144 
FOREST "AND ■ STREAM. 
[Aug. 18, 1894. 
POINTS AND FLUSHES. 
[By a Staff Corre$pondeiit.\ 
The indications are that there will be, from this side of the 
line, quite a number of trainers present at the forthcoming 
trials of the Manitoba Field Trial Club, beginning at Morris, 
Sept. 5. 
j;Now that the great Northwest is so well settled and chick- 
ens so plentiful, field trials there should be an assured suc- 
cess. The Northwest now contains a multitude of sportsmen 
who own good dogs, and the facilities for holding trials, in 
the way of birds and grounds, are at their doors. 
The last chicken trial held in the States was at Fairmont, 
Minn., "in 1882. Owing to hot weather and scarcity of birds, 
and the consequent difficulties of conducting and concluding 
a competition, chicken trials were looked upon with disfavor 
by the sportsmen of that day. Other circumstances added 
to the difficulties. The whole support was east of the Mis- 
sissippi River. Th e preliminary arrangements as to grounds, 
horses, hotels, etc., were made with difficulty. As nearly all 
the sportsmen lived in the East and South, a visit to the trials 
entailed a great deal of expense. 
Aside from a few cities, Minnesota in 1882 was very sparsely 
settled. A well cultivated or equipped farm was a rarity 
after leaving the vicinity of St. Paul and Minneapolis. A 
few crudely built small towns were strung widely apart on 
the few railroads, the latter being more than ample for the 
light freight and passenger traffic of the State. Hundreds of 
miles of prairie, unbroken save by isolated farms of the 
pioneer settler, afforded endless opportunities for the chicken 
shooter. Small groves, planted for "windbreaks," denoted 
the abode of the settler, the high winds of fall and winter 
making the planting of groves imperative. They were often 
of a year or two years' growth; one of eight or ten years 
marked the habitation of a first settler. 
Most of the settlers were poor and endured untold hard- 
ships for the sake of a prospective home. A cellar, dug in 
the flat prairie with poles thrown across the top and sodded 
for a roof, or a room dug in the side of a bluff, dismal 
caverns of dampness and darkness, afforded a home in many 
instances for the struggling settler, whose aspirations too 
often ended in sickness, misery and loss. Huts built of sod 
and shanties of flimsy construction made a grade higher 
habitation. A cheap, small frame house, an exceptional 
structure, denoted a degree of prosperity possessed by but 
few Minnesota farmers in those days. The commonest ne- 
cessaries of life were of the cheapest and plainest. In many 
instances a hole dug in low ground afforded a supply of vile 
surface water. An alkali flavor often added to its unpleas- 
antness and harmfulness. Fuel was extremely scarce, as 
can readily be imagined of a country which was a treeless 
prairie. In some large districts the inhabitants burned dried 
slough grass and hay, which entailed a great deal of extra 
labor to that rare personage which the novelist terms the 
good housewife. Such fuel, before using, was twisted hard 
into large bunches two or three feet long, and the stove, 
specially made for such fuel, had to be replenished at short 
intervals, for the hay burned hotly and quickly. Coal and 
wood, when obtainable, were high and therefore beyond the 
means of the ordinary settler. The heavy prairie grass was 
his best [friend. Besides furnishing fuel for him, he often 
used it to thatch his house, and it was the main material 
used in the shelter for cattle. A skeleton frame work of 
poles, heavily covered with hay, made a warm, though far 
from durable, stable. 
The wheat fields, then wide apart, made great gathering 
places for the chickens when the fall weather lessened the 
food supply in the open prairies. There were chickens in 
abundance in those days. 
i Since that time, that country and far to the westward is 
now thoroughly settled and tilled, and the comfortable, often 
luxurious, homes with their air of refinement and thrift, 
bear no indication of the hardship and deprivations of the 
long intervening years. There are no connecting links be- 
tween them and the wretched hovels and "dugouts" of early 
days, but the march of progress has injured some excellent 
chicken country. Civilization in tbis country has spoiled a 
lot of good shooting. Educating men into true sportsman- 
ship destroys a lot of game, for the savage instinct to kill is 
present in nearly every healthy, vigorous man, and from that 
point of his nature to the refined gentleman sportsman the 
intervening advances are due to education. 
