Jak. 26, ipoi.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
joined on to the board fence. There was no snow on the 
edge of the boards and so the hunter passed along the 
board fence until he came to where it joined on to the 
other piece of rail fence, looking carefully all the while 
to see whether the fox had jumped off of the board fence 
into the snow. It had not done this, and when he 
reached the rail fence he found that there were no fox 
tracks in the snow which lay on top of the rails. He 
next made two circuits around the entire fence, the first 
about ID rods from it, the next time about 20 rods from 
it. but could find no place where the fox had gone out 
of the circles thus described. Then he subjected the 
board fence and its immediate s-urroundings to a careful 
scrutiny, but could find nothing which threw any light 
upon the mystery. He paused at last near the center of 
the board fence, utterly dumfounded, and admitted to 
himself that the problem was too muth for him. While 
he stood thus his eye chanced to fall upon a beech tree 
which stood 3 or 4 feet from the board fence, and which 
leaned at an angle of 45 degrees from the perpendicular. 
About 8 feet from the ground the bough of a small hem- 
lock lay across the body of the beech, and it occurred to 
our hunter to see what that bough covered. Aha, a hole. 
Things were beginning to assume an interesting aspect. 
A moment sufficed to cut a slim sapling and run it up in 
the cavity he had discovered, when he ffeund the entire 
trunk of the tree was hollow. 
After punching vigorously up and down in the cavity, 
he plugged the hole and started for the nearest house 
for an axe with which to fell the tree. When he had got 
a few rods from the tree he stopped and looked back, his 
gaze ranging upward, and there lying flat upon a large 
limb he saw the fox, motionless, but intently watching 
him. His punching with the sapling had made it so un- 
comfortable for Reynard that it had crawled out of an- 
other hole at the top of the cavity, in the center of the 
main crotch, or upper end of the trunk, and consequently 
invisible from the ground. The great mystery was 
solved at last. 
Among the many good fox hounds which have been 
owned in this section during the last 50 years there were 
two or three which became especially famous. One of 
these famous dogs was bred and trained by a noted fox 
hunter by the name of Ira Wilson. She was quite a 
small dog and bore the plebeian name of Sally. Her 
namer, however, was all there was about her that was 
plebeian. Every inch and pound of her make-up counted, 
and she was game to the backbone. Throughout her 
long and checkered career she acquired a knowledge 
which enabled her to promptly trump any trick which a 
fox could play. She died before I was old enough to be 
trusted afield with a gun, and my knowledge of her was 
gained chiefly from listening to her exploits as narrated 
by her master. He was a loquacious and versatile story 
teller, and the charm which he would impart to a fox 
story wovtld hold me spellbound for an entire evening, 
listening in open-mouthed and sleepless-eyed ecstasy to 
his vivid word pictures until I was driven to bed by my 
kind-hearted but somewhat strict mother. 
Many of his stories are still fresh in my memor3% and 
I will relate one which will show one of the many 
superior characteristics of the dog Sally. 
Near the village of Ft. Edward there lived a fox hunter 
by the name of Thompson. One winter he had a lot of 
trouble with a big dog fox. This fox whipped his hound 
at the close of a long race, and thereafter every time he 
started this fox it would run a few minutes and then turn 
around and drive the dog back. 
He told his grievances to Wilson, and as trouble of 
this sort was just what Sally was always looking after it 
was decided that she should have a piece of it. The first 
iavorable day the hunters started early in the morning 
to try conclusions between the fox and Sallj'. She soon 
had him on the go, for his lurking places were well 
known and his big feet always gave him away. 
The hunters purposely chose the southern end of some 
high ground, known as Reublins Ridge, from which 
nearly all of the surrounding countrj- for the distance of 
nearly a mile could be plainly seen, for a vantage ground 
from which to watch operations. 
As luck would have it, the fox came into their view 
only about 30 rods away, ran out from the woods into the 
field a few rods, stopped, turned around and bristled, in 
blissful ignorance of the character of the dog he was 
challenging to the combat. 
