Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-12-28

|
~E5@,==e"
The Whipper-In.
and down goes his tail and away he goes
yelping They can't be properly trained.
| All they're good for is to run and kill"
The English hounds cost, at conserva-
| tive reckoning, $50 per pair, landed in this
country. The Chevy Chase pack consumes
| annually about twenty tons of oat meal,
| one and a half tons of dog biscuit and
| sixty horses. Four men required to
care for them-a kennel huntsman, feeder
and couple of helpers.
Day With the Hounds.
A pugilist training for the ring or an
aristocratic baby is not more carefully
| looked after than these animals. The
hounds, day begins as soon it IS light,
| winter or summer, when the kennel hunts
man opens the kennel doors and takes his
| charges out for walk of a quarter of an
| hour or so. During their absence a serv-
| ant cleans up the room and supplies fresh
bedding. The troughs are also filed, and,
| If it is in hunting season, those hounds
| as possible. This brings breakfast about
| o'clock They are again turned out and
then left to themselves till about 10 o'clock,
| when tley have second meal and after
ward another run. At 4 o'clock a third
| meal is served the delicate feeders. The
| pack which is going to hunt is not fed
| uHtll IL comes nome. IneE tnev run
| through bath three or four times and get
| their dinner. Afterward they are tenderly
examined for any injuries resulting from
| their days work. which are properly looked
| after. In anticipation of the hunting sea-
| son the hounds receive a special training.
The huntsman and whippers-in mount and
trot the packs about, hesinnirr at six or
eight miles day, and daily increasing the
| distance, to harden them for their ap-
| preaching work.
While the Pink Coat was filling me full
| of hound lore there lad assembled ready
! for the start Baron Kettler. Captain Hesse,
! Mr.. Wallach. Baron Grip, Miss Frances
| Newlands with her brother, and there were
three men mounted, who wore pink coats
| and caps.
Those" said the Pink Coat, ARE the
servants of the hunt. That is Mr. Halo
| way, the huntsman of the club; the other
| two are the English boys, the whippers-in.
The huntsman rides ahead, the hounds at
his heels until they strike the scent. Then
| the huntsmans duty is to direct his intel
lgenee to the aid of their instinct in insur-
ing a lively chase. By what is called
| hound talk'-that is certain sounds and
| expressions known to the hounds-and by
the blast of his horn he is able to cast
| them in any direction. When a hound
| struggles from the pack it is the duty of
| the whippers-in to be after him and drive
him back. The man not usually needs
| to more than raise his whip, and the
hounds fear of punishment carries him
| away to the heels Of the huntsman."
All Very CHASTITY Jolly.
All were now ready to start, and the
| amiable Pink Coat, who had been acting
| as an encyclopedia of hunting for me,
mounted and was off with the rest.
| The party moved down the road, with an
| utter absence of the dash and go l had sup
posed characterized a hunt from the mo-
| ment the men were in the saddle The
| hounds, clustered close about the hunts
| mans horse, looked like arima ted bisque
1 hgures, they were so very correct as to
shape and spots and the line of their tails
| in air. The huntSman and whippers in
| looked equally like pretty mechanical toys,
| n!ce to put in a baby's stocking for Christ
| mas, while the men on their fine-headed,
clean-lmbed, splendidly- groomed horses,
were as CHASTITY jolly a military funeral.
l was a BIT depressed and altogether dis
! appointed by the solemnity of this occa-
| sion, which l had hoped would be very
| gay, indeed, and l asked man, a true
| American who had driven out to the meet,
If hunt at the start is always such a sad
sight.
always" he replied Its because
| they re. bound to do it. They have to hunt
| so many days a week or lose their stand
ing with Albert Edward, so they get at it.
| just as you see-loathng it. every inch of
| 'em. When the hourds strike scent and
| low, and the best the riders can do is to
stay with them They hate 1t like poison,
but they know they're in luck if they do
stay to the end, and so the chase moves
on. If they have great luck, and don't
break any bones, they'll be back here in
couple of hours, and then they'll talk all
| through dinner about what a fine hunt it
was, when, you've seen for yourself, they
go at 1t as if they were going to dem
lists"
It's English, You Know.
I suspected the true American of guying
my inexperience in hunting, and 1 appealed
to man less American, more cosmopoli-
tan, to know why the sportsmen had look
ed so melancholy as they rode away.
ITS English, you know" he answered.
| "a levitous manner would ill-become
man seriously bent on riding down an anise
bag. No." he disclaimed as 1 accused him
of guying also; that's fact We do every
| thing at Chevy Chase after the English
fashion. Necessarily all the rules of the
hunt are of English origin. Our authority
| is here as in England. the Duke of Beau
fort, editor of the Badm:nton library of
| sports and pastimes, you know. If you
| think the men who started off today ap-
peared impassive, you ought to hunt a
| season on lhe other SIDE. You know, they
| don't have hunting clubs there as here. It's
| quite different. There is certain territory
| embraced by hunt, under name, such as
| Enfield Chase, Her Majesty's, Beaufort's
and several score of others. The boundary
of each is clearly defiEed and jealousy pro-
tected from all ercroachments A direc-
tory of these hunts is available to any
| body giving the location, the number of
hounds, the hunting days, the masters,
huntsmen, whips and kennels Some hunt
| as many four days a week. l know an
American woman, formerly Flora Sharon,
| now Lady Hesketh, who hunts six days
| week all through the hunting season.
| ITO hunt four days week needs
at least twenty-five horses. and the pack
of hounds hunted would have to number
not fewer than seventy-five couple. Hunts
in England big affairs, you know
There will be all the way from 800 to :, 800
join in the chase. These are subscription
| hunts, and are open to anybody upon con-
ditions. For instance, if l wanted to hunt
over there, 1 would be perfectly welcome in
the field, 50 long as l violated none of the
sacred traditions of the sport, and good
form. l would be perfectly welcome, but
nobody would speak to me-
What would be violation of their sa-
! cred traditions? Well, to wear badly made
coat or pair of bl eeches would be about as
bad as anything 1 could do.
As to Good Form.
"Then if 1 should cut a man out Of his
jumps-d;dnt ride straight, you know--that
would speedily bar me. Or to run down a
hound, it's always the most valuable hound
of the pack you run down, you know, and