Still there is a vast area of country left in which chickens 
are abundant. And there is a multitude of sportsmen who 
dwell in that country and who own good dogs, which have 
the blood of famous ancestors, and good ones which are not 
famous. So of field-trial material the Northwest possesses 
abundance. It could, therefore, hold trials of its own. 
Manitoba has two field trial clubs which hold successful 
trials. That they are popular is shown by the steady growth 
of interest, prestige and patronage, a good part of the latter 
being from the States, a circumstance which demonstrates 
that trials on chickens would be liberally supported if held 
in the States. They would be a considerable gain to sports- 
manship if conducted from the same spirit of sport which 
impels our Canadian friends. 
The Kent Elgin Entry. 
FOREST AND Steeam of August 11 contained an explana- 
tion from Mr. T. M. Brumby, as Sec'y-Treas. of the S. F. T. 
Club, in respect to the entry of Kent Elgin, it being also a 
reply to a letter of Mr. T. T. Ashford, published recently in 
"Points and Flushes." Mr. Brumby prefaces his remarks 
with the statement that I used that letter "in order to at- 
tack the 'Southern Field Trial Club.'" I cannot imagine 
the grounds on which he makes that statement. Surely the 
publication of Mr. Ashford's letter cannot justly be con- 
strued as an attack on the club. I had no part in the sub- 
ject matter of it. There had before its publication been 
some unsatisfactory correspondence between Messrs. Ashford 
and Brumby in respect to Kent Elgin's entry, and as it in- 
volved an alleged violation of the Club's rules, it was a mat- 
ter in which the public was interested. As to waiting till the 
week before the Derby closed, before publishing the matter, 
as Mr. Brumby claims was done, and presents it as a griev- 
ance, I beg to assure him that it never occurred to me in 
that connection. No one could for a moment make me 
believe that the publication of that letter would have the 
slightest effect on the entries. It was not related to them 
in any way. 
It nas always been my belief that, when any important 
matter, unpleasant or otherwise, is of sufficient public in- 
terest to require consideration, the proper way is to meet the 
issue openly, frankly and promptly. If the cause be just, 
no amount of publicity can injure it, on the contrary, 
the criticism or discussion which arises will give it greater 
strength. 
Returning to the matter under discussion, it seems to me 
that when a grave disagreement arose between the club and 
one of its patrons, an open discussion of it would have 
brought out the facts much better than would private gossip, 
which spreads wide and grows into exaggeration from repe- 
tition. 
Indeed, it seems to me that Mr. Brumby, as an officer of 
the club, would not have been guilty of any impropriety, 
had he taken the initiative in publishing the club's version 
of the matter, when a cnarge of grave violation of the club's 
rules was brought against it. He had it in his own power to 
have the issue settled before the entries closed. It is not a 
matter in which the Club alone is concerned, — every one 
who made an entry has a right to know whether the con- 
ditions of the stake were or were not violated. It cannot be 
justly construed as an unfriendly act, to give the Club a 
chance to publicly set the matter at rest. Therefore when 
Mr. Brumby states that Mr. Ashford, "through the help of 
Mr. Waters, jumps on the Club," I think that he labors 
under a misapprehension both as to the'intent'and the act 
itself. 
I believe I have several friends among the members of the 
Club, whom I esteem both in their private and membership 
capacity. But any body of men in a public position is open 
to criticism when there is cause for it. Without open dis- 
cussion, there would be little progress in anything." Hence 
it is a morbid view which construes a friendly criticism into 
an attack. 
The Big and Little Kennels and Field Trials. 
On the subject implied in the above heading, I read Mr. 
Bryson's recent article with a great deal of interest. I am 
indebted to him for calling attention to a matter which had 
escaped my memory, namely the purchase by the big kennels 
of winning dogs bred by the amateur or small owner. To 
make the subject clearer, I will present an excerpt from Mr. 
Bryson's article in relation to it. He says: "The small 
kennel owners start out with the assertion that they cannot 
compete with the large kennels at the field trials. This is a 
mistake. We will first take Mr. Lorillard's kennel. He has 
been a large purchaser from the small kennels, purchasing 
all or nearly all his winners, Count Anteo, Lora, Miss Ruby, 
Dot Rogers, Rod's Sue, Ightfield Rosalie, and others, from 
the small kennels. I think lam not far wrong when I 
state the Blue Ridge Kennel also purchased all their win- 
ners, paying big prices to the small breeders for Fannie M., 
Hope's Mint, and the Derby winners Bessie Shoupe, and 
Allene, besides paying §2,000 for Antonio, and long prices for 
their stud, dogs and brood bitches, and all to the small ken- 
nels." 
