NOTES BY TERROR.

Otago Witness, Issue 2237, 14 January 1897, Page 37

NOTES BY TERROR.

• . • Messrs Brodie and Dunlop, of Invercargilt, h«ive sent away during the pant week quite a number of young doga at satisfactory pric??. AroouK these *a.% the only turvivor from the Waihopai Signal — Gipsy litter, a splendid dog, to Mr Gdiceioge, of Ducedio, and a very nice black and tan dog by Gainsborough Transit ex Waihopai Marveile to Mr Kettlewell, of Chriufccburcb. The*e two will be heard of during the coming year on the thow bench, or I am very much mistaken. • . • A *eek or so back I had occasion to rc-fer to and regret the fact that the Victorian Poultry »cd Dog Society were in a. bad condition financially. I am not now t-urprisrd at tbe circumstance, for I read that tbe annual general meeting lajised for want of a quorum ' With such a lack of enthusiasm amoDgst the members of the club it is »o wonder that tbe lin»nce<» *re not up to the mark. ' . • According to Australian files nothing is yp.t known to outsiders of the affiliation of tho New South Wr.les Keauel Club with the English Club. • . ■ In England they hunt foxes with dogs ; the Kirghiz of Asiatic Russia bunt them with the golden eagle. The bird is taken young from the nest and trained much as the ha-wk i* with us. The huntsman, seated ou horeebaek, carries the eagle on his thickly-gloved hand, which, on account of the weight of tbe bird, r«ets on a wooden support attached to hia saddle. When flown, on the sight of game, it will sweep down on the fox and fix its taloni in the animal's back. The fox will then turn its head and try to seize the eagle. If it succeeds, victory remains with it ; but it' the eagle iv well trained it will leave bold of the fox, and then, when its head is turned btck, sc-izo it again by the face. This seals tbe doom of the fox. When well trained and exp rienced the eagle is even used in hunt : ng wolves. ••• A Word in Season.— "Sir B^divere," af Town and Country, says :—": — " Only the best and hardest of sheepdogs can be induced to work through the middle of hot days, and those who have charge of them ."hould remember — as the majority will without special reminder — tbat punishment for not; working unJer such circumstances is useless aud exceptionally cruel, rtsulting in the deg lofing confidence in his ; owner, which will not tend to increase his desire for work at other times. If at all times a too fat condition is to be avoided, it is doubly important in hot weather, particularly with working dogs and the big breeds." • . • As the question ;\s to whether it is possible to regulate the proportion of the sexes produce-! is of lea r"fe->ed to by fanciers, the

