Feb. 24, 1894.] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



169 



directions as to where to start the saw, where to build the 

 fire and where to hold the dogs, all are in their respective 

 Stations and places, and from chaos comes harmony. 



Relays at the saw and axe is the rule, and willing hands 

 soon have the tree nearly down, then Capt. Jim gives the 

 order to stop fooling and look out for yourselves and dogs. 

 Soon the tree starts, slowly at first, as if loath to leave the 

 roots and stump that have held it upright through so many 

 gales and tempests, but soon with increasing speed the 

 mighty monarch of the forest falls. The instant the tree 

 strikes the dogs are let go and they soon locate "Mr. Coon" in 

 a. hole, and give tongue angrily. Shouts of glee, songs and 

 jokes are exchanged, the man at the stump holds a clog and 

 sings out, "Sound at the butt!" No guard being needed 

 there the coon is soon in the top; a sapling is run in to meas- 

 ure the extent of the cavity, and that having been ascertained 

 a hole is cut large enough to extract his or her "coonship." 

 We know it is an old one by the distance run, and numerous 

 other tricks— an open book to old "cooners." When suffi- 

 ciently large a hole is opened, we let Tang in, a rumpus ensues 

 within, then a. mixture of dog and coon comes out, sometimes 

 coon on top, but not for long, as Dodger soon gets in his fine 

 work. "He's got Tang by the ear!" "Stop him and sic' 

 'em!" are cries that contribute to the melee. But with the 

 tenacity of a bull-terrier and with needle-like teeth the coon 

 is a foeman worthy their steel, but at last fatigued by useless 

 fighting with superior numbers, he is dead. Perhaps we get 

 three or more coons, and when this is the case they are 

 despatched with clubs, for to allow two hounds to repeat 

 such work for long would disable them for two or three days 

 to come, and that could not be tolerated, as we go nearly 

 every good night in the season. 



There is something weird and startling in the baying of 

 hounds in the dark woods at night when all else is still ex- 

 cept perhaps the hoot of the owl or the sounds of purlin, 

 brooks, and this to the observant eye and thoughtful mini 

 makes one think of the happy hunting grounds from whose 

 bourn no traveler returns. HECTOR. 

 * • • • 



Coursing Notes from California. 



[By a Special Correspondent.] 



SAN FRANCISCO, Cal., Feb. 6— Coursing during the last 

 two months has been pretty lively in many parts of this 

 State, such as Los Angeles, San Jose, Sacramento and of 

 course in the vicinity of San Francisco. There is scarcely a 

 week that the leashmen are not out with their dogs running 

 for pleasure or in small matches, and now from the con- 

 tinued meetings and the many opportunities afforded the 

 owners of greyhounds of turning them to some account 

 they have risen fully 35 or 40 per cent, in value. Indeed 

 well bred hounds are scarcely to be purchased just now in 

 this State. An acquaintance of mine offered $100 for an im- 

 ported bitch the other day that has as yet done nothing, but 

 the offer was indignantly refused. Mr. T. J. Cronin, too, 

 •one of our principal leashmen, also refused $100 for one of his 

 dogs this week, and Dominick Shannon, president of the San 

 Francisco Coursing Club, refused $150 for his young dog 

 out of Verdure Clad, by El Hey. Mr. Shannon would not 

 listen to anything short of $300. 



On Sunday last there was a very fine meeting in Newark 

 Park in which 32 of the best dogs in the State took part. 

 Indeed, only two of the racks were absent, viz., Skyrocket 

 and Little Banshee. The day was very fine — one of Cali- 

 fornia's beautiful days— and the grounds' and hares were all 

 that could be desired. The occasion of the meet was the 

 complimentary benefit given by the San Francisco Club to 

 the veteran coursing man, Mr. J. R, Dickson. All the lovers 

 of the leash in the city to the number of 200 and many from 

 the surrounding country were in attendance, and a more 

 enjoyable day has seldom been seen in Newark Park. Of 

 course California's judge was in the saddle, and certain it is 

 that his great powers were taxed to the very utmost. The 

 dogs and hares were flyers, and were it not that he was 

 splendidly mounted he must have had many a stern chase 

 during the day. The dogs showed extraordinary speed, and 

 especially after the first round they were singularly well 

 matched, making it very difficult to separate them in many 

 of the courses, and consequently in five or six of the trials 

 they were ordered again to slips, and in the case of one pair 

 — Dottie Dimple and Wee Lassie — they were sent up three 

 times before, the flag flew and then Dotty only got the ver- 

 dict by two points. The crowd on the. stand went frantic 

 with delight, and Mr. Grace was cheered again and again as 

 he rode by the stand. Slipper Wren, too, was in great form 

 and delivered his dogs in admirable style, causing the Aus- 

 tralian sportsman, R. E. de B. Lopez, to say that he was 

 unq uestionably the most perfect slipper he ever saw. 



