7 8 
FOREST 'AND ■ STREAM. 
[July 28, 1894. 
W. K. C. at their last show, that all big dogs shall be exer- 
cised on chain, is a good one and should be followed by all 
show committees. 
At the lastmoment the Des Moines premium list comes to 
hand. The classification is ample, 95 classes being provided. 
The prizes range from §10 in challenge classes, with $10 and 
$5 in open, to $8 and .$5 challenge prizes and 88 and $5, and 15 
and ,$3 in open classes. Kennel prizes of .$10 are given in 
most of the breeds. Handlers' prizes of $60 to the one with 
greatest number of dogs, $40 to second are offered. Entries 
close with Mr. M.^Bruce,>DeslMoines, la., Aug. 25. A. K. C. 
rules will govern." 
Mr. James Mortimer has purchased the Irish terrier Miss 
Eva from Mrs. Butcher, aud has won a couple of prizes since 
the purchase. The bulldogs he purchased are probably for 
theJWoodlawn Park Kennels. 
Flaps from the IBeaver's LTail. 
TOEONTO, Canada. — A special executive meeting of the C. 
K. C. will be held here ou Tuesday, Aug. 7, at 3 P. M. Nom- 
inations for the election of officers for the year beginning 
Sept. 1 will be received and afterward ballots sent out, 
according to the new constitution. By this method every 
member, no matter how far distant, a resident in British 
Columbia, Nova Scotia or other Provinces far from the 
"hub," will have an opportunity of casting a vote for his 
chosen candidate. 
Mr. Mighton, one of the partners in the Maple Leaf Ken- 
nel of collies, died a few days ago of fever. The kennels, 
which contain Finsbury Hero, Finsbury Dude, etc., will be 
continued by the other partner, Mr. J. H. Saunders, of Har- 
riston, Ont. 
I hear that the dogs bought by Mr. Klein, of Black Lake, 
Quebec, which I mentioned a few weeks ago, are now on 
their way over, under Spratt's guidance. 
HI Dr. Drummond] of Montreal, the owner of the lost Irish 
terrier Shargar, writes me that the W. K. C. have never noti- 
fied him of the loss of his dog, and that letters addressed to 
Mr. Mortimer remain unanswered. Why? 
Mr. Harry Wright of Victoria, B. C, has lost his imported 
Italian greyhound dog Dante by a rather peculiar misfor- 
tune. It appears this dog was several times taken with 
severe pains in the stomach, and later on, in defiance of all 
treatment, gastritis set in, with great emaciation and ulti- 
mate death. The post mortem revealed the fact that a wire 
nail l.^in. in length was lying across the pyloric orifice, and 
it had made several perforations in the mucous membrane. 
The nail had evidently been in the stomach for some time, as 
it was much corroded. H. B. DONOVAN. 
ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 
J. W. Akron, N. Y— The English setter is supposed to be the better 
for field work. 
J. S. S., Oakland, Md. — Yes; the pedigree as given shows good 
blood. 
G. K. S., Maple Springs, N. Y. — She probably would work better if 
left as she is. 
H. S. D., Brooklyn, N. Y.— Yes, it is better to remove the dew claws 
from your fox-terrier puppies, they are unsightly and of no benefit. 
Out them off when you dock their tails. 
P. S., Oswego, N. Y. — There is nothing the matter with your puppy, 
the nose will turn black as is grows older. No. a small speck would 
not disqualify. 
R. T., Elmira, N. Y.— My hunting dog's feet are continually cracked- 
What shall I do for it? Ana. First soak the feet for ten minutes in 
solution of creolin fa teaspoonful to half a pint of water), and after- 
wards apply following ointment: 
Bj Bal. peru , 3ii. 
Zinci. ox. ?i. 
Mix together. Apply to foot twice a day. 
J. W. B., Danvers, Mass.— What causes my pointer dog, 2%yrs. old, 
to eat so much horse manure on the street? 1 can't break htm of it. 
Is there any medicine I can give him to take its place ? Ans. Treat 
for worms and afterwards give following: Pot. bi. carb. soda, bi. 
carb. mag. sulph., of each two scruples. Mix and make 12 powders. 
Give one twice a day mixed with the food. 
