190 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Sbft. 24, 1891, 



was discontinued. This course was pursued for the mani- 

 fest reason that subordinate clubs and their oiBcers might 

 Tbe kept advised as to who was and who was not on the list 

 of disqualified persons and thus avoid disappointment and 

 embarrassment in doing business through agents at the re- 

 spective bench shows. This was done under advice of coun- 

 sel, that such publication in the official organ of the Ameri- 

 can Kennel Club is a publication privileged and protected 

 in law. Again you say: 



There are frequent notices in newspapers regarding these libel 

 suits. The American Kermel Club is acquiring an unpleasant 

 notoriety in which the associate members are sharing, since their 

 names are published as defendants for suits for libel, etc. 



It is true that there have been freqtxeut notices in the 

 public press as to the actions brought by Mr. Charles J. 

 Peshall. For examjilG, by serving the summous and the com- 

 plaint at different times, instead' of at the same time, as is 

 the general custom, opportunity has been given for repeated 

 press notices of the same action: and whether inten- 

 tionally or not, the impression may have been conveyed that 

 the suits were twice as numerous as they were. As to the 

 "unpleasant notoriety" rel^ei-red to, I imderstand that Rlr. 

 Peshall has repeatedly stated hia intention to be to drive 

 every associate member out of tbe club, and if this is ttoie I 

 presume that in making them defendants in his action he 

 has been actuated more by this intention than by any ex- 

 pectation of iinally enforcing a liability against them. You 

 add: 



In a word, the American Kennel Club is being plunged deeper 

 and deeper into expensive lawsuits. There is every prospect tiiat 

 the end of the litigation will be diaastrons. If these things con- 

 tinue as they have begun, suits will be piled on snits until the ex- 

 penses of defending them wiU be more than the club or the 

 members can spend. 



Of this prophesy as to the end of things, T will not speak, 

 having no disposition to enter into competitive prophesying; 

 but, as I have shown above, it is not true that "the American 

 Kennel Club is being plunged deeper and deeper into ex- 

 pensive lawsuits;" nor is it true that "thei-e is every prospect 

 that the end of the litigation will be disastrous." So far 

 from the prospect being that the end of the litigation will be 

 disastrous, I feel, as do the officers and such of the associate 

 members of the club as have talked with me upon the sub- 

 ject, that the end of the suits will result in such a clearing 

 up that thereafter every one having a genuiue interest in 

 kennel matters can feel that the day has passed for virulent 

 criticism, which, having no foitndation of good motive, 

 springs from a desire for newspajjer notoriety and an inten- 

 tion to hai-ass and annoy all those who cannot be controlled. 

 I do not know to whom you refer by ( he expression "many 

 of our best dog men," but I do know that the prospect is 

 that the "best dog men" will stay, and that those who go 

 will probably be of those who can be spared with a gain of 

 credit. 



Now as to the remedy proposed, namely, a compromise. 

 The officers of the American Kennel Club are discharging 

 their duty toward the club as they see that duty. Their 

 judgment may be bad, but they are" honest in their pursuit 

 of a course of action which they think best, and there has 

 never been any time when their action was not subject to 

 full inquiry and consideration by the American Kennel 

 Club, and subject to reversal at the desire of the member- 

 ship of that club. 



There is a broad view to be taken of the port^e of the 

 Peshall and Gallup suits. It seems to me that, as a sport- 

 ing paper, you would hail a decisive result as widelv benefi- 

 cial, inasmuch as it will establish for the benefit of all 

 sporting org iuizations the question whether they have a 

 right or not to publish in an official paper or even any paper 

 the puaishments which they may have inflicted upon their 

 members for In-each of their rules, and which publications 

 are intended for the general protection of all interested in 

 the sport over which each organization may be presiding. 

 On ttiis account, every one having the interests of the 

 American Kennel Club at heart, should want to see this 

 matter through. As far as the experjse is concerned, I shall 

 be careful to guard the Atuerieun Kennel Club against in- 

 curring any. As far as the associate members are concerned, 

 they cannot suffer any annoyance, inasmuch as their in- 

 terests will be taken care of without expense to them and 

 without any personal inconvenience. 



Outside of the two libel actions above referred to, which 

 are the only actions in which any associate members are de- 

 fendants, there are but three other actions pending, in one 

 only of which has tbe American Kennel Club any interest. 

 That is a proceeding in which Mr. Peshall is plaintiff .and 

 the club is defendant, and in which he asks that the club 

 be compelled to restore him to membership. Of tbe other 

 two, one is in action for malicious prosecution brought by 

 Ml-. Peshall against Mr. Vredenbtirgh, Mr. Anthony, Mr. 

