up over 40,000 tjfilicensed dogs yearly, which are killed 
with gas by the Humane Society, at the Battersea Home 
I — the almost incredible number of 700,000 dogs since 
' 1860— so heart-breaking has this killing become that a 
country home with several acres of ground has just been 
opened' at Hackbridge, where large numbers of these 
animals can be saved and put into good homes. There is 
; to be a cemetery in conection with the home, like the one 
at Victoria Gate, Bayswater Road, opened in 1859, and 
now nearly full- A touching place is this with its monu- 
ments to devoted friends. One stone hears the words, 
"To Faustie, faithful friend, lovely, loving and most 
dearly loved." Another, ''Dear little dog; as deeply 
mourned as ever a dog was mourned." But the 700,000 
unlicensed and homeless dogs have no graves to rest in. 
The report of the Home on Battersea Road, for 1896, 
says, after the muzzling order of that year, about 700 
dogs were gathered up each day for several weeks. 
•'From morning till night the home was crowded with, 
not only dogs, but persons seeking for their dogs., All 
day long a string of vans laden with dogs might be 
seen waiting in the road to discharge their burden. J.n 
addition, police constables Avere constantly arriving on 
foot leading three or four dogs each." Men worked till 
midnight and even i o'clock at the home, and came agani 
at six in the morning, for the destruction of these blame- 
less, unmuzzled creatures. What a picture of an easily 
passed muzzling law, with little thought apparently by 
the council of tJie misery and death of the poor victims ! 
A speaker at a recent meeting in London said the 
Exchequer receipts showed that dog licenses produced in 
the year 1895-6 over £500,000, and added, "Where shall 
we find another class of taxpayers who contribute^ so 
largely to the revenue and receive so little in return?" 
In Philadelphia, where 6,000 or more unlicensed dogs 
are put to death each year, the Jotirnal of Zoophily, April, 
1898, says: "It is a sorrowful necessity which compels 
us to take the lives of any of the number who are well 
and strong, and in a condition to enjoy life, and we 
wish we could do otherwise. Some of ot:r colleagues are 
so penetrated with this feeling that they have started a 
temporary home for dogs in the upper part of the city, 
3241 North Twelfth street, near Tioga, where those 
possessing any great degree of beautj"- or intelligence, or 
any valuable qualities, are kept until good homes can be 
found for them." 
Boston (at Brighton, a suburb)' has the Gifford Home 
for Animals, much like that at Hackbridge, to which 
iMrs. Ellen M. Gifford gave nearly $100,000. There are 
over 200 cats in the institution, happy and well cared 
for, and many dogs. Similar homes ought to be built in 
all our cities. 
The Frances Power Cobbe Refuge, of Indianapolis, 
Ind., saves himdreds of homeless dogs and cats. Mrs. 
Mary O. Elster devotes her life to teaching that she 
may provide means for this beneficent work, while her 
husband, who is somewhat crippled, cares tenderly for 
the animals. To both this noble work is a labor of 
love. 
"What shall we do with our surplus animals?" is the 
oft-repeated question. Repeal the license laws, let the 
poor keep their pets, and we shall have few surplus 
animals. Every family is better for having some pet 
animal to love. Where it is impossible to repeal license 
laws, let the license fees be given, not to city or humane 
officials, or to public schools to teach children kindness 
to animals, or public libraries to spread knowledge, but 
to build homes or find homes for unlicensed animals. 
For the really homeless dogs and cats, let us do our 
personal share in caring for them, and let homes be 
provided as for others of God's helpless creatures. When 
we find a homeles animal, let us advertise it in the 
papers, saying that we will give it to a good home, and 
then taks pains to find out if the home is a good one. 
Let agents be emploj^ed, not to kill homeless creatures, 
but to seek homes for them as we do for unfortunate 
children. A philanthropic woman gave several hundred 
dollars in the winter of 1S98 to provide food for home- 
less dogs and cats in Boston, and an agent was hired 
to carry out her noble thought. We give to hospitals, to 
libraries, and to poorhouses. What do we give to 
animals? 
Perhaps out Legislatures will sometirnes grant money 
to humane societies as thej^ do to schools and libraries, 
for the elevation of the people. Helpless children and 
helpless animals as well are in a large sense the wards of 
the State, and anything to better their condition should 
receive the sympathy and aid of the State. 
