Fkb. 6, 1897.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
lis 
i look upoti this tnatter of attracting our challenge win- 
ners to exhibitions as important, if the quality of our shows 
is to be kept high. Why, even the novice classes have three 
prices, although mostly composed of dngs that probably 
can't win in any other class. James B. Blossom;, 
Pres. G-ordon Setter Club; Vice-Pres. Irish Setter Cluh. 
(Mf. Mortimer's letter to Mr. Blossom, referred to abovc; 
is of the same tenor as his letter in another column, except- 
ing the following paragraph: "I shall give notice at the 
next meeting of the American Kennel Club of the desir- 
ability of making the classification at shows held under its 
rules similar to that at shows held under English Kennel 
Club rules in England, whereby a dog does not outlive its 
usefulness from a show point ot view.") 
New York, Jan 30. — Kindly say in your next that the 
Westminster Kennel Club has decided to give a second 
priiie of $10 in all challenge classes containing three or more 
entries. 
Our list of specia,! prizes (offered by the different specialty 
clubs and from private sources) has been largely increased, 
so that in numbers and value it exceeds all previous records. 
Our entries close on Monday, Feb 8. 
Jas, Mortimer, Supt. 
U. S. F. T. C. TRIALS. 
The All-Age Absolute. 
After the Derby Absolute was decided on Saturday, Jan. 
23, the All Age winners were next in order of competition 
for the Gould cup. Mr. Rose, the handler of Tony Boy, 
objecting to running him, as the dog was ill, Mr. Buckle 
raised no objection, and the judges decided to postpone the 
running of the All-Age Absolute till a time in the following 
week. The secretary so posted the announcement later on 
the club's bulletin board in the hotel, and it stood thereon 
for several hours. Later in the evening the judges most in- 
explicably decided that Tippoo had won by the default of 
Tony Boy. It is regrettable that they should have blundered 
so badly at the finish. There was no default on the part of 
Tony Boy, for he was on the ground, and the judges person- 
ally examined bim, accepted the circumstances as they 
then were, and announced the contest for the next week. 
. Aside from this, they could not award the cup on the grounds 
presented in their decision — that is, the default of Tony Boy 
— ^for one of the conditions governing the cup is as follows: 
"The absolute trial for the Gould cup must be of at least one 
hour's duration in the Derby and two hours' duration in the 
All-Age Stake," etc. It is clear that this is a mandatory 
condition, and if not complied with there is then no contest. 
In the Tippoo-Tony Boy case there was no contest, so that 
the cup's ownership remained unchanged. Mr. Geo. Gray, 
the holder of the cup, refused to deliver it to the club, as he 
very correctly and justly claimed that there had been no con- 
test for it at ihe U. S F. T. C. trials. Once admit the win by 
default, and a principle would be introduced which would 
weaken the competition for the cup, and make the honor of 
winning it of but little value. 
F. T. C. A. Meeting:. 
At a meeting of the Field Trial Champion Association, 
lield at West Point, Miss., Jan. 26, Messrs. Dexter, Bell, 
Buckle and Stafford present, ^ith a sufficient number of 
proxies to make a quorum, it was decided that owing to 
the blizzard, and that with the consent of the parties inter- 
ested, the champion stake be declared off'. Entries for 
1898 for those eligible at that time close on Dec. 15, 1897, 
and the stake is to be advertised in October of that year. 
A committee was appointed, Mr. Dexter, chairman, to en- 
gage three judges, who are to be announced when the stake 
is advertised. 
The Champion Stake. 
We live in. a swift age, one of rapid thought and action, 
and of the things which are swift a field trial is not the 
least. The Champion Stake, however, was a record 
breaker. For a sudden beginning and a quick conclusion 
no field trial contest ever equaled it. It is regrettable that 
a stalte with possibilities so great and interests so impor- 
tant should have been so neglected and so mismanaged. 
Instead of arranging for the Champion trial months ago, 
as should have been done, no action was taken until re- 
cently, when in a perfunctory manner the announcement 
was made that the Champion Stake would be run on Feb. 
16. This was entirely too short a notice to the parties in- 
terested, the' intervening time being too short in which to 
prepare the dogs and make other necessary arrangements. 
Aside from this, the date was badly chosen, inasmuch as 
the Champion Stake, if it be a success, must follow closely 
after the last trial of the circuit, so that it may secure its 
chief support from the trainers already on the grounds, 
and also that the visitors already present may attend it. 
