The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-12-24
DARLING'S YOICELESS HOUND
HE IS 4C0 UITTED OF DEER HUNT
ING.
Remarkable story of the Maine
Woods and of a Peculiar Dog.

of forty dollars, with costs Of court by
deciding that a voiceless dog found on
| tha track of a deer is not dog in the
sense contemplated by the law Whlch
nrohibits the chasing of deer by dogs
! He held that it is the voice of the
| hound which territies the deer anu
| guides the hunters to their game, ana
that a dog which cannot bark Is an IN
! offensive animal, which cannot be SAID
to violate the law, even though the
| wardens may discover 1t running at
| large among herd of deer
Some LAWYERS familiar with the case
believe that the ruling is wrong and
contrary to usage, but the dog has been
| tried and declared guiltless, and no fur
| Their action can be taken until IT Is
caught following another deer, When
| the case will probably be taken before
another justice. Meantime the people
who love the memory of "Uncle JOCK
and despise the new game laws and
hate the wardens are greatly pleased
over the outcome of the trial, and Will
see to it that Ponto is kept within
bounds, whenever a warden is in the
| neighborhood.
The story of Ponto's adventures as
an outlaw extends back nearly ten
years, to the time when Jock kept
great sporting camp on the shore OF
Nfcatous lake, and men from all parts
of the country came and hired his dogs
and canoes for the purpose of getting
what venison they needed. From 1891
to 1894 the camp was crowded with
guests, and dogs were baying among
the hills day and night. More strin-
gent laws were passed at every session
of the legislature and printed notices
We're posted by the side Of every woods
road, but Jock paid no attention to the
warnings. He belonged to one of the
best families in Maine and was making
about ten thousand dollars year out
of a business that his father and grand
father had followed. 1t was one thing
to pass laws and another to enforce
them. Believing that the people We're
with him in the fight and confident
that the laws would be repealed as soon
as the legislators learned the true con-
dition of affairs "Uncle Jock" and his
guests went on logging deer into the
lake for more than a year after all the
other sporting camps in Maine had felt
the strong arm Of the law.
Then Warden French and two depu-
ties from Calais came to Nicatous, and
Jocks career as the most famous hunt
er in New England was ended. The
wardens discovered evidence enough to
send him to prison for life. They killed !
fourteen hounds which We're chained up
in the howell and shot five others which |
were running on the tracks of deer
They fired three shots at Ponto, two Of |
which hit the hound, but the brave dog |
escaped and crawled back to camp des- |
perately wounded. When the wardens |
started to dispatch the dog, Jock took |
his rifle and threatened to shoot the |
first man who made the attempt They |
looked at the old man, and seeing some |
thing in his eye which they didn't like, |
Ponto's life was spared.
When Jock was taken to Jail in Ban
gor and was led up Exchange street in |
irons warden marching on either side
of him to prevent him from escaping, a
man followed behind, carrying Ponto in
a basket. The old man had money and
friends, and was soon out on heavy
bail, but he did not quit the city until
the wounded dog had been taken to a
surgeon. One bullet had
grazed the animals shoulder, inncting
a flesh wound, which healed rapidly.
The other shot had been more danger
GUS, going in at one side of the neck
and coming out through the mouth.
set in, which interfered
with the animals breathing, until the
surgeon was forced to cut mole in the
windpipe and insert a silver tube The
dog recovered its health, but hos never
been able to bark.
The old hunter spent the next four
years in fighting lawsuits He lost his
money and many of his old friends.
Then he gave up the battle and offered
% become a game warden and help to
enforce the laws if he could save what
title was left of his property for his
The fish and game commits
sioners accepted his terms gladly, and
put him at work in the deep woods
where he had hunted wild game for
more than fifty years. The last years
If his life were spent in tramping along
he line between Maine and the British
possessions, looking for outlaws from
New Brunswick and Canada. He Sc
cured the arrest and conviction of a
iozen, and scared away more than one
hundred. Ponto followed him on every
rip, walking by his side days and | !,
leeping at his feet at night Return
ng from the sportsmen's show In New ,
York city, the old man was taken i'll
With pneumonia. He lived until the | :
eXt autumn, but never went to the | :
woods again Before he died he made .
will giving Ponto to Eben Mclean, i,
lis granddaughter, along with one hun
red dollars TO care for the dog as long |
8 it should live. II
The subsequent adventures of Ponto | !
re known mostly from hearsay Nc
can will tell nothing, but the neigh :
ors relate that Ponto has gone back to q
is old habit of deer-hunting. AS the )
og cannot so much as whine the war q
ems have allowed it to pass in the !
-oods without challenge, partly be- f
ause it was once the favorite of Uncle c
ock and partly because they believed v
oiceless dog could do no harm if 1t V
1ould take a notion to chase unlawful | il
rey Therefore when Mclean was | !,
a ken to court by new warden, the a
'ial Justice, knowing the circumstan- d
Il aie.ic 1n,, 1