SHAMEFUL AND DEGRADING "SPORT."

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 6936, 9 February 1884, Page 2 (Supplement)

SHAMEFUL AND DEGRADING "SPORT."

Having had occasion (writes a correspondent of the London Standard) to spend an hour in a park -where coursing was going on, I want to describe in plain worda what I saw and heard. At one aide of a long oak railing stood a crowd of men who eeemed to be in a state of violent exoitement. 'Che crowd was loose enough to allow of individuals winding in and out; and thus the whole enclosure was in a welter. A loud and confused roar came from this seething mob, and as the sounds singled themselves out, I discovered that nearly all the company were engaged in betting. The men were of various clasees. There were many persons in cloth caps, and I could tell that these men were miners, for the peculiar strutting walk and the scarred hands of a genuine pitman cannot well be mistaken. There were also rough farmer folks, and some slouching countrymen; but the majority- of the crowd resembled those unpleasant beings who gather in Waterloo Station or Croydon when gate-money race meetings are in progress. Here and there stood loudly-dressed fellows who bore heavy satchels, and who roared their offers to bet,Round the professional betting men little eager knots of gamblers gathered, and gold and silver ohauged hands freely. At the other side of the oak fence a broad green expanse stretched away towards a low copse, and aoross the dapple green rode a man dressed in a pink coat. About a quarter of a mile from the horseman stood two long lines of men, who formed a kind of lane, and at the blind end of this lane there was a little straoture like a roofless hut. Above the walls of the hut a spot of bright colour appeared, and I saw that a man in a pink coat was ensconced within. Presently a hush fell for about a second on the roaring crowd, and some one said, " Here she coaies." Then I saw a hare trot gently down between the loose lines of men. She seemed feeble, and wandered aimlessly from side to side. Then she lay down, and one of the men rushed forward, picked her up, and carried her into an enclosure that stood behind the roofless hut. Another hare soon came out, glanced around, lowered her ears, and shot towards the open end of the line of men. From the hut a man came forth, hanging hard back as two struggling dogs writhea and twisted in his leash. I waited to see the fierce creatures released, but suddenly the poor hare stopped and began to hobble. The red-coated judge raised his hand, and the enraged doge were hauled back to the hut again. Loud discontent was expressed among the spectators, and one gentleman observed, " Why, that's about the thirtieth to-day. They might as well be coursing dead meat." Some beaters oame and tried to drive pussy to cover, but the obstinate creature actually went and cowered at the feet of a man who bore two flags in hi 3 hands; then she was lifted ao and carried away. This work was somewhat tame, and the gentleman in pink came over to the rails and expressed some irritation about something or other. A few more seconds passed, and then a hare rushed from the enclosure and shot like a brown streak over the green. " A rare 'un," said one spectator. The man from the hut again came out, moving with a kind of staggering trot as the plunging dogs rose on their hind legs and strained convulsively at the collar. He quickened his pace to a swift run, flung up his haud, and, after one blundering dash, the two doge laid themselves down to their work, and swept with beautiful sinuous movements after the hare. She had raised her ears for a moment, but she dropped them, and fairly doubled herself as the sound of feet seemed to meet her ear, I saw her pace quicken as though a nervous contraction had shot her forward, but the effort died away, and the dogs eooQ drew up. The foremost greyhound did not really appear to gallop; it rather seemed as though he glided over-the ground as I have seen snakes move on the Norfolk heaths. He was followed by a determined red dog, who carried his head low, and gathered his limbs with a beautiful, even action. The black leader came up with the hare, but the little creature swerved and swung round towards the people ; the red dog struck savagely, missed, and whipped herself round with a curious twitch of the tail. Then the black aimed another stroke, and this time successfully, for the shriek of the hare sounded, and soon the two brutes were tearing at her. This may be sport, but it is not of a. healthy or useful sort. Men who tramp over the scented fields for a day together get exercise and health, but that clamorous crowd in the Gosforth inclosuro did nothing but bet and drink beer and whisky. Then the look of the hunted beast was piteous. When a strong hare rises on a free hillside, she goes off with her ears cocked, and the best dogs in the world fail three timee out of four to capture her ; but the hares that 1 saw cowered away with tucked-up loins and drooped ears, and made a very poor show with their lean, ferociou3 pursuers. I saw one hare receive four hundred yards law, yet the greyhounds, a splendid white dog, and a clever, active, blaok, caught up to her, and the white worried her before she made a single turn. This, I repeat is "not sport. ' Moreover,-the. spectators were of a low type, and they cared for nothing but money. Their language was odious ; their cruol indifference was offensive, and I was very glad when I found what I came to seek, and got away.