Sacramento daily record-union., 1888-12-01
BACKGROUNDS.
DESIRABLE ALLIES FOR COUNTRY
SHERIFFS.
The BIoodhounds of Belted VILLA
Gave Of CannibaIs Explored
by Their Means.
written for the REconD-Uy1ov.l !

One OF your exchanges recently con-
tanned the particulars of an interview with
Henry ]. Meredith on the subject of blood
hounds, which Mr.. Meredith would be
glad to see introduced into the mountain
GUS districts of this State, with the object
Of tracking criminals and fugitives from
justice The idea of acclimating these an
imals in California is by no means a new
one, and has long been familiar to the
wardens Of our penitentiaries, one of
whom, General McComb, maintained at
Folsom quite a kennel of them. The
evasion Of capture by outlaws and stage
robbers in the wooded interior point to
the conclusion that before very long the
keeping of bloodhounds will become COM
mon, at least among Sheriffs and local
Constables whose efforts to capture GRIM
inals have not infrequently been rendered
abortive by the want of trained dog. In
view, then, of the prospective introduc-
tion into California Of these noble animals
a word or two as to their history and cap.
abilities may prove interesting to those
readers of the RECoRD-UNIoN whose
knowledge of bloodhounds is of a hazy and
fragmentary nature. Under various names
the bloodhound has been the ally of man
from the earliest times. His docility, his
extraordinary powers of scent and his per-
severance in following it up, have made
him a valuable acquisition in cases where
the quarry, whether human or animal,
was beyond
THE KEN OF SIGHT OR HEARING.
The bloodhound was originally introduced
into England by the Normans, and was
used by them in maintaining the strin-
gency of the forest laws; in particular,
in the tracking of poachers and deer
stalkers of which Sherwood and the New
Forest were full. The " claims of long
descent" in the case'of the bloodhound are
sufficiently vouched for by the use of these
animals in heraldry, where they OCCASION
ally figure as supporters" and in rare in
stances are found quartered on the shield
itself. In North Britain they were exten-
sively employed for the tracking of Scot
tish outlaws by the English forces. Robert
Bruce and Sir William Wallace were each
IN turn hunted by bloodhounds, though in
the latter case the treachery of man ac-
complished what the scent of the hound
was powerless to effect. During the times
of the border raids, bloodhounds were re-
sorted to by the chiefs of either faction.
The Percys and the Douglasses both pos
sessed extensive kennels of these sa-
gacious brutes, and we read how one Sir
Richard Musgrave,
BY willy turns and desperate bounds
Had Datfied Percy's best blOOdhOuDds
The eccentric Earl of Howard, known to
border ballads as "Belted Will" in his ca
pacity of Warden of the Marches. main
tanned several packs of these animals,
which he utilized to admirable purpose in
tracing the perpetrators of outrages and
hunting to their lairs the numerous bands
of cattle thieves, of which the country at
that time was full. Known in Scotland as
the sleuthhound, the detection by the lat
ter's aid of the
NOTORIOUS SAwNEY BEAN FAMILY
Gave an advertisement to the dog which
Its subsequent feats have in every way
contributed to sustain. This cannibal
outlaw had for years bafiled the efforts of
justice to trace him to his haunt, until re-
course was had to bloodhounds, who per-
formed in a few hours a task that had
checkmated the Kings officers for months.
Headed by King James, party of troop
ers were guided by bloodhounds to an OBJ
scure cave on the coast of Galloway, the
headquarters Of the Bean family, and from
where they issued to make war on the
human race. "The victims were waylaid
under cover of night on their way from
country fairs, or, in the case of isolated
travellers, were openly attacked in daylight
The same soul-sickening mutilation was
effected in east case, the abdomen was
cut open, the entrails dragged out, and
the body carried to the cave, there to
be devoured by the cannibal inmates.
To prevent detection, they murdered
every traveller they robbed, and for
years continued their horrible calling.
In this manner" the chronicle tells us
''they lived till they had eight sons and
six daughters, eighteen grandsons and
fourteen granddaughters, all the offspring
of incest" This family of ghouls was sue
cessfully tracked by bloodhounds, who rem
dered in this act a most signal service to
justice, recollection of which, the lapse of
two centuries has been powerIess to efface.
In England, in the early years of the pres
ent century, the Thrapston Association for
the prosecution of felons, owned blood
hounds, by whose aid some of the most
notorious highwaymen of the time were
detected and
BROUGHT TO THE GALLows.
In the days of Slavery bloodhounds were
extensively used in Cuba, and in the
Southern States previous to the war, they
were frequently employed in tracking those
Africans held to service who preferred free
dom to the patriarchal institution.
The " casts " which have recently been
made with bloodhounds in London prove
that the inherited instinct has not been
blunted by generations of peaceful use
theoretically these experiments have been
successful, though there is every reason for
doubling whether the distinguishing
faculty of the bloodhound can ever be
turned to much account in great cities.
In the issue Of this journal for the 18th
inst. the writer pointed out how the pave
ment of these places is fatal to the reten-
tlon of scent, and how the inducements to
forsake the trail are, in the crowded thor
oughfares OF towns, overwhelming. The
country is par excellence the field for the
bloodhound, where there is complete alb
sence of those distracting sights and
sounds which initiate against the success,
ful prosecution of trail. In the case OF
the Whitechapel murders, if the perpe.
traitor of them is ever discovered it will be
by other means than the scent of hounds
whose detective faculty becomes demoral.
lied by the hindrances to concentration
which the traffic of city like London
opposes. Contrary to the opinion generally
entertained, the bloodhound is neither
fercen or sanguinary, and though carnivor
Gus in the sense that all dogs are, had nc
exalted appetite for flesh food, whethel
human or animal. His name is wrongl,
associated with the possession of craving
of which he inherits no larger share thar
the beagle or fox-hound.
HIS THIRST FOR BLOOD
Is an entire myth, and in his fare tn,
bloodhound asks no change from. the die
of the pointer or setter. All sporting dog
require meat at intervals, but the usua
e IL. i 7