G. J., New York City. — If the kennel can be made reasonably air 
tight, the best way to rid it of fleas is to take out the bedding and 
burn it. Then after closing up every crevice in the kennel, in a pan 
of water place a dish containing a couple of hands full of powdered 
sulphur, pour a little alcohol over the sulphur and set on fire, then 
see that the kennel door is tightly closed. After a couple of hours 
open the kennel windows and door, and give the building a thorough 
airing before returning the dogs. This treatment will thoroughly rid 
the building of fleas and any infection, After you have done this 
whitewash the inside of the kennel every two months during dry 
weather. Change the bedding often and before putting down dust 
the benches with Persian insect powder. Be sure before returning 
the dogs to their clean quarters to dust them well with the insect 
powder and brush or comb out with a tooth comb the dead fleas 
or the pests will be as bad as ever in a week, Washing dogs to rid 
them of fleas is not a reliable remedy. Groom the dogs every day. 
Straw is better than hay, especially salt meadow hay, to use for bed- 
ding. 
cgB> 
Show Beagles as Practical Field Dogs. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
I was much interested in the letter signed V. H. Ellis in 
your issue of the 7th inst. headed "A Novice's Experience 
Rabbit Hunting." While I am unable to hear of any beagle 
man who has sold a beagle to any one of that name and can- 
not find the name in the Bostou directory, I feel it wouldn't 
be amiss to try if this gentleman is really in earnest in his 
criticism of the beagle or if the letter is simply "a bait." 
I may remark at starting that I am scarcely a novice in 
the amateur rank of dogdom, having owned my first dog 
over thirty years ago, yet my fancy for beagles is of more 
recent date. I am personally acquainted with some of the 
beagle men in the vicinity of the "Bean City," and have 
seen several of their hounds both on the bench and afield, 
and should be very sorry to find that the remarks of Mr. E. 
applied to them all or any, except a few. 
Ii your correspondent is a rabbit hunter who goes out with 
the intention of killing as many rabbits as he can in as short 
a time as possible, he certainly did not exhibit very great dog 
knowledge in selecting a beagle of pure blood as his com- 
panion, for many a country boy or youth could tell him that 
a mixture of hound and collie would be liable to drive more 
rabbits to him at a faster rate than any pure-bred beagle, in 
fact the above mixture may be considered the most success- 
ful "cur" for that purpose known. It only needs a little 
quicker sight down the gun barrel as the rabbit runs faster, 
and the necessity of a ferret for those that are run to earth, 
which they almost invariably do when hunted with a fast 
driving dog in the daylight. But the question arises, What 
does your correspondent want a dog for at all if he hunts in 
the soft snow? Either the rabbits are laid up and can be 
obtained alive with purse net and ferret, or they can be 
tracked if out, the tracks being as plain as the nose on a 
man's face. Certainly a 12in. beagle is not much good in a 
foot of soft snow as a rule, because both man and dog may 
hunt all day and not find a track if the snow is fresh; should, 
however, a rabbit be jumped if the beagle is a hunter he will 
manage to get along quite as fast as is necessary to drive a 
rabbit to the gun. In hunting white hares it is a different 
matter, I am now referring to the hunting of the cotton-tail. 
Therelis something else I am thinking about with regard 
to your correspondent's* beagle not hunting, and that is 
when he obtained her she may not have been a mature hunt- 
ing bitch, as many hounds do not mature until two or three 
years old, many not finding the use of their noses until that 
age, or at least until well along in their second year, and it 
is often that they will only trail the stronger-scented animals 
until the following season. I do not attempt to account for 
this; many hounds are discarded for hunting for that very 
reason; greyhound men will tell us that it is their old dogs 
that run cunning, not the young ones. 