Mr, Bryson mentions some others, but as I only wish to 
bring out a point later, the foregoing will amply serve to 
illustrate it. He draws the following conclusion: "It will 
be seen, therefore, the large kennels are the best patrons the 
small kennels have. After selling the pick of their dogs, 
some of the small kennel owners cry out they cannot com- 
pete against the larger kennels, " 
I think that Mr. Bryson will admit that the large kennels 
bought dogs, which had favorably distinguished themselves, 
with a view to a prospective income from them, either for 
breeding purposes or for their known ability to win at field 
trials. I think that Mr. Bryson, however, overlooked the 
full bearing of the acts he describes. Detaching them 
from field-trial considerations, it really does look as if the 
small breeders were benefitted. They were in a way; 
in other ways they were not. They received a direct benefit 
from a single monetary transaction, but from a field-trial 
point of view, they had stengthened the competition against 
them. As fast as one out of the many unsuccessful small 
breeders produced a dog of eminent ability, he was bought 
by one or other big kennels. The small breeder is generally 
possessed of limited means compared to the owners of the big 
kennels. If he is offered 61,000 for a dog, he cannot afford to 
keep him. For the small breeder to lose §1,000 is a life 
event; to the big breeder it hardly attains the dignity of an 
incident. As the good dogs go from the small breeders over 
to the big kennels, the competitive difficulties of the small 
breeder multiply. The best dog he could produce is in the 
competition against him, and he has greater numbers to 
contend against. He, generally speaking, must from his 
limited resources, bring out new stock to compete every 
year, while the purchases of the big kennel remain perman- 
ently as campaigners, the same dogs appearing in every 
trial year after year. 
The small breeder has much greater expense to pay rela- 
tively than has his' big rival, for it costs relatively more to 
send one man to a trial with one dog than it does to send 
one man with six dogs. His chances of winning are numer- 
ically in that ratio. When the big kennel buys enough dogs 
to equip itself for a field trial campaign, it stops buying. 
The measure of its purchases is the possible value of field 
trial interests, or kennel revenue. 
As the big kennels, from what they themselves produced 
and by purchases from the small breeders, grew stronger, 
the small breeders grew weaker. There was a point in this 
changing of strength and forces, where the weaker brethren 
had but a remote show to win. Feeling this, the weaker 
brother stays out. The odds were too great. 
Mr. Bryson further says: 1 'If I were a breeder, instead of 
crying out against the large kennels, I would want a dozen 
where there is one, as the demand from the large kennels 
has made possible prices that dogs would not have sold at 
unless the large kennels wanted them." 
The latter is true. But does not Mr. Bryson think that it 
was field trials which made the large kennels possible? If 
so, anything which disturbs the success of the trials or 
damages them, must react on their dependencies. If, by 
constantly growing bigger while the small breeders grow 
smaller, the small breeders are out of the competition from 
their weakness, the foundation of the structure is injured, 
and there must be injury to the whole. It is small kennels 
which make trials possible permanently. 
Establishing a dozen large kennels where there is one now, 
as kennels are run at present, would depend entirely on 
whether there was a sufficient field from which to derive a 
satisfactory revenue. 
The large kennels bought high-priced dogs because they 
could campaign them, could handle them more economical- 
ly than the small breeder, and because they had greater 
resources generally. This condition of buying and selling 
was not a fixture,— it was an evolution of the big fish. 
Save in a very few instances, the big kennel is a commercial 
enterprise, governed by the same laws of supply and demand 
which govern all business enterprises. The large purses 
stimulated the big kennel and set back the small one. 
The big kennels bought dogs at long prices because they 
could derive a revenue from them. If there were a dozen 
kennels more for every one now existing, the weaker would 
soon retire. No more could exist than the business war- 
ranted. • , , 
The bulk of the winnings go to the large kennels. The 
records will show that they have almost constantly won out 
well ahead of expenses, taking as a. whole the season's cam- 
paign as data. Of the small breeders, very few win, and it 
takes many of them to produce one successful dog. 
