The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1900-09-23
G.AIN PL.lE:l|y,[IFUL
IN VIRGINIA
Mr.. Polk Miller Talks About the.
Prospects for the Season.
THE BIRD DOGS ARE SCARCE e;
The "New Disease Has Trimmed Them
out-A Niger Dog Won't Hare
It-Game Law Legislation Has
Not Been a Success.
Mr.. Polk Miller Talks About the
Prospects for the Season.
THE BIRD DOGS ARE SCARCE.
The "New Disease Has Trimmed Them

Game will be plentiful in Virginia dur
ing the coming season. which opens IN
many counties on the 18th of next month,
and in others on the first of November.
The country is full Of game from the
:. 'possum'' and the SHY var" to quail anu
wild turkey, and great sport is promised
those fond Of the field. Mr. POLK Miller,
who is President of the Virginia tlelo
Sports Association, and q sportsman OF
the true type, is always willing TO TAX
about hunting and dogs and such thlnes'
and when seen one day last week ne
said:
Well, they say that 1t is an i'll wind
that blows nobody any good, and this
year, from all accounts. is going to be
the best for the sports1men for many
years. I feel very sorry for the farmers,
for whom the drought has been terri
Bile blow, and lavish it had been other
wise. The dry season has not only enabled
the mother birds to raise their hrst
broods, but the second crop has also been
raised. Usually the sudden downpour
of rain in the month of June and the
early part of July catches the young BIRDS
in places where they are not protected,
and they are drowned. Thousands are
destroyed in this way.
HUNTING DOGS SCARCE.
There is a great scarcity of good hunt
ing dogs, and many men who go out
will make small bags. for bird huntiils
with a lot of inexperienced dogs is a
great drawback to success. Inc Iea-
son for this 1t that a few years ago,
when birds were scarce, cur Legislature
passed a law forbidding the shooting OF
them for two years. This really meant
three years, for when the law expired,
the season for hunting had passed Even
the best sportsmen find that raising coSs
is rather troublesome thing, and When
game is plentiful, the season lasts Dul
three months, and the average business
man cannot find the time to put in more
than a week or two from business in
that time. When you consider the
care that's necessary to bestow upon
young dogs in order to train them Tor
work in the field. to say nothing about
tx, danger of their being stolen from
you by some good-for-nothing thief whom
YOU cannot reach by law, and then, too,
just at the time when you are ready TO
hunt, it is very disgusting. Oh, how
the woman folk do howl too about the
way the young dogs chew up kid gloves,
Shoes and stratch up the fioWer-beds!
Every sportsman who raises young dogs,
has to take lot of abuse from his wife
on account of the mischief they do around
the premises, and many a man has given
up hunting rather than have the "old
lady, quarrellng about the dogs
THE NEW DISEASE.
There is disease which is called '.the
new disease for the want of a better
name, which has been going the rounds
in Virginia for the last ten years, which
has almost destroyed the sporting dogs.
1t is strange that this class of animals
s1lccumb very quickly to this disease.
when what is known as the Trigger
dog rarely ever takes it. A description
Of it may be of interest to your readers,
and / will describe it as nearly as 1 can.
1t is sort OF paralysis OF the tongue,
which turns dark and becomes dry.
rendering the animal Indifferent to food
and drink, besides making him rather
spiteful. 1t is not hydrophobia- for dogs
thus affected are anxious to drink water,
but cannot while in hydrophobia the
very sight of water throws them into
spasms. The new disaase,'' as the
people term it, does not seem to be con-
tageous either, as distemper is.
There seems TO be a want of ability to
bring the muscles of the throat and
mouth into play. I am pretty generally
known as a ID. d. DOG Doctor) and will
say that in many cases these dogs can be
cured if treated promptly, but if the
disease gets a. start of twentyfour hours
ION them it proves fatal in most cases
As am not advertising patent medi-
cine for my own benefit, l would suggest
the following treatment, which I have
used with good results, but it was i'm
mediately resorted to on the first appear
ance OF the disease: l mop the throat
thoroughly with solution of chlorate of
potash and Inuriatfc tincture of iron, q
half ounce of each to a pint of water,
M. +I,o
ment of our old physicians when diphhe-
ria first came about, and before anti-tox-
inc was discovered or even dreamed of.
DOGS LIKE FOLKS.
And right here let me say that the dog
comes nearer having the ailments of the
human being Though the name of the
disease may be differently than any other
animal. and the remedies used in the
same doses. according to age, give the
same beneficial results.
Our last Legislature made big effort
to get the right kind of a game law, but
failed as usual, for the same reasons that
it always did. We had.a larer number
of sportsmen in the General Assembly
than usual the last session, and they
fought hard for a sensible game law, and
had every reason to think ut would go
through, but, like many other attempts.
just as the prospects seemed to be favor
atIli, some unforeseen thing happened
some one killed it.
IN THE LEGISLATURES.
TIle game Of 81 tickle you and you tickle
me- is played with a high hand in our
legislative bodies. IF G. member casts
his vote against the building of a, bridge
over Goose creek" in some extreme
out-of-the-way place in the State, where
the wah,r gets out to the banks only twice
in year, and which can be forded except
when freshet comes. ne incurs the
enrnfty of the fellow who introduced it
as pet scheme and with the sweetest
satisfaction he will come back and nail
him ON some bill of his which has merit
and appeals to the common sense Of every
body. Did you ever so UP there and hear
the long-winded speeches which the noun
tadneers make on the oyster question? a
few years ago was asked to come before
a COMMITTEES and give my views on the
question Of a game bill. Went, and
after diligent search found the COM
mitttee that wanted to see me- couldn't
believe it when was told what the COM