following remarks by Hagh Dalziel in hi* new edition of •• Britiah Dog*" wili i-.co( interest.: — " Tbe theory held by niauy h.-BP<Soro f " fnys ILo writer reforred to, "is i)\xt if th« bitch is served fa*; (ha carlj period of her ooslrura ttis progeny will ba ssostly (eni».i<;s ; ivad : on the contrary, if near the r<,d of the period tba {Majority of the puppiss will be in*)«ii\ No or>e person* expenV.noe, however exhaustive, can be taker) ( o settle this question, which is of very great pi.aotical importance, \eiß perhaps in respect of dogs than of other stock." Many years ago Mr W. B. Tegeimeior tabulated the births ,of greyhounds recorded in the Field newspaper during a scries of years, and tho figures, whteb. wero aap.ds osa of by Darwin in hirf " Desecmi of Mad," show an excess of 10 pec cent, of males over females. I have (saya Mr D.siz'oi) »mc« that data taken from fc'ie Kennel Chronicle the births of over 30,000 puppiaa of all breeds, and have found the proportion of the sexes to be i a favour of the mile to tho extent of a fraction over 4- per cent. When those who claim the power to regulate the proportion of the «uxes in their kennels can pro?e results in favour of their theory by such an accumulation of facts or ioaduices, they will have what they now lack — solid grounds for , asking consideration for their pretensions. * . • A novel and quaint experiment was introduced by the Glasgow Committee at their show o» December 9. Each visitor was, ou bis arrival, supplied with a ticket, on which was written : •'Vote for the dog you think hes 1 } in the show. After voting place card iv box nevr the door." On the ticket the dog's name and number was to be filled in. The dog which came out with the largest number of votes received a £3 3s oup. *.• Sajs the Slockkeeper : — "Mr Meyrick received many expressions of sympathy upon the defeat of the bulldog Dimboola by Doj Salano. As an award it wait more courageous thun competent. We believe our opinion is the echo of the fancy, who will be oarioui to r*ad the judge's justification. Don Sftlano's fame a3 a stud dog is known far and wide, and his memory will live upon the excellence of his stock, but as a show dog he is just a trifle •off.' He is now seven years old, hut wag quite a two-year-old in appearauca on Tuesday, nud tho saucy devil-may-care look m his ey« carried many men's memory back to Don Pedro. ' ' • * A good wire-haired fox terrier has gone to Australia, this being Mr L. P. C. Astley's Astore (1895), which has been purchased by Mr E. de S. Darii^ of Melbourne. Tha dog is well Jjrnown, bis victorios at Plymouth, Middlemen, Rsraabottom, &c , bring recent oars. He is, without doubt, the boot wirtvhair ever shipped to the antipodes, and should do a lot of go-id to his breed over there; Attore sailed in tho a.c. Oroya, which ship his new owner joins at Naples, Mr Davis haviug been upending a few months in the old country. — Exchange. • . " A case of considerable interest to dog exhibitoia generally cropped up at tha Balfatt show ir< November. In tho schedule «.* originally iasued there appeared a class for toy spaniels, but upon the appear unco of tha catalogue, this class was found to have beeu cancelled, and an exhibit which should have competed in it was found figuring in tho " Any other variety " class. As it so happened, th's exhibit, a King Charles, won iv this (the any other variety) class, and now t'ae ownor of tbe •Kcond prize exhibit has lodged an objection on tbe geound that, rvs & cities for toy spttuiels whs given in the schedule, tho winning tor in question wan net eligible to compete in a class for "other vaiieties not classed." The objection is at present " under consideration." " . • "When your hmband married you he married your dogs as well." Such was the startling announcement raado by Judge Gordon last week ab the Newcastle County Court, ia reply to a female witness, called by her hnaband to prove that the dogs ou whose account he had been summoned were hers before marriage, and consequently h*d so continued up to the preoeat time. Tho judge, however, dissented from this view, so it would seem that dogs are chattel* noli subjected to the Married Woman's Property Act, but pass to tho husband as a collateral consequence of the marriage of their mistreso. • . ' The Westminster Gazette comments as follows upon a claim for value of a dog destroyed: — "The career of the Skye terrier into whose death Judge Sfceavenson inquired afe Ulverston was chequr-red, but momentous. As * sweet six months' puppy he became the property of Miss Dolly Postlethwaite, and if ho had beßu prosy and decorous might have lived happily ever after. Bat he was inquisitive and adve&turous ; found h's way to St. Petersburg, was brought back again, showed a lamentable lack of manner*, and was sent tor his moral improvement into the family of the Cassons. In Yaiu ! He wan ac iucortifiib!'; a>< a monkey with a (lonble dose, of mischief, l'li'rf Ciflson wished him dovi ; Mr Satterlh'vaite Enid he should die. Mr B ulton, •as *n act of kindness,' drowned him in a water tub ; ttio looal newt paper paid him obituary honours, and Miss Dolly claimed £5 for the loss of her pet. As in t'Je well-kuowu case of Cock Robin, tbe question was, Who killed the Skye terrier? The only persou in tho mourtif nl history who had not actually touched him was Mr Satterthwaite, whom the judge saddled with damages. Such is the peril of occupying a middle position — of being, as Goethe »ayp, neither tbe anvil nor the hummer. For the rest, it is evident that Ulveruton is no place for a Skye terrier of original ideas and irregular habits."