The many lindecideds, however, caused the stake to be 

 ultimately divided, as it could not be finished before train 

 time, between four of the finest greyhounds possibly in the 

 stake, and fit to go to slips against a similar number in any 

 country, viz.. M. Tiernan's Long John, B. Doherty's Daisy, 

 J. Cranston's Marvelous and T. J. Cronims Dotty Dimple. 



The following is the summary of the course after the first 

 round: Second round — Long John beat Garryowen, Dash- 

 away beat Moondyne, Tom Hayes beat Pennyroyal, Daisy 

 beat Mary Ann, Jennie G. beat Regent, Marvelous beat 

 Exlex, Wee Lassie beat Maggie M., Dotty Dimple beat White 

 Cloud. Third round — Long John beat Dashaway, Daisy 

 beat Tom Hayes, Marvelous beat Jennie G. , Dottie Dimple 

 beat Wee Lassie. The stake was then divided between 

 Long John, Daisy, Marvelous and Dotty Dimple— $32 each. 



During the luncheon hour a match for $10 a side was run 

 between M. Doherty's sapling Maud S. (Royal Crest — Daisy) 

 and J. McBride's puppy Tempest (Play Boy— Rockland 

 Maid). 



On the dogs being slipped Maud S. shot out to the front in 

 dashing styles, and after a good run got the first turn, 

 letting in Tempest for a turn and a kill. They were again 

 put in slips and a rattling hare jumped up. Maud went off 

 with a dash and never allowed her opponent within a length 

 until she got the turn, came round like a top and got the 

 second when Tempest made play for two points; here again 

 Maud cut in for two or three good points more when puss 

 broke away again and both dogs had a close run, Maud 

 having the best of it and drove the hare around to Tempest, 

 who rushed in and killed, leaving Maud S. a good winner. 

 The course was a fine one, especially for such young dogs, 

 Maud wanting four days of being 12mos. old* while Tem- 

 pest has just turned her 13th month. The sire of Maud S. is 

 Royal Crest, owned by J. Herbert Watson, of Brooklyn. 

 N. Y., and is by the celebrated Greentick, the sire of the re- 

 nowned Fullerton; Daisy, the dam of Maud S. is one of the 

 four that divided the 32-dog stake during the same day. 

 This shows that Mr. Watson's dog is likely to become one of 

 the great sires of the country. Daisy too is grandly bred, 

 being by Midnight (sire of the great Skyrocket) out of Old 

 Daisy. 



It is possible that many of your readers would like to know 

 something about Newark Park and how it is worked. Well, 

 the ruuuing or courting field is 720yds. in length by 436 in 

 width, surrounded by a close fence some 8ft. high, and 

 is something of this shape: 



The hares are caught in various parts of the State, but 

 principally in the San Joaquin Valley, where they are to be 

 found in thousands. The trappers catch them with nets, put 

 them in crates that are specially made for the purpose, about 

 6ft.x4ft. and divided into small compartments just big enough 

 to allow a hare to sit in, and not more than 8 or lOin. in 

 height, for If the hares had room to jump or turn themselves 

 around, they would kill themselves against the bars of the 

 case or cage. They are then sent by rail to Newark, and 

 about thirty or forty are placed in the running fields and the 

 surplus are put in the smaller or breeding fields attached to 



the main grounds. In a few days they settle down and in a 

 very short time they find the escapes out, and when pressed 

 by the dogs during the coursing, many of them save their 

 lives by getting into these havens of refuge. 