The West Virginia S. P. C. A. has obtained from the 
Legislature an appropriation of $3,000 annualhr to aid the 
work of the Society. 
Let the kennel clubs, or lovers of dogs, obtain laws 
through each State Legislature making the dog "prop- 
erty," so that nobody has the right to kill him, any 
more than a man's horse or his cow, and then test the 
license laws in the courts. The question of revenue from 
dependent creatures who look to us for safetj' and pro- 
tection, and killing them by the tens of thousands be- 
cause the money is not paid, is Unworthy a Christian 
people. Each day the dreadful work goes on. While we 
walk in the sunshine and enjoy perchance homes of 
luxury, the dog catchers with their wagons are carrying 
the terrified and devoted friends of man to pounds or 
shelters, and to death. If a city of 400,000 population 
does not need and does not have license with its pitiful 
results, let other cities, even larger ones, try this humane 
policy. ^ 
Points and Floslies. 
Vol. XVIII. of the Greyhound Stud Book, 1899, con- 
tains 387 pages of matter replete with information of 
interest to all greyhound owners and fanciers. The re- 
view oi the coursing season of 1898-1899 is particularly 
interesting and instructi'v^e. The book is published by 
Horace Cox, London. 
i DON^T SHOOT S 
g aotJI yoo SEE your deer — and see « 
^ that it is a deer and not a man, ^ 
Fixtures. 
OCTOBKS. 
8-5-7. New York, America Cup inatches, Sandy Hook. 
l"o all appearances the question of a clear course is 
likely to be no longer a factor in Cup races at New 
York. The subject has been taken up vigorously by the 
United States Government, and the Navy will be called 
on to carry out the rigid regulations laid down by the 
Treasury Department. The proposed plan is of course 
an experiment, of a sort never tried before, and further 
experience may be needed before it is perfected; but it 
promises to protect the two racing yachts and to keep a 
clear course. Its practical working will be watched with 
deep interest, as it is evident that without some such 
I^lan no important race can be sailed at Newport, Marble- 
head or elsewhere in waters convenient for the racing 
craft. One important point to be tested is the effect on 
the attendant fleet, whether the general view of the race 
will be as good as when everj^ boat which chose to do so 
was allowed to hang close to the yachts. 
Among other considerations, it must not be over- 
looked that the proper reporting of the race is of very 
great importance to all yachtsmen. To insure this and to 
remove one of the serious causes of interference, it would 
be well if an arrangement were made to carry some of the 
representatives of the press on a special boat of the patrol 
licet, under the charge of proper officers, who, while using 
her at a safe distance, and as a patrol boat, would still 
place her so as to give the best possible view of the race 
to those who are compelled to see it as a matter of busi- 
ness. 
The special agreement between Sir Thomas Lipton and 
Mr. Iselin, that each boat shall abide by its own mis- 
haps, one continuing over the course even in the event 
of the other being compelled to withdraw through an in- 
jury, disposes of much of the iianib3'-pamby sentimental- 
ism which surrounds this detail of yacht racing. Under 
the racing rules of all clubs and associations, a race starts 
as soon as the preparatory signal is given, after which time 
no one can interfere Avith it, and it must be sailed out 
under the rules. No race committee or similar body has 
power over the yachts to recall such as cross the line 
before the starting gun, or to peremptorily disqualify 
such as plainly violate the rules. It may be that special 
cases may arise, as in the fouling of Genesta and Puritan, 
in which the race is stopped through an injury involving 
both yachts, necessitating an entirely new start; but or- 
dinarily after a race is once started by the sounding of 
the preparatory signal it must run its course until the 
competitors finish or withdraw or the time limit expires. 
While in yacht racing, as in all sports, there is always 
an opportunit}'' for the display of chivalry, and the true 
sjjorting spirit, there is nothing in the strict rules nor in 
the. ethics of modern j'achting which makes it necessary 
for one competitor in an international race to withdraw 
on account of a mishap to the other. On the contrary, 
as the chosen representative of his club and nation, it is 
the duty of each competitor to stick to the course under 
all circumstances, observing the rules both in spirit and 
letter. 
