The daily morning journal and courier., 1900-01-06

Ihan NewiouhulunN DOS--Leu py
 an old shc-Woif That Cared LittI.
 for Dogs.
 ''It seems to be quite the fashion to ride to hounds here in the east" said G. A. Garfield, of Sheridan. Wyo., the other day. q suppose that is a heri- tage from our English ancestors, or, at least, patterned after our English cous- ins. Of course, have been corrupted
 by living ill the wild and woolly west, and can see little fun in the sport the way it is pursued here. l will have to plead my residence in attenuation, if that will be pardonable. But this thing of dragging an anise bag over ten or fifteen mile course seems to me about as tasteless as soup without salt But we must keep in the swim, and even if we do jump fences only three feet high, our imagination can do the rest. The brush isn't the whole thing, after all.
 We have little sport though I don't know that it is so swift when it comes to be examined critically. We had a wolf chase a short time ago, and I thought it far from exciting. To be sure, Buffalo Bill was not there, but then he has lived in Sheridan, and he has some extensive property interests near there. I mention this to how that Sheridan basks at least in reflected glo- ry, even if it possesses none of it's own. But about that wifi chase. The people out there love anything that savers of hard riding, and the bronchos never seem to tire when they are in pursuit of anything. There were a number of guests stopping at the Sheridan Inn, and the hotel proprietor wanted to get up a little function for their amuse- ment So we had this wolf chase.
 ''The wolves had been captured in heavy steel traps, three of them, but they had not been rendered at all docile by their few days of association with human beings; they had all been lamed by the sharp teeth of the traps, and big, old she-wolf had attempted to gnaw off one of her hind feet in order to obtain freedom. They were not these little coyotes. They were wolves, the great, gray, timber wolves larger than a Newfoundland dog, with mighty jaws, lined with shining, sharp teeth, that snapped ominously when any one came near them. They are not cow ards, those timber wolves. They will attack a man even when they have not the encouragement of a pack. tim- Der wolf can throw steer and cut his throat quicker than a cowboy. That is the reason why the ranchmen are so anxious to get rid of the pests. But they are cunning, and it is not often that one gets caught in trap.
 Word was sent throughout the town that there would be a wolf chase in the afternoon, and about three hundred men, women and boys came out on broncos to follow the hounds. The pack was a good one, and numbered about thirty as good dogs as are to be found in the northwest. l think that Colonel Cody owns some of them. There were foxhounds, with a cross of the bloodhounds that covered from twenty to twenty-five feet at every leap, while other coursers of less dis tinguished ancestry were brought out to follow with the rabble,
 'It may have seemed tame to ten derfoot who didn't know anything about the speed and endurance of the timber wolves. But it did not take long for such scoffers to be enlightened The tourists from the inn were given a coach, from the top of which they could view the hunt The wolves were taken out in a wagon and given a little start before the hounds were uneashed. At first they laid down as if hopeless of escape, and absolutely defused to budge. Even kicks failed to arouse them. Finally the smallest of the trio got up and started off with limp, and the others followed him moment later. They did not run fast; at least they did not appear to, and every one said the chase would be a frost.
 Tn about a minute the dogs were turned loose, and they took up the scent with a chorus that would have made any huntsman's heart beat faster. The way the leaders covered the ground was a caution and it seemed to me as if the three wolves, handicapped as they were by lameness, would be over- taken in less than five minutes. The reason we thought that was because we had not been looking at the wolves. The minute they heard the paying of the hounds they seemed to have forgot ten all about steel traps and captivity. They had an awkward gait, but the way they got over the ground made us fear that there would be no brushes to dis tribute.
 "The old she-wolf was going on three legs, but she led the trio, A number of COW punchers from Stockwell's ranch out to flank them, in order to keep them from getting into the foot hills arounb Big Goose Creek. They fired their revolvers and howled them selves hoarse, riding at top speed, and finally got them going in the direction they wanted them. But there were only | two dogs who gained on the wolves. | These were two staghounds with keen | noses and speed that l never saw sur | passed. Such leaps you never saw, and | the rest of the pack had to get another ' leader who was in the same class with 1 the rest. Gradually the staghounds | closed in on the wolves.
 "So far they had been running by | scent, but soon they caught sight of the fugitives. Then the chase assumed a ' different aspect, and the wolves might | as well have tried to race an express train.
 But, after all, it was nothing more .han a race The sped was with the