The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-03-01
SOUTHERN
Some characteristics Of the Dog
Used in Pursuing Criminals in tn
South.

SSCa IL IuISuAA6 SlAAAAAdlS Ill lnS
South.
From a gentleman Of Chicago / have
received a letter Of inquiry. He wants
to know II the bloodhound Of the
south, formerly used in the pursuit of
fugitive slaves and now used to trail
escaped criminals, is a dog that bays.
The reason for the inquiry is found in
his quotation from Uncle Toms
Cabin" wherein the deep m%outhings
OF the bloodhounds upon the old mans
track are mentioned. He suspects Of
Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe Of an an
achronism. / suppose that the lady's
knowledge Of b~loodhounds was not ex-
tensive. 1 have found in my readings
that novelists and other writer's COM
NIT more solecisms about animals than
about anything else. Not every man
or woman who puts pen to paper
takes the trouble to inform himself or
herself Of the simplest facts in the
lives and habits Of our brute COM
panions.
Doubtless Mrs. Stowe makes her
~bloodhounds bay hard upon Uncle
Toms trail because that vas the pro-
per dramatic thing to do. Doubtless,
too, she had read many times OF the
baying Of bloodhounds. In the first
canto Of The Lady of the Lake"
Scott remarks that "the deep-mouthed
bloodhound's mellow bay resounded
up the rocky way" That was the
English bloodhound. The English
bloodhound or the bloodhound Of the
Continent for that matter, not only
bays, but has a remarkably sonorous
and beautiful voice. He "opens" as it
is technically termed, upon a cold trail
and keeps it up until the quarry is
sighted or run down. He is Of great
size, with deep chest, powerful shout
ders, massive head, dropping jaws and
long ears, a remarkably sagacious and
afectiOnate animal, as
though not especially savage, and one
of the best friends man ever had.
This hound is known in the old prints
as the "sleuth" hound, or "slo" hound,
taken from the old "sleuth" or slot"
otherwise "traiT'-of the deer. He
is called the bloodhound not because
he is particularly fond of blood as a
matter of diet, but because, of having
once found the blood-trail of a wound
ed animal, he follows it with wonder
1ul SIdlICuICSS. Lit Will, III ldSI, I'LL
less taken off by force, follow it until
ne drops, and rising wlIl stagger along
until he falls again. The only English
~bloodhounds I lave eve seen, outside
of a few strolling Uncle Tom" theat-
rical companies, were kept merely as
ornaments, and 1 do not think that
they would have been of value in
chasing the deer.
The English bloodhound is not used
in the south. That is where Mrs.
Stoves error was made. The dog
there is the Cuban bloodhound. He
differs materially from the English
cousin. He is larger, fiercer and swift
er, with more of a bulldog cut about
his head. He is probably a descendant
of a bull cross. He is invariably mute
until his quarry is sighted. Almost
any dog will give tongue when he
comes within view of the object of his
pursuit after a long chase. This dog
is not a snapper, as is the English. He
is a pinning dog, which comes proba-
bly, from his bull strain. Once his
teeth are locked they can be disengag-
ed only by the ingenious method of
grasping his nostrils and shutting off
his breath.
The first Cuban bloodhound landed
upon this continent were imported two
hundred years ago by Spanish planters
of Louisiana, then Spanish territory.
We all know what the dOns were about
100. Negroes were cheaper then, and
if the slave gave trouble it did not
much matter hat the bl%oodhound's
hold upon his throat was broken only
by the tearing of the flesh and tendons.
Many times in those days the fugitive
negro did not live after his capture.
If he succeeded in gaining a tree, his
olive-skinned master shot him as they
would a Squirrel. If on the ground
Sometimes before the. arrival of the
horsemen who had ridden hard to be
in at the death.
The Cuban hound was a valuable
dog, and he was we'll treated. In some
of the old court records of Louisiana
are bills of sale of him. In instances
the price ran as high as $500 a pair.
The breed spread all through the
south, although 1 have never heard of
the dogs being used as man hunters
in the upper tier Of southern states.
I doubt that one has ever been laid
upon the trail of a negro IN Virginia,
North Carolina or Maryland.
AS a matter of course, the planters
of this century were careful to protect
their slaves as far as possible from at
tacks by animals. This was generally
easy. The runaway slave invariably
made for the swamp at the back OF the
| plantation. It contained many streams
and laeoOns. which aided him in
throwing the dogs off the scent. If the
worst came to the worst he could al
| ways climb a tree. I have no doub
| that the ancient anecdote of the coon
which remarked to the man with the
| gun, Don't shoot, mister; I'm going
to come down." had its origin in some
runaway hand" perched in a cypress
and gazing down at his irrate master,
but preserving always the negro's
sense of humor. Indeed, this story is