Kov. 6, 1897.] 
FOREST AND STREAM, 
871 
fit 80 to ride. Of these the range asked no questions. If 
there had been trouble back in tbe 'States,' trouble with a 
man, a sweetheart, or a creditor, it was all one, for oblivion 
was the portion offered by the hard ground and the sky. " 
Throughout the work are bits descriptive of the cowboy's 
character, all contrary to the common belief in respect to 
him. For Instance: "Not having much to do of an evening 
he goes to bed. It is supposed by some misguided souls, 
that when the so-called wtld cowboys of a ranch have met 
at night, after the close of their exciting duties, the scene at 
the ranch house is one of rude hilarity and confusion. 
Beally, quite the opposite of this is true. The interior of a 
ranch house of an evening offers rather a quiet and orderly 
appearance. Liquor is something rarely seen there, because 
it comes very rarely and does not last long when it comes. 
As a rule, the cowpuncher is rather a silent man, though not 
80 silent as the melancholy sheep herder, who rarely endures 
the terrible monotony of his calling for more than seven 
years without becoming insane. A cowboy who is very 
'mouthy' is not usually in high repute at a cow-camp, and 
one disposed to personal brilliance or sarcastic comment on 
the peculiarities of his fellow-men, is apt to meet with swift 
and effectual discouragement. Rude and unlettered though 
he be, and treating his companions with a rough and ready 
familiarity, the cowpuncher yet accords to his neighbor the 
right to live the life and go the gait which seems most pleas- 
ing to himself. One does not intrude upon the rights of 
others in the cow country, and he looks to it very promptly 
that no one shall intrude upon his. In the cow towns, or at 
the cow camps, one never hears the abusiveness or rude 
speech common to the older settlements. On the range, 
especially in the earlier days, if a man applied to another an 
epithet, which in the States would be taken as something to 
be endured or returned in kind, the result would have been 
the essential and immediate preparations for a funeral. * * *. 
Under all the ills of life the cowboy ' 'quits himself like a 
man,' that is his standard. There are some who ask for the 
gallop of the cowboy, and not the quiet trot; some who 
think his crudeness and his wildness should be made his dis- 
tinguishing features. Rather let us say that his chief traits 
are his faithfulness and manliness. There is his standard— 
to be a 'square man.' If you called him a hero, he would 
not know what you meant. " 
In short, if the reader wishes to know of the real cowboy, 
the one who lived and had his pains and pleasures, his 
hopes and realities; the one of flesh and blood, instead of 
the distorted figure of romance, he will find him in "The 
Story of the Cowboy," with a store of information concern- 
ing the cattle industry of which be never before had even a 
hint. 
The illustrations, like the test, are the product of actual 
knowledge, and are excellent in their portrayal of stirring 
scenes of the ranch. Mr, Russel, a cowboy, whose home is 
a Montana ranch, and whose skill with the brush is winning 
him much fame, has put some of his best efforts in the illus- 
trations. 
FIXTURES. 
BENCH SHOWS. 
Dec. 8.— Rhode Island Poultry Association's show, Pawtuxet, R. I. 
Nov. 23.— Metropoliiaa Kennel Club's second annual show, Brook- 
lyn, N. Y. 
FIELD TRIALS. 
Nov. 8.— Missouri and Illinois Fox-HuDters' Club's ninth annual 
meet, Salem, Mo. 
Nov. 8.— Union Field Trials Club's trials, Carlisle, Ind. 
Nov. 9.— Central Beagrle Club's trials. Bice's Landing:, Pa. 
Nov. 10.— Western Massachnsetts Fox Club's meet, Westfleld, Mass. 
Nov. 15 —National Fox HunCere' Association's fourth annual triais! 
Qynthiana, Ky. 
Nov. 15.— E F. T. Club's trials, Newton, N. C. 
Nov. 16.— International Field Trials Club's eighth annual trials 
Chatham, Out. 
Nov. 22.— U. S. F. T. Club's autumn trials, Newton, N. C. 
Nov. 29.— Dixie Red Fox Club's third annual meet, Waverly, Miss. 
Dec. 6.— Texas Fox-Hunters' Association's meet, Hinson Sprines, 
Tex. 
189S. 
Jan. 10.— U. S. F. T Club's winter trials, West Point, Miss. 
