fEB. 10, IpOO-i 
Stories of the great size of the mastiffs of Thibet, the 
height and weight of which were, it was said, only ex- 
ceeded by their ferocity. Specimens have been occasion- 
ally imported to this country and did not reach even lOO 
pounds in weight, and travelers who have seen them in 
their native country have told us that the biggest speci- 
mens are inferior in size to our Newfoundlands. The bor- 
zois or Russian wolfhounds are, as a rule, pretty tall, the 
largest of them coming up to about 30 inches at the shoul- 
der; but in weight they are far behind many other vari- 
eties, about seven stones of 14 pounds each being the 
extreme the best hounds reach, and the Scottish deer- 
hounds are some few pounds lighter and smaller gener- 
ally. 
There is a crossbred Continental dog known as the 
Leonberg, which bears a reputation for bigness, but any 
specimens seen in this country are almost diminutive 
when placed alongside our biggest St. Bernards. Some of 
the Pyrenean so-called "sheepdogs," so far as size is con- 
cerned, compare favorably with our largest dogs, and a 
few years ago — in 189X — the well-known London dealer, 
Willson, brought a splendid specimen of what he called 
an Afghan sheep dog for us to see. It stood hard on to 
35 mches at the shoulders, and looked what it actually 
was, pretty well the tallest dog we ever saw; but it was 
by no means the heaviest. 
Our English mastiffs take but a secondary place with 
regard to height, but their massive bodies and big bones 
enable them to come out better, so far as weight is con- 
cerned, and dogs up to 150 pounds, and even 170 pounds, 
are not unknown, although we imagine that of late years 
this variety has, by interbreeding and other causes, some- 
what deteriorated in size, as it has certainly done in gen- 
eral excellence. 
Although when the St. Bernard was first introduced 
to this country, the best specimens were not of abnormal 
dimensions, they were large dogs, though the best of them 
were certainly not more than from 140 pounds to 150 
poounds in weight. The famous Barry, of the hospice, 
who, by reason of his saving the lives of so many trav- 
elers lost in the snow, made the breed famous, did not 
weigh more than 130 pounds; and Albert Smith's pair of 
dogs, which he brought from Switzerland about 1850 to 
assist him in his popular entertainments, seemed to be 
little, if any, heavier. However, by a special process, 
which is worked out by selection of the fittest, and by 
extra care in rearing and feeding, the St. Bernard has 
waxed and increased greatly in size, until he stands well 
out from all other varieties as the giant of the canine race 
— ^i. e., taking height and weight into consideration, for 
there are and have been taller dogs than he. As the 
Goliath of dogs, in 1884 the Rev. A. Carter introduced 
Plinlimmon, who towered high above any of his strain. 
Fairly and carefully measured, he stood 33^ inches high 
at the shoulders, and weighed in his natural and not too 
obese state, 210 pounds. This fine specimen of the St. 
Bernard was eventually purchased for about £800 by the 
late Mr. J. K. Enimett, a well-known American actor, in 
whose possession the great dog died. But a bigger St. 
Bernard than Plinlimmon was introduced three years 
later, this being Mr. T. H. Green's Sir Bedivere, who, be- 
sides being his equal in height, exceeded him by 2 or 3 
pounds in weight. Lord Bute was even half an inch 
higher at the shoulders than Sir Bedivere; when with us 
he weighed but 200 pounds, though after he had so- 
journed a few weeks in America he was said to scale 220 
pounds — a statement which, to say the least, was of doubt- 
ful truth. Later there did come a heavier dog, or, rather, 
two heavier dogs, than either Plinlimmon or Sir Bedi- 
vere, and in 1897 Mr. Sant's Lord Brassey scaled the im- 
mense weight of 234 pounds, while Mr. Ralph's Duke of 
Firmont, who flourished about the same period, was but 
some half a dozen pounds less. It is not often the females 
of the large varieties of the dog approach the males in 
size, but a notable exception is the case of the celebrated 
Princess Florence, who weighed 212 pounds, and she ob- 
tained her enormous size and height, length of back and 
great frame generally. The late Mr. H. J. Betterton's 
smooth dog Watch was a little over 200 pounds in weight, 
but he did not look nearly so big, and we imagine that 
the biggest dog of the present day is Messrs. Inman and 
Walmsley's smooth dog Parsival, who must scale well 
over the 200-pound. He is of great height and possesses 
enormous bone and unusual depth of ribs. 