It is not a stake which can be run successfully on dates 
distinctly separated from those of the main trials by an 
important interval of time. 
However, after thoughtlessly fixing on the February 
date, the Champion Association learned at West Point, 
Miss., what it should have known months ago as a matter 
of common knowledge that the Champion Stake must be 
run soon after the last trials. A meeting of the Association 
was held on Monday, Jan. 18, and it was decided that the 
stake be advertised in the sporting press that week, and 
that the entries should close two days later — that is, on 
Jan. 20; in other words, the entries closed before the public 
could learn of the change of date, or even read the club's 
advertisement. Nothing so stupid or incompetent could 
well be imagined. The time fixed for running the stake 
Avas Jan. 26, It was held by some that the U. §. F. T. C. 
All- Aged Stake, being open to all-aged winners, really filled 
all the needs of a champion stake, which proved not that 
there was no need of a champion stake, but that it is a 
grave mistake to have one man the secretary of two clubs. 
Had there been a secretary of the Champion Association 
with any pride or interest in the Association's success, the 
stake would not have been arranged, advertised, judges 
engaged, entries closed, and the stake declared off, all in 
the space of a few days. 
There was something of a quandary in respect to judges. 
Mr. W. S. Bell, who was a visitor at the trials, consented 
to act as one judge. Mr. N. Wallace, of Farmington, Conn., 
another famous and popular judge, was telegraphed to. 
He happened to be at Asheville, N. C, and he also con- 
sented; and the third one engaged was Mr. J. N. Seale, 
a popular sportsman of large field trial experience. 
Still the Champion Stake was only such in name under 
the circumstances, for only a few people khew it was to be 
run at all and only a few could possibly know it. The As- 
sociation then could only secure its support from such dogs 
as were in touch with its elbows. 
. As a result there were but five startets, doge already 
present on the grounds. On Tuesday morning, Jan. 26, 
the weather was extremely cold; Mi-. Seale had sent word 
that he could not be present. There was little interest 
manifested in the stake, and those directly concerned held 
a meeting and decided to declare it off for that time. 
After paying the U. S. F. T. C. |25 for the grounds at West 
Point, on which the stake was to have been run, and pay- 
ing the expense of judges, etc., those who were ready to 
start had about $25 per starter returned to them on a pro 
rata division of the entry fees. 
TOHOi 
Of all the different fallacies which have encumbered the 
training of the dog for field work, none has been more assidu- 
ously commended than the teaching of "toho,'' a term used 
to denote that the dog is to stand still when he hears it 
uttered. It is held forth as an aid to pointing. 
Mtich that is fallacious is perpetuated by imitation, One 
generation accepts on trust the beliefs and teachings of the 
preceding generation. Writers are loth to run counter to the 
world's teachings even in matters of fallacy, so that when 
they needs must write they write up old matters over again. 
Old ideas are presented in new combinations and in new 
dresses. Out of the great mass of writing there is but a 
fraction that is new, original and independent. Much of it 
too is speculative or impractical. It is much easier to write 
of a thing as one thinks it should be than to investigate and 
learn of it as it really is. And thus it comes that to separate 
the sound article of literature from the rubbish is a slow pro- 
cess and a matter of much time. 
Nearly all writers on training teach that the dog should be 
taught to stop to command, and thus establish a sure and 
positive method of making him stop stanchly on his point. 
It is assumed that there is a close relationship between the 
stop to order in the proximity of game and a true point on it. 
To the novice such idea is convincingly plausible. He does 
not consider that a dog may stop to order in the immediate 
vicinity of game and still have no more idea of a true point 
than would a horse which stopped under similar circum- 
stances. In either instance the stop is made to command as 
a matter of obedience. The dog does not refer the act to 
extraneous objects, whether they are birds, rocks or cab- 
bages 
In practice the trainer who requires the dog to obey the 
order "Toho!" when he is drawing on birds does much to 
spoil his work. 
Experience is the only correct practice. It involves failure 
and success. The dog can only learn from it the different 
degrees of intensity in the srent, whether cold or hot, foot 
or body scent, and he can only acquire by experience the 
skill in pointing and reading, and the purposes of the gun. 