Jan. 17.— Continental F. T. Club's trials, New Albany, Miss. 
Jan. 24 -Pacific Coast Field Trial Club s trials, Bakersfleld. Cal 
Jan. 24.— Union Field Trials Club's trials, Tupelo, Miss. 
Feb. 7.— Alabama Field Trial Club's second annual trials, Madison 
PACKS OF HOUNDS IN THE BRITISH 
ISLES. 
The London Field annually presents its readers with a 
table showiug the packs of hounds, their masters, huntsmen, 
kennels, etc. The list generally appears about two or three 
weeks prior to the "opening day," the first Monday in No- 
vember; it is of considerable interest, showing as it does the 
firm hold that fox hunting and other kindred branches of 
the sport have upon the people of the British Isles. This 
year the hst appeared in the issue of Oct. 16, and from it I 
want to gather some material that may prove of interest to 
the hound men of this country. 
Briefly summarized, there are 431 packs of hounds kept 
solely for hunting purposes in the British Isles. These packs 
are divided in the following manner: Staghounds 26; fox- 
hounds 193^; harriers 152; and beagles 50. The twenty -six 
packs of staghounds are made up of 1,263 hounds, an average 
of nearly fifty hounds to a pack. 
Foxhounds are a prominent factor in hound figures. Of 
the 193 packs kept in the British Isles, 159 hunt in England 
and Wales; 10 in Scotland and 24 in Ireland. The 159 packs 
in England and Wales contain 11,838 hounds; the 10 packs 
in Scotland, 705 hounds; the 24 in Ireland, 1.763 hounds. 
The average number of hounds per pack in England and 
Wales is about thirty-seven or thirty-eight couples. Many 
packs, however, run above that number. For instance, the 
Blackmoor Vale, hunted by Mr. Merthyr Guest, has ninetv 
couples on its list. The Badminton, hunted by the Marquis 
of Worcester, has seventy- five couples in its kennels, and 
thes<< seventy-five couples, or 150 hounds, furnish material 
for hunting the Badminton country five days a week during 
the season. Other packs of considerable size are the Led- 
bury 65 couples, Belvoir 64 couples, Atherstone 63, Percy 
63^, South and West Wiltshire 61, and Lord Fitzhardinge's 
60. In Scotland, the Duke of Buccleugh's kennels contain 
57 couples; in Ireland, the Meath hounds number 66 couples, 
the country hunted by them being given "nine days a fort- 
night and a bye day.'"' The total number of foxhounds in 
the 193 packs given in the London Fkld's list is 14,306. 
While there are many very large packs of foxhounds, there 
are also several small ones, all of which afford lots of hunting 
for their followers, The smallest pack in the list is.Mr. T 
Clennell's packs of seven couples, Mr. Clennell being both 
master and huntsman. The huntine days of this little pack 
are given as "uncertain." The B^wcastle hounds, a new 
oack this season, contains eight couoles nf hounds, the pack 
being hunted twice a week bv Messrs. W. Routled^e and J. 
BeU. This pack is "trencher fed"; that is. there are no 
regular kennels, hounds being gathered together the dav 
previous to the hunting dav. Another "trpucher fed" nack 
is the Farndale, nine couples, hunted bv Richardson Shaw 
under the direction of a committee. Another small pack 
that give"? lots of sport is the Eskdale, nine couples, Mr. 
Thomas Dobson, mastpr and huntsman. 
In the Badminton Magazine- last year there was an article 
from an able pen on the Staintondale hounds, a small oack 
that hunts a narrow ptrio of land along the rus-eed seacoast 
of Yorkshire from Whitby on the north to Framborough 
Head (or thereabouts) on the south. Many good days on 
foot have I had with (then) trencher fed pack, in the years 
between 1875 and 1885. Living at the time in Scarboroush, 
Yorkshire, before the Scarborough and Whitby railroad was 
in running order, we had many a long walk, necessitating a 
daylight start, if we wanted to me^t the hounds before they 
were (literally) thrown off. The Falcon Inn, as I recall it, 
some eight or ten miles from Scarborough, was not too far 
for us to go on foot to meet the hounds by 10 o'clock in the 
morning. If we were lucliv, and the hounds and their foxes 
—for there were plenty of foxes along the underclift"— made 
their wav southwards to Havburn'' Wvke or Cloughton 
Wyke, well and good ; we would then have only about six 
miles to walk home in the dusk. At such times we'd set 
home in time for dinner at 7 P. M. But if the fox went the 
other way; well, then we'd be late for dinner, and pretty 
tired when we got home. 