 Wilmerding and myself personally, based upon the result 

 of the trial of the indictment for criminal libel found 

 against him by the Grand Jury of the County of New York, 

 in September, 1890, and the other is an action for libel 

 brought against Mr. Vredenburgh by Mr. Leslie Bruce, 

 editor of Turf, Field and Farm, because Mr. Vredenburgh 

 had written a letter in which Mr. Brace's name was asso- 

 ciated with Mr. Peshall 's, and with the article for the writ- 

 ing of which Mr. Peshall was indicted. 



Outside of the actions brought by Mr. Peshall, we have 

 therefore but one action in which the American Kennel Club 

 is interested, viz.: that brought by Mr. Gallup. As to that 

 action there may be room for compromise, not because the 

 legal position of the defendants is wrong, or because they 

 are subiect to liability, but because I believe my fellow olli- 

 cers and members would, and I would, be glad to see the 

 suspension which the American Kennel Club was forced to 

 visit upon the Albany Club removed, and the latter again a 

 constituent in good standing of the former. 



But as to the three actions brought by Mr. Pe.shall, why 

 should there be a compromise? The defendants in the action 

 are men of standing in the community, in their every rela- 

 tion to it. If there is any liability they must answer to it, 

 and being responsible, they certainly would not proceed in a 

 course which would subject them to an increased liability. 

 They are not asking any compromise, nor do they believe a 

 compromise desirable. Why under all the circumstances 

 it should he thoxight desirable to swerve them from a course 

 of action which as officers of the club they owe it to the 

 club to persist in; or relieve them by compromise from a 

 liability as individuals of which they do not ask to be re- 

 lieved, is something which I leave for others to determine. 



Your articles, as I said before, were undoubtedly well 

 meant, and I am grateful for the interest which you take in 

 promoting the interest of the American Kennel Club. I do 

 not know from whom the suggestion of compromise has 

 come, but it is somewhat of a coincidence that upon the day 

 your articles were published, the A iiierican Field was the 

 recipient of a telegram asking that it recommend a compro- 

 mise; which telegram purported to come from Mr. J. Otto 

 Donner, btit which is declared by that gentleman to be a 

 forgery. Some one apparently desires a compromise very 

 much. Perhaps, since you have given us your advice, you 

 will be disposed to accept from me a little in return, which 

 I assure you is not given by way of retort, or captiously, but 

 sincerely and with good feeling. It is to consider whether 

 the person who so desires compromise may not be the same 

 who forges telegrams to the FlcM, and wliether he may not 

 also be capable of abusing the confidence of Forest and 

 Stream with false information and suggestions of compro- 

 mise to further his ends. 



Requesting you to kindly give space to this letter in your 

 1 remain, ' AufiusT Belmont, 



' Pra'^, A. J? a 



DOG CHAT. 



ONE of Canada's cleverest vets is Dr. Mole, of Hamilton, 

 Out. He is one of the few who has made a study of 

 the dog, and his papers read before the Hamilton Kennel 

 Club at their members' shows are always interesting. He 

 has effected some fine cures in Hamilton in cases 6i acci- 

 dents to dogs. Miss McGivern's wire-haired Jack was fight- 

 ing with another dog when a man, to part them, struck him 

 over the eye with a billet of wood. For a couple of days the 

 dog acted peculiarly, getting visibly more and more dazed. 

 Dr. Mole having noticed it found that the skull was frac- 

 tured and .suggested trepanning. About this time the dog 

 had a fit, and its struggles so aroused the sympathies of the 

 fair owner that she declared that no expense should be spared 

 to save him. Jack was taken to the hospital, and with the 

 aid of one or two doctors he raised the sk ull and took a piece 

 of bone out about the size of a dime which h.ad pressed on 

 the brain. The dog began to recover, the skull closed up, 

 and he is still one of the gamest wirehairs in that town and 

 a terror to everybody's "felines." He won vhc. at the show 

 and special for best local dog of his breed. Dr, Mole has 

 now a Skye terrier in his care belonging to Mr. Crook, a 

 hotel keeper, which fell a long distance down an elevator 

 shaft and was almost crushed to pieces. The dog is still 

 alive and may very likely recover. This doctor has also 

 made a cure in the case of a dog with paralysis and chorea. 

 The dog dragged his hindquarters along the ground. After 

 much patience and careftxl treatment the dog is now running 

 round as strong as ever. This shows what can be done even 

 in the most extreme cases, with patience and a knowledge of 

 just how to use that patience to the best effect. 



We present our readers with an excellent portrait of Mr. 

