Kansas City daily journal., 1897-01-31
WAYS OF A BLOODHOUND.
Interesting Facts About the Detect
ives Chief Assistant.
From the London Sketch.

lIl6 LOUQOn
For StatelineSS of appearance no breed OF
dog is comparable to the bloodhound, while
the stories attending its unerrtng pursuit
of its quarry have furnished the novelist
with material of the most exciting char
acter. But it Is fiction to associate the
bloodhound with ferocity. He never wor-
ries or mangles what he tracks down. His
vocation Is to find and to find only,
whether engaged in pursuit of man or of
wounded deer. The bloodhound has hg-
ured in history from time immemorial. and
no breed of dogs has preserved its charac-
teristic points so persistently. The high,
pointed Uranium, the long, pendulous ears,
the ample dewlap, the wrinkled forehead,
the oyerhanging eyelid-commonly called
the sealing-waX-ma be traced more or
less in the Talbot hounds, in the modern
foXhound the otterhound, the basSet. the
Serman dachshund' ana IN tne sWealsh
beagle, which last is miniature blood
hound, though of lighter build. Instinct is
so keen that he hunts the clean shoe as
we'll, If not better, than when the foot of
the fugitive has been purposely fouled,
and 1t is Il pretty sight to watch a trained
hound following his quarry over fence If
the pursued has gone that way, or under
the rails if such has been his course.
The training of bloodhounds has not been
very persistently followed of late years
but there have been. several important
trials at BoXmoor and at the Alexander
palace. to-wit: 1t is noteworthy to remark
that the trial at BoXmoor came off when
deep snow was on the ground, and that
while snow was actually falling the hounds
laid on were equally persistent in tracking
the quarry. A well-trained bloodhound will
follow for five miles even after six hours
have elapsed since the fugitive started,
and although many other trails may have
crossed the track. But he is frequently at
fault over stone flags. 1t was for this rea-
son that the pursuit of Jack the Ripper by
bloodhounds, at one time mooted. was
after q trial discarded.
1t was the late ]. Bells Countess which
served as q model to Landseer for his
bloodhound in Dignity and Impudence, -
| and also for his Sleeping Bloodhound, -
while the late Sir John Millais' Cromwell
| figured in more than one of that artists
! pictures. Other fine hounds have been
| Lauth XI.. Hector II, and Danger. The
| invariable god temper and his watchful-
| ness, commend him to social notice, while
| the vulgar idea regarding his ferocity rem
| ders him an invaluable companion for la
| dies and children against the annoyance
| incidental to the genus tramp.
The Count lie Conteuix de Cantelen. in his
work Les Races des Chiens Courans
| Hubert hounds black and white, as the
| recognized progenitors of their breed. The
| present day writer was particularly i'm
| pressed by the strong bloodhound type
| which characterized the packs of the
| French hounds from various provinces eX-
| hibited at the international show in Paris
| in the year 1878. However, it will be more
| interesting to leave speculative discussion
| and come to the regions of fact. In Bor-
| sorily maintained by each hamlet for
| tracking the moss troopers after their
| raids. and till comparatively lately the
rural constabulary in England employed
| bloodhounds to trace sheep and poultry
! stealers.