Still, I look back upon those days with the Staintondale, 
when Christopher Leadley was master and Tommie Har- 
rison was huntsman, with the keenest delight. Bv the way, 
Tommie Harrison is still huntsman, but how old he is, I've 
no idea. The pack since I knew it has become rather du'dish. 
A friend of mine, W. S. Tindall, is now the master, and the 
hounds are no longer trencher fed. Tommie does not have 
to go around on the afternoons prior to the hunting days and 
blow his horn near every farmhouse to call the hounds to- 
gether. Neither are the hounds dismissed to their homes 
every evening after hunting is over. They go home together 
to their kennels now like the swell packs of the "grass 
coimtry." 
Of course, the country hunted by these hounds was no 
good for riding over. 1 very seldom remember seeing any- 
body mounted, except the master and Tommie, the latter on 
a $25 nag that could knock down half a stone wall aud keep 
right on without a stumble. But as a rul« Tommie would 
be off his horse as often as he was on it. Precipitous cliffs, 
with an undercliff like a bench, covered with blackthorn 
thickets, briers aud rocks, great strongholds for the sturdv 
cliff foxes, don't make good grouu'l for riding to hounds If 
a wanderer from Sir Harcourt Johnstone's territory hap- 
pened to be found courting some fair Miss Reynard in Hav- 
burn Wyke, then Tommie needed his horse to catch up with 
the hounds as thev raced inland. 
A very pretty sight was one often seen when the meet was 
near Cloughton or Hayburn Wyke. Standing on the edge 
of the cliff one could look down on the hounds as they drevr 
the thorn thickets, Rake or Melody (twenty years ago, mind 
you.) giving tongue now and then. Watch the other hounds 
fly to them. Isn't that worth looking at? Now cast your 
eyes ahead to the "point," or lipadland that juts out and 
masks the end of this bay. Watch the paths that lead 
around it. Roger's Trod, for instance, a path half way up 
the face of the cliff, consecrated to the memory of a bold 
smuggler of early days. The man who first sees the little 
red rascal slipping away along one of those paths is a hero 
for the moment, even if be does wear knickerbockers and 
runs with hounds, instead of bestriding a $300 horse. Occa- 
sionally a fox is seen slipping around in the cover below. 
Eludmg the hounds for a time, he takes to the cliff, jumping 
on a ledge where he can watch the hounds at his leisure and, 
probably, laugh at their efforts to puzzle out his line. I saw 
that happen once, in fact everybody out with the hounds, 
and who had stayed on the top of the cliff instead of follow- 
ing Tommie and his hounds, saw it. I remember how ex- 
cited we got as the hounds gradually got the line straightened 
out and came out of the thicket on the trail of Master Pox. 
To reach his ledge the fox had taken two or three curious 
sidewise l°aps, jumping from ledge to ledge. Then came 
the question: Would the hounds be able to oust the fox, 
which we saw by this lime was getting quite uneasy, and 
which had apparently flattened himself out on the ledge? 
To make a long story short, one or two hounds that knew 
their business got so uncomfortably close to the fox that he 
made up his mind to fly. Down "he went, apparently right 
in the midst of the hounds, which tumbled over themselves 
and him in their efforts to catch him. He slipped through 
them like an eel. got into the thicket again in a jiffy, and in 
less than five minutes came out again lower down and made 
all speed south, rounding the point and going to ground in a 
safe haven about a mile below. Such was part of the sport 
to be obtained with the Staintondale hounds twenty years 
ago. All of which goes to show, to my mind, that it is not 
necessary to have high-priced horses, twenty-five couples of 
hounds, level and clean-limbed, nor a gra.ss country, to have 
good sport after the foxes of the Old Country 
Returning to the list of packs of hounds for this season : 
The 155i packs of harriers (hounds kept for hare hunting) 
are divided as follows: 121 packs in England and Wales, 2 
packs in Scotland and 39 packs in Ireland. The 121 packs 
in England and Wales contain 4,113 hounds; the 2 packs in 
Scotland 85 hounds; the 29 packs in Ireland 1.056 hounds. 