It has been found from experience that it is much better 

 to allow the hares to be at large in the fields than to run 

 them from shoots, as is done in England. When there are 

 not too many of them in the same field they lay far apart, 

 and when scared from their lairs they have much more life 

 and dash in them than if run from a shoot; in fact, they feel 

 as it were quite at home— something like what they do on 

 their native plains. It is astonishing to see how quiet they 

 remain on coursing days, frequently one could walk over 

 them before they would jump up — so it is seldom that a dog 

 gets a second hare in any of our meetings; at all events, 

 there is not half the danger of getting a second hare as there 

 is when coursing in the open plain. When all the hares in 

 the running field are killed off or gone into the escapes we 

 turn fresh ones out of the breeding field, as it is called, and 

 continue the coursing until the stake is finished. For every 

 good and healthy hare supplied by the catchers the club pays 

 $1, but the freight is paid by the catchers. 



The hares are brought to the field generally about fifteen 

 or twenty days before the coursing so as to give them time 

 to rest and find out the places of safety in the park to 



ST A N±> 



ESCAPE 



3REEJ?)Ng F1EII 



COUBSING PARK. 



which they can retreat when pressed by the hounds. There 

 is always sufficient feed for them in the grounds during 

 the coursing season, which lasts in Newark, generally speak- 

 ing, from December till the middle of May, but after that 

 the ground gets too dry and hard for dogs to run on. 



The expenses in running the park are considerable, especi- 

 ally from the loss of hares, as many of them after being 

 placed in the grounds get killed in various ways, and this 

 is made up by the sale of pools, rebates from the railway 

 company and the gate charges— twenty-five cents. Newark 

 is about thirty miles from the city and the round trip by 

 rail is only $1, on which the railway company allows a re- 

 bate to the club of twenty-five per cent. The rent of the 

 park per annum is $100. Gazehound. 



• ■ • • 



Deer Hunting in Louisiana. 



Editor Forest and Stream: . 



I thought I would write you a short account of our hunt 

 the week before Christmas. Some of my friends from Mis- 

 sissippi were over for a few days' hunt, and we hunted from 

 Wednesday until the following Monday and killed 10 deer. 



I notice a hunt that took place in Virginia, but our dogs 

 must be faster or our deer slower, for we can run a deer down 

 and catch it in less time than it took the Virginia hunters to 

 catch theirs. \ 



I only wish I were so placed that I could send you a photo- 

 graph of some of our best dogs; but as we live so far from any 

 city, it is a matter of impossibility. I often notice photo- 

 graphs in your paper of noted dogs, but I do not think they 

 compare with our dogs. I refer to the hounds. Our dogs are 

 trained so that they will not stop at anything. They some- 

 times swim the Mississippi River and bring the deer back. I 

 wish you a happy New Year. D. MtriR. 



Point Pleasant, La., Jan. 18. 



• • • • 



HUNTING AND COURSING NOTES. 



Admiral Jouett, president of the National Fox Hunters' 

 Association, has appointed Messrs. Roger Williams, W. S. 

 Walker, F. G. Fagan, W. C. Goodman, W. Wade and Dr. A. 

 C. Heffenger a committee on organization. The duties of 

 the committee will be to draft a constitution and by-laws, 

 running rules and a foxhound standard. Mr. Williams is 

 chairman. 



• • • • 



The Merced coursing meeting, which was to have taken 

 place Feb. 22, has been postponed till fall. 



• • • • 



A jack has been procured and a little coursing match will 

 take place on Long Island, this afternoon (Feb. 24), between 

 Mr. Watson's Royal Crest and a bitch that Mr. Raper sent 

 over, now owned by Mr. Huntington. 



faclfUttg. 



The question which has arisen between the Field and the Forest 

 and Stream over the value of shifting or fixed ballast is purely a 

 echnical one, and the discourteous and contemptuous tone of the 

 Field seems to us so much out of place that we have no desire to 

 retort in kind, but prefer to deal with the main issue alone. The first 

 object of a newspaper is presumably to enlighten its readers, and in 

 the case of a tecbnical journal to discuss fairly and fully such ques- 

 tions as may arise. The Field's course in the present case, however, 

 has been quite the reverse; its original position, depreciating the 

 advantage of Vigilant's "ballast crew,'" was a most peculiar one for 

 an English journal after the outspoken criticism of American papers, 

 but having once taken this position, it has held to it obstinately, mak- 

 ing no attempt to correct the mistakes in its figures and arguments 

 which we have pointed out, and replying only with curt and con- 

 temptuous criticism of ourselves and our correspondents. Such a 

 course as this can only lower a paper in the opinion of impartial 

 readers. 



