374 
obliged to let the net go three times before they finally 
got the immense fish into the bottom of the boat 
"The fish finally expired, and when taken ashore and 
weighed it was found that it tipped the scales at 49 
pound';. Game Warden Ratto thought the catch was such 
a remarkable one that he brought the fish to Chicago, 
where it was on exhibition during the day. Last night it 
was put in cold storage and will be mounted and sent to 
the Smithsonian Institution at Washington. 
"Of the fishermen who saw the fish yesterday not one 
could say that he had ever seen a larger one. Several 
said that' they had heard of fish weighmg 54 pounds, bat 
the instances could not be given specifically. 
"The largest fish ever caught by Dow B. Lewis, who 
is a fisherman of considerable repute, weighed 28 pound-?. 
Dr O W. Nixon, another well-known muscalonge fisher- 
man, caught one weighing 33 pounds. These appeared 
to be about the limit. ■ _ ^ , , • 
"The catch was the more peculiar, as Fox Lake liai 
never been supposed to contain muscalonge." 
An Odd Take. 
The other day at Gananoque, Ontario, while Master R. 
Andrews and H. Williams were out for a boat ride and as 
they were near Gibson's wharf, they saw a fish come to 
the top of the water and shake himself. Quickly rowing 
near they found about 10 feet of line going through the 
water. Thev put down an oar and twisted the line around 
it, and pulled in a nice muscalonge Avith a trolling spoon 
and hook in its mouth. 
Fixtures. . 
FIELD TRIALS. 
Nov ]2.— Bicknell, Ind.— Third annual field trials of the In- 
dependent Field Trials Club. P. T. Madison, bec'y, Indianapolis, 
■"^"nov. 1.?.— Chatham, Ont.— Twelfth annual field trials of the In- 
ternational Field Trials Club, W. B. Wells Hon. Sec y. . 
Nov. 13.-Harrisville, ^Pa.-Central Beagle Club's annual field 
^""nov. i^-m—Rik"" Ind.— Second annual field trials of the Tliley 
Field Trials Association. J. L. Graham, Secy. ,,„„„t^, 
Nov. 16.-Newton. N. C.-Eastern Field Trials Club s twenty- 
second annual field trials-Members;^ Stake. Nov. 19, Derby. 
.Simon C Bradley, Sec'v, Greenfield Hill, Conn. . , 
Nov 26.--^Robinson. lil.-Illinois Field Trials Association s sec- 
ond annual field trials. O. W. Ferguson. Sec y. Mattoon. Ill 
Nov. 20.-Ruthven, Ontario, Can.-becond annual field trials of 
the North American Field Trials Club. F. E. Marcon, Jr., Sec y, 
™v°'27-Glasgow!"kv.-Kentucky Field Trials Club's atinual 
field trials. F. W. Samuel, Sec'y, Louisville, Ky. 
Nov. 30.-Newton, N. C.-Contmental Field Trials Club s sixth 
annual field trials-Members' Stake. , Dec. 3, Derby. Theo. 
Sturses Sec'y, Greenfield Hill, Conn. , , 
" Dec 10 -Paris, Mo.-Fourth annual field trials of the Missouri 
Field Trials Association. L. S. Eddms, Sec y, Sedalia, Mo, 
1901. 
Ian 14 —Greenville, Ala.— Fifth annual field trials of the Alabama 
Field' Trials Club. John B. Rosciistihl, Sec'y. 
Tan. 21 .-Benton County, Miss.-Tenth annual field trials of the 
Uiiited States Field Trials Club. W. B. Stafford, Sec y, Trenton, 
BENCH SHOWS. 
Nov. 13-17.— Vicksburg, Miss.— First annual bench show of the 
West Mississippi Agricultural, Mechanical and' Live Stock Ex- 
position. John Dewhurst, Supt. 
Nov. 28-30.— Philadelphia, Pa.— Second annual bench show of the 
Philadelphia Dog Show Association. M. A. Viti, Secy. _ 
Dec 6-10 —Cincinnati, O.— Annual bench show of the Cincinnati 
Fox Terrier Club. J. C. TrohUger, Sec'y. 
1901. 
Feb. 26-March 1.— Cleveland; O.— Cleveland Kennel Club's annual 
bench show. C. M. Munhall, Sec'y. 
March G-9.— Pittsburg, Pa.— Duquesne Kennel Club s annual 
beJ-ch show. F. S. Stedman, Sec'y. 
Training the Hunting Dog. 
By B. Waters, Author of "Fetch and Carry: A Treatise 
on Retrieving." 