A total of 5,254 harriers are thus kept for the purpose of 
hunting the hare. Very often in certain sections of country 
where foxhounds seldom or never come, these packs give 
lots of fun after an outlying fox, and frequently account 
for them, too. 
The British Isles have 50 packs of beagles that contain 
altogether 1,330 hounds. The hounds in these packs are 
described variously. Some are "pure beagles"; others "stud 
book beagles," "beagle harriers." "cross beagle and harrier," 
etc. Among the 50 packs of "beagles" are also 4 packs 
of pure Basset hounds: Delapre, 15 couples of Basset hounds; 
the Highworth (a new pack this season), 14 couples of 12in,' 
Basset hounds ; Mr Moss's pack, 14 couples of 13in. Basset 
hounds; the Walhamplon pack, 16 couples of 12in. Basset 
hounds. In Ireland, the Scarteen beagles are described as 
23in. pure Kerry beagles, black and tan. (Note: 23in. 
hounds seem large for beagles, but I note that the same 
nack seems to be also mentioned in the list of harriers in 
Ireland.) 
A pack of beagles that I once took a little interest in is 
the pack known as the Trinity College, Cambridge, foot 
beagles, 16in. beagle-harriers. If anybody wanted a leg- 
stretoher over the Cambridgeshire fens, with their heavy 
holding ground and wide drains, he could alwavs get it by 
following faithfuHv those 16in. hounds after a fen country 
hare. The hounds are hunted by an undergraduate master 
and undergraduate whip=!. Tie master was allowed to ride 
after them, so fa^- as I can remember, but no one else, not 
even the whips. Now, 16in. hounds can run a Kttle, and so 
can fen country hares. 
From the figures given above, regarding the packs of dif- 
ferent kinds of hounds, it will be seen that there are alto- 
gether 23.152 hounds kept in the British Isles for purposes 
of hunting either stags, foxes or hares. This is an enormous 
number, and on" that will probably astonish many a fox- 
hunter of the U' ited States. It may be noted, too, that of 
the above number, nearly 16,000 hounds belong to foxhound 
and harrier riacks that are used for hunting purposes in Eng- 
land or Wales onlv. One can deduce from t^at fact that 
there is still some elbowroom left over tbere. One can also 
deduce the following comforting fact: Farmers and land- 
owners cannot be very far apart in sympathy, since so many 
packs of hounds means just so much riding over the fields, 
and so much fence-breaking. Of course, the farmer gets 
some compensation in the ready sale of hay, oats and straw, 
to supply the needs of the horses kept for hunting purposes. 
A great factor, however, and one that is largely answerable 
^or the continued ponularity of all kinds of hunting with 
hounds, is the innate love of sport that is part and parcel of 
a farmer's character in the Old Country. 
Edw abd Banks. 
WORCESTER FUR COMPANY'S MEET. 
Tttr annual meet of the Worcester Fur Company was held 
on Oct. 26-27. Out of seven foxes started Tuesday, two were 
killed, .John M. White, of Millbury, killing one at Cushirg 
Swamp, the "ther succumbing t© the skill of George R, 
Newton, of Worcester. The weather conditions were un- 
favorable for the SDOrt. the weather being too dry, and 
therefore the dogs had great difficulty in trailing. Ho wever, 
UD to 10 o'clon.k on Tuesday morning everything was going 
with dash and spirit, the dogs giving tongue melodiously in 
different directions, three different packs going on the hot 
trail of three foxes, and there were fully 100 eager hunters 
on the grounds, each willing to dohis part if the opportunity 
offered. It was impossible to determine the exact number 
present, as they were scattered about over the grounds, but 
each one had several others in sight at all times, and they 
always knew where some of the hounds were at work. 
President 'ohr R. Thayer. 0. M B-^H, Webster Thayer. D. 
M. Earle, W. H. Sawver, ,]ohn M. White, J. E. Fuller and 
many others drove out in their own carriages, and others 
made use of the barges which left the Bay State House at 6 
o'clock. 
The dogs, somp thirty in all, were started in at different 
points, some at Burncoat Hill, some at Greenhill. some at 
the south end of Bondhill, others at the east end of it, and 
some at Cushing Swamp. 