Perhaps there may be owners who will claim for their 
dogs equality or maybe excess in weight over such as 
have been mentioned in this article. Our examples have, 
however, obtained more or less celebrity in their line, and, 
having done so, thus become more or less public charac- 
ters, and therein the interest lies. Moreover, they enable 
us to tell what big dogs are, of their weights and heights, 
and to draw attention to the fact that dogs "more than a 
yard high" are as mythical as such as are said to be "as 
big as donkeys," and our readers are assured that when 
they are mentioned the romancist is at work, and allusions 
to such fabulous specimens of the canine race must be 
taken as travelers' tales and as examples of exaggeration. 
Points and Flushes. 
The Kansas City Kennel Club has claimed March 14 
to T7, inclusive, for a bench show, under A. K. C. 
rules, and will hang up liberal premiums ($2,000) or over, 
exclusive of specials. American Kennel rules will be 
strictly adhered to, and James Mortimer has been in- 
vited to act as principal judge. The show will be held 
in the new convention hall, the finest and largest building 
in the West. 
CL.A.Y Center, Kan. — My wife and I always look for- 
ward eagerly to the appearance of Forest and Stream, 
and it is closely scanned from beginning to end, even the 
advertisements. My wife is as enthusiastic in field sports 
arS I, and is a much better shot than I am. E. J. L. 
Take inventory of the good things In this issue of 
Forest and Stream. Recall what a fund was given 
last week. Count on what is to come next week 
Was there ever in all the world a more abundant 
weekly store of sportsmen's readins? 
FOREST ANt) STREAM. 
■ — : 
Gloria, cutter, designed in 1898 by Mt. Arthur E. 
Payne to meet the French yacht Esterel in the competi- 
tion for the Coupe de France, has just been purchased 
by Mr. H. C. McLeod, of Halifax, N. S. Mr. McLeod 
will make his home in Toronto in the future, and Gloria 
will be enrolled in the fleet of the Royal Canadian Y. C, 
on Lake Ontario. She will be sailed across early in the 
season. Though necessarily built to race under the 
French rule, she is practically identical with the Y. R. A. 
20-rater Penitent. 
Genesta, the famous 80-ton cutter which, in her second 
season, 1885, raced against Puritan for the America Cup, 
is now hauled out at Gosport, Eng., to be broken up. She 
was designed by J. Beaver Webb for the late Sir Richard 
Sutton, and is of composite construction. Of late years 
she has sailed under the yawl rig. 
Measurement Rules and the Y. R. U. 
Clinton^ Ont,, Jan.. 29. — Editor Forest and Stream: 
Your editorial remarks in your issue of Jan. 27 regard- 
ing the question of a measurement rule remind me of a 
chorus in Mendelsohn's "Elijah" which runs as follows: 
"The harvest now is over, the summer days are gone, and 
yet no power cometh to help us!" I do not know, how- 
ever, that we should be seriously cast down by the failure 
of the Yacht Racing Union of North America to establish 
a good working rule according to its original intentions. 
I should be sorry to say anything that woidd appear like 
criticism of the work of the organizers of the Union, all 
of whom are my seniors in yachting, but I must confess 
that at the time they undertook to provide a universal rule 
for tjie w-holc continent of America, I had serious doubts 
of the feasibility of the scheme. The first difficulty was 
encountered in the form of the New York Y. C, which 
decided, if I remember right, that it did not care to have 
its racing governed by any outside organization. While 
this opinion was somewhat sharply criticized at the 
time, I think it was reflected to a greater or lesser ex- 
tent by other yachting organizations in Canada and the 
United States. It is not so much a question of resenting 
outside interference as the fact that the circumstances 
of various yacht chibs differ greatly, and a rule which 
might be practicable for a large and wealthy institution 
like the New York Y. C. might be utterl}- impracticable 
for a small club. The fact that British yacht clubs accept 
the rules as laid down, amended, and tinkered from time 
to time by the Yacht Racing Association, does not prove 
that any such system would be workable on the Continent 
of North America. Great Britain is a compact country, 
and the yachting centers are nothing like so far apart as 
on this continent. Moreover, the climatic and weather 
conditions do Jiot vary greatly, and there is no reason why 
a rule which is good in the Channel should not be good on 
the Clyde. Another point to be considered is that the 
Avork of measurement is performed by official measurers, a 
few of whom, resident in various parts of England and 
Scotland, are able conveniently to attend to a great deal 
of work. Here the conditions are very different. We 
have to deal with a great variety of local and climatic 
conditions, some of which require radicalty different types 
of yachts. Instead of our yachting centers being close to- 
gether, some of them are separated by thousands of 
miles. Official measurers who receive fees are the ex- 
ception rather than the rule, and supposing for a moment 
that the girth rule or one equally complicated were 
adopted, at the present time, throughout North America, 
there would instantly arise a very troublesome, and, I am 
afraid, expensive question, before all the yachts were prop- 
erly measured for the first season. 