B. Waters. 
We are indebted to Mr. J. H. Burr of Macon, Ga., for a 
premium list of a dog show that is to be held in that city 
from Nov. 1 to 8. The show will be held in connection with 
the Dixie Interstate Fair, and Mr. T. Farrar Rackham of 
East Orange, N. J., will judge all classes. The list, which 
has evidently been arranged by an amateur, is a little mixed 
on dates, but as well as we can make out, the entries will 
close Oct. 31, and the judging commence Nov. 1. No entry 
fee is charged and no dogs will be received after 12 M. on 
Wednesday, Oct. 31. Thirty-six classes are provided for the 
principal breeds, two for each breed, consisting of one for 
"Registered dog or bitch" and one for "Open dog or bitch," 
with prizes of So for first and he, whatever that means, for 
second. Then there are kennel prizes of .$10 each for pointers, 
setters, foxhounds, beagles and Scotch terriers; also $10 for 
best pointer bitch with four or more puppies, sire and dam 
to be registered, and the same money for best setter bitch 
under same conditions. Entries should be made with J. R. 
Kennedy, Macon, Ga. Such an opportunity will no doubt be 
taken advantage of by Southern fanciers, and if more of 
these shows were held in connection with the different fairs 
the country people would become educated to the point 
where they would demand something better for companions 
and watch dogs than the "yaller" dog too frequently met 
with in country districts, 
DOG CHAT. 
Toronto Show. 
At *he coming dog show of the Toronto Industrial Exhibi- 
tion Association the American Spaniel Club donates the fol- 
lowing specials: The Newton Abbott cup, offered by Mr, 
E. M. Oldham, for the best field spaniel bitch, to be won four 
times; the Whitehead trophy, for the best cocker spaniel stud 
dog shown with two of his get, the get only to be judged, to 
be won four times; two oil paintings, offered by Mr. George 
Bell, for the best brace of cockers under a year old, any color, 
dogs or bitches, to be won four times. The above are open 
for competition to members of the American Spaniel Club 
only. The Industrial Exhibition Association offer their 
bronze medal, value $10, for the best kennel of dachshunds. 
The Toronto show committee have made a novice class, 
96>£, for Scotch terrier bitches, first prize $7, second $2, third 
diploma. Class 96 represents novice dogs. Class 98X repre- 
sents Airedale terriers, open, dogs and bitches, first prize 
$10, second $5, third diploma. 
The other day we took a run down to Lawrence, L. I., to 
see Mr. Hughes and the Marlborough Kennel 3. In spite of 
the heat and other drawbacks to comfort, Mr. Hughes had 
the dogs in excellent condition, in fact we never saw a lot 
of dogs, especially where there are so many different breeds, 
in better shape. Besides the wolfhounds Argoss, Princess 
Irma, Modjeska, Zerry and others of note, we saw several 
familiar faces. Stanley, the great Dane, and Ormskirk Shep, 
the collie, were the principal ones. Then there is Hia, the 
beagle, fully recovered from a serious illness which played 
havoc with her litter of puppies, as she was taken sick just 
after they were born. There is one puppy left, and this one, 
one of the prettiest we have seen in many a day, but for 
great care on the part of Mr. Hughes and his wife, would 
have succumbed. Burlington Diadem nursed her with her 
own puppies for a couple of weeks and then a blind bull-ter- 
rier bitch, a daughter of Gully the Great and Enterprise, we 
believe, suckled her till five weeks old. A collie bitch with a 
litter by Shep formed another interesting family. 
One is always sorry to hear of the death of a good dog, 
whether it be one noted for its exceptional beauty of form 
and fancy points, or one, as we should say of a human being, 
distinguished for its charming personality. Such an ani- 
mal was Lady Gay, a red cocker spaniel owned by Mrs. 
Smyth, of the Swiss Mountain Kennels. Her name is not 
altogether unknown in prize lists, for she has won two sec- 
onds at Philadelphia shows and one at Wilmington, Del., 
but it washer particularly bright disposition, accentuated 
by her name, that endeared her at once even to a chance 
acquaintance like ourself . It may not be generally known, 
but in the goodness of her heart, when Chip R. died while 
whelping to champion Cherry Boy, Lady Gay, although 
she had four reds of her own, came to the rescue and 
"mothered" the three puppies, thereby giving us a champion 
Middy, one of the best known and at the same time best 
abused cockers now on the bench, and also Chip R., another 
winner, and Pitchdark, who, however, never faced a judge. 