/ _____ 
Vn— Pointing, Backing, Ranging, Quartering, Dropping to 
Wing, Unsteadiness, Brace Work, 
Pointing. 
The pointing instinct, possessed and exhibited by 
nearly all setters and pointers, is a conspicuous charac- 
teristic of their methods in capturing their prey. Contrary 
to Avhat is commonly maintained, it has no natural 
reference whatever to the service of mankind. 
Man observes that he can usefully apply the pointing 
trait to his own profit, and he utilizes it accordingly. 
In like manner he utilizes the powerful horse as a beast 
of burden; his speed for purposes of rapid transportation: 
his hide for good leather; yet all these properties were 
originallv for the horse's own benefit. 
The aiaility to point well is essential to the existence 
of the dog when in a wild state, since it is a material aid 
to him in the struggle for existence. In domesticity, he 
does not lose the instinctive desire to pursue and capture 
prey. He, like man, has the hunting instinct strongly 
present, notwithstanding the centuries of domestication. 
, He easily reverts to a wild state, utilizing then the 
powers and methods for his own preservation which 
man rather egotistically avers were implanted for the 
benefit of man himself. 
Man can neither force nor induce a dog to seek birds 
if the latter refuses to do so; and the dog refuses when 
there is nothing left which appeals to his self interest. 
The voluntary efforts of the dog, exhibited when in 
search of prey, man restricts within certain limits to his 
o-s\Ti service and thereby appropriates to himself the 
fruits of the dog's labors. And herein is where many old 
and new writers erred in their inferences. They observed 
that the dog could be so trained that the shooter was 
the beneficiary of his work, and they rather illogically 
dedi'iced that therefore the instinct was acquired for the 
benefit of mankind. 
When a dog, -.'/ith more or less rigidity of posture, 
stops to the scent of game or prey, the act is called 
pointing, setting or standing. It is observed in a mofe 
FOREST ANDj^STREAM.? 
or less rudimentary state in all dogs which are used for 
hunting purposes, and is sometimes exhibited even by 
curs which have no pretentions whatever to good breed- 
ing, or for that matter to any breeding at all. 
The following excerpt from Stonehenge has furnished 
nearly all writers their data for the origin of the pointing 
mstinict: "The setter is, without doubt, either descended 
from the spaniel, or both are offshoots from the same 
parent stock. Originally— that is, before the improve- 
ments in the gun introduced the practice of 'shooting 
flying'— it is believed that he was merely a spaniel taught 
to 'stop' or 'set' as soon as he came upon the scent of 
the partridge, when a net was drawn over the covey by 
two men. Hence he was made to drop close to the 
ground, an attitude which is now unnecessary, though 
it is taught by some breakers, and notably to fast dogs, 
who could not otherwise stop themselves quickly enough 
to avoid flushing. Manifestly, a dog prone on the ground 
allowed the net to be drawn over him better than if he 
was standing up; and hence the former attitude was 
preferred, an additional reason fpr its adoption being, 
probably, that it was more easily taught to a dog like 
the spaniel, which has not the natural cataleptic attitude 
of the pointer. But when 'shooting flying' came in 
vogue, breakers made tlie attempt to assimilate the atti- 
tude of the setting spaniel — or 'setter,' as he was now 
called— to that of the pointer; and in process of time, and 
possibly also by crossing with that dog, they succeeded, 
though even after the lapse of more than a century the 
cataleptic condition is not fully displayed by the setter 
as by the pointer." 
It would be difficult to crowd into" the same amount 
of space more trashy nonsense than is contained in the - 
foregoing quotation, and yet it' has served writers for 
generations as good warrant for asserting as fact what 
it merely presents as conjectures or probabilities. 
Modern writers do net hesitate to assert that the 
setter is derived from the spaniel, though Stonehenge 
qualifies it by stating: "Or both are offshoots from the 
same parent stock." In plain Engli.sh, he did not know 
what they were derived from. Again, it is much easier 
to evolve the dropping attitude from the point than it 
was to evolve the point from the dropping attitude. The 
instinct which, moreover, is conceded to have been nat- 
ural to the pointer, has a far fetched theory most labori- 
ously worked out to explain its existence in the setter. 
Why it should be natural to the one and not to the 
other, Stonehenge leaves it to the reader to solve as best 
he can. He also treats the point as being cataleptic, and 
advances that , trait as a reason why it was necessary to 
make the setter drop when the net was thrown over him. 
The point is neither cataleptic nor remotely related to 
the cataleptic state. The pointing dog is keenly alert 
"in every faculty. His eyes glow, his nostrils play as 
they inhale the scent, his judgment gauging the place and 
distance of the prey, and his muscles tense and ready for 
instant action in the quick, powerful strike to seize! and 
hold. 
