The San Francisco call., 1896-04-04
Sportsmen Who Do Not Agree
With the Views of C.
F. Holbrook.
HOW ABOUT RABBIT DRIVES ?
A Deputy of the Humane Society
Who Did Not Stop Blue
Rock Shoot.


| Mountains, were seen yesterday IN refer
ence to Charles Holbrook's statement that
coursing is cruel and beastly sport, and
that he will use his best endeavors to pre-
vent coursing within the county of San
Francisco.
| Dominick Shannon, the president of the
Interstate Coursing Club, said that cours-
| ing was far less cruel than many other
branches of sport.
| 1--WE will take, for instance, horse-racing.
which is conducted in the county of San
Francisco said Mr.. Shannon. "I have
frequently seen jockeys spur and slash the
animals on which they were mounted un til
| the horses fanks were painted red with
| the blood that oOZed from torn flesh. Does
| Mr.. Holbrook consider this humane sport :?
| OF course there are horses that must re-
ceive punishment to compel them to ex-
ert themselves In the final struggle to get
under the wire winner, but everything
pertaining to horse-racing is seemingly
| overlooked by the president of the Society
| for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and
why?
NOW, then, so far as coursing is con-
| cerned, Mr.. Holbrook makes a grievous
mistake when he says that he had seen
| greyhounds tear hares to pieces while the
latter were in dying state.
|
or shooting knows only too well that when
a greyhound catches hare, death is in
Simultaneous. Quite frequently greyhounds
will retrieve their game, and when two
hounds dispute their right to the prize
| the dead hare is mutilated to a certain
extent until one of the contesting dogs
| becomes the possessor of the animal they
pursued and killed.
"Does Mr.. Holbrook contend that cours-
ing is more brutal sport-so termed by
him - than duck or quail shooting?
Thousands of game birds are manned
| every year by sportsmen and die in agony
| from the wounds inflicted The fact of
the matter is that coursing is as humane a
| sport as many other pastimes that are
| INDUCED in by thousands of people, and
say that when Mr.. Holbrook singles out
coursing from among the many other
| sports as an objective point for attack he
Is certainly exceeding his duty aud the
aims Tor which the society was originally
! intended"
}. II. Rossetter, the treasurer of the In
terstate Coursing Club, voiced the opinions
| as expressed by Mr.. Shannon. He thought
tnat Mr.. Holbrook was carrying the thing
too far and that there were other and
broader fields wherein he could exercise
his duty with greater credit to himself
| and better advantage to the society of
which he Is the presiding officer.
In Fresno rabbit drives, SO called, are
held once or twice a year." said Mr.. Ros-
setter, land during those drives the rab-
bits are driven into corral and saugh-
tered by means of clubs, stones and other
implements of torture. Thousands of
these rabbits, which are considered pests
to the farmer. lie dying on the ground
after the clubbing, but Mr.. Holbrook made
no reference in the interview which was
published In The CALL to the slaughter of
the lnnocents, as reported by the special
correspondents OF the morning papers
'Coursing in. the inclosed park is not
cruel sport. The hares are fed while in
conhnement, and when coursed in the
open held they run for the escapes, which
are at either end of the park, and if the
little sbort-tails are smart enough to reach
those escapes before they are caught the
hounds are baked and cannot continue the
course any longer.
mo, L do not consider coursing cruel
sport by any means, and there is. not a
member OF the Society for the Prevention
OF Cruelty to Animals who will go further
to punish man who indulges in brutality
to dumb ANIMALS than J. H. Rossetter.n
John Grace, the we'll known Judge of
coursing, was indignant at the thought of
any sane man calling courslng brutal
at is very strange" said Mr. Grace,
that there are so many brutal sportsmen
in England among the nobility who wit
ness and support the great Waterloo CUP
L
ing events of the year in England.
II would wager a very snug sum that if
Mr.. Holbrook attended the Waterloo cup
meeting and attempted to stop the sport,
he would be accorded a reception which
would not assist to further his appe-
tite for good dinner on his return from
the coursing sward. l also venture pre-
diction that if Mr.. Holbrook attempts to
interfere with the sport of the leash in
this county he cannot find a jury, even
among his own deputies, that will return
verdict against the continuation of the
sport. Ii Mr.. Holbrook had any expert
ence in farming in Fresno and Merced
counties he would quickly change his
mind as regards this so-called brutal SPORT
j. P. Dickson, w. G. Payton of Santa
Cruz and other prominent sportsmen in
terested IN courslng spoke very strongly
against Mr.. Holbrook's intention of put
ting a stop to the sport.
A. Lorsbach, a member OF the Society
for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals,
when asked for his opinion of coursing,
said that he had witnessed meetings and
did not see any more brutality in the kill.
ing of hares by greyhounds than there
exists in shooting wild ducks and quail
"There is an elem ent of brutality in all
sports of the field and stream" said Mr..
Lorsbacn, "but / think if coursing must
be stopped many other sports such as
shooting and fishing should be stopped
also. l think an angler manifests degree
of brutality when he takes fish from the
hook and throws it into his basket, where
it kicks and founders in pain until it
expires.
THE same may be said of shooting. l
witnessed football match in this City
among college students once, and must
say that brutality was manifest in many
ways. / saw some of the contestants car
ried off the field suffering from severe cuts.
| consider that sport of this nature should
be modified. AS said before, in my opinion
if coursing is brutal so are many other pas
times which are patronized by thousands
of American sportsmen."
John Sammi, who recently resigned
from the society, said that he could not
understand Mr.. Holbrook's idea of put
ting stop to coursing.
ut has been a popular sport for years in
this country" said Mr.. Sammi. "and how
Mr.. Hobrook discovered at this late hour
that it is brutal and cruel is conundrum
which l am powerless to solve. think
that the president of the society must
have been misinformed as regards the
brutality Of coursing. / certainly cannot
see any harm in the sport, but then of
course am not Hoibrook."
Mikohal1 a mn har