The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1895-04-22
A BOSTON LETTER.
Some Impressions of the Dog Show.

A Pedestrian Trip of 100 Miles Up Into
New Hampshire by a Rich Bostonian
| Over so Years of Age-He Got Into a
Controversy With Two Bicycling
| Friends.
Boston, April 10, 1895.
B The eleventh annual bench show of the
New England Kennel Club opened at
Mechanics Hall Tuesday and continued
through Wednesday, Thursday ard Fri
day.
To one who has never visited one of
these great dog shows some of the i'm
pressions of your correspondent, while
doing SO. may prove to be revelation
OF what is going on in the canine world
and the extraordinary variety in shape
and size and color and character, and
everything but devotion to man in this
kind of animal known as the dog. AS
you enter the hall this variety is very
manifest in the chaos of sound that al
most deafens your ca rs. From the shrill
cries of the little white poodles and rat
terriers to the gruff wEoops of the st.
Demands there must be several octaves.
IT you are like the writer you 60 straight
for the St. Bernards and mastiffs because
they are SO big and handsome and their
vocal utterances are not so disagreeable.
You want to see the biggest of all, of
course, and are directed to the bench of
Booths Duke of Lincoln" recently inn
ported by Edward Booth from England.
This great creature is not so handsome
in face or shape or color or coat as some
of the others, hut he is taller and bigger
and heavier than any other dog in the
hall and SO has received the first prize.
OF course he is also faultless in points.
His weight is a good deal over 200
pounds. His price is So, 500.
The most interesting mastiff is not the
biggest or handsomest. Lady a heron,
as she is called, is certainly the Oldest
and ugliest of the 5 mastiffs that DIR.
q. A. Longest has on exhibition. Her
head is more like that Of bull dog
than any of the other mastiffs and is
covered with the scars of many battles.
Her aged neck is as wrinkled as any fat
old woman's and altogether she is not an
agreeable spectacle. Yet she was given
the first prize. Her price is $1,000. EN-
peror William, another of DR.. Longest's
mastiffs, is valued at $4,000 Altogether
his exhibit of Is of these great dogs is
valued at S25, 300.
/ The bloodhounds are very attractive,
with their long ears and muzzles and
their reputation for exquisite scent that
Twill trace man through fire and water
almost. 1t is pleasant to know that
these big, gentle-eyed hounds are not
the savage dogs that were sent on the
trail of runaway negroes. A big, black,
close-haired, short-eared, gly-looking
dog. half mastif and half hound, goes
by at this moment, .tugging at the chain
| of his keeper. This is a Great Dane, So
called, the boar hound OF Europe.
Crossed with the gentle b bloodhound to
| give him keener scent, he is the savage
animal that pulled down the wretched
negro in the southern swamps.
/ PIettiest Of all the dogs were the Scotch
collies, with their long. fieecy hair,
| graceful bodies and movements and
delicate faces, sharp of nose, most know
ing and intelligent and even pretty in
expression.
The Irish settlers, with their deep red
coats, the black Gordon setter and the
white English settlers are all very hand
some, but there is something more deli
| cate and refined about the collie than
any other dog. He is more human and
less canine. He is more refined in habits
as well as appearance. One of these high
bred collies will never soil his beautiful
fur if he can help it. He will go around
mud-puddles, never through it.
Over in one corner were three different
T..
close-Laired, naked greyhound was
largely represented in various colors, but
| the Russian wolf-hounds were larger and
more interesting than even the great
coarse-haired Scotch deer-hounds. Read
ers of the PRESS who have seen the
large Russian wolf-hound in Portland,
the only one in Maine, and the property
to learn that here at this dog show, were
fellow countrymen OF his 25 per cent.
longer and higher and thicker, both of
body and fur, then he is. They are
enormous dogs in length of limb and can
outrun any wolf that ever chased and
caught the leaping deer.
| One of the big, sturdy Scotch deer
hounds suddenly jumped up aud bayed
deep and long at something going by.
There was lady leading toy creature,
barely bigger than rat and weighing
but two or three pounds. Probably the
big Scotchman thought it was a rat.
The tiny dog resented the insult franti-
cally, jumped up and down with rage,
emitting penny whistle yelps at every
jump and Juggling at the string that
held him, but to so little purpose, that
his mistress didn't even know he was
resisting, hut pulled him along as if
nothing had happened. 1t was most
amusing spectacle of imparience and i'm
pudence.
The prize bulldog with his murderous
eyes nd expression, to say nothing of his
fright1ul projecting jaw, was attractive
by his very hideousness. No monster of
the fairy tales ever locked more relent
lessly cruel and ugly and bloodthirtsy
and dangerous than this same bulldog.
But we have said enough about the dog
show.
There was an Interesting conversation
in this city recently that resulted
in rather a remarka bla event. A rich
Boston business man over so years of age
was talking with two men who are en-
thusiastic licyclers. The latter made
mention of the formers country place in
Centre Harbor, New Hampshire, 100
miles from Boston and said that they
In L -. L.,