Any cur of good hunting instinct and ability may be 
taught to hunt and point birds with more or less success. 
In the course of time he learns that success in the pur- 
suit and capture of birds is consequent to silent and 
careful effort only. The pause to capture, called point- 
ing, is a mere incident in the exercise of the general pur- 
pose. It may have even a wider application, as exhibited 
by hounds and even by curs which have been 'trained 
to road and stop on deer, keeping close in front of the 
deer hunter while so roading and drawing, and timing 
their efforts with exquisite judgment for the success of 
the gun. • Strange dogs, meeting on the highway for the 
first time, not infrequently stiffen and feather as they 
stealthily draw toward each other, mimicking ambush 
and attack, or preparing for actual battle, according to 
their whims or the circumstances. The uses of pointing 
as exercised in the dog's activities, comprehend a much 
greater scope than that considered by the sportsmen. 
The act of pointing is exercised with rare intelligence. 
Setters and pointers, as a matter of reason, employ dis- 
tinct methods in the pursuit of fur and feather. When in 
the pursuit of rabbits, they are openly vigorous and dash- 
ing, giA'-e tongue merrily, and pay no heed to cautious 
effort. When the rabbit is afoot, they trust largely to 
their swiftness and endurance to effect a capture. On 
the other hand, if the rabbit is b'ing concealed they en- 
deavor to compass his capture by craft much after the 
method employed on birds. When in pursuit of birds, 
they are silent, painstakingly cautious, and tense from 
uncertainty. Thej'^ draw then as closely as possible be- 
fore making the final pause, and spring to surprise and 
capture. 
These different methods are a necessity from the differ- 
ent circumstances governing the different cases. They 
are self-evident when we consider that the rabbit must 
remain on the earth's surface; that it leaves a trail of 
scent, which is ever a clue for its pursuer to follow; 
and that the battle cries of the latter so alarm and con- 
fuse it that its capture is made easier thereby. On the 
other hand, the birds having wings must not be alarmed 
at all if a capture is to be effected, for alarm is equivalent 
to escape. 
It thus is clear that the different methods employed 
are imposed necessarily from the circumstances of the 
case. Nor are these peculiarities of method employed 
solely by the dog. Foxes draw on rabbits and grouse 
in a similar manner. Cats have an analogous manner of 
drawing on birds and vermin; indeed, as they often ven- 
ture the attempt to capture birds in the most open 
places, they exhibit even greater degrees of craft and 
caution. 
We may safely conclude that as it is a natural trait 
of the pointer, it therefore is an equally natural trait of 
the setter, as it also is more or less so of all other dogs 
and animals which seek birds and small animals as 
prey. 
a"Westmiflstef Kennel Clufc. 
Hempstead, Long Island, N. Y., Nov. 2.— The West- 
minster Kennel Club's twenty-fifth annual dog show will 
be held in Madison Square Garden, NeAV York, on Feb. 
19, 20, 21 and 32, 1901- 
Jas. Mortimer, Sec'y an4 Sup't. 
[Nov. 10, 1900. 
Fox Hunting in the South.^ I 
From the Baltimore American. 
Drink, puppy, drink; and let every puppy drink 
That is old enough to lap and swallow; 
For he'll grow into a hound and we'll pass the bottle round, 
And merrilly w'll "whoop" and we'll halloo! 
The season is here when sportsmen all over the 
country, where opportunity for such sport exists, are 
turning their attention to the pursuit of Reynard. The 
horn which has lain idle for a twelve-month is burnished 
up, the kennel is visited daily, and the music of the pack 
is the sweetest tune the hunter can hear. Apropos of 
this season, a brief review of the sport in the past and 
the pursuance of it in the present is opportune. 
England, of course, stands at the beginning of the 
noble sport. Historians have said that it was born in 
France, and while such may have been the case — for 
there are few countries where the fox lives that he is 
not hunted in some manner — England is, properly speak- 
ing, the home of the original fox hunter as the sport is 
recognized to-day. In the pursuit of the coveted "brush" 
began all the forms of "point to point" racing, "steeple- 
chasing," "drag" hunts and 'cross country riding. Rey- 
nard cannot be overtaken in any country where he lives 
without leading a jolly dance over heartbreaking fences. 
Hence the origin of the breed of horse known as the 
hunter. England is the home of the sport of fox hunting, 
and, indeed, is now fam.ed for her splendid hunt club 
organizations and packs of great hounds; but when this 
country became a colony of Great Britain, the cavaliers 
who settled in the South, and especially those who re- 
mained in Maryland and Virginia, brought their love 
for the sport with them. Reynard was found in numbers, 
and the horses and hounds were a natural consequence. 
