The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-06-22


the find, or start as, under all the circum-
stances, 1t is perhaps more aptly named; that
the toXhound iob-master was one Mr.. John
Stumpf, "a rather old gentleman in grey
suit who brought Give or six dogs, named
Carlo, Waltman, Pascha, Hector, and Pluto,
to the rendezvous, and whom the special cor
respondent of the st. Louis Republican, repre-
sents as regarding his dogs with affectionate
interest," and expressing his confidence that
they would kill the fox, If Hey lad fair
ho1r;' that the fox-keeper was one Barney
OConnor and that the fox provided for
the occasion was named ''Ben Butler
name probably suggested by the
silvely metallic glisten of his
silken coat. Nor let the Leicester
shire man besurprsed at the small number of
hounds-two couples and half-oonsidered
necessary for the sport Of Illinois. Doubt
less the deficiency in numbers is more than
counterbalanced by the superior excellence
engendered in the hounds through the COM
petition which is caused by the practice of
iobbing them. But. however this may be-
enough has probably been said by way of pre-
iminary explanation to enable the reader to
enjoy few short extracts from the narrative
of the special correspondent of the st. Louis
RcpuJbcoa. This gentleman, who was
mounted on "a smooth-running buggy from
the st. Nicholas livery stable, drawn by a
formation that the foX-wagon had started, and
that the exciting scene was about to com
mence, set out for the hill where the start was
to take place. and thus describes the event.
The hill is to the north of the road and no fences
render the ascent Of the mild declivity troublesome.
This spot was selected as there are no woods of any
amount Ill tne vicinity and the view IS unobstructed.
On the top OF this HILL about two O'Clock, the hunters
and spectators gathered After some little delay,
Mr. Macdonald gave the order for the hunt to begin.
In tones Of stentoran command he addressed the
crowd. The fox was about to be let 60 II would
be taken to the brow of the hill ana there set at
liberty but in order to successful hunt, 1t
would be necessary to preserve order. The dogs
were to be held-a boy to each hOund-the horse
men were to form in line on the hill where they now
were, and at given signal to start forward.
Then, said the speaker in voice Of heroic deter
mlnauon, every man for himself" These words
produced visible effect and some few of the horse
men looked nervousy at each other, and evidently
felt as something serious was about to transpire.
After some haullng and swapping, "Ben Butler
was Topped out of his barrel upon the ground,
Barney OConnor holding him by the chain. The
led across the field Mr. Macdonald and two other
parties accompanying, to the point before desg-
mated. During the route the fox was dragged over
a few fences, the presumption being that the hounds
would follow in exactly the same course, and try
the metal OF the horses and riders. piece OF
woods quarter of mile so from the crowd
having been reached the fox was let go a blow on
the side being given him to convey the idea that
the faster he went the better.
The reader will not fail to remark that, in
this scientific method of opening the hunt
the sportsmen of Illinois have borrowed
some Characteristic features from several
| English sports. In the practice of bringing
the fox up in fox-wagon, and starting him
with a rap on the flanks, we see something
akin to scenes which have been witnessed
before now with her Majesty's Buck
hounds. The trick of hauling the
fox over some fences, with the special design
| of atfording better sport to the riders Cor to
al nionC
of the Christ Church drag The dodge where
| by the necessity for the services of hunts
man and his whipper-in is obviated-namely,
! by confding each hound to the care of a small
! boy to hold-seems to be remotely derived
from our practice of using slippers at cours-
| ing-matchcs, and is at any rate an excellent
contrivance as it substitutes for the perma-
nent and expensive employment of full-grown
men the cheaper alternative of occasional,
and perhaps voluntary child-labor, And,
lastly, in the marshalling of the horsemen
and requiring them to start by given signal,
| it is easy to discover a feature borrowed
| from EPSON, and feature, too, of which
many an unlucky sportsman, who has been
temporarily or permanently thrown out by
getting a bad start from the wrong side of the
cover will appreciate the utility. The fox
being thus started in the bran-new American
fashion, the hounds were laid on, and the
hunt commenced. Like the life of Achilles
it was short but glorious. On arriving al
the first fence the hounds, with a considera
ton which would never be shown by an Eng
lish pack, stopped short, and proceeded tc
offer a variety of diversion for the entertain
ment of the ladies and of the special CORES
pondent. One sat down and bayed an
other tried unsuccessfully to execute
''circles of recovery" and a third pro
ceeded to chase some loose horses which
were in another corner of the field. All this
time the reader might suppose, the fox wa'
making play across the country, and the
chance of a kill was ended And so it woulC
have been, no doubt, in the case of an Eng
lish vermin. But at this interesting junctur,
the event occurred at which we have alread,
limited, which shows the superiority of th
American to the English fox, and whicl
afforded a charming variety in the sport neve
even dreamed of by English foX-hunters. Tn
fox went up tree But we must again sum
mon the special correspondent to describ
such a scene as this, as he witnessed it, OF
arriving at the first fence in his buggy
"What OF the foX?" This was the question w
asked on arriving at the spot; but nobody coul
answer it. On looking around we saw man on tn
other side of moist soft field OF nursery plants, ges
tiCuatng wildly. This is apparently the America
substitute fer crying Tally Ho.) "Whats the mat
ter?" we shouted. Giles up tree" was the reply
pointing upwards; and sure enough, on lo0kln
intently at tree near him, we spied the fox seate
among the branches and calmly enjoying the scene
But the enjoyment of this amazing fox wa
not destined to last very long. For now W
come to the kill, or the deROuemeRt, as it
called in America, which was as different fror
our English termination as was every othe
part of this strange sport. Suppose-if W
may be permitted to suppose an utter impos
siblity-tha Quorn or Pytchley fox shoul