Forest and Stream 
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A Weekly Journal. Copyright, 1906, by Forest and Stream Publishing Co. 
NEW YORK, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER io, 1906. 
( VOL. LXVII.-No. 19. 
I No. 346 Broadway, New York. 
REFORMS THAT SATISFY. 
The object of this journal will be to studiously 
promote a healthful interest in outdoor recre¬ 
ation, and to cultivate a refined taste for natural 
Objects. Announcement in first number of 
Forest and Stream, Aug. 14, 1873. 
DOG BUYING. 
Grievous complaints reach us betimes from men 
who have been victimized in connection with dog 
transactions conducted by mail. Tl*e aggrieved 
party is hotly indignant because of the fraud 
practiced upon him, denounces the seller in force¬ 
ful terms, and is vigorously earnest in a purpose 
to expose him through the columns of the press. 
In most instances, it will be found on investi¬ 
gation, that the purchaser exercised no precau¬ 
tions whatever to safeguard his interests in the 
transaction. He did not see the dog before the 
purchase was completed. He accepted the des¬ 
cription as presented by the seller, who probably 
was a stranger. He trustfully mailed his money 
for the dog before it was shipped, thus contribut¬ 
ing to the fraud, if fraud there was, by his own 
gross negligence. 
In years past, Forest and Stream has many 
times recounted the proper method of conducting 
a sale and purchase, when seller and buyer live 
too far apart for a personal meeting. It also 
warned buyers of possible fraud when the trans¬ 
action was loosely conducted, or of possible dis¬ 
satisfaction when no fraud was perpetrated. The 
latter phase is not uncommon. A dog which may 
be fully satisfactory to one man may be unsatis¬ 
factory to another. 
The proper method in an affair of this kind 
is to purchase on approval only. The prospective 
purchaser should deposit the purchase money in 
the hands of a third party; the local express agent, 
as a rule, being available and desirable. Then 
a reasonable time is allowed the purchaser in 
which to view or try the dog. If satisfactory, 
the money is passed over to the seller and the 
sale is closed. If unsatisfactory, the dog is re¬ 
turned to its owner with expressage paid in full. 
In this manner, both buyer and seller are fully 
protected and the sale at every stage is a matter 
of full knowledge to them. 
The exposure of fraudulent dog dealers, by 
publication in the press, is extremely inefficient 
as a preventive of fraud, and is of no practical 
value as a punishment. Such dealers can change 
the names of their kennels as often as they choose 
and resume business accordingly. 
The true remedy is to prosecute the offenders 
in the regular courts of law, a course, however, 
■seldom pursued. 
• While any dishonesty is to be deplored, it 
nevertheless is gratifying to note that, as com¬ 
pared with the business doings incident to the 
canine world of a few years ago, the fraudulent 
deals are much fewer and of less magnitude. The 
American Kennel Club has accomplished much 
good in suppressing the dishonest dealers, in es¬ 
tablishing canine matters on a much higher plane, 
besides the many other obvious benefits relating 
to matters of club organization and good com¬ 
petition. 
HUNTING DOGS IN ENGLAND. 
Although English fox hunters complain that 
hunting as a sport is passing, it would seem, in 
view of the vast number of packs of hounds now 
owned arid employed frequently during the winter 
open season, that the sport is still in a healthy 
state, and that if it is indeed giving way to other 
amusements, there is the likelihood that the 
change will be a very gradual one. One authority 
on the subject of hunting assures us that not only 
is the standard of dogs much higher than ever 
before, but the general run of horses for cross 
country riding shows decided improvement over 
those of a generation ago. 
Various causes are given for the falling off in 
the popularity of fox hunting, barbed wire fences 
taking first place despite the fact that every 
known influence is brought to bear to discourage 
the building of these obstructions to cross coun¬ 
try riding. In districts where hunting still at¬ 
tracts large attendance from the countryside, ar¬ 
rangements are even made to do away with 
barbed wires during the winter season, and it 
can readily be understood how expensive this 
work can become if prosecuted on a large scale. 