The original proposition advanced by the Field in discussing Vigi- 

 lant's crew was that "weight in the lead keel, or inside ballast box 

 [the italics are ours] would be generally more effective than under 

 the weather rail on deck." This proposition was advanced directly 

 in connection with Vigilant, and the assumed weights were those of 



her crew and ballast. As originally discussed by the Field the quea. 

 tion was stated within these narrow limits, which, however, covered! 

 the case thoroughly. After the correctness of its first figures were* 

 disputed by us, the Field began to introduce new and irrelevant, 

 issues, the general stability of a vessel as affected by change of: 

 ballast, and the effects of ballast placed under the keel at extreme, 

 depths, even to that of 18ft. The sole object of this course seems; 

 to be to so confuse the reader as to disguise the true question; 

 and conceal its own blunders; a course unworthy of the high repu 

 tation of the Field as a yachting journal. We have no fear that our 

 readers will misunderstand our motives for avoiding the persona 

 and offensive shape which one side of the controversy has assumed 

 and for adhering closely to the technical points of the origina 

 question— the value of Vigilant's large crew as ballast compared 

 with lead stowed as it must have been had her crew been limited 

 by a decision of the committee. 



The Brazilian insurgents have unwittingly placed American yachts- 

 men under obligations by indirectly removing two of the alleged fast 

 steam yachts and putting a stop, for a time, to newspaper racing and 

 fake trials. No doubt the spring will bring a renewal of the wild talk 

 and reckless challenges with the usual results, but for the present 

 steam yacht racing is not heard of. We would not connect the Ameri- 

 can Y. C. with the individual owners who have done so much to bring 

 discredit to this branch of sport, as the club has for years made an 

 honest effort for its encouragement; but we doubt very much whether 

 the club will be able to arrange a race, as'now proposed, for its valu- 

 able cup. There is, as the club has found by experience, one insuper- 

 able obstacle to the general racing of steam yachts. The speed over a 

 measured course, after expensive preparation, and under the most 

 favorable conditions, is actually less than most owners claim as prac- 

 ticable cruising speed of their yachts. The owner who modestly 

 claims 17 knots, not miles, in running about the Sound, is not going to 

 risk an official record of 15 to 16 knots from Larchmont to N«w 

 London. 



All things considered, the prospects of racing in British waters are 

 comparatively good. Of course nobody has ordered a 90-footer or 

 anything nearly as large, but what is really much more to the pur- 

 pose, a strong 20-rating class is now under way — two Fife boats, one 

 Watson boat and one by C. E. Nicholson, designer of Vigorna, the 

 unsuccessful 20 of last year. With these four, and possibly Dragon 

 III. and Zinita of last year, the class is assured, and it is most prob- 

 able that this fact will lead to other new boats. Thanks to Mr. Henry 

 Allan's order for a Herreshoff 10 rater, that class is also building up; 

 and with two live classes a certain amount of sport is provided for. In 

 the largest class the racing is likely to be confined solely to last year's 

 craft — Britannia, Valkyrie and Satanita, Calluna's future being still ia 

 doubt. The 40-rating class is likely to be weak. Lais has been sold to 

 a German yachtsman, and but one new boat is building, designed by 

 Watson for Admiral Montague. 



The prospects on this side are by no means as encouraging, and 

 from present indications we shall have no racing at all through the 

 season. The New York cruise will of course bring out a large fleet 

 and set most of them racing for a week or ten days, but as for sus- 

 tained class racing throughout the season, none is likely to be seen_ 

 The fate of the large class is uncertain, but it is quite possible that 

 Navahoe alone may fit out, and at the best only Jubilee and Vigilant 

 are likely to join her, as the Colonia syndicate will not remodel or race 

 her. Gen. Paine has lately stated that he had no plans for the season, 

 and would probably not race Jubilee, and thus far Vigilant, is still in 

 the hands of the syndicate, who have nothing to gain and everything 

 to lose by racing against Valkyrie and the others. It seems quite 

 likely that there will be no class in the June regattas, in which case 

 Valkyrie will return home early without racing here. With a good 

 fleet of 40-f ooters on the stocks, and a local class of 21 or 25-footers in 

 New York and Boston, the absence of spectacular racing by a few 

 "world beaters" would not be so keenly felt, but this important branch 

 of racing, in the smaller and more popular craft, is to all appearances 

 dead for an indefinite time. The old racing classes, such as the 70- 

 footers, have also passed away, leaving nothing in their places. Doubt- 

 less there will be plenty of cruising and secondary racing throughout 

 the country, but yachting has reached a sorry, pass when not one 

 keel is laid in a winter for a racing boat, even of the smaller sizes. 