No wonder Lady Gay was a favorite. Now comes the sad 
part which we give in Mrs. Smyth's own words: 
"Well, Gay's career has come to an end, and it looks very 
much to me as if by some foul means. She was taking care 
of a litter of four, had a kennel on the north side of the house 
and was not shut in. One evening at 10 o'clock she was on 
the piazza as well as possible, and the. next morning at 1 she 
was found in the brook— dead, with her head pushed into the 
mud up to her eyes: her front legs were lying straight back 
under her and her hindlegs out behind her. A post mortem 
disclosed nothing, no poison of any kind could be f ound and 
no reason for her death in any way. Her lungs were full of 
water, but none in her stomach; so she could not have drank 
any. Her death certainly is mysterious," and, we would add, 
points to foul play. Lady Gay was by Brigay out of Mollie, 
and was whelped Dec. 20, 1889, being bred by Mr. Joseph 
Walker, Hamilton, Ont. 
More cheerful news, however, comes about others in this 
kennel. Empire State is the happy father of nine, ten days 
old, the original number being thirteen. The spaniels are in 
fine trim. Miss Waggles, who by the way, is a champion, is 
proud of and attentive to a litter of four, by champion 
Cherry Boy, two of them red like the sire. Swiss Mountain 
Kennels have lately bought Madam B., a young St. Bernard 
bitch, from A. Burgess. She was at Boston, Philadelphia, 
and Specialty shows, and is by Sir Hereward out of Lady 
Adelaide; a large well-grown bitch that will prove a useful 
addition to the kennel. 
A glance at our business columns this week will show 
some interesting reading. The Rhode Island dog show is 
given prominent notice, and with an entry fee of only $1.50 
and $3,500 in prizes, this show should command the attention 
of exhibitors. W. W. Brown offers well-bred Irish setter 
pups; McEwen and Gibson, some of their good collie stock; 
Dr. C. F. Parker, rough St. Bernards; Richwoods Kennels, 
trained pointers and setters; A. E. Manley, a service to 
Wellesbourne Charlie; Mere Kennels, a great Dane dog; 
Handsome Brook Kennels, a trained watch dog; W. E. 
Money, a bull-terrier. 
Mr. Mortimer changed his mind about coming back as he 
intended last week, and will not come on for a week or so 
yet. He will probably bring his best purchases with him. 
The Skye collie is the newest breed to come before public 
notice. The story is too long for this issue, but the breed is 
really quite ancient and is said to be a sort of English bob- 
tail — Skye terrier, by consent of an otter hound, approach- 
ing more the type of a Skye terrier than anything else; blue- 
grey is the color. 
Mr. T. J. Smyth, who is or was associated with Mr. Bell in 
the Cambridge Kennels, writes us that Consequence has not 
had two litters of puppies since the unfortunate deal with 
Mr. Martin. He says: "Consequence has not pupped since 
Mr. Bell purchased her, though one litter came from her in 
a gelatine state." We have also a letter from Mr. Smyth in 
which he takes Mr. Watson to task over his letter in our last 
issue, but as it deals with the question on the mistaken under- 
standing that Mr. Watson was a member of the advisory 
committee that disqualified Mr. Bell, its publication would 
not serve to clear the atmosphere surrounding this case, 
which for the good of dogdom should now be allowed to fall 
nto "innocuous desuetude." 
The New England Beagle Club is to run its trials in the 
week commencing Oct. 22. As this is also the date selected 
by the N, E. Field Trials Club for the running of the Mem- 
ber's Stake, they will conflict, and several sportsmen who 
desire to attend both events would have to forego the pleas- 
ure of one. It would seem that one of the clubs might 
change a week one way or the. other and this would make a 
saving to those persons who come on from a distance and 
who should desire to attend both meets. 
The famous fox-terrier bitch Nita, owned by Mr. Hot- 
black, met her death in a manner that shows that the breed 
is not deteriorating much. She is said to have gone to earth 
after fur and, according to Stock-Keeper, never returned to 
light. She was very game and was well known as the dam 
of such terriers as Reckoner, Renown, Raffle and others; in 
