362 
FOREST AND STREAM 
August, 1921 
E. LEWIS & SONS ' 
THE CHESAPEAKE 
AN APPRECIATION OF THE NOBLE QUALITIES 
POSSESSED BY THIS WONDERFUL AMERICAN RETRIEVER 
By MAJOR JOHN A. CONSIDINE, U. S. A. 
HIGH-CLASS GUNS AND RIFLES 
HAVE A WORLD-WIDE REFUTATION 
FOR THEIR EXCELLENT WORKMAN- 
SHIP AND SHOOTING POWERS. 
Our “Ariel” Gun, 12-bore, from 6 lb. 
weight, fully nitro-proved, is a luxury to 
sportsmen in a hot climate — or unable to 
carry a full-weight gun. 
MAGNUM 12 BORES— for long shots 
at Wild-fowl. Effective range 100 yards. 
Our 16 & 26 bore EXPRESS GAME GUNS as 
recommended by many well known Game 
Shots, give very high velocity with ex- 
cellent patterns. 
New Illustrated Catalogue Now Ready. 
GUN AND RIFLE WORKS, 
32 and 33, Lower Loveday Street, 
BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND 
established 1860. 
REISING 22 AUTOMATIC 
THE GUN THAT YOU HAVE 
HEARD ABOUT 
It is the three -part target and small game gun 
that shoots with deadly accuracy. 
Cleans from the breech — the correct way. 
Takes down in three seconds without tools — 
only three parts. 
Shoots inexpensive, but extremely accurate. 
.22 Long Rifle R.P. Cartridges — Lesmok, Smoke- 
less, or Semi- Smokeless. 
Ask your dealer. He carries 
this new small game gun. 
Without tools. 
It’s in 3 pieces, in 3 seconds. 
The Reising Arms Co., Inc. 
7 Jefferson Ave. Hartford, Conn. 
YOU’VE WAITED HOURS FOR A SHOT 
only to have a pair of "Blacks" or Mallards'* veer 
off from your unlifelike Decoys — 
You've seen your Decoys "tipped" by a gust of 
wind — You’ve had your Decoys "fail" on account 
of the shine or glint of the paint — 
SPERRY’S “NATURAL” DECOYS 
similate nature as a decoy should — to fool the 
3harp eye of the Duck. They are made to "ride 
out a blow" and there i9 no shine or glitter 
from the paint. 
Circular on request Sold by dealers 
Recommended and Sold By 
Abercrombie & Fitch and Kirkland Bros. 
New York City 
Paul A. Sperry, Mfr., New Haven, Conn. 
In Writing 
S I have been the 
owner of Chesapeake 
Bay dogs for a period 
of over twenty years 
and a lover of the 
species always, I feel 
called upon to clear 
up some of the com- 
m o, n misconceptions 
concerning this noble 
American retriever. 
Mention the Chesa- 
peake to the “man 
in the street” and I venture to say 
he’ll either reply “I never heard of 
him,” or dismiss the subject with a 
short remark to the effect that “he’s 
some sort of a hunter, but I just 
don’t recall him.” In either case it is 
due to lack of knowledge of those sterl- 
ing qualities which have endeared the 
dog to those who really do know him. 
The cure for this evil is obvious. Lack 
of interest and lack of knowledge go 
hand in hand. Stimulation of inter- 
est will follow the acquisition of knowl- 
edge. To advance the Chesapeake Bay 
dog to his rightful place among Ameri- 
can shooting dogs by making him 
known to a larger circle of American 
sportsmen, then, is my aim. 
Is it through any fault on the part 
of the dog himself that he has had to 
remain unsought, unseen? Certainly 
there can be but one answer to such a 
question, and that is a most emphatic 
No. Unknown he surely is, but the 
fault is ours, his best friends. In our 
selfishness we have been content to 
treasure him for ourselves, alone, and 
have not sung his praises beyond the 
small circle of a few intimate friends. 
We took for granted that what we 
knew about him was common knowl- 
edge, with the result that our friend 
has been done an injustice. I have 
waited long in the hope that some pen 
more capable than my own would bla- 
zon forth his praises and raise him 
from undeserved obscurity to the 
heights he so richly deserves. Setter 
men, pointer men and what-not, have 
always published broadcast the good 
qualities of their particular breed. On 
the other hand, Chesapeake men have 
remained silent. And the reason for 
this is not hard to find. Between the 
Chesapeake and his master, such a 
bond of companionship has sprung up 
that the latter feels he would be vio- 
lating the confidence of a dear friend 
should he hurl forth in cold print the 
knowledge gained by such intimacy. I 
confess to a similar feeling, but find 
myself o’erborne by the weightier duty 
of fair play to a pal to whom justice 
has too long been denied. 
A S to the origin of the Chesapeake, 
there are three traditions, one of 
which is absurd. Of the other two, 
your guess is as good as mine. The 
absurd tradition is that a retreiving 
bitch was crossed with an otter, the 
result of which is the Chesapeake of 
today. The second has it that some 
shipwrecked English sailors landed two 
nondescript puppies in Maryland and 
that from this mating sprang the Ches- 
apeake. The third, to my mind the 
most probable, is the version of Gen- 
eral Ferdinand G. Latrobe, as given by 
Joseph A. Graham in “The Sporting 
Dog.” General Latrobe states that 
many years ago a Newfoundland vessel 
ran aground on the Chesapeake shore 
Chesapeake Bay Dogs in their natural element 
to Advertisers mention Forest and Stream. It will identify you. 
