development does not mean great spring of ribs, 

 which a greyhound should not have unless he has 

 the necessary chest development to support it. Rib 

 development' in our mind is just "that length of 

 back between the neck and the last rib" that 

 "Stonehenge" .speaks of. And the further back that rib 

 is placed, to a certain extent, so much the better develop- 

 ment. The term "well-ribbed up" covers our meaning. We 

 still maintain that the .short and strong loin, comparatively 

 speaking, is what is required, and no less an authority than 

 Mr, Lowe holds the same opinion. A dog long between the 

 last rib and hip cannot turn and gather his hind parts under 

 as one of the short loined dogs can, still we are sapiently 

 told at times that certain dogs do not stand over enough 

 ground, too short in loin, etc., when the length of groimdto 

 be covered is obtained by the bend of the stifle or, in other 

 words, the more "let down" a dog is, the more ground can 

 be stand over. As to awarding Elcho the second prize at 

 Ottawa in a class of four dogs, we did that considering the 

 occasional elevation of his ears a much less fault than the 

 half-inch overhanging top jaw of the dog Lauucelot, which 

 the week before Mr. Slason gave third to in a strong class 

 of thirteen dogs at Toronto, and these reasons were fully 

 stated in our report of the Ottawa show at the time. We 

 do not think that a man like Dr. Mills has had anything 

 whatever to do with the letters in the Toronto papers, for 

 we think he would be the first to abhor any underhanded 

 way of sho\ving his opinion.] 



"THE SHEPHERD DOG." 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



The work with the above title, by Mr. W. A. Wickham, of 

 Tipton, Iowa, is really a valuable contribution, to our list of 

 dog.ay publications. Mr. Wickham has expended a vast 

 aniotiut of research on the subject, as is shown by his many 

 Cjuotations, from almost every author who has written on 

 the dog. I regret to see that in a few instances he has incor- 

 porated the work of living writers in his text without giving 

 credit for it, but it strikes me that this is more the result of 

 defective editorship than intentional plagiarism; as for in- 

 stance, the use of Mr. Cleaver's preclsi on training sheep 

 dogs, the subject being afterward much more elaborated by 

 Mr. Wickham himself. Avery pleasant feature in the book 

 is, that while Mr. Wickham is a breeder and seller of collies 

 himself, the fact is nowhere intruded on the reader in the 

 text, and but for a modest advertisement on a cover page, 

 his being in the business would not be known to the reader. 

 This is a most agreeable conti'ast to the books of too many 

 breeders, who seem to have written, not to raise the breed 

 as a whole in public estimation, but to boost their own stock, 

 and with the result that the intelligent reader sets the whole 

 thing down as on a plane with a patent medicine advertise 

 ment. 



jMr. Wickham is entirely wrong in one statement— that the 

 bobtail sheep dog is not suitable for a companion, tbe fact 

 being that they are the most charming companions of any 

 dogs I know. Too many affectionate dogs are too overwhel- 

 ming in their demonstrations, jumping and pawing over 

 one, a fault only eradicated by training while young, and the 

 bobtail, while as affectionate as any dog, refraics from this 

 and contents itself with more moderate indulgences of its 

 affection. Many will jump up beside their master without 

 jumping on him, and if unnoticed for what they deem too 

 long a time, will attract attention by a pat of the paw or a 

 thrust of the uo.se into one's hand. Mr. Wickham's sug- 

 gestions as to protection of flocks, are an admirable feature 

 in his book, giving it an air of practical value outside the 

 mere doggy departments. Of course, a "tenderfoot" like 

 myself has" no opinion as to the correctness of the ideas of 

 Mr. Wickham on these points, but the incorporation of them 

 in the work is novel, and worthy of much commendation. 



Mr. Wickham alludes to the Russian wolfhound as a pro- 

 tector of flocks from wolves, and in this connection there is 

 one characteristic of the Russian dogs, mentioned only by 

 Lieut. Taraevski in an English contemporary, that is of 

 encrmous value and completely overlooked. It appears that 

 these dogs have the trick of concentrating all their strength 

 in one desperate fling at the wolf when they come within 

 striking distance, launching themselves at him like a thun- 

 derbolt. By this trick the wolf is knocked over and de- 

 prived of a great share of his resisting or fighting ability, 

 and thereby the dog is able to overpower it with much less 

 chance of injury to himself. That Lieut. Tarnovski is cor- 

 rect in attributing this characteristic to the dogs, is proved 

 by their mode of attacking other dogs, showing this trick. 