The clear ringing voice of Sally came nearer and still 
nearer, until she burst from the woods and ran to within 
3 or 4 rods of the fox, when she saw him. With one long 
scream of anger, or delight — who can tell which? — she 
fairly flew over the ground which separated her from the 
fox. It must have dawned upon that fox about that time 
that he had a dilrerent dog to deal with, for while Sallj' was 
in the air in a terrific leap which would have landed her 
upon him, his nerve failed him, and he inglorious!}- fled 
the field. And then our hunters saw a race which made 
them almost forget to breathe. Before Sally could check 
her momentum the fox gained a lead of 8 or 10 rods. 
Steadily did she cut this lead down until they reached 
the road to the south, half a mile away, when her nose 
almost touched the tail of the fox at every jiynp. Here 
the hard-pressed fox dodged under a passing sleigh, 
scooted out from the opposite side, and again gained a 
lead of 8 or 10 rods. The race now led through 
a farmyard, scattering sheep and poultry in fright, 
then swerved to the east, across another road and 
a level m.eadow to the foot of the Cary ridge. A 
stone wall ran along between the meadow and the 
foot of the ridge. There was a hay barn on top of 
the ridge, and the fox was evidently trying to reach 
and slip under this barn. All the way across the meadow 
daylight did not show between the end of the fox's tail 
and the point of Sally's nose. When the fox reached the 
stone wall he paused the smallest fraction of an instant 
to gather energy for the leap. Fatal pause. At its end 
Sally had him. by his neck and his doom was sealed. 
Aiother famous hound, and undoubtedly the greatest 
oi all those that were ever owned in this section, was the 
Metcalf dog, Tiger, briefly alluded to in connection with 
my first fox hunt. At that time he was scarcely more 
than a puppy. In fact, it was one of the first, if not the 
yqy first, race, tliathe ever ran. In color he was black. 
In build he showed that he had received an infusion of 
greyhound blood from some of bis ancestry. When fully 
matured he stood about 28 inches at the shoulder, perfect 
in form, with muscles hard and tough as steel. In addi- 
tion to his great power in body and limb, he had a 
remarkably fine intelligence which enabled him to amass 
an almost incredible amount of dog knowledge. During 
the many years that he retained his faculties unimpaired 
any ordinary fox which he got after had three aherna- 
tives presented to it: i. e.. xstj to be shot; 2d, to be 
caught by its pursuer; 3d, to run to earth; and it would 
have to choose the third alternative and act very quickly 
if it escaped the second one. 
This dog also possessed a scent so keen that he could 
wind his quarry at astonishingly great distances. Often 
he would be going along quietly with those who had him 
in charge, ^yhen he would suddenly snifif the air, and then 
shoot into the wind like an arrow from the bowstring 
until he reached some distant woods or brushy hollow, 
and then it would be Yip-yap, Ki-hi, dash, dodge and 
scurry, until the fox was either shot, caught or lay pant- 
ing in some friendly hole in the ground. On an average, 
half of the foxes started by this hound were caught by 
him. Most of the others were either shot or they would 
m.anage to dodge into a hole in time to save their skins. 
In the whole of his long career this dog never found but 
one fox which could stay on top of the ground ahead of 
him on good running for more than 15 minutes, and that 
one held him even for three hours. And what a race it 
was. Who will ever know the number of miles covered 
by it? Those who are best qualified to hazard a guess 
have held their peace, rather than be laughed at. It was 
run on the Argyle hills and the flats between them and 
the Hudson River, in Washington county, N. Y.. A 
deep snow lay on the ground, but a hard, firm crust 
had formed which would almost bear the weight of a 
horse. An inch of light snow lay on the crust, which en- 
abled the hound to run on a breast-high scent. The 
white expanse of snow covered fields, the firm foothold 
on the hard crust and the bracing air of a January morn- 
ing acted like wine on the spirits of the hunters, and as 
for Tige, he was ready for anything, and like Micaw- 
ber, was only "waiting for something to turn up." The 
something which turned up that morning was a big dark- 
red fox, and away went fox and dog out of sight and 
hearing before a man who stuttered could have said scat. 
And away went the hunters on the trail, confident that 
they would find a little heap of snow within the first 
3 or 4 miles, from which they could dig the defunct fox 
(Tige always gave his victims decent burial), for they 
felt sure that the fox did not live which could keep out 
of Tige's jaws for a greater distance on such running. 