The sport throve, and the Father of his Country, history 
tells us, was an enthusiastic follower of the pack over 
the hUIs of his Virginia home. Slowly the sport spread, 
and even the stolid Dutchmen and British Puritans be- 
came, half-heartedly, at first, and, finally, enthusiastic 
followers of the grandest sport on earth. Since its intro- 
duction into this country it has grown steadily. Nothing; 
has servecl to hinder its progress, and to-day Americas 
hunting horses, American hounds, and, finally, American 
horsemen have no peer, even among their English 
cousins, from whence it came. 
Hunt clubs are found all over that part of the United 
States where the sport is indulged in at all, such as the 
Genesee Valley Hunt Club of New York State; Chevy 
Chase of Washington. P. C; Elkridge, Overland, Pa- 
tapsco and Green Spring Valley Clubs of Maryland, and 
clubs too numerous to name throughout Virginia, prin- 
cipal among them being those in the heart of the horse 
and fox hunting section of the State, in and about the 
counties of Loudoun and Fauquier, Va-., where the Pied- 
mont. Leesburg and Warrenton Hunt Clubs head the 
list. 
From the last named section have come, and continue 
to come, some of the finest fencers and all 'round hunters 
in the country. There many horses, now with big rec- 
ords and prices after their names, first saw the light of 
day in the blue grass pasture fields along the base of the 
beautiful old Blue Ridge Mountains. No grander country 
for the use it is put to can be imagined. The fertile lands 
are watered by mountain streams as clear as crystal, flow- 
ing through the blue grass meadows, where the young colts, 
soon to begin their education, play in grass up to their 
knees. Truly, it is the horse paradise. The land for the 
most part is owned by men who make the breeding, 
raising and training of the himter a specialty, and the 
animals they have sent away speak more eloquently of ' 
their success than can any written statement. 
The breeding and education of the hunter is an inter- 
esting study for those who take an interest in the horse. 
It is the aim, of course, to get a breed of horse which, as 
nearly as possible, should fill the following requirements: 
First, he should have enough of the thoroughbred in 
him to give him "bottom" or endurance, and also cour- 
age. He should be compactly and firmly built, with 
clean legs and muscular shoulders and thighs, to aid him 
in his Avork, and lastly, he should jump. Of 
course, the last is a thing he must be _ taught 
though many animals are instinctive jumpers. This horse 
is about as close to the perfection hunter as one can be. 
The size, of course, is a consideration, though not a vital 
one. for many small horses have achieved wonders. The 
nearer a horse can come to 16 hands the better apt he 
is to carry 160 pounds over the fences, which Aveight all 
horses should be up to, and Avhich is generally the weight., 
required by judges in the hunter classes at the variouS" 
horse shoAvs. But suppose such a horse has been suc- 
cessfully foaled. From that time until he is sold he_is 
under the constant Avatch of his OAvner, who brings him 
up as patiently and carefully as a mother does her child. 
Patience, above all things, is the most important factor 
in successfully raising and training a horse of any kind, 
> and particularly a hunter. From the time when he is' 
Aveaned from his mother his education begins. Often 
Avhen a yearling a saddle AA'ill be put on his back and he 
Avill be led about to accustom him to the sensation. 
When he is turned three years, work is begun on him, 
in earnest. If he is a spring colt, that is, born in the, 
spring, the Avinter preceding his third birthday is passed 
in quieting him. and, as the trainer calls it. "handling" 
him, or getting him used to the saddle, bridle and stable ; 
life. If he is Avell groAvn, and Avith no physical defects, he 
is ridden by a boy or jockey for the first time that spring. 
"This epoch in his life is generally accompanied by ob- 
jections from him. and a lively half hour is the result, 
but after tAvo or three rides he finds out that nothing is 
going to hurt him if he behaves himself, and so he goes 
along comparatively quiet. After he is thoroughly brokea 
and "bridle Avise," that is he understands AA'hat is meaiw 
by pulling either rein, Avhich he generally understands* 
perfectly in the course of two or three_ months, wijh 
patient treatment, his jumping education is begun. Dif- 
ferent trainers have different methods, but the best 
method is the folloAving: The trainer, on an old, reliable 
hunter, goes over tAVO or three low fences, and the colt, 
in the hands of a light jockey, is persuaded to follow. 
Sometimes, of course, trouble is experienced, but _@ejl- 
erally a horse with th? breeding described instinctively 
1 