 A. 1). Steward, tlie well-jtuown president of the Hamilton 

 Kennel Club. We have had experience with many shows, 

 but Mr. StCAvart's .second venture as a dog show superin- 

 tendent, in excellence of management, surpassed anything we 

 have yet seen. Mr. Stewart is a giant in height and size, 

 standing 6ft. 4%iu. in his stockings, while be is large in pro- 

 portion. A Scotchman by birth, hegraduated at Edinburgh 

 University, and, after traveling for a time, finally settled in 

 Canada, where he took a position iu the Bank of Montreal, 

 at Toronto, and while there, although it is not generally 

 known to the present run of dogmen, he superintended aucl 

 managed the dog show held in that city in 1878 when Messrs. 

 John David.son and James Watson iudgedthe dogs. Finally 

 Mr. Stewart drifted to Hamilton, where he became Chief of 

 Police, and was very popular on the force. Among other 

 celebrated arrests, he effected that of the notorious "Mother" 

 Mandelbaum. After a few years he resigned and, coming 

 to New York, joined Pinkerton's staff of special detectives. 

 Finding, however, that the climate here did not agree with 

 him he returned to Canada and opened a brokering and real 

 estate office. He was elected an alderman about "two years 

 ago, and takes a lively interest in the politics of the 

 Dominion. Mr. Stewart is a man of about 37 years of age, 

 and in his younger days was a celebrated athlete. While at 

 college he won the mile swimming championship of Scot- 

 land. He was also accounted the best all-around athlete in 

 Cauada In addition to being president of the Hamilton 

 Kennel Club, he is secretary of the Bicycle Club and a mem- 

 ber of most of the clubs of the city. 



A dog with a historic pedigree has turned up at the Dun- 

 dee dog and cat show. The animal, which has taken the 

 first prize in the Bedlington class, is named Baccarat, and 

 belongs to a Glasgow gentleman. The catalogue states 

 the pedigree thus: "Baccarat, date of birth 0th August, 



1889. Breeder, . By Scandal, of Tranby Croft." 



Visitors may be inclined to regard this as a joke, but we are 

 told that the pedigrees of all animals are revised, and if any 

 mistake occurs the dog concerned is struck off the list — a 

 probability which the owner would not be likely to risk.— 

 Pall Mall GlnzcMe. 



The number of dogs registered in Ireland last year was 

 384,097. The amount of dogs' license duty received was 

 £38,409. 



One of the most interesting features of the Toronto show 

 was the greyhound racing. On Tuesday afternoon the race 

 for the prizes offered by the show people took place, and 

 after some unsatisfactory running, owing to the crowded 

 state of the infield and the poor running of the several un- 

 trained contestants, few particulars could be obtained be- 

 yond the fact that Pious Pembroke, Mr. Purbeck's new 

 greyhound, proved the winner. The races were unsatisfac- 

 tory and gave rise to considerable talk among the owners, 

 the owner of Why Not, the crack Toronto I'acing grey- 

 hound, offering to run the winner then and there for SoO. 



Profiting by experience, the races on Thursday were much 

 better tnahaged, the running taking place on the track, a 

 straightaway course of 170yds. being obtained. The going 

 was hard but did not seem to affect the dogs very much. A 

 rabbit was used by George Thomas to invite the dogs to do 

 their utmost. This race was a sweepstake of -S.d each, and 

 the whinner to receive a medal from the society and to be 

 known as the champion of Canada. The dogs were entered 

 and drawn as follows: A. W. Purbeck's Oraatus against 

 T. S. Thompson's Why Not. A. W. Purbeck's Pious Pem- 

 broke against Fred Dixon's Dick. C. A. Burns's Sam 

 against Harry Habart's Blucher. A. W. Purbeck's Lily of 

 Gainsboro against A. G. Fenton's Lady Langtry. In the 

 first round Ornatus made short work of Why Not, though 

 it must be said of the latter that she was running almost 

 on three legs, having cut her heel, and the hard track was 

 too punishing. Ornatus had 6yds. worst of the start and 

 won by about ten lengths. 



