Waterbury Democrat., 1900-10-25
SOUTHERN BLooDHounDs.
Bornc Rcmarknble Instances of The r .SaEncity. of the Dreaded i. ts ,-s..3g Animal. -tf F

| Tyler, of Virginia, was ent tertained on iisit to convict. camp by a man hunt with blcodhounds, the man being given m hours start and pic2ty of time to .Emb tree. Such exhibitions are quite common on the South Carolina state farms, where bloodhounGs are kept. The same kind of animals are | kept by the Sheriffs of many counties in this state, and they always do well on such occasions, but have never been known to run down Q criminal, says Q special correspondent of the St. Louis Globs-Democrat.
 T very much doubt" said an old slave owner, whether there is a gen uins, bloodhound in the south, or one with the 'ncss' of the old runaway slave catcher in. the country. Any breed of, dogs that run by scent can be trained from puppies to run man and man alone. Ordinary deer or fox aounds take to this quite naturally, and if crossed with half or quarter fox terrier they become vicious and persistent in the cha But these are not bloodhounds nor should those now owned by the state CT counties in South Carolina bs so slasSsd.
 ''Ths bloodhound in his perfection Of nose and his fsrceity was tho prod uet of the institution of slavery. The finest strains came from Cuba; large, powerful beasts, taWny or black, with white points, and SO fierce that when not in service they were chained and only their mGster could feed or touch them. If they escaped they chased the first person they saw and their de- sire was to eat his flesh.
 Many of the dogs were imported to the south by the men who made their living catching runaway slaves. They were crossed on the deer hound and tho product was good man hunter-ferce enough, but not so dangerous as the Cuban. Several packa of such dogs wero owned in this state and their pres encs in & county kept many slave st home who would have otherwise sought the shelter of the forest where, Un- less followed by sueh hounds, he could live for years, paying weekly or month ly visits to the negro settlements.
 'Ths alleged kleodhsunds of this day cannot run g man if the trail is over three hclrs' old, if it goes in water, CT ls arsSssa by other trails. The hAANS SASSlCA - ASGLAS, NiSO ASA hAS1A esll ns.- fer nsrs than 2 century, could carry trail 2S hours old. The common definition that used to bs given for ths nans of this species of dog was that if g. drop of blood fell on tho track he would never leave ii. They were like wolves in that they hunted for mea. and were safsr to de- vsur man run to trea CT coTEarec. There are many authenticated stories showing the renerkable qualities of scent and sagacity. It was practically impossible to bafQs an cid GoS, and when his nose was olcs put by his master in tho footprints of a man, the particular Scsnt of that person was the o1ly one he would entertain in his nostrilS. ard that track he would pick cut ot 2 hundred. Ordinary hounds of chase arc puzzled when tho quarry takes ts running stream and goes up or down. The maa hunter, acute and wise as man, would systematically hunt the banks up aId-doWn for miles until tho trail was recovered.
 There is . ease of particular note on record in this state where. the serv- ices of . professional slAvs-eatcher were
 
 crime had been committed more than rived with his dosa on the scene of the murder. One naked footprint was found, rstrsatirg from the spot, and into this the muzzls of the prize trailer of the pack was pressed, and she was given the word to SC, the other dogs be- ing held in reserve. Miles through .xvamps, xareSs ponds sf water and ints the woods the dog trailsd, finally com ing out on . cultivated plantation. her nose close to the ground and occasion ally giving uttsrancs to the fierce, yet musical, long-Srawa bay that carried terror always ts the hearts of the run away. Into the street of the negro village went the dog. carrying the trail where it had been crossed by dozens of men, women and childrcn. and then into house. Hare she made circle of the rooms, came cut of the same door, traiied to another house, scratched ct the barred door, and when it was opened caught the murderer under the bcd. He belonged to another plantation and hadeome there for shel- ter and protection, and had used every device to throw off pursuit.
 Ut was, of course, important and necessary that the owner of such a pack of dogs should be responsible and vi2ilsnt. He had to be a fine horseman and ri6s horses that could so almost anywhere, fer he must be up to the leading ocg when ths slave was brought to bay. If ths fugitive was too hard pressed to climb tree. or as they Some-S times did, attempted to shcot, the dogs, he would bs torn to pieces if he master was not promptly on hand. Laws governing the abuse of slaves were strict and enforced. The >acst noted case of their violation is one of the best-known criminal cases in cur law books, although it occurred co years ago. A captured slave had in- cured the enHity of the hunters and he was killed and his flesh fed to the dogs. The two whites implicated were tried, convicted and hung at Water boro. the militia of Charleston being marched co miles to prevent their res- cue by friends on the day of execu-