Eor my own part I do not care to catch and kill the few 
rabbits we have in our immediate vicinity; they are scarce 
enough already. When my neighbor and I go out with the 
beagles we get fun enough seeing the little fellows work 
their ground and start their game, generally holding the 
trail until the rabbit goes "to ground," in the day time; but 
most of our hunts occur in the evening, sometimes by moon- 
light, and often' by the aid of a lighted lantern after our 
day's work is over, in the cool evenings when the mosquitoes 
grow less troublesome, than now and the hounds grow keen 
for a run. We either walk or drive to a likely spot and drop 
what dogs we take with us, and if necessary light the lan- 
tern and betake ourselves to some little prominence where 
bunny is likely to come to listen for the hounds, making 
comments on the probabilities of a good run or discussing 
the chances of such dogs on the bench or in the field, until 
one or other of the dogs gives tongue and the others join in 
chorus until the game is lost or run to ground, or we hear a 
distant clock warn us that it is time to move homeward, 
unless we are in for an all-night hunt. 
Oh, no, Mr. E,, your high-toned, fine-bred beagles do not 
always come to heel after a couple of hours' run. I could 
show you dogs (not mine) that can stand it just as often as 
you can, quite as many hours in the day and more days in 
the season of days that are fit for a dog to run, and hunt 
better in April than they did in October. Of course no 
humane man would run a dog in weather such as we now 
have, and there are some days in winter when it doesn't take 
long to make a heavy dog's feet sore; further than that, 
during the summer most of the bitches that are valuable are 
bred from, and this alone ought to debar them fromrunning, 
to say nothing of the close time for poor bunny. 
If one has ever so good a hound, it must not be expected 
that he will hunt with truth and reliability after being kept 
in idleness a whole summer. There may be those that think 
that because they own a well-bred dog he should be ready 
to furnish them with good hunting without a bit of 
preparation, or without ever seeing a rabbit or hav- 
ing a day's work of any kind. It would be just 
as reasonable to expect a horse to trot a mile in 
2:20 without ever having been near a track or hitched to 
a sulky; further, every well-bred horse is not a heat winner 
in good company with all the money spent on his training. 
Should we expect more from the dog? 
The only valuable stock I can recall are imported Banner- 
man and Twintwo, and while I do not known if Valentine is 
a hunter there are a number of descendants of his sire that 
can do considerable work afield. Perhaps, had Mr. E.'s 
bitch been given as good a show at rabbits as old Snyder, 
Banger, or the other dog he has, she could probably have 
shown as good field work as either of them: perhaps not as 
fast as the hound-collie cur, yet a driver that would be a 
thing of beauty with a voice of music that would far surpass 
his coarse cur. 
As to the gun-shyness Are there not many dogs larger 
than the standard laid down for the beagle that are gun- 
shy? Let the breeders of pointers and setters answer, or 
perhaps some of the fox-terrier breeders will say that they 
seldom breed a gun-shy dog; yes, I knew one dog whose 
owner peppered his hide with small shot three times for 
running wild and then he was not gun-shy. How few dogs 
there are that ever get over this timidity. Whose fault is it 
that a dog has that failing. Can we expect a dog which has 
never heard a gun fired at home to take no notice of the 
report of it in the field? Surely not. The same rule applies 
here as in hunting; let your beagle have a show and then if 
he is gun-shy why you know what to do. 
I am glad Forest AND Stream takes the right view of the 
matter, "Why should we give up breeding high class beagles 
and harriers, bee ause a 'lurcher' can catch a hare?" 'Re- 
ferring to Mr. Ellis's description of a field trial for beagles I 
am inclined to agree with him that taking a dog by the neck 
and putting him on the track of a rabbit that somebody has 
picked out, is not testing a dog's hunting powers, and the 
sooner the beagle trial judges take that into consideration, 
the better for the breed. Why cannot "hunting sense" count 
as much in beagle trials as "bird sense" in pointer and set- 
ter trials? Is it not of as much or more value to the rabbit 
hunter? If the different beagle clubs do not recognize such 
sense, would it not be wise on their part to do so in their 
coming trials? 
I will not now further encroach on your valuable space, 
but hope such men as "Debonair" and Friend Perry will write 
from their experience "Clyde" has voice enough to say 
something; "Gypsey A." might report ou the white hares of 
Maine, even though .June Rose is fat and Millard put in the 
stud. Comedy. 
Malden, Mass., July 18. 