A summary of the day is; The fox killed by Mr. Newton 
was started probably by B P. Williamson's dog Shine, and 
the trail was taken up by Buck and Dan, turned in by A. B. 
F. Kinnev. Hard run. "the fox passed near by the stands of 
Thayer, Webster and Knowles, but out of range of them. A 
fox chased by Wall's dog ran toward east ridge, where it 
escaped. Logan jumped a fox north of Shoemaker's, but 
lost it after a hard chase. Other foxes were started in the 
forenoon, but no one could determine where the chase began 
or ended. Some of the dogs undoubtedly behaved badly, 
notably one at the ea«t en of Bond Hill when a hound gave 
tongue and ran a back track. 
It was a day redounding to the credit of Southern hounds, 
as they were the ones which furnished the real sport, and 
the two foxes killed were chased bv Southern hounds. Shine, 
a Georgia hound, owned by B P.Williamson, his Barre 
honors still fresh upon him, proved his merit by the skill 
with which he ran the fox from Bond Hill. 
Logan proved himself a great dog, and where his voice was 
beard it was certain that he was after a fox. One of Mr. 
Thayer's dogs was severely cut by running into a wire fence. 
Members held the opinion that it would have added much to 
the success of the hunt if those who shot and missed would 
report truthfully, as it was only possible by full reports to 
discover what foxes were hunted and where and how they 
ran. There was a great deal of firing, but when the hunters 
were gathered the explanations of it were that there were 
bird hunters on the grounds, and yet there is no doubt but 
what much of the firing was done by the hunters. Mr. Bill 
was manfuUy frank in admitting that he shot at a fox and 
missed. 
At 7 :30 the members aud guests were seated for the annual 
dinner, in the Bay State House. Over eighty persons were 
present. 
The guests of the club were Mavor A, B: R Sprague, 
Rev. Dr. Almon Gunnison and Prof. E. Harlow Russell. 
President Thaver had at his right Mayor Sprague, at 
whose right sat Prof. Ru'sell. At the left of the president 
sat Rev. Dr. Gunnison. There were at the table also A B. 
F. Kinney, John T. May, E. S Knowles, Hubert Clark, H. 
N. Kingsbury, O. M. Ball, L. F. Herrick and Ledyard Bill. 
There also were present: A A. Sibley. J. P jAshey, Gporge 
Bancroft, F. W. Trask, George H. Waite. Dr. "C. E. H. 
Higgins, F. E. Amsden, G E. "Austin, L. D Kellogg, Fred 
L. Lee, James E. Fuller, W. R. Dsau, B. P. Williamson, 
Frank T. Sirret, George F. Lyon, C. E. Perry. A. B. Fisher, 
Charles K. Pevev. Paul Wheeler, Arthur "R, Taft, N. E. 
Mansfield, G. H Sargent, A, W. Walls. A. C. Moore, F. D. 
Houghton, C. A. Hutchinson, Dr. F. A. Hatch, C. Arthur 
Hanson, Herbert E. Kelly, H. W. Boardman, E. Allen, 
Charles S Bacon, Roland E. Howard, Harold L. Gulick, 
Clarence G Dodge, Albert A. Barker, Charles I. Rice, A 
G. Dodge. E. H. Cote, Capt. D M. Earle, S. C. Buckman, 
F. M. Ldmb, D. S, Jackson, A. H Perry, William F. Hogg, 
Frank L. Dean, George F. Wall, Fred A. Mann, Ctiarles F. 
Mann, E. W. Wails, Elmer D. Young, Henry H. Chase, 
C. W . Dodge, E. P. Bennett, C. B. Holden. E. T. Whita- 
ker, William S. Perry, A. H. Henry, VI. R. Watson. W. H. 
Haynes, R W. Bufiington, E. L. Buffington, J. H. Eldridge 
A. W. Hunt and Arthur Fiagg. 
President Thayer, before the speech-making began, sug- 
gested that the grounds for the next day's hunt be deter- 
mined upon, and though the same ground was the popular 
choice, yet on the suggestion of Mr. Thayer, that if the same 
ground was selected John M. White, who exerted himself to 
the utmost in promoting the welfare of the club, and who, 
owing to poor health, would not be ablejo hunt on grounds 
osher than the North grounds, the iNorth grounds were 
selected. 
