FANCIERS' COLUMN.

Otago Witness, Issue 2201, 7 May 1896, Page 35

FANCIERS' COLUMN.

The Otage Witness has been appointed the official organ for the publication of announcements of the Dunedin Fanciers' Club. NOTES BY TEREOE. * . • The Dunedin Fanciers' Club got through a lot of business at & meeting held on Monday night. The appointment of Mr Smythe was definitely decided on as iadge fou the dog

section. It was also decided to provide special ..benches, similar to those nsed in the old* country, for the dogs, and to arrange for tha dog exhibits to be placed under canvas", as I predicted last week, on the vacant space between the- Gurrisori Hall and the Times office; the whole to be nicely illuminated, by eltotricity if arrangements can ha made.

• . " Mr Smythe haß been requested to furnish a written report upon th-a dogs, and it is suggested that he should be in attendance the second d*y of the show for the benefit of the fancy generally. If this can be arranged the Club Committee deserve to be complimented <for their action. —

• . • It appears that tho English Kernel Cub ht\s, after all, refused to prohibit docking, and in Amerioa there is, evidently an incliaa* tion to reaist the inevitable. One fancier there has, I learn, gone so far as to offer a prize lor the most artistically cropped ears. Backed np by magisterial decisions as they have been, the anti-docking people will most certainly win the day in the long run. It appears to me a great pity that clubs should not take the initiative in such a matter instead of waiting till their hands are forced.

1 . • The- Chri^tchurch dog fanciers h»ve, I learn fram " Siriusi," not allowed the proposal to hold a show this year to fall through. My contemporary alleges that he can guarantee that ample funds will be forthcoming from old members if volunteers to take up the manage* menfc present themselves. The old committee it evidently " full up."

• . • A correspondent of the Stackkeeper has contributed a letter to that paper dealing with the danger of feeding dogs on raw flesh, and instances cases where disease ha* rapidly followed the consumption of the raw flesh of: diseased animals, more particularly after anthrax. The rem< dy suggested is cookiug all flesh thoroughly. Of course the danger lies not in raw flesh itself, but in raw flesh which is infected with foreign bacilli, and if one could but ensure that there w*b no infection, then there would be no danger in feeding on raw flesh. As a matter of fact, raw flenh is more easily digested than when cooked, as it contains a very large proportion of albumen, which is not nearly so easy of digestv n in a coagulated or cooked state as when r.-vw