Mr. Wickham has overlooked one piece of most exasper- 

 ating stupidity, not uncommon in purchasers of a sheepdog, 

 in expecting that the dog will off hand obey verbal orders 

 given him, without first ascertaining exactly what form of 

 words the dog has been taught that conveyed that particular 

 order, and the usual result of thus giving the dog orders 

 without first determining what words to use, is that he 

 sticks his tail between his legs and clears out for home, 

 doubtless thinking "what does that fool mean?" Let the 

 new owner either get a complete manual of the words the 

 dog has learned as commands, or go to work slowly and let 

 the dog understand by signs what is wanted, and he will 

 soon learn to associate new words with the desired com- 

 mands. It is really astonishing how blindly owners of dogs 

 go to work with them, apparently forgetting— as ' Jansen" 

 said of the renowned "Snarleyow"— "de tog is but a tog." 



W. WADE. 



Hdlton, Pa., May 33, 



CENTRAL FIELD TRIALS CLUB DERBY ENTRIES, 



THE entries for this club's third annual Derby, whieli 

 closed May 15, number 87, divided as follows: English 

 setters 58, pointers 36, Ii-ish setters 1 and Gordon setters 3, 

 all whelped in 1890. The entries last year numbered 116. 



ENGLISH SETTEES. 



Chas. Kean (J. M. Avent and Bayard Thaj'er's),Eoderigo— 

 Miss Lou Ellen. 



Marco (J. M. Avent and Bayard Thayer's), Jean Val Jean- 

 Lucy, 



Alphonse (J, M, Avent and Bayard Thayer's), Jean Tsl 

 Jean — Haydee. 



CAfflLLE (J. M. Avent and Bayard Thayer's), Jean Val 

 .Jean — Haydee. 



Rod's Rodney (S. F. B. Biddle's), Eoderi go— Fannie Glad- 

 stone. 



Nat's Box (P. S. Brown and J, B. Ellison's), Nat Good- 

 win — Hazel. 



Nat's Girl (F. 3. Brown and J. B. Ellison's), Nat Good- 

 win— Hazel. 



Latonia ( W. F. Burden and J. D. Postou's), Paul Glad- 

 stone — Latonia. 



Sappho (Royal Phelps Carroll and J. M. Avent's), Rod- 

 erigo— OUie S. 



IzA (Royal Phelps Carroll and J, M. Avent's), Roderigo — 

 OllieS. 



Robespierre (Royal Phelps Carroll and J, M. Avent's), 

 Roderigo— Ollie S, 



LADT Elgin (J. I. Case'.s), King Noble— Qu=en Vashti. 



MoNA (-1, I, Case's), King Noble — Queen Vashti. 



Count Featherstone (E. O. Damon's), Count Noble- 

 Florence Gladstone. 



Wagtail (O. W. Donner's), RoiD'Or-Belle of Piedmont. 



Winnie Noble (F. H. and J. O'H. Denuy'sj, Count Noble 

 — Fannie. 



Bonnie Kate (F, H. and .J. O'H. Denny's^ Gladstone's Boy 

 —Ploy W. 



SiG, Gladstone (P. H, and J, O'H. Denny's), Gladstone's 

 Boy— Diamond. 



Count Druid (Geo. A, Day's), Ruby's Druid— Cricketer. 



Druid's Pride (Geo. A, Day's), Ruby's Druid— Cricketer. 



Druid's Lilly (Geo. A. Day's), Ruby's Druid— Cricketer, 



Jennie F, (E. 0. Damon's), Count Noble— Gladstone's Girl, 



Ned Noble (J, K, Garnett's), Rowdy Rod- Pearl Noble. 



Monk of the Elms (Paul H. Gotziau's), Monk of Furness 

 —Countess Aiu-elia. 



Bondhu's Nellie (T. H. and F. F. Minor Gibbes'.s), Gus 

 Bondhu— Nellie, 



Rowdy Rod, .Ie, (H. B. Hollins's), Rowdy Rod— Pearl 

 Noble. 



Sandborn (J. H. and J. A. Hunter's), Ben Hill— Daisy 

 Hunter. 



Arline (J. Shelley Hudson's) Dad Wilson— Bohemian 

 Girl. 



McDUFFY (L. D. Hargrave's) Roi D'Or -Nora. 



WUN LifNG (H. T, Harris's) Capt, Bethel— Enid. 



Jenny Brailsford (Thomas Johnson's) Frank Simpson 

 — Jenny Deans, 



Manitoba Pet (Thos, Johnson's) Dick Bondhu— Mani- 

 toba Belle. 



LoRA (Pierre Lorillard, Jr.'s) Gladstone's Boy— Ruby D. 

 Miss Ruby (Pierre Lorillard, .Tr.'s) Gladstone's Boy — 

 Ruby D, 



Virago (Pierre Lorillard, Jr.'s) Rowdy— Liberty. 

