Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1901-01-02
THE BLOODHOUND.

at IS a peculiar fact" said Detec-
tive Frank D. Mitchell the other day,
"tha: the general public has an entire
ly erroneous idea Of the nature and
characteristics of the bloodhound. The
pooular opinion is that he Is beast
O. giant frame and unusually ferocious,
With a penchant for eating the criminal
Whom he has brought to bay. An
other common error is that he can fol-
low a scent indefinitely, through a
thousand sinuosities, though 1t may be
intersected by any number of other
trails.
"The average bloodhound is no more
to be dreaded so far as his fiercepess
Is concerned than a pug. He Is
gaunt, raw-boned creature, with head
running to a peak; sleepy eyes and
long, pendulous ears. AS to disposition,
he is lazy. His usefulness lies chiefly
in the keenness Of his olfactory nerves,
enabling him to follow a fresh scent
many miles, He seldom touches his
quarry when run to earth, however, and
never does unless starved to it. The
bloodhound differs from the English
fox-hound in that he never gives
tongue or bays while following scent
"Rloodhounds are not of much use In
tracking criminals in a city, or where
there is comparatively dense popula-
ton, as the numerous cross trails con-
fuse them. This was demonstrated last
winter when we were hunting two Ne
groes named Will Tony and Sam Bar
nette. The people of Benson had been
complaining Of chicken thieves. AL
most every night some chicken coop In
the vicinity Of Omaha would be looted
and finally Detective Drummy and
were detailed to work up the case. We
put in several days on 1t without land
ing our man, and the aggravating part
of it was that the thefts were going
right on, even while we were hunting
for the criminals. Well, eventually
we decided to adopt heroic measures
We had a consultation with severa
prominent citizens of Benson, and the
result was we sent to Beatrice for
pack Of bloodhounds.
I'VE kept the dogs in hiding until
there was another foray on a hencoop
and then, bright and early one morn
ing, the hounds were put on fresh
trail. They followed it about a quarter
of a mile and finally came to stand
still on the front porch of a house In
the outskirts Of the village.
"The family that lived in this house
bore a good reputation, but we decided
to go in anyhow, and make an irvesti-
CATION. We searched everywhere, from
cellar and garret, but there was no sign
of a stolen chicken. Not even feath-
er could be found on the premises
Then we took the dogs back to the
starting point and had them go over
the same trail again, and again they
wound up on the front porch OF the
same house. Try as we would we
couldn't get the beasts to leave thf
place. The trail seemed to end thee.
If the thieves had gone up In balpoii
at that point they could not have oollt-
Grated their tracks more effectuall' oo
the dogs were declared a failur anu
were sent back to Beatrice.
Later we succeeded in alchils
Tony and Barnette red-haned, with
the evidence of their guilt uon them'
and they confessed. l have IeVer oeeh
able to explain to my own 'atlsfaction
whv the trail left off so abruptly on
the porch of that part'ular house.
There is a tradition that ONES up from