' . * Mr George Stephenson ii)forn>6 me that hit firm expect a couple of greyhound sluts and a do,; from Mr T. P. Wilkinson, of Hobsrt, by next week's boat. They are to be offered at auction at a date to be advertised in the Daily Tirae', in which the pedigrees will ba °givon. ,The bitches are described by Mr Wilkinson at really good ones, beiug fashionably and orception&lly well bred. They have only baen run once, when they both got into tbe lait four of a 24- dog stake. Had everything gone well they promised to divide the stake, but one of them, I Brighton Lady, got unsighted and lott the ooure&in consequence, after leading to her hare; whilst the other, Millicent, bad scored all tho point's up to the time she w*f caught and held in a b»rbcd-wire fonce. The dog has not been run in public in consequence of "his having had a bad attack of distemper, but he ii in excellent health now, and in a few trials showed himself very fast, though not so clever as hia listers. They are being fold to close partner* ship Recounts between M«sub Hope and Wilkinson. The vendors say of the tints: ".IE mated with one-. of your Tofcara dogs with not I too much Contango blood in his pedigree they would be very likely to throw somfiMiing above th« common. ■ . • A short lioar. back the engiuodnver of a train near Montreal saw a Urge dog on th» track. He was backing furiously. The engine* driver blew the whistle, but he did not stir, and crouching low he wa* struok by tha locomotive and killed. There was a bit of white mnaltn on the locomotive, »nd it attracted the atten* tion of the enginedriver, who- ctopped the train and went back. There lay the dead dog and * dead child, which had wandered on tbe track and had gone to sleep The dog had given the signal to stop the tram, and had died at his post. — Stock keeper. •.• "Eclipse," in the Melbourne Weekly Times saya !— "For many years the blaok Newfoundland was seldom to be seen in the colony, and at our leading shows this noble breed was ' a dead letter.' 6oma jjight or nine years ago* Mr J. B. Pemmell, of Sydney, imported a pair of very good one», and we then saw for the first time what a blaok Newfoundland was. Prior to that the black-and-white hkifbred curlycoated mongrel was to be found winning on our nbow brncheß under the banner of Newfoundlands ; bat happily this state of affairs does not ■ I now exist, for through the enterprise of inch fanciers as Mr J. J. Tomlinand our old friend Mr S. S. C*meron, the veterinary of Dunedin, we have now some of the highest-blooded Newfoundlands in oar nrdst which the old World cm produce." • . • Mr Tomlia'B first importation in NewfoundUods waa in conjunction with Mr S. S. Camerou. Tha well-known Jack Tar was ( ■eoured through Mr Mansfield, one of the beat jndges of the breed in England. ' Mr Cameron eventually purohaied Mr Tomlin's interest in Jack Tar, and then the Barrowden fancier «enb . an order to England for two bitches. In due course Lady Mayoress II and Prairie Flower arrived. The iormer soon aftsr her arrival whelped a litter of puppies to one of England's greatest ' sir«a — namely, Henatite, and Me Tomliu wae fortunate in rearing three of her poppies. Theee hare since made their mark on the colonial show benches. * • . * BHron JordU, the prinoipal breeder of Si. Bernard dogs in Austria, publishes a letter from the Prior of St. Bernard's Hospice on the subject of the present value of these dogs. " You ask me whether, in the present day, our boaucU render the same eertice to travellers as *re ufually ascribed to them," mites the Prior. " Certainly they do. They in no way belie their past. «,In winter they ate absolutely indispensable to u», not only becnuae they still find • wanderers buried in the snow, but hecau* e they are the only guides who can le*d us safely along the proper track in the wild mountain snowstorms. The ouly difference is that they do not now carry a basket or a fl*sk fastened to their necks ; theee are borno by one of tho brothers of the Hospice." • . • One of the »taff visited the kennels and aviary of Mr J. B. Hayne, in Stafford street, last week, and reports that. he was much struck with the evidences visible in every department of a genuine fanoier'i desire to provide for the complete comfort of his pets. In choosing the situation for the site of the kennels and In building them the proprietor manifested fais determination to secure thorough drainage, every facility for healthy exercise and dty t snug beds. The kennels provide a- separate compartment for each dog, each of which is fitted with a movable wire front which can be covered by.a eliding ihutter at night. The floor of each compartment is levelled to allow of drainage to a centre, and made thoroughly comfortable by » plentiful supply of ole»n straw. Acoess is allowed to the recreation ground at the back by the lifting of a sliding door.' Notable amongst; the dogs seen were the two deer houndi, St. Patrick and Mona, his mate, both dogß being three years old. Two young pups, tho last of a litter, still occupy the kennelo. These dogs Me Hayne thinks himself justified in believing th« ' est of their kind in tho colonies, and «t»

opinion of a recent fancier from England is Worth anything they wonld be hard to boat even in the old country. New Faith, an exceedingly pretty collie bitch from Mr Rogen's kennels, was also seen, and the visitor was informed that she was to visit Mr Jowittfs giant Ranooh the next day. Pups from this pair should -prove good rtonk. - . The aviary consists of two very large sheds" nivided off by wire work into aboat a dozen or more large cages, averaging about sft wide by about 10ft or 12ft deep and very lofty. Erery compartment is thoroughly whitewashed within and tarred without and fitted with a bewildering array of ropes and pulley attachments for opening and numberless outlets for the pigeons. Each compartment is intended for a particular clase of pigeons, some being allottsd to breeding purposes, others to worker*, and Others again to imported birds ; the cock birds, again, having a section for their special use. She bulk of Mr Hayne's pigeons are " homers," und he possesses many very handsome aod rare specimens of this class. The remainder, making in all between 80 and 100 birds, are carriers, and the many prize-tickets stock about the various cages is satisfactory evidence of the quality of Mr Hayne's property in this class. The arrangements for nesting the birds and for feeding the various pets' on the premises are perfection, ' and Mr Hayne certainly deserves success as the result of his efforts to uphold the fancies he favours.