 HiLLBUKN (Pierre Lorillard, Jr.'s) Ben Hill— Belle of 

 Stanton. 



Palsey (Pierre Lorillard, Jr.'s) Paul Gladstone— Miss 

 Elsie. 



Hope's Mark (J. M. Lasseter'.s) Gath's Hope— Lady May. 

 Hope's Gipsey (J. M. Lasseter's Gath'si Hope — Dimple. 

 Prima Donna (K. J. Myers's) Rockingham — Donna. 

 Lucia (Herbert Merriam's) Roderigo— Royal Myrtle. 

 WuN Lung's Si.ster (S. J. McCartney's) Capt. Bethel- 

 Enid. 



Miss Prim (AUeu Mehle'^) Eoierigo-Qiieen Ella Noble. 

 McMURDO (W. B. Meart.s, -Ir.'s), Roi D'Or— Mildred. 

 Lady Dudley (Harry Northwood's), Gladstone's Boy- 

 Diamond M. 



Amy RobsAkt (Harry Northwood's), Dad "Wilson^Bo- 

 hemian Girl. 



Dad's Girl (Blue Ridge Kennels'), Dad Wilson— Bohe- 

 mian Girl 



Reel (Blue Ridge Kennels'), Roderigo— Lufra. 

 Lady Eveline (Blue Ridge Kennels'), Gath's Mark- 

 Flame Gladstone. 



Oriole (Blue Ridge Kennels'), Gath's Mark— Flame 

 Gladstone). 



Bob Cooper (Blue Ridge EeiaTaels')., Roi D'Or— Miss 

 Nellie Y. 



Laundress (Blue Ridge Kennels'), Roi D'Or— Belle of 

 Piedmont. 



Eff Jay (F. .J, O'Counell's), Dad Wil.son—Da.shing Flora. 

 Randolph's Roy (Randolph Kennels'), Ned— Betts's Belle. 

 Booth (B. PLideway's), King Noble— Queen Yaabti. 

 Tennyson (B. Ridgway's), King Noble — Queen Vashti. 

 Nona Bene (R. W. Shaw's), Ro'derigo— Lufra. 

 Tom's Maud (John C, Vail's). Tom Draw— Gypsy H. 



Miss Arkos (Beresford Kennels'), Arkos— Loole. 

 Dauntless (Beresford Kennels'), Arkos— Loole. 

 Bob (W, G. Brokaw's), Arkos— Loole. 

 Betty (W. G, Brokaw's), Arkos— Loole, 

 Leao (Capt, Davis Baker's), Dan— Kate. 

 Outcast (Charlottesville Field Trial Kennels'), King of 

 Kent— Hops. 



Exile (Charlottesville Field Trial Kennels'), King of Kent 

 —Hops. 



Kentish Lass (Charlottesville Field Trial Kennels'), King 

 of Kent— Hops. 



Mainstay (Charlottesville Field Trial Kennels'), Main- 

 spring — Bar Maid. 



Tory Earl (H, B. Duryea's), Duke of Hessen— West- 

 minster Ina, 



Promotion (John R, Daniels's), Lord Graphic— Bell. 

 Belle of the Ball (T. H. & F. F. Minor Gibbes's), 

 Sambo— Di. 



Black Wonder (J. H. & John A. Hunter's), Ike— Bang 

 Bang's Pride. 



Tory Doke (F. R. Hitchcock's), Duke of Hessen— West- 

 minster— Ina. 



Tory Viscount (P. R. Hitchcock's), Duke of Hessen— 

 Westminster Ina, 



Tory Squire (F. R. Hitchcock's), Duke of Hessen— West- 

 minster Ina. 



Merry Monarch (R. M Hutchins's), Spring— Zura. 

 Abbess of Kent (P. Joy's), King of Kent — Lannie Bijou. 

 Res (A, F. Latta, Jr.'s}. Rex— Fannie. 

 BANNERMAN II. (Dr. C. E. Michel's), Bannerman- Main 

 Dell. 



Ban Dell (Dr. C. E. Michel's), Bannerman— Main Dell. 

 Prince, Jr, (Jas. A. Mehaffey's), Prince Black— Flirta- 

 tion. 



Shot S. (W. B. Sheldon's), Springbok— Flush. 



Westminster Dick (Westminster Kennel Club's), Naso 

 of Kippen— Glauca. 



Lucky Bob White (Chas. & G. Sander Whealen's), Luck 

 of the Goat — Meteor's Trinket. 



TiaNKET's Dell (Chas. & G. SapderWJjealen's), champiou 

 Bracket t—Koberi.'.s Trinket. 



IRISH SETTEES. 



DucHBas (Jas. B. Blossom's), Dick Swivellei— -Yuba. 