A mere mechanical stop to order conveys to the dog no more 
experience in the details of point work than would a lecture 
to him. He must have the practical experience with the 
coincident training. He will make errors. They are in- 
separable from his progress. It is only by error and correc- 
tion that he can learn what to avoid. To assume that there 
is any system which will start a dog into work to the gun 
without error and with the skill which comes from experi- 
ence is to assume what is contrary to nature in the phenomena 
of all organic life, and in practice to adopt what is palpably 
absurd and inetScient It is absurd because when an inex- 
perienced dog is making game the handler does not know 
whether it is near by or far away. To bawl out "Toho" is 
to give the arder at a venture. If the dog obeys he does not 
know why he stops, so far as the bkds are related to it. He 
may suppose that he is checked for following the scent, a 
much more direct and logical conclusion than that he should 
know the "toho" referred to some birds but remotely in evi- 
dence. 
The order "toho" is uttered at a time when there should 
be quiet. When a dog is reading and doing his best it is 
the height of stupidity to bawl out orders to him. Such 
alarm the birds, balk the dog and disgust the looker-on. 
The dog's progress is broken, he imperfectly comprehends 
his trainer's purposes, and he loses confidence in himself and 
his teacher. 
Only by having all the parts of field work taught as they 
actually occur in practice can the dog learn them properly. 
Each detail is then learned as it exists and as it relates to 
all others. He cannot know what constitutes a mistake till 
he has made it. He avoids them when he has experience 
enough and consequent tesjching to perceive their harm. 
He adopts the methods which are most conducive to ac- 
complish the desired results. 
Reject the "toho." Teach him to go to his birds on his 
own judgment. If he flushes willfully, punish him; if 
through mistake, ignore it. The dog will make mistakes in 
using his no3e. His judgment will at times be faulty; and 
in this he differs not fiom his master. To teach "toho" to 
either or both would add nothing to the skill or experience 
of eitlier, or to the purpose. The experienced trainer con- 
cerns himself not with toho. The amateur who attempts to 
teach it expends first much pains to teach it, and has some- 
thing which is valueless when taught. 
Snap and the Carriage. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
Snap (a dog belonging to a young lady friend of mine — a 
drg who named himself by snapping at everything which 
came near him in his puppyhood) is very fond of riding out 
in state. He would be taken out oftener did he not want the 
most prominent seat in the carriage His mistress's mother 
is more apt to take him than is his mistress. A mutual 
friend described to me a few days ago Snap's mistress's 
mother crying oat to her as their carriages passed— they 
both taking advantage of a fine day for a drive: " 'How do 
you do? I didn't know you !' And," said the narrator, "she 
didn't know me because Snap sat erectly on her lap, hiding 
all in front of her from her view ; she could only see to the 
right and left." Snap's mistress was present when this story 
was told, and laughtd as heartily as any of us, so I have pre- 
sumed that I might repeat the story. All this I tell that 
may be understood an habitual action of Snap. He has a 
good faculty of time, and will watch about on the grounds 
until the carriage is rolled out of its house. Then he will 
get on a seat and wait. He knows thoroughly well who 
is disposed to allow him to go riding, and who is not. 
When his mistress's mother appears he qnivers and wrig- 
gles all over with joy. When the mistress comes he 
slinks back, gives every evidence of disappointment, and 
then plainly begs to not be compelled to get to the ground, 
and manifests all of his graces of look, attitude and action 
in the hope that his mistress's resoNe will give way. It is 
very amusing — the net-vous anxiety with which he regards 
the path from the house to see who is coming for to-day's 
ride-^so amusing the men about have' more than once fooled 
him. They would roll the carriage out. Soap would jump 
in and begin his vigil upon the path from the house. When 
they had enjoyed the show long enough they would (to 
Snap's disgust) roll the carriage back under cover again. 
But he soon "caught on," and now will not get into the 
carriage unless he is sure from certain indications, such as 
bringing out the horses, that a ride is coming off. In all 
this Snap shows that within his woolly personality there is 
an individual—a conscious, self-conscious, rational Individ.* 
ual. Think of how many several persons and things he is 
as fully aware as any human being could possibly be — ^his 
mistress, her mother, the men about^ the horse, the carriage^ 
and so on. Then he is able to put things together, He 
knows from indications when the carriage is going out and 
when it is not. Though he can not hitch the horses up, he 
knows what hitching up means as well as anybody does. 
