NOTES BY TERROR.

Otago Witness, Issue 2286, 23 December 1897, Page 42

NOTES BY TERROR.

• . • Meaera Brodie and' Duulop, the wellknown cocker spaniel fanciers of Invercargill,, bave recently had the misfortune to lose two, inmates of their kennels. The la»t to go wan their beet bitch Waihopai Marvelle, in whelp* (served in November). Owing to the face that; the deaths could not be accounted, for iv any way, there was naturally suspicion of pois >n,. and it wa3 thought proper to send the body of the bitch to Mr Snowball, the Dunedin City Corporation veterinary surgeon, for post mortem.examination.

• . • By appointment I was present when the body was dissected, but notwithstanding a very* careful examination, nothing to indicate the. cauae of death was discovered, other than a. slight appearance of congestion of the lunge, ' and Mr Snowball expressed the opinion that. ' the dog had simply caught cold and died from: the effects. * . ' For the information of the fancy, manyof whom, I am aware, hold the opinion that all - dogs are more or less troubled- with, worms, I cant -testify that this 1 particular cisc was perfectly free-offehetny not a single specimen being visible. The bit oh appeared fc«v be, genera l ly speaking, !in a thoroughly healthy condition; and the pr&ctical lesson- to be gained from the loss,- and ■ by the experience of her owners, is that should. ' a dog. go off its food and show other symptoms. • of ill-health the cause may poseibly be a cold.. ! Of course should the- suspicion, that such is the case once crosi the mind it oan- generally be confirmed by looking for the mual evidences— coughing, sneezing, running at the nose or ej 63, wheezir-g in the throat, or difficulty in breathing. • . ■ I notice that Australian papers are now commenting upon the letter of "Diinediu." relative to imp-rting a judge for an intercolonial show, published in this paper and in several Australian contemporaries a few weeks back. I wilt have something to say on the sab' jectntxfe week, whan probably I shall have the bulk of the comments in hand. • . • I am, as 1 my readers are- aware, always pleased to publish an authenticated account of exceptional sagacity on the part of "'our dumb Friends " ; that the following episode is a trutliful one I oan. vouch for, hecause I saw it in print! — "Of course everybody has heard stories of dogs that being presented with pennies go • off and buy themselves buns. But the bun for sagacity is undoubtedly taken by Pineher, of ' Clapham. Pineher, of Clapiiaro, is & fine retriever, and he had a very happy and idyllic existence with his kind master until that gentleman got married. Hie young lady didn't like dog*. She said Pineher'a master could choose . between her and bi* besb friend. ° So he gave ' up his best friend in exchange for a mere wife., ' But be fouud the. dog- a comfoifoble home with &1& 1 relative at Northampton, where he knew t Pincher would be kindly treated. When he look the faithful animal down he explained to " Lib friend that /ifc was his custom to give the dog a penny per diem -for a luncheon bun, and that he always fetched ifc himself from the , baker's. So in order to obtain Pinchers affection and fidelity, bis new owner adopted the same plan. He gave Pincher his penny, and took bim out the flist morning to show bim tho best bun shop. The dog promptly wenfe in »nd purchased the naval sew bun, which he consumed with evident relink and approval of the Northampton flavour. Next dty he was sent off by himself,, but his master followed to see if ha could find the shop. Trust Pincher for that! He found' it all right, and bought his bun as before. So thereafter he was given his penny, and trotted off to luncheon aloue every day with unfailing regularity. All went well for two o» three months. Then there came a day when Pincher did not return. Inquiry was made, and his master found to his surprise that fche dog had never been for a bun since tbe second day of bis at rival in Northampton. He •was not to be found in the town, and seemed to have mysteriously gone off into the Unknown. But the same evening his owner received a telegram from the dog's old master ab Clapham, which ran — • Pincher arrived here this afternoon.' And ifc turned out that tbe artful old Hog had actually debarred himself of his buns, and saved up his daily pennies until he had accumulated sufficient to buy himself a railway ticket to London and return to his old home." • . ' It is really surprising, (says tbe Melbourne Leader) what a lot of gullible individuals, are to found in what is known as " the fancy circle." In no other sections of the community could the confidence trick be so easily played. ;There are a fen importations now located i

•mong&t us whose blather and bounce 1 ace bo-

. coming a hore. ; and if they, allowed themselves jto be ordinary mortals- in their own country a _6udden. change. comes over them immediately Ahey arrive out here, and their knowledge becomes unbounded. 16 would have been better if these would-be authorities had gained a little knowledge themselves before attempting po spread their opinions broadcast, which in most cases is an insult to the intelligent section 14 colonial breeders whoa it if remembered

that we have men amongst us who have been importing largely for . many years past, who have made their hobby a close study, ana are constantly endeavouring to improve their minds ou canine matter*, and, under j probably correct impießsions that the English j breeder kuew more about the general branches of the f<tncy than they did, h*ve adopted their stacdards, accepted their ideas, read and carefully studied all. the latest works of the recognised authorities, aud have purchased first-claas specimens of various breeds as examples to breed up to. In such circumstances ib is only reasonable to suppose that good results have followed, both as regards knowledge aud- the j production of a few good specimens. It mint ! also be borne, in mind that many of our Australian fanciers are. men of, position and education, some holding high and responsible positions, who follow their canine pastime as a hobby, and thereby devote all their spare time to producing first-class stock, and in most cases arc thoroughly capable of discriminating upon the merits and defects of their dogs and aUo their collective value ; and it is from such breeders that we must look to for cur judges. One of the latest so-called expirts is a Mr Turner, of whom the English Stockkeeper jays in its issue of October :— " Mr C. S. Turner, who possesses a seamy old stock of worn quotations, which he drags into his notes with the inconsequence of the ready-made tailor who wants to get rid of his clothes and is blind to misfits, is allowed to twaddle on the name subject in the Poultry and Dor Czette; Mr Turner (we wish someone would tell us who be was in England) says he went, to the Melbourne •how, and remarks of one of the judges: 'He is a gentleman, and I firmly believe conscientious. The bast man or the crowd for integrity ' ; nice for the rest. He 'liked Mr Moses on fox terriers,' although he could not quite endorse' his awards. It only remains for the journal' uamed to favour the fancy with a portrait and biography of its omniscient contributor ; and as he is so fond of quotations we t-houH suggest that he take for his motto Emilia's description of the Moor when she proclaims the murder." Iv the i->sue of October 15 the Stockket-per says :—": — " We asked recently if any of our renders could ttlj us who Mr C. 8. Turner was in the English fancy before he went to Australia, where he has bkssomed forth into en Al, very much tip-top judge of all f anciei. We have^ not received a single reply. In the colony Mr Turner has excited some attention by his arl isles in the Dog and Poultry Gazette. These articles display a certain intimacy with English men and dogs, but it is a knowledge of a kind that can be picked up by studying the files of our kennel press. His writings he embellishes with quotations from the pre's, which are usually as inappropriate as they are stale. We rhould never have noticed this Jiterary posture maker if he bad not charged an English reporter with ' writing up ' a certain dog, and although he has been asked to judge at two chow«, we should like our readers in Australia to ex-.rcioe some discretion before accepting his disparaging referenca to people in the old country who never even heard of him. Up-country secretaries and committees have no difficulties lo contend with now in the way of obtaining judges of repute. If they- have- upstarts foisted upon them by interested individuals it is purely their own: fault*. A gojd deal has been written in these' columns on the subject of professionalism in itsworst- aspect— x',z , that of judging, dealing,, exhibiting, acting jin the capacity of kennelroan to a,nd from, and'actually aS the show the combiaeoVmen hacve been elected to adjudicate at."