In the next race Pious Pembroke had the foot of Dick to 

 the tune of some twenty lengths after a false start. The 

 race between Sam and Blucher was won by the former after 

 playing with Blucher all the way up the track. The last 

 heat in this round between Lily of Gainsboro and Lady 

 Laugtry was rather unsatisfactory, Lily had a bad start, but 

 picked up at the finish and won nicely. In the second round 

 Ornatus and Sam ran off. btit Ornatus played with him and 

 won as he pleased. Mr. Purbeck's dogs were then the only 

 ones left iu, and as the championship had to be decided 

 George Thomas withdrew Ijily of Gainsboro and ran Orna- 

 tus and Pious Pembroke togethei-. It was a clipping race, 

 running head to head when Ornatus got the verdict by a 

 neck and was declared the champion and Mr. Purbeck is 

 entitled to the medal, which we are told is something qirite 

 worth winning. Mr. .John Davidson acted as judge. "Hon- 

 est John" delights in a bit of sport and can always be found 

 on hand when anything like this is on the tapis. With 

 proper training, like whippets, such races are very interest- 

 ing, although at the same time it savors too much of the 

 drag hunt, and we would rather see the real thing, Orna- 

 tus's time, as taken by a practical horse timer in the judge's 

 box, was for the Ivlyds., 10%s. With a live hare in front of 

 him no doubt he could improve this by a second or two. It 

 was quite pleasing to those who uphold bench show form 

 to find these three winners more than holding their own in 

 the field, and especially as they have been doing summer 

 shows in England and are only'two or three weeks oft' the 

 ship. 



Montreal show has 338 entries, and when one remembers 

 that no puppy or novice classes are provided, and no entry 

 lander 10 pi on ths, this js fnlly eqiial to 450 in .an ordinary 



show. The exhibition was to be opened as soon as Lord 

 Stanley arrived at the show last Tuesday. 



Mr. W. C. Reick seems to be doing better with Prince 

 Regent's sons than he did with the father. Kingston Regent 

 is taking all before him in Canada, and now he has safely 

 landed his litter brother Marquis of Ripon, whom he tells is 

 almost a couuterparfc of his noted sire, in fact, when he saw 

 him looking out of a st.ate-room door when he went on board 

 the Hindoo, Sept. 14, it seemed as if the old dog had come to 

 life again. Marquis of Ripon is about two years old, and 

 .stands about 33in. at the shoulder. Just now he is very 

 much out of coat and low in flesh, but this can soon be 

 remedied. He resembles Prince Regent greatly in markings 

 and color. Although he has won prizes on the other .side he 

 has not been extensively shown, owing to a slight chorea in 

 one shoulder, but with care and change of climate this may 

 be cured. Mr. Reick has shown good judgment and consider- 

 able pluck in securing these sons of Prince Regent, and we 

 hope his zeal will be rewarded by what is the height of his 

 ambition in that line— to breed a winning dog himself. 



Mr. Frank Thompson, vice-president of the Pennsylvania 

 Railroad, is known as a great lover of dogs, and always 

 takes an interest in our shows. Dog men will therefore be 

 sorry to hear that on Sunday his magnificent stables at 

 JMerion, Pa,, were burnt down, and one valuable horse and 

 several of his favorite dogs met a horrible death. The coach- 

 man, Jomes Baker, was also severely burned. 



Mrs. Eugene Clarke must be congratulated on her Jap- 

 anese spaniel Ootah's succes.sful delivery of five puppies. 

 This is a most unusual number, two or three being as a rule 

 the limit. They are by Kioto, a well-known winner at New 

 York shows. He is a black and white, while Ootah is what 

 is called a "custard aud white," and a very pretty animal it 

 is. Japanese spaniel mothers are, as a rule, .scarcely as 

 affectionate as they might be. They have an objectionable 

 habit of making away with their young by performing the 

 "happy dispatch" on them in just the sarne manner as the 

 subjects of the Mikado do hari-kari, using their teeth in- 

 stead of a knife. Ootah is said to have come from the 

 Mikado's kennels, and is herself an exceptionally affection- 

 ate mother, the benign influence of Western civilization no 

 doubt having a restraining influence on her "hari-kari" 

 notions. 



An advance copy of the list of premiums is out for the 

 World's Fair dog show in Chicago. As we stated some time 

 since, no dogs will be allowed to exhibit unless registered 

 in the stud books of their respective countries, and applica- 

 tion for entry will be considered by a committee of three 

 appointed by the Chief of the Department of Livestock, 

 and their report will determine the eligibility of the entries. 

 The prizes in tbe classes for mastiff's, great Danes, St. Ber- 

 nards (separate classes for rough and smooth coats), deer- 

 hounds, greyhounds, foxhounds, shaggy foxhounds, blood- 

 hounds, Russian wolfhounds, pointers (separate classes for 

 heavy and lightweights), English, Irish and black and tan 

 or Gordon setters and griffons are: Challenge cla.sses, dogs, 

 medal; .same for bitches. Open classes, dogs, first, .?40; sec- 

 ond, •1f20; third, certificate of merit; same for bitches. In the 

 classes for Chesapeake Bay dogs, Irish water spaniels, Chtm- 

 ber spaniels, field spaniels, cocker spaniels (separate open 

 classes for black and other than black), bob-tailed sheepdogs, 

 retrievers, King Charles and Blenheim spaniels (no chal- 

 lenge classes in these two last-named), poodles, bulldogs, 

 bull-terriers, fox-terriers (smooth), fox-terriers (wire-haired), 

 Irish terriers. Dandle Dinmont terriers, Skye terriers, York- 

 shire terriers, black and tan terrier-, (under Tibs.), Scotch 

 terriers, Bedlington terriers, Clydesdale terriers, toy terriers 

 (other than Yorkshire, under 71bs.), whippets, and pugs, 

 dachshunde, beagles and Basset hounds, the prizes are: 