But they went the 4 miles and found no place where 
Tige had started another graveyard. 
iBut, hark! Far away in the distance, but coming 
nearer with the speed of a lightning express train, they 
heard the Yi-eek, Yi-eek, Yi-eek of Tige's voice, which 
told them that he was running on a warm scent, and not 
by sight. The next instant they saw a red streak shoot 
along a nearby hillside and disappear, followed the next 
moment by a black .streak. Streak is the only word I 
can find in my vocabulary which will be likely to convey 
a correct idea of the tremendous speed of this hound. 
Back again went the hunters to near the starting place, 
and again the red streak, followed by the black streak, 
came into view, and disappeared like phantoms. And so 
on for three full hours did this terrific contest of muscle 
against muscle, endurance against endurance and wind 
against wind continue without lessening in any degree. 
However, when the fox was last seen alive his drooping 
brush and protruding tongue showed that he was rapjdly 
nearing the end of his last race; and they found him. 
nicely covered with the white shroud which Tige had in- 
dustriously collected and spread over him, covered ex- 
cept the pads and black stockings of his feet and legs, 
which protruded through the top of the little mound of 
snow in which he lay as though they were still trying to 
shield him in death, as they ever had in life before that 
fatal day. 
And they found Tige sliding about" on the crust, first 
on one side, then on the otlier, rolling and kicking his 
foot in the air in the exuberance of his inexhaustible 
strength and vitality, and fit as a fiddle to start in an- 
other race of the same sort without a moment's delay. 
I have enjoyed a few very pleasant fox hunts with Cal- 
vin Metcalf. who is a gentleman of the old school, of the 
sort that now, alas! are too rarely met with. And I have 
enjoyed a great many with his son Eitgene, who is a 
true scion from the parent stem. 
During these hunts I have often heard them express 
a desire to possess another hound like Tige, but I think 
tliev will never see his like again. Nature does not often 
produce a dog like him. And it may be that, 
"Nature, satisfied, hath destroj'ed the mold 
Wherein his perfect shape was formed." 
Jos. W. Shurtee. 
Ganeevoort, Jan 9. 
Points and Flushes. 
A long list of additional special prizes have been added 
to the prize list of the Westminster Kennel Club. The 
premmm list is one of rare value, and worthy of the atten- 
tion of all bench show competitors. Address Mr, James 
IMortimer. superintendent, looi Townsend Building. 1123 
Broadway, New York. 
Ducks Near San Francisco. 
San Francisco, Cal. — Dr. Trask and Mr. Young w^ent 
duck hunting. They bagged two dozen, which is a good 
limit. Young shot five with his pistol at about 90 yards, 
four of which were wounded and escaping the gun. He 
got the crippled ones at the second shot each tim.e and 
the well one at the first shot. 
More ducks could have been shot, but the dog M'ould 
not retrieve at first until the Doctor taught him with a 
duck shot on the land. Some men would have thrashed 
him, but the Doctor took the intelligent method, and just 
as soon as Jack found out what his master wanted he did 
his part perfectly. An effort will be made to protect the 
ducks from overshooting by placing the limit at tmtaty- 
four ducks to a gun. Fred O, YodNQ, ' 
Notice. 
All communicatiotis intended for Forest and Stream should 
always be addressed to the Forest and Stream Publishing Co., and 
not to any individual connected with the paper. 
The vary ng reports regarding the possibility of a cen- 
terboard boat built for the trial races are most confusing. 
During the past few years the typical centerboard boat has 
been seen only in the smaller classes. The majority of 
designers have bent their best energies toward developing 
keel boats from the smallest to the largest classes, and this 
type of boat has reached a point of perfection that great 
skill and years of careful study only can produce; on the 
other hand, there have been a few men who have con- 
tinued to produce successful centerboard boats, but as 
many were designers of the old school, the moment they 
got beyond the small classes it was found that they had 
overstepped themselves, as was shown by the perform- 
ances of the centerboard boats in the 51ft. class. The 
question of type (keel versus centerboard) is a serfous 
one, and if a centerboard boat is to be produced so that 
any definite conclusions may be drawn as to their relative 
merits, she should have the advantages of the best design, 
lightest construction and superior workmanship, such as 
is being put into the new^ keel boats. 