An examination of proposed formulae for new rules al- 
most invariably shows that they are more complicated 
than the old length and sail area rules, and require meas- 
urements and calculations which can only be made by a 
man who has some knowledge of naval architecture and 
mathematics. If yachtsmen could be sure that a rule was 
intrinsically good they might be willing, either as in- 
dividuals or clubs, to go to great trouble and expense to 
have their yachts measured by some complicated system, 
which would involve ascertaining displacement, especially 
if the work when done would stand good for several 
seasons. But unfortunately the proposer of the most 
complicated rule cannot guarantee results; he can only 
give his opinion as to its probable effect, and it is 
little wonder that owners of small yachts, and sailing 
committees of stnall jracht clubs, are found to be very 
shy of complicated innovations which they do not profess 
to understand. 
I know for a fact that there has been some difficulty in 
applying the girth rule during the last season on Lake 
Ontario. In the case of the Royal Hamilton and Ro3'al 
Canadian Yacht Clubs, the difficulty has been overcome 
because the.y both fortunately enjoy the services of 
honorary measurers who were willing to take a great deal 
of trouble, extending over several months, in order to 
get the yachts measured. Some of the smaller yacht 
clubs were not so fortunate, and their boats came to the 
annual regatta at Toronto last summer with incomplete 
measurements. This fault could hardly be charged to the 
owners, who in some cases hardly knew what were the 
requirements of the new rule. In fact they knew very 
little about it except that it was causing an awful lot of 
bother. I may say that the worst of the trouble is now 
Over, and I do not expect any permanent difficulty in 
applying the girth rule on Lake Ontario. 
I have simply mentioned these facts in order to show 
that in my opinion small yacht clubs must, if possible, 
have a rule which can be applied by any yachtsman of 
ordinary education and common sense, and if possible 
without measuring the boat both in and out of the water. 
I feel rather strongly on this question, viewing it al- 
together from a practical standpoint, and would go so far 
as to sa}' that a small yacht club v/ould be quite justified 
in adhering to the simple length and sail area rule, even 
if it were proved that the more complicated rule would 
give better results. Representative yachtsmen are very 
apt at times to demand the adoption of a rule which ap- 
pears to be good, regardless of the difficulties in applying 
it, This attitude is well enough if only large clubs are to 
118 
be considered, who are prepared to employ measurers at 
any expetise necessary in order to insure that the work 
will be thoroughly and accurately done. But so long as 
the interests of smaller yacht clubs have to be regarded, 
practical considerations must always govern to a large ex- 
tent in framing rules. In the event of a very complicated 
rule being accepted by all the clubs in North America 
without due provision for putting it into effect, it would 
result in a year or two of faulty measurements and dis- 
satisfied yachtsmen, followed by wholesale secession and a 
worse chaos than at present exists. 