Diseases common to foxhounds, mange being 
first in importance, are given credit for keeping 
the balance of hound life down, and the encroach¬ 
ments of business enterprises on the country 
must be reckoned with as well. 
With these influences at work, however, the 
enormous extent to which British men and 
women devote their money and time to following 
the hounds cannot be understood without some 
statistics, and even these give but a faint idea 
of the scope, of this great institution. At the 
opening of the hunting season this month there 
were in England about 170 packs of foxhounds, 
consisting in all of 1,894 couples, or nearly 3,800 
hounds. Scotland boasts only 12 packs, totaling 
382^2 couples, or 765 hounds. Ireland had just 
twice as many packs as Scotland, and they are 
larger ones, 1,155 couples, or 2,310 individual fox¬ 
hounds. 
In England there were 16 packs of staghounds 
—396 couples—and in Ireland 4 packs, 102 
couples. 
England had at that time 98 packs of harriers, 
consisting of 1,628 couples (3,256 dogs); Scot¬ 
land, 2 packs, numbering 45 couples; Ireland, 39 
packs, 635 couples. 
In all there were 68 packs of beagles owned 
in the United Kingdom, embracing 950 couples 
(1,900 dogs). 
The totals are interesting, for they show 392 
packs of hunting dogs, comprising 7,187 couples, 
as they say over there, or 14,374 of the best dogs 
obtainable for these special purposes. 
Frequently, when sweeping reforms are pro¬ 
posed, men who believe their pecuniary interests 
will suffer, and looking no further ahead than 
the immediate future, object vigorously. They 
fail to understand that important measures bene¬ 
fit the masses while perhaps working temporary 
hardships to the few. 
Where laws prohibiting the sale of game have 
been passed, such measures have been opposed by 
men who for years—some of them all their lives 
—have made good wages shooting for the market 
during the presence of wildfowl or other game 
in their localities. They and other friends have 
protested vigorously against laws which they be¬ 
lieved had been aimed at them, and for a time 
they may have had opportunities to demonstrate 
the ill effects of the reform measures in their 
owm particular cases. 
Time has changed conditions in this as in other 
things, however, and to-day some of the old 
market shooters are making better wages and are 
employed for longer periods of time than they 
were under the old laws. Acting as camp-keepers, 
guides, boatmen or helpers for sportsmen, they 
are filling far more respectable places in the com¬ 
munity than they have ever filled before, and are 
assured a steadily increasing revenue provided 
only the game is given opportunities to increase 
or at least to hold its own. 
And thus it comes to pass that the men who 
formerly killed all the game they could, find a 
market for are now working toward its protec¬ 
tion—with a selfish purpose, it is true, but never¬ 
theless they are honest in their efforts, and their 
work is counting. While it is true that game is 
gradually decreasing in numbers throughout the 
country, there are many places where former 
market shooters, now catering to sportsmen, have 
co-operated to protect the game in the closed 
season, and there it is to be found in satisfactory 
numbers. Sportsmen, assured of good shooting 
under the guidance of these experts, have be¬ 
come their regular patrons, and all hands are 
satisfied. 
It may have surprised sportsmen in foreign 
countries to learn, last week, that President 
Roosevelt, hunting in the Virginia woods only 
a short distance from Washington, was success¬ 
ful in getting a wild turkey gobbler, for while 
it seems to be the general impression that wild 
turkeys are to be found only in the most reny te 
hills, of a few Southern and Western Statfes.-the 
fact is that there are a few of these' great' blrpls 
in almost every locality where they wefe.,pnce 
abundant, and it is not at all uncommon tor-find 
them occasionally near towns and villages: 
ir 
Too many game wardens are meeting assassi¬ 
nation at the hands of law breaking aliens in the 
game fields. One remedy is the • strict enforce¬ 
ment of a law forbidding the foreigner to have 
arms in ‘possession. 
