The Red Cloud chief., 1882-09-01
Hunting and Hounds.

the cseDuu night Oh apfl j, 1871.
Hunting and Hounds.
Hunting is. par excellence. the sport
O! England, and for systena,ized hunt
ing with hounds England is par excel
lence the country Of the sport In no
other is it carr.e Ell on with such zeal.
and ut so great cost; and none is there
where 50 many people approve of or
take part in il Proc! of this viii be
found in the fact that throughout the
kingdom there are no less than 500
packs Of hounds. averaging between
thirty and forty couples each. To wit:
Is Of stag hounds. III of fox-hounds.
1876 Of barriers. 10 Of beasies. with a
few packs Of other hounds. Grey
hounds are also kept in larsc numbers
all over the country; while certain
breeds OF terriers are trained as aids
and adjuncts OF the sport OF the
packs, England. of course possesses
the majority. though Ireland. up To the
Land League agitation. had its full
quota proportional TO population
Scotland and Wales, from their mount
ainous nature. are in n manner pre-
Guided from this specially of sport, the
former having in all only eight packs Of
fox-hounds. with one of barriers and
one Of beagles.
Some packs are the property OF and
maintained by private individuals; rich
magnates to whom money is of slight
consequences when weighed against the
grandeur Of owning and Keeping up q
pack of hounds. These are few. how
ever. most being subscription packs"
supported by regular subscribers who
are members Of the Hunt, with occa-
sional voluntary contributions from out
siders. But there is often a deficiency
of cash, with much strain in meeting
the expenses OF the year; so much tina;
now and then a pack falls % pieces, the
hunt Is given up. and the hounds. with
horses and other belongings. are sold
off under the hammer. After n time "a
fresh spirit OF hunting zeal mas spring
up in the abandoned district, from new
men of wealth coming 10 reside in IL,
when an effort will be made To- ~resusci-
tate the hunt. which is generally sue
cessfuL Every year some packs are
broken up. and Others either re-estab-
lished or for the first time got together.
The cost of keeping a pack of hounds
varies much. and is dependent on sew
eral circumstances. rs tho number and
character Of the official staff Of manage
ment, the frequency with which the
pack is hunted. and. 10 some extent. its
size. Each pack has a Master. pre-
sumptively n gentle nan in the social
sense of the word; and the Office is sup
posed to be honorary-at least there IS
no fixed salary attached To il. But as
the Masters have sole control and ex-
penditure of the fund, il is pretty well
understood thar they recoup themselves
not only for OUTLAWS of money. bat for
time and trouble. too. Most of them
certainly do so. though not all: some
being losers bv il, for glory's sake. In
all cases. however. there is an under
standing that the Master shall not bt at
n expense for his mount; this being
provided for him. and of the best. But
the usual method is: Before undertake
ing to hunt 3 pack of hounds. the Mas
ter that is to be demands y certain fixed
sum subscribed and put into his hands,
sufficient TO cover all expenses. which
he also binds hmself TO meet. With
this money he can deal as it Gems best
10 him; expend il all and hunt the pack
well: or be stingy and save some of it
for himself. turning out the hounds in
an unhandsome I'M There are
ever Masters Of this kind, though not
many.
After a pack has been established.
kennels built. hounds and horses OF the
hunt purchased. the chief outlay is in
the pay of the subordinate officials and
the keep of the horses. as also that of
the hounds themselves. In addition to
the Master. every pack has a Huntsman
and Whip; in the majority of cases two
of the latter. and in noted hunts. as the
Pytchley. BerSley, Quorn and Belvoir.
three or ever more. Attached to such
packs there is also . kennel Hunts
man." whose duty consists in looking
after the hounds at home; and If fox
hounds there will be . numerous tribe
of "earth-sioppcrs," needing 10 be re
munerated for the quaintly curious
part they n called upon To play.
All these mel receive . handsome
wage. the Huntsman and Whips
well earning it For not only is their
work hard. but they must be the best Of
riders. able 10 keep well up to the
hounds. and so risking their necks every
day they are out. As most packs hunt
from three 10 Eve DAYS q week. some
even six. il viii be seen that the calling
Of either Huntsman or Whip is no sine
cure. The amount required for the
maintenance of an ordinary pack NAV
be roughly estimated al fi.5oO . year;
but there are large establishments where
this is far exceeded. and many small
ones conducted economically al much
less expense-say one-haif for the aver
age. or course these figures have moth
ing 10 do with the cost of establishing
the pack which calls for \ considerable
outlay on the items above adduced.
When the hunting days are frequent
Master. Hunssman and Whips require
several horses each; 50 making the ex-
Pense Al the greater. Cor. y. I. In6