THE AMATEUR TRAINER. 117 
who, had he not left the county when he did, would 
have been indicted before our grand jury for keep¬ 
ing a nuisance in the shape of a dog kennel. This 
person is now located in one of the Southern States, 
and frequently contributes to the columns of the 
sporting papers. Fifty odd years ago the steward, 
or ‘janitor’ I believe they called him, of our college 
was a negro, named John Bell, and it was a ‘say¬ 
ing’ with the boys : ‘If you don’t believe me ask 
John Bell.’ So I say, if you don’t believe me ask 
Henry O’Bannon. The truth is, Mr. Editor, that 
some of these so-called dog trainers are the most 
depraved, debased, dishonest and lying set that were 
ever created. I mean, of course, the cheap sort. 
Now there are men engaged in the business of dog 
training, such men as Horace Smith, Richards, 
Bevan, Titus, and others that I could name, whom I 
believe to be strictly honorable and conscientious, 
and who will do their work faithfully, honestly and 
intelligently; but as a general thing their charges 
are more than a man can afford to pay simply for 
the training of a dog for ordinary field work. They 
train for public field trials, and are at a heavy ex¬ 
pense, and I cannot see how they can thoroughly 
train a dog for less than they ask, and it is a ques¬ 
tion whether a man had not better pay their charges, 
even for the work on an ordinary shooting dog, than 
to intrust a dog to the hands of these irresponsible, 
cheap twenty-five or thirty per cent, fellows, with 
no certainty that he will ever see his dog again, and 
with an absolute certainty that if he ever does see 
him the dog will have no more field training than a 
pig. Oh ! haven’t I been there, and haven’t I had 
a sweet experience with them, guaranteeing my 
dogs, upon their say-so, to give satisfaction, and then 
have them shipped back to me and thrown on my 