As we pointed out not long ago, the challenger in the 
America Cup inatches is sailing not strictly as the chosen 
representative of a club, but rather as an individual chal- 
lenger indorsed by a club, and he has by custom a much 
greater freedom of action than the owner or skipper of 
a yacht chosen to represent a club from a trial fleet. 
It is an open question as to how far an individual may- 
go in declining to take a race on technical grounds or in 
other similar matters without laying himself open to the 
charge of sacrificing the rights of his club. It is pretty 
safe to say, however, that in most international and even 
interclub matches the representative of a club has no 
right whatever to withdraw from a race u^iless instructed 
lo do so by the members of the club regatta committee 
or similar body. 
In such great contests as the present one, it is quite 
conceivable that peculiar circumstances may make it 
desirable in the interests of all parties — the two contest- 
ants, the two clubs and the spectators — to stop 
a race aftel' it has fairly started and to order 
a new start. As the rules now stand, however, we 
cannot see that this can be done; there is nothing for 
it, even in the event of the injury of a competitor by 
outside interference, for which she could not be dis- 
qualified, but to allow the other yacht to continue over 
the course and to declare her the winner. 
It is probable that in, time the conduct of great inter- 
national races will be placed in the hands of a special 
committee composed of yachtsmen of known ability and 
integrity and of various nationalities, for instance a 
committee of five — x\merican, English, French, German 
and Canadian; this committee having far greater powers 
than those now enjoyed by the club regatta committee. 
In the case of a serious complication, such as that of the 
Valkyrie-Defender foul, and the charges of Lord Dun- 
raven against Defender for violation of the ballast rule, 
the decision of such an impartial and disinterested body 
would carry infinitely more weight than that of any 
committee, "however able and impartial, composed of the 
members, of one interested club. The great cost of the 
modern ooft. racer, the infinite labor imposed on both 
parties, the widespread interest in the races and the 
serious effect for good or evil on the mutual relations 
of two great nations, all make it desirable special efforts 
should be taken to secure absolutely fair and satisfactory 
races and to avoid ail subsequent discussion and ill- 
feeling. . 
The docking of Shamrock on Wednesday of last week 
was marked by a sad mishap, no less than the sudden 
and violent collapse of much advertised "world's scoop" 
of the Boston Herald. The trouble began on the previous 
day, when it was noticed that the keel blocks as laid for 
the docking of Shamrock indicated a rockered instead 
of a perfectly straight keel as shown in the Herald's de- 
sign. By the time the yacht was half dry the impudent 
imposition had shrunk to infinitesitrial dimensions, and 
when she finally stood exposed down to the lowest point 
of her keel there was an explosion, followed by a dull, 
sickening thud, as the remains of this "world-beating" 
take fell to the ground. Profiting by the warning of the 
keel blocks, some of the many newspaper men present 
had armed themselves with copies of the "X-ray" design 
which was to bring confusion to Shamrock's owner, de- 
signer and builder" and show them that their efforts at 
secrecy were of no avail against the Herald. They were 
brutal and unfeeling enough to produce these and to 
point out how every important and characteristic feature 
of the yacht contradicted the alleged exclusive and exact 
design. 
Instead of being short and straight, as pictured by the 
Herald, the keel is long, with a distinct rocker aft and 
a much stronger curve forward; the fore edge of the fin 
is much further forward and with a straight to it in place 
of a continuous curve, and the rudder post is much 
further aft. The topsides of the yacht were quite as differ- 
ent as the bottom from the alleged plans; in place of the 
excessively long overhangs, with a low spike-ended_ bow 
and a higher counter, the sheer being circular, with a 
ridiculously low freeboard and the lowest point amid- 
ships, the real vacht shows a noticeably high bold side, 
with short ove'rhangs, round blunt bow, and straight 
sheer, the lowest point being well aft, as in most good 
yachts. Those elements such as draft, displacement, 
lateral plane, midship section and wetted surface, which 
in the fake Shamrock are less than in the sister fake 
Columbia, are in the true Shamrock considerably greater 
than in the true Columbia; and the reverse is true of the 
over all length. Even assuming that Shamrock would 
never be docked in public in this country, and that the 
whole extent of the fraud would not be discovered, the 
alleged design was so utterly unlike anything that Will 
Fife has ever done, and what any intelligent designer 
ever would do, that it could only impose on those entirely 
ignorant of yachting. It is a matter of surprise that a. 
paper of the' Herald's prominence will deliberately lend 
itself to such a palpable and obvious attempt at de- 
ception. 