While it must be admitted that the Yacht Racing Union 
of North America has received a temporary check in its 
efforts to further the interests of yacht racing, I do not 
think that its possibilities of usefulness are by any means 
exhausted, even although it should not be possible for 
some considerable time to come to carry out its original 
intentions of framing a rule of universal application 
among the yacht clubs of North America. It appears to 
me that before this can be brought about it is necessary 
to make a very careful and comprehensive study of the 
whole subject, and I think that the Union might do much 
toward this end by holding annual meetings to which 
the various clubs could send delegates, and where a pro- 
gramme covering two or three days would be provided 
consisting of papers and addresses by well-posted, prac- 
tical men, on a great variety of subjects connected with 
the sport which will easily suggest themselves. At 
present the means of communication between yachtsmen 
are not so .good as to further that free interchange of 
ideas and information which is a very necessary pre- 
liminary to the consideration of rules. Yachtsmen meet 
each other in the stimmer generally on occasions of 
important races, when there is so much to be seen and 
done, and so much hospitality going, that there is neither 
time nor inclination for the discussion of the serious 
problems of the sport. Outside of this there are the yacht- 
ing magazines, and while they are good in their way, the 
information and opinions they contain is confined to what 
the editor can get together, and as you pointed out very 
truthfully in connection with the canoeing news, it is by 
no means possible for any one man to collect the news 
and the opinions of sailormen spread over the whole 
continent. Of course, yachtsmen might write to the 
papers, but many of the men whose opinions are well 
worth having have neither the time nor the inclination. I 
think however, that if the Union could arrange some- 
thing in the nature of an international convention, to- 
gether with reduced railway fares for long distances, that 
there are many yachtsmen who would go to some trouble 
to attend, knowing that they would meet the representative 
men_ engaged in the sport; and that under circumstances 
specially designed for the formation of pei'sonal acquaint- 
ance and the interchange of opinions. A few meetings 
of this character should go a long w^ay toward providing 
data for another and a better rule. 
William Q. Phillips. 
The Yachtsmen's Club. 
The scheine for a city club house for the yachtsmen 
of the vicinity of New York, which has been under dis- 
cussion for several years, has at last taken definite shape, 
as outlined in the following circular; 
No. 108 Fulton Street, New York, Jan. 25.— Dear Sir: 
The proposition to establish in New York city a social 
club for yachtsmen, as outlined in a circular issued 
recently by the Executive Committee of the Yacht Racing 
Association of Long Island Sound, has been so favorably 
received by yachtsmen in general that the committee has 
considered it advisable to take the preliminary steps to- 
ward the organization of such a club. To that end it has 
secured an option on a suite of apartments in the Royalton. 
a bachelor apartment hotel at No. 47 West Forty-third 
street, in the heart of the club house section of the city. 
The suite is on the ground floor, and has a private en- 
trance. It consists of four rooms, with large hall and 
ample toilet facilities. The rooms are completely fur- 
nished, handsomely decorated and are lighted by elec- 
tricity. Full telephone connection is already established. 
Opening directly from these apartments is a well- 
appointed dining room. The management of the hotel 
will undertake to serve meals a la carte, liquid refresh- 
ments, etc., at club prices: thus the club may enjoy in the 
fullest degree all the advantages of restaurant, cafe and 
buffet,_ with none of the responsibility therefor. The 
committee^ believes it desirable and practicable to estab- 
lish the Yachtsmen's Club for the time being in these 
quarters. 
To that en3 you are earnestly requested to be present 
at a meeting of yachtsmen interested in the matter to be 
held in the apartments, it is proposed to occupy the Royal- 
ton, 47 West Forty-third street, New York city, on 
Thursday, Feb. i, at 8 P. M., at which time the apartments 
may be inspected. The plan and scope of the proposed 
club will be freely discussed and measures toward effect- 
ing an organization will be taken. 
While it has been suggested that the dues be fixed at 
$25 per year for resident members and $15 per year for 
those living beyond a radius of fifty miles, it should be 
remembered that these details are at present simply sug- 
gestions, and with all others will be subject to the ap- 
proval of those who attend the meeting. 
If you are not able to be present, please communicate 
to the secretary your views on the proposition as herein 
outlined. Yours very truly, 
Chas. T. Pierce, Chairman, Riverside Y. C. 
Frank Bowne Jones, Indian Harbor Y. C. 
Stuyvesant Wainwright, American Y. C. 
Frederick M. Hoyt, Stamford Y. C. 
C. H. Crane, Seawanhaka Corinthian Y. C. 
E. M. MacLellan, Manhasset Bay Y. C. 
Chas. P. Tower, Sec'y, No. 108 Fulton street, New 
York, New Rochelle Y. C. 
A number of yachtsmen from the Sound and New 
York clubs were present on Feb. i, and the club was 
formally organized with Mr. C. T. Pierce as chairman, and 
Mr. C. P. Towers as secretary. A temporary house com- 
mittee, consisting of Hazen L. Hoyt, Larchmont Y. C. ; 
E. A. MacLellan, Manhasset Bay Y. C., and Paul A. 
Meyrowitz, of the New Rochelle Y. C, was appointed 
to arrange for the lease of the rooms. A membership 
