Evening star., 1898-09-22
ENGLISH BLOODHOUNDS.
Nnn-Hunting Trials Soon to BE Held
in Yorkshire.

From the London Mail
An interesting series of experiments is
soon TO begin under the ausPices of the As
sociation of Bloodhound Breeders which is
arranged for man hunting trials with blood
hounds In Yorkshire.
The object OF THESE experiments is to de-
ternine what reliance can he placed upOr
English bloodhounds in tracing criminals.
The trials or tests as bloodhound OWL
ers prefer to call them. will he carried out
under circumstances as nearly possible
analogous to those which might be suppos-
ed to prevail if the dogs were engaged III
hunting down an actual criminal The
hounds will not he put upon a freshly-ldid
scent, but upon one which is at least three
hours old. The runners boots will be
'clean'-that is to say. they will not be
anointed with anise seed or with any other
substance calculated to strengthen the
scent.
Distances will be fixed at first at from
one to three miles. gradually increasing to
six. eight or more, if necessary. And. final
ly. neither owners. uominators nor any per
sons connected with The kennels Will be
permitted to act as runners
These latter viii, in fact be found by the
association. and their identity will be kept
d close secret until the day for the mees-
ing arrives. They will be good athletes and
natives of the district who know the cCun-
try we'll This latter qualification is a very
neCe ssary one for the particular district of
the moors wherein it is proposed u hold
the trials is an exceedingly wild and rugged
one, and is. moreover, dotted with ooE5 and
bog holes, in whose treacherous depths
stranger might easily come 10 grief.
OF course. in the fort Incoming lrials 1t u i'll
be arranged. wherever possible, that the
runner shall have gained sanctuary" be-
fore the dogs are laid on; but naturally this
very desirable conSummation cannot in
varia5ly be guaranteed. In private trials
it is usual for the runner to make circui.
of from four 10 seven miles. returning to
the house or other point of vantage whence
they started. By adopting this plan it is
quite possible for the quarry to watch the
dogs set forth his own trail while lie
himself is safely in hiding within few
yards of them. Such a course of procedure
at a public gathering would, however, be
obviously impossible.
1t is to be hoped that the trials will prove
all that their projectors anticipate, and
that the bloodhound may yet accomplish
in these latter days something practical
which shall justify his high reputati IN in
the nar-catching line. But, in the light of
past experience, II Is permissible to be sksp-
teal For it must be remembered that this
Is by no means the first time that the sub
ject has been broached Twenty years ago
at Warwick trials having a similar object
in view were conducted, and they were re-
Feated later on at Alexandra Park
Again, wher the CHASTITY and never-to-be-
forgotten Whitechapel tragedies were
shocking the world the idea of employing
Gssassins was seriously entertained by the
Scotland Yard authorities. and Sir Charles
Warren, then the chief commissioner of
police, was successfully tracked round
Hyde Park by a couple of Mr. Broughs s
hounds.
The trial in this particular instance took
place in the carly morning and the press
failed to get wind Of the affair until it was
all over. Details are therefore lacking but
1t was to be presumed. seeing that no fur
ther steps were taken in the matter that
Sir Charles was not convinced of the prac-
teal value of tloOjhounds for criminal
catching purposes.
The difficulty lies. of course in keeping
the trail clear. The news thay murder has
been committed soon spreads, and thou
hands of people deem 1t incumbent upon
them to flock to the SPOT, obliterating all
fOOtmarkS and effectuauy destroying that
scent which IS the bloodhound's only guide
1t was estimated that within twenty-four
hours fully 1860 persons visited the lonely
villa at Muswen Hill wherein old Mr. Smith
was done to death by Millsom and Fowler
and quite as many more have up to the
present gaZed curiCusly at the outside of
the Blackhaath house, within whose walls
a week or two ago poor Mrs. Tyler was
fouly slain
Under such circumstances as these a
bloodhound is, of course, worse than use
less But, given a clean trail, not too old
and leading across a fairly open country,
much might be accomplished For even If
the criminal were not actually run to earth
the direction he took would afford d pretty
good clue to the particular place or locality
for which he was making.