The Hanley Construction Company, of Quincy, signed 
a contract to build a yacht for the Chicago Y. C. to defend 
the Canada cup in the races the coming summer. The 
Hanley boat is to be one of many to compete in the trial 
spins. She will be a 30ft. centerboard and a true type 
of Genessee, which took the Canada cup two years ago 
when she sailed under the colors of the Rochester Y. C. 
Work will commence on the boat about Feb. i. She will 
be launched about May r and proceed under her own 
sail to New York, where she will be loaded on a steamer 
for Chicago. 
Tde work of laying down the Seawanhaka cup defender. 
Illinois, has been completed at Lawley's. and workmen 
are engaged in getting out the w^oode'n keel- It is ex- 
pected that she will be set up at once, and will be in frame 
and ribbanded off by the first of next week. This cup 
defender is a production of Mr. B. B. Crowninshield. and 
will be owned by Messrs. George M. Pynchon, Benjamin 
Carpenter and F. J. Dunn, of the Chicago Y. C. 
Denny Brothers, of Dumbarton, have at last formally 
announced that they are building Sir Thomas Lipton's 
challenger for the America Cup. Shamrock II. Up to the 
present time little progress has been made on the new 
boat, but the work will now be pushed forward rapidh'. 
The keel was run while Denny's yard was closed on New 
Year's Day. Since then a score of the side frames have 
been set up to port and starboard. All work on the j'acht 
is done at night. Everything, even the waste and scraps 
of metal, is locked up in a shed and sealed before the yard 
is opened for the day workmen. Ninety-five tons of lead 
were melted for the keel. The finished block weighs 
within a few pounds of ninety tons. 
Edward Sycamore, the captain of the new challenger 
for the America Cup, has arrived in London from G'as- 
gow. Heretofore he has refused to be interviewed, but 
he has at last talked with a representative of the Asso- 
ciated Press, to whom he said : 
"ft seems to me that magnificent opportunities for sport 
ha\'e been thrown away by the practice of taking a chal- 
lenger to the other side and using her there only for the 
purpose of sailing the number of races necessary "to decide 
the ownership of the America Cup. These boats, of 
course, have been built with the object of bringing back 
the Cup, and that must always remain their principal work. 
Shamrock II. will cross for that object, and nothing will 
be allowed to interfere with that. When the races shall 
have been decided, however. I should like her to be sa'led 
in a few races against the pick of the American fleet for 
whatever prizes may be offered. 
"The Cup contest is sailed under conditions calculated 
to give the fairest possible test. Still, it is conceivable 
that these very conditions might tell heavily against one 
or the other of the boats. I think it would be satisfactory 
to the owner and the designer of the defeated boat and 
good for sport to have a trial or two at open racing. If 
we are fortunate enough to win the Cup we would be 
glad if our opponents had an opportunity for revenge un- 
der other conditions. If unfortunate enough to be beaten, 
we would prefer an opportunity to try at something else 
instead of the certainty of returning empty handed." 
In view of Sir Thomas Lipton's promise to take the 
Erin, and possibly Shamrock II., to some of the principal 
American yachting centers, the challenger is likely to be 
seen on m.ore courses than that at Sandy Hook this fall. 
Dang-er for Lawncli Owners. 
The attention of our readers is called to a bill intro- 
duced in Congress on Dec. 14, 1900, and which has been 
referred to the Committee on the Merchant Marine and 
Fisheries. On Dec. 4, 1895. Senator Perkins, of Cali- 
fornia, presented a bill to the Senate providing that ves- 
sels using for their motive power naphtha, gas or fluid 
should carry licensed engineers and pifots. and have their 
hulls and machinery examined as if they were steam 
vessels. This bill met with the greatest opposition every- 
where, not only from the builders of launches, but also 
by their owners, and the Committee on Commerce at once 
changed it in such a manner that vessels under fifteen 
tons were exempt. On March 2, 1896, the Senate passed 
the bill, but when it reached the House of Representa- 
tives the public opposition proved so great that no action 
was taken until Jan. 11, 1897, when the bill was finally 
passed. It would have been impossible to get this bill 
through had not the change been made. The bill now 
©fifered by Representative Charles H. Grosvenor, of 
Ohio, has for its ultimate end to bring all pleasure pow?r 
