The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1900-01-06
Training Bloodhounds.
From the Chicago Record.


For fifty years bloodhounds have been
trained in the South for man hunters. Be-
fore the war nearly all of the larger plan
tations had bloodhounds trained to pursue
runaway slaves. In some cases plantation
owners would club together and purchase
a pack Many white men in the South
made it business to train dogs especially
for this purpose, and accompanied them
when they were needed for a ''chase."
Since the war the value of the hound is so
well known in following escaped criminals
that today half-breeds are almost as nu-
merous as the others were thirty years
ago, although many were killed by Union
soldiers and negroes during the war.
Dog fanciers say that probably not
twenty five pure blooded dogs of this breed
can be found in the United States at pres
ent. The first of their kind came from
the North of England, near the Scotch
boundary line. According to old English
records, they were not used for sporting
purposes, but kept about the house as pets
in the families of the nobility, because of
their courage and docility. The real blood
hound is anything but savage and VIC
ious brute in his ordinary condition. When
aroused, however, he will attack man or
beast with ferocity which is equalled by
no other breed. He never gives up as
long as life lasts, and it is either death to
himself or the object of his attack. The
savage side of the dog is aroused by re-
sistance, and he will seldom bite any one
who does not offer it, unless influenced by
the scent of blood. The negroes in the
slave days were well aware of the trait,
and frequently, when run down, darky
would throw himself full length on the
ground and remain motionlcss. The dogs
would come up and, standing around,
would bay until the pursuing party reached
the fugitive. Many runaway, however,
met his death in Tendeavoring to strangle
the dogs or beat them off with club.
The hounds of the pure species have an
unusually long and morrow forehead, with
eyes very large and soft, and color of
dark tan or fawn. They are slightly
smaller than the 'liver pointer, standing
about two feet above the ground. Their
legs are short, but powerful, and they are
not swift running dogs, but their scent is
wonderful.
The manner of breaking them is to Sc
lect stretch of country about mile long,
with one or two small thickets on the
'course. - A negro boy puts on a par
of brogans, the soles of which have been
rubbed with blood from a chicken. He
is given start of twenty minutes. AT the
end of this time the, animal is loosed. The
trainer puts his nose to the spot where the
negro started, and he is on the ''scent
in a second, going at full speed across tho
country In the thicket he may be puz-
zled, but in few moments he strikes the
trail again, and, baying, indicates that he
has found the fugitive. The scent is best
early in the morning, before the sun has
dried the dew on the ground, as the mois-
ture seems to hold the odor better.
After few trials, the dog follows the
negro simply by the odor of the feet.
Then course is laid out which is more
difficult. Several streams Of water are
crossed, and start is taken during hot
day. four or five hours after the supposed
fugitive has gone over the ground From
one mile the course is heightened to five.
The dog may take half day to complete
it, as when he reaches waterway he has
to run up and down each bank until he
finds where the negro entered the water
and emerged. But his wonderful nose,
constantly moving over the ground, usually
proves an unerring guide, and seldom is he
sthrown Off more than half an hour. A
few months of this coursing, and the blood
hound is ready to act as detective-one
which cannot be bribed.
A mixture of the setter, pointer or some
other breed of hunting dog with the blood
hound type answers for man hunting about
as well as the pure breed, and the dogs
thus obtained are much cheaper. Many
are owned by county officers and carefully
guarded as criminals do not hesitate to
poison them whenever possible. When a
crime has been committed, the nearest
dogs are sent for. The animals beat
around the premises where the crime has
been committed, like pointer hunting for
a partridge.
Some four or five hours may elapse be-
fore the dogs take the trail. They work
around in a constantly widening circle
until they find it. Then they are like a
pack after fox, and the pursuers must
whip up their horses to keep track of them
if the trail is fresh The outlaws in the
Southern States are well aware of the
keenness of the pursuers, and try every
way to throw them off, They swim creeks,
20 through marshes, run on stones as much
as possible, for the hardness of the surface
causes it to retain but very slight odor
unless wet.
Dogs used for man hunting for term
of years are not easily thrown off the trail
at the banks of stream. They jump in
and swim over, running up and down the
side until they have found the
spot where the fugitive has come out of
the water. When four or FIVE dogs are in
pursuit and the scent is lost, each takes
up certain area and covers it thoroughly
until the odor is again detected, when the
pack start away together. They can fol-
low it through swamps, where the water
is two and three feet deep, by shifting the
marsh grass and the trunks Of trees which
they pass. The most difficult obstacle is
dry sand. Ifa fugitive can find stretch
of this half mile in width he is in fair
way to escape, for, as the impressions Of
his footsteps are left in the soft material,
they are Immediately filed up with fresh
sand, and much of the scent is obliterated.