Shamrock and Columbia. 
HARDL'y less interesting than the racing itself, the dock- 
ing of the two Cup racers last week made a fitting pre- 
lude, attracting thousands of curious spectators. It was 
expected that the two yachts would be docked in the 
same basin— at the Erie Basin drydocks— on Thursday, 
Sept. 28, and both parties agreed to this; but for some 
unexplained reason this programme was changed. Sham 
fock was towed up to the Erie Basin on Sept. 20, the 
original intention of another trial under sail on that day 
being abandoned, and she was docked on the following 
day. Columbia was under way on Sept. 26 on 
the Sound, and met with a mishap— her bobstay parting- 
so that she was compelled to forego further trials. By 
special permission of the Navy Department, she was 
docked in the new drydock No. 3 at the Brooklyn Navy 
Yard on Sept. 28. The programme is for the two to be 
floated on Monday, Oct. 2, and at the same time to be 
measured by Mr. John Hy.slop, measurer of the New 
York Y. C, before leaving the basins, as the work can 
only be done satisfactorily in perfectly smooth water, 
undisturbed by wind and tide. While in the docks both 
yachts were freely exposed to view. The Erie Basin dry- 
dccks were open to all visitors, the only restriction being 
against cameras, which were checked by the watchman 
at the yard gate. It was more difficult to secure access 
to the Navy Yard, as the public are only admitted on 
passes furnished on written application by mail, a fact 
unknown to many, while there was little time to procure 
such a pass. In one way or another a great many 
managed to get into the yard, but many were turned 
away from the gates; cameras were as far as possible 
excluded. Both yachts were exposed, no attempt what- 
ever being made to cover them with "petticoats" or 
other feminine adornments. Before the paint stages were 
in place there was practically nothing to interfere with 
the view, the few shores on each side being high up at 
the deck. The only difficulty in seeing arose irom the 
fact that each yacht was down in a deep dock, where 
no one but those connected with her was allowed, and 
the view from the top of the dock, though showing all 
parts, was very misleading, especially as to the midship 
section and the depth of bilge. In spite of the barring 
of cameras, a number of photos were taken of each 
boat. 
The work of preparing the keel blocks for Shamrock 
began on Tuesday, the outline of the lower side of the 
keel being laid down fuh size from the docking plan on 
the mould loft at the Erie Basin and a mould made which 
was set up on the keel blocks in the smaller drydock — 
the same one in which Genesta, Thistle, Pilgrim, Valkyrie 
II., Valkyrie III. and Defender have been docked in 
previous years. The extra blocking required for the 
yacht was laid near the entrance to the dock, where 
Thistle, Genesta and Pilgrim were located, and further 
down than the position of Valkyrie III. and Defender. 
The work was watched by a number of curious specta- 
tors, some of them newspaper men, and there was a great 
deal of amusement as the blocks were built up to fit a 
rockered keel instead of the straight one designed by the 
inspired author of the great "word's scoop." The blocks 
showed a decided round-up aft, the after block beings 
about 6in. deep, while, as subsequently disclosed, the 
heel of the rudder is over a foot above the baseline. The 
lower side of the keel has a rocker for its entire length, 
rising each way from a point abaft the middle of its 
length. The blocks supported the keel for a length of 
about 25ft., and the forward block was nearly 2ft. high. 
The Lipton fleet at the Basin included Shamrock, the 
crew steamer Plymouth, the big derrick barge with the 
extra spars, and the launch Killowen, the tug Lawrence 
being also in attendance at times. Shamrock and 
Plymouth were moored at the mouth of the drydock, and 
the crew on paint stages set to work on Tuesday to scaie 
all the green paint from the topsides. This was nearly 
completed by Wednesday morning, but the men were ai 
work smoothing up the topsides until about 10 o'clock 
The gates in the caisson were opened just after 10 o'cIock, 
and by 11:30 the dock was full. The caisson was the'" 
floated and warped clear of the entrance, and Shamror^i.- 
was towed in by her crew. Under the direction of Mr, 