• • • • 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
I note several discussions in your esteemed journal relative 
to the thoroughbred beagle and the mongrel for rabbit 
hunting. If any of the mongrel fanciers have anything that 
they think so much of and wish to run against a thor- 
oughbred, let them mention it in your columns. I can fur- 
nish the beagle and $500 to back him against any mongrel 
in the country. I don't say he is the best beagle in the coun- 
try, but he is a thoroughbred and I think him a good dog, 
in fact, sufficiently good to show some of these mongrel fan- 
ciers t hat they never saw a good dog or they would not speak 
in such loose style of good stock. If they have courage to 
try this let them come forward. I will run him for expenses 
and a small stake or for the amount I mention above. I be- 
lieve it would convince a number to try a thoroughbred. 
The great trouble is with most of the so-called hunters, they 
may have good bred dogs, but all they do eleven and one- 
half months in a year is to lie around the house and yard 
and get no running and experience. This -may be the sort 
of dogs our mongrel fanciers had their mongrels run with. 
It makes no difference how fine beagles are bred if they don't 
get work and experience they cannot make a good showing. 
If our beagle friends would send their dogs to a country 
where they have a chance to practice, instead of lying round 
the house, there would not be so much talk of mongrels 
being better than thoroughbreds. Rockafort. 
Philadelphia, Pa , July 18. 
• • • • 
HUNTING AND COURSING NOTES. 
It is quite probable that an effort will be made to have the 
trials of the National Beagle Club, to be held this fall, run 
on grounds near Hempstead, L. I. The committee on 
grounds will investigate the matter this week. Hares are 
reported plentiful and there is no lack of good open running 
ground. We are told that several thousand acres are avail- 
able, and as first class accommodation can be secured at 
Hempstead, one of the most "sporty" towns near New York, 
this venue would seem to be a good one, especially as a num- 
ber of beagles are owned by gentlemen in the vicinity. Mr. 
Phoebus has taken a farm near there and still has some 
beagles that can trail a bit. A. D. Lewis, James L. Kerno- 
chan, Hempstead Farm and others have packs that are 
hunting bred. A lively meeting would be sure to result in 
such a choice locality. 
• • • a 
The American Coursing Club will hold its meeting at 
Huron, S. D.", the first week in October. The venue is a good 
one, and the townspeople are enthusiasts in respect of cours- 
ing. Mr, Mulcaster will judge. 
Thus far Vigilant has sailed twelve races on the Clyde or in Irish 
waters, of which she has lost ten and won but two from her single ad- 
versary, Britannia. Much has been said about the peculiar weather 
conditions, but the record of past Cup races, whioh we publish this 
week, shows the curious fact that the average speed of the races in 
which this American yacht has been beaten is somewhat greater than 
in the former races for the Cup in which other American yachts have 
invariably won. Furthermore, the highest rates of speed in the Vigi- 
lant-Britannia races have been attained in those events in which the 
American boat was the loser. The indications from the last races are 
that Vigilant has been improved in trim or balance, and is really sail- 
ing faster than in the earlier ones, in which case still further improve- 
ment in moderate weather may be looked for, without waiting for the 
gale and sea which is to land her far in the van. There is hardly a 
race of the twelve yet sailed which can be called a fair and satisfac- 
tory test of speed in good sailing weather; but, as has been most 
clearly and conclusively demonstrated by the American press and 
American yachtsmen in the case of various Cup races, American 
yachts are built to win in the average summer weather, in which most 
races are sailed, and not in the howling gale, which is an exception, 
and in which few care to race for pleasure. Prom what Vigilant has 
done at times of late there is good reason to believe that on suitable 
courses and in topsail breezes, with nothing worse than a newspaper sea 
she will show her last year's speed; but if it does come to housed top- 
masts and a real sea, the result is likely to put an end to the cry for 
open courses and hard weather. 
Mr JohnB. Herreshoff has a reason for Vigilant's disappointing 
performance which is plausible enough so far as her designers are 
concerned, but which will hardly be accepted by yachtsmen abroad. 