 Challenge classes, dogs, ineiial, bitches the same. Open 

 classes, dogs, ¥;;iO, .* 10 and certificate of merit respectively; 

 bitches the same. Collies, rough-coated, challenge classes, 

 dogs, medal; bitches the same. Open cla:s.se8, dogs, .$','.5, ^1.5 

 and certificate of merit respectively; bitches the same. The 

 same in open classes for Newfoundlands. 



The annual meeting of the Canadian Kennel Club was a 

 most iuterest ng one, and we were particularly pleased to 

 see the number of Canadian fanciers who took part in the 

 proceedings at the Rossin House, Toronto, on the Wednes- 

 day night of the show. We counted over thirty local men 

 and visitors. The report of the secretary showed that there 

 were 814 dogs registered during the past year, and when a 

 stud book is issued aud pedigrees, etc., are made public, 

 this number will be greatly increased. The financial report 

 showed a balance of $378.16 to the credit of the club. As we 

 intimated some time .since, it was intended to make the 

 secretary's position a salaried one, and after discussion it 

 was voted that S150 a year should be paid this official in the 

 future. Then several changes were made in the by-laws of 

 the club. One of the resolutions passed, and a good one, 

 was that no show held under the auspices of the club should 

 last longer than four days. How this will affect the Toronto 

 Pair show remains to be seen, but five days is too long for 

 everyone concerned. A motion to abolish puppy classes was 

 unfortunately lost, but we hope this happy result is only 

 postponed, as it must come sooner or later. The election of 

 officers was a matter of great interest, and we congratulate 

 the club on their choice of president, for Mr. Davey has done 

 more than any one to improve the breed of sporting dogs in 

 the Dominion. The secretaryship was keenly competed for 

 by Mr. H. B. Donovan and Mr. A. D. Stewart, the Toronto 

 element, however, proving too strong for the Hamilton 

 representative. The following is the complete list of officers 

 for the year: President, T. G. Davey, of London; First- Vice 

 President, Dr. Mills, of Montreal; Second Vice-President, 

 Dr. G. S. Millar, of Victoria, B. C. ; C. H. Corbett, of Kings- 

 ton; P. J. Keyes, of Ottawa, and Thos. Johnson, of Winnl-. 

 peg: Secretary, H. B. Donovan, of Toronto; Treasurer, S. F. 

 Glass, of London. 



During the Toronto show Lady Jane, the well known 

 Clumber, was reiilevined by her whilom or rightful owner. 

 Another sample of Mr. Mercer's good luck. It seems he 

 sold the bitch as a puppy to its present owner, and when it 

 was ^rown either lent or gave it to his .son, who in tm-n 

 sold it to Mr. Mercer, the latter of cour.se purcha.sing it in 

 good faith. The father coming to the show recognized his 

 dog and claimed that the bitch was his and his son had no 

 right to sell it. Mr. Mei'cer received a lawyer's letter and 

 .summons to deliver the dog to its proper owner at the close 

 of the show, which Mr. Mercer did. Whether Mr. Mercer 

 will be reimijursed is problematical and it is unfortunate as 

 it breaks his team for the other shows. 



We are often asked where reliably-bred Chesapeake Bay 

 dogs can be purchased, as most of the good strains of these 

 dogs, indispensable to the ditck shooters, are owned by pri- 

 vate parties who do not advertise. We hear that Mr. J. G. 

 Morns, of Easton, Md., has an excellent strain of this breed 

 and has now both puppies and grown dogs that he can dis- 

 pose of. 



We have from time to time chronicled the doings of Mr. 

 Charles Stedman Hanks, of Boston, Mass., while purchasing 

 dogs in England and Russia, Further particulars of hia 

 purchases of fox-terriers and Barzois may be of interest. 

 He has named his kennels the Seacroft Kennels, situated at 

 Manchester-by-the-Sea. Some time since we stated in thesa 

 .cob-imps that h.'^ y)P>A purchased ip England Damson, ^wl) 