Snap has a rational soul. Charles Josiah Adams. 
EossvaLE, S. I. 
Dojsrs and Music. 
Westgrote, Va,.— Editor Forest and Stream: Kindly 
inform me whether the effect produced on dogs by music is 
pleasurable or the reverse. .In other words, does it cause 
them to howl from pleasure or grief? And if they do not en- 
joy it why is it that they make no apparent effort to escape 
from it — in fact, seem in a great many cases to rather seek 
the society of the musician? To sum up^ do dogs love music 
or not? Hero. 
[Certainly dogs like music, and they howl in unison or 
discord for that reason.] 
POINTS AND FLUSHES. 
Exhibitors should bear in mind that the New York 
bench show entries close on Feb. 8. Premium lists and 
all necessary information can be obtained of the superin- 
tendent, Mr. James Mortimer, 813, 66-70 Beaver street, 
New York. 
Spratts Patent have issued a most attractively gotten 
up calendar for 1897, the illustrations of dogs by R. H. 
Moore being a particularly pleasing feature. Much valu- 
able information concerning dogs is conveyed in every 
page. 
The act of the XJ. S. F. T. Club in barring first prize 
winners from its All-Age Stakes is one of common sense. 
It learned from experience what it could have learned 
months ago had it read the available information on the 
subject and digested it properly. 
The report of the U. S. F. T. Club's trials, published in 
full in our columns this week, failed to reach us in time 
for pubhoation last week, owing to delay of the Southern 
mails caused by bad weather. 
Mr. N. Wallace, of Farmington, Conn,, who was en- 
gaged as one of the judges of the Champion Stake, was 
en route to West Point, Miss., on the train which was 
held up on a branch of the Southern Railway, near El- 
dridge. The robbers did not attempt to rob the passen- 
gers, their efforts being confi.ned exclusively to the ex- 
press car. Mr. Wallace describes the scenes as both 
serious and amusing. Passengers were secreting their 
valuables in frantic haste in places they thought most se- 
cure. The news agent, in a momentaiy fit of valor, drew 
his revolver, but on reaching the passenger coach he most 
generously offered it to an inactive passenger and urged 
him to go forward and participate in the trouble. We in- 
terviewed the news agent on the return trip, and he coun- 
tered by saying that there were some sportsmen aboard 
during the robbery who tremulously took their shotguns 
out of the cases, and notwithstanding that they shook 
badly they succeeded in getting the guns put together. 
They then remembered that their ammunition was all in 
the baggage car. A lady who had watched the brave dis- 
play remarked: "You gentlemen no doubt are a sure 
thing on little birds, but you do not amount to much on 
train robbers." 
A complication which may be of some interest to the 
amateurs who were engaged in the Amateur and All-Age 
stakes of the TJ. S. F. T. 0, is that they now fill the re- 
quirements which constitute a professional, that is, they 
have run in a public trial with professionals for money 
prizes, the very grounds on which objections were raised 
against Oapt. A. C. Waddell handling in the Amateur 
Stake. 
Much praise was bestowed on the Continental Field 
Trials Club's trials, run at Tupelo, Miss. Since that event 
the club has received a large number of applications for 
membership, which will be acted upon at the club's an- 
nual meeting at Chicago during the week of the Maacou- 
tah Club's show. 
The governors of the Baltimore Kennel Association met 
recently and elected the following officers for the year: 
Col. Henry D. Loney, President; Leonard M. Levering, 
Vice-President; William P. Riggs, Secretary; and J, 
Chambers Weeks, Treasurer. 
The resignation of Mr. P. T. Madison, as secretary of 
the Continental Field Trials Club, has been accepted and 
Mr. W. S. Bell, Pittsburg, has accepted the office pro 
tern. 
The Rev. R. O'Callaghan, LL.D,, died suddenly on 
Jan. 9. In the United States he was famous as a breeder 
of Irish setters, and.many of the fine Imported Irish set- 
ters Were from his kennel. He was a talented divine, an 
influential member of the Eaglish Kennel Club, a keen 
sportsman and accomplished athlete, and had the love of 
all who knew him. 
The Avent protest, lodged by Mr. Avent against the 
judges ruling that Tory Luna could not run in charge of 
other than an amateur handler till the Amateur Stake of 
the TJ. S. trials was finished, was very properly dis- 