He says, and very truly, that Vigilant was built for a specific purpose, 
the defense of the America's Cup in New York waters; and, that 
having succeeded in this, she is not to be condemned because she fails 
In other waters and under different conditions. This plea, however 
will not avail in the face of the somewhat bombastic titles bestowed 
on all the Cup defenders, of "Queen of the Seas," "Peerless," "Cham- 
pion of the World," and other familiar phrases. If these successful 
craft had been dubbed "Queen of New York" or "Champion of the 
Bay," Mr. Herreshoff's plea would be justifiable; but while their 
triumphs have been solely in home waters, they have been lauded as 
champions of the whole world. Creditable as the defense of the Cup 
has been, there is a vast difference between meeting a challenge in 
home waters, and in boldly and voluntarily meeting a foreign fleet in 
its waters, as did the first winner of the America's Cup, and as the 
little Dakotah is now doing. It is little to the credit of American 
yachtsmen that the present bold venture of Vigilant was undertaken 
by a new man, not of recognized prominence in yachting; and the 
reception which this attempt is meeting with is still less to the 
national credit. 
There are few of our contemporaries with whom we have been, 
more frequently or more seriously at loggerheads than the Boston 
Herald, but we can heartily indorse the editorial from that paper 
which we quote elsewhere, and only regret that it has been left to a 
Boston paper to say what the New York papers, at best, left unsaid, 
some of them going even further in the opposite direction. One 
paper, which has been particularly severe in its abuse of Mr. George 
Gould, came out last week with a most absurd aud impossible story, 
on the alleged authority of some anonymous members of the New 
York Y. O, to the effect that Mr. Gould asked permission of the 
officers of the club to fly the flag in his cruise abroad, and that this 
permission was granted only on the express promise of Vigilaut's 
owner that he would enter the yacht in no races over inside courses, 
which promise he had violated. Of course, every sensible yachtsman 
knows that as a member of the club Mr. Gould needs ho one's per- 
mission to fly the flag over his yachts at any and all times, regardless 
of such races as he may enter; but the story was evidently written 
by a landsman and for landsmen. 
The attitude of the New York press toward Vigilant and her owner 
is by no means complimentary to the good sense or fair play of these 
American journals toward an American enterprise; apart from 
the abuse of Mr. Gould, many of them are usiDg the races as the 
foundation for all sorts of sensations. One has industriously circu- 
lated a report which is false in toto, that Mr. Gould has ordered a new 
yacht from Herreshoffs, of Tobin bronze, with aluminum spars, etc. 
Another has found a chance for cheap advertising in a silly telegram 
to the Prince of Wales, asking whether he will race Britannia in this 
country, following it up with short telegraphic interviews with vari- 
ous yachtsmen. The shallow nature of this piece of fake enterprise is 
evident when one stops to consider the absurdity of bringing Britan- 
nia to America next yean, with the inevitable result of two or three 
newer and consequently faster yachts to oppose her. The racing life 
of all modern boats is limited to their first season unlesB, as in the 
case of the large catters this year and the Wasp last year, there is so 
little interest in the class that no new yachts are built to it. The 
chances are now that the next 87-footer built on either side will leave 
the present boats far astern. 
The course of the New York Herald in steadily sailing backward 
from its former position as an authority in yachting and naval matters 
has been a matter of criticism for a long time; but even after the 
many blunders it has fallen into of late, its editorial of last week on 
Vigilant and Britannia came as a surprise. There are still a few of 
the old-time yachtsmen (the Herald has unearthed one in Paris to 
support its views) who have always ignored size in racing and pro- 
claimed the largest yacht as the fastest, regardless of time allowance; 
no intelligent yachtsman, however, would think of making any com- 
parison between an 87ft. cutter and a schooner of 120ft.; much less of 
rating the old schooners, under any fair system of allowance, as 
really the equal of the modern cutters in speed. The statement of 
the Herald, that the old Sappho would have beaten Vigilant and 
Britannia in the race of July 17 is absurd and meaningless; but it is 
outdone by the following paragraphs, in which Britannia is described 
as an improved Vigilant, the latter yacht in turn being characterized 
as a "Steers- Burgess-Herreshoff sloop which sails on its model, 
depending on its beam for stability." There are boys of fifteen about 
New York and Boston who could tell the Herald that Britannia was 
nearly completed before Vigilant was designed, and whx> could further 
Burpriseand enlighten it with the information that the work of such 
designers as Steers, Burgess, Herreshoff and Watson is marked by a 
distinct individuality as marked as that of Dickens and Howells in 
literature. 
The object of the Herald's ridiculous nonsense, as appeared on th 