Shifting and Fixed Ballast. 



■ The obstacles in . the way of a newspaper controversy across the 

 Atlantic are serious enough in the summer season when the steam- 

 ship companies are all striving to cut the record down to five days, 

 and they are materially increased during the half year when these 

 same companies are satisfied with ten or twelve day passages. We 

 had intended to carry no further our controversy with the Field, but 

 two letters have recently reached us which we believe will be of 

 interest to yachtsmen abroad as well as on this side. 



The first of these letters was called forth by the following editoria 

 comments in the Field of Jan. 27: 



"The subject of ballast crews is still occupying the attention of 

 yachtsmen on this side of the Atlantic, but. happily, no longer in 

 reference to the small classes, as in this case crews have already been 

 limited. On Oct. 28 and Dec. 9 last we described the correct manner 

 of determining the effect of a large weight or crew on deck by the 

 well-known equations employed by trained naval architects, and went 

 on to show that, where draft is practically unlimited, the advantage 

 of ballast on the weather deck over the same weight on keel is not 

 great, but pointed out its disadvantages and the bad type of vessel it 

 engenders. We took this trouble partly because Forest and Stream 

 started an empirical method of comparison which would not deter- 

 mine the relative effect of the two situations, and which might be 

 dangerously misleading. A writer, under the signature of 'Bobstay,' 

 now c">mes to the rescue of Forest and Stream, but he has not more 

 clearly presented the problem than did the paper itself, and appar- 

 ently misunderstands the use of the sine of the angle of heel in the 

 well-known expression for length of righting lever, G M sine A, for 

 small angles of heel. We would advise 'Bobstay' to study some text 

 book on statical stability, and the best perhaps would be that by Mr 

 W. H. White, C.B., Director of Naval Construction." 



Editor Forest and Stream: 



Shortly after the races last fall between Vigilant and Valkyrie the 

 Field took up, with special reference to the Vigilant, the subject of 

 the effectiveness, as ballast, of men carried on deck to windward, and 

 announced as its conclusion that a corresponding; weight carried 

 under the keel was just as effective, and on the whole better. You 

 took exception to this representation and by means of a diagram, 

 more correctly showing the Vigilant's midship section than a similar 

 one which had been used by the Field, you showed that two tons of 

 weight carried on deck to windward would be about three times as 

 effective at an ordinary sailing angle as if carried near the keel at 

 the lowest point practicable. 



The Field then objected to your method of comparison as incapable 

 of showing the general stability of the yacht, used your midship sec- 

 tion, and by a formula which it approves for this purpose (and which 

 has for such and similar purposes general acceptance) made its own 

 calculation and announced as the result that the ratio of effective- 

 ness at 15° inclination was as 1 for ballast placed under the keel to 1.4 

 for that placed to windward on deck, but it lacked strict accuracy in 

 its method and very much more in its final comparison of figures. 

 In the first instance it used half the width of deck=12f t., when inclined 

 15°, instead of the cosine of that distance^ 11.59. 



The next instance shows a jugglery with figures which is most ex- 

 traordinary, and which aptly exhibits the truth of the adage that 

 nothiug can falsify like figures, excepting facts. Before the ballast 

 was moved the length of righting arm is shown to have been 1.818 

 When moved to the under side of keel it becomes 1.851, and when 

 placed upon the weather side of deck it is 1.945. Now, a subtraction 

 of the original length of arm from the figures of the other two shows 

 a gain for the keel position of .038 and for the deck position of .132 

 That is, the gain for the keel position would need to be multiplied by 

 3.47 to make it equal to the advantage of the weight placed upon th 

 weather side of the deck. 



