The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-10-11
TRAINING BLooDHcUNDS.
Virginia to Use Dogs for Pursuing
Criminnls-Their Marvellous Scent.

Virginia to Use Dogs for Pursuing
Criminnls-Their Marvellous Scent.
Correspondence of the Indianapolis Journal.
WASHINGTON. Oct. s.-The Virginia au-
thorities are getting together and training
a pack of bloodhounds to be used for the
purpose of capturing escaped prisoners and
to assist in the capture of those who have
committed a crime and eluded the officers
of the law.
The use of bloodhounds in the southern
part of the United States for catching GRIM
inals is a common practice. For over fifty
years dogs have been trained in the Sout
for this purpose. Before the civil
nearly all the large plantation owners
would club together and purchase pack.
each having the use of it when needed to
catch the fleeing negro. In those days
some white men in the South made it a
business TO train dogs especially for the
purpose and accompanied them when they
were needed for chase as 1T was termed.
Very few were ever used for bird or ami
NAL hunting it affected their scent for
men. The planters fond of hunting kept
other breeds of oogs almost entirely for
sport. Since the war, the value of the
bloodhound is so well-known in following
escaped criminals that to-day the half
breeds are almost as numerous as the
others were thirty years ago, although
many were killed by the Union soldiers
and the negroes themselves during the war.
Dog fanciers say that there are probably
not twenty-five pure-blooded dogs of this
breed in the United States at present. The
first of the kind came from the north of
England near the Scotch boundary line.
When not i'm service they were often kept
about the house pets, probably because
of their courage and docility, for the real
bloodhound in his ordinary condition is
anything but the savage and vicious brute
depicted by artists and described by novel;
lists. When not aroused, he is as gentle and
tractable as a lapdog. Let him be pro-
voked, however, and he will attack man or
beast with ferocity, which is equaled by no
other breed of CANNES. He never gives up
as long as life lasts and it is either death
to himself or the object he attacks. The
savage side Of the dog is aroused by re-
sistance, and he will seldom bite anyone
who does not offer it, unless influenced by
the scent of blood. This trait is proved by
numerous illustrations where the animal
has been used in the Southern States. The
negroes in the slave days were well aware
of it. and frequently, when run down, a
darkey would throw himself full length
upon the ground and remain motionless.
The dogs coming up, would stand around
baying until the pursuing party reached the
fugitive. Many a runaway, however. met
his death in endeavoring to strangle the
dogs or beat them off with a club.
The hounds of the pure species have an
unusually long and narrow forehead, with
eyes very large and soft, while i'm color they
are dark, tan or fawn. They stand about
two feet above the ground. Their legs are
short but powerful. and they are not swift
running dogs. although they have as much
endurance any of the hunting breed.
Their scent, however, is wonderful and prob
ably surpasses that of any other variety.
This is shown after they broken in to
hunt criminals. The manner of breaking
them in in the Southern States is TO select
a stretch of country about mile long, with
one or two thickets on the course, as il is
termed. The ground may be pasture or
perhaps an old cotton field where the stretch
is loose. A negro boy who is a good runner
is hired or induced i'm some other way to
take the part of the runaway. He puts on a
pair Of shoes or brogans, the soles of which
are rubbed with blood from some animal or
| chicken, and is given start of about twen-
ty minutes. This will enable him easily to
cover the course. at the end of which is
a tree or some other refuge in which he can
climb to avoid any possibility of being in
| jured by the dog. When the dog is loosened
| the trainer puts the animals nose to the
spot where the negro started. and a rule
he is on the scent In a second, going at full
speed across the stretch of country. In the
thicket he may be puzzled few moments,
| but generally he strikes the trail again in a
few moments and is baying, which indicates
! that he has found the place where the
| fugitive is located. The scent is best early
i'm the morning before the sun has dried the
dew on the ground and the moisture seems
/! to hold the odor.
| After few trials the dog follows the
negro simply by the odor from his feet-at
least this is the supposition of the trainers.
Then a course is laid out which is more
difficult. Several streams of water are
crossed, and a start is taken during a hot
! day four or five miles, long after the sup
posed fugitive has gone over the ground
| From one mile the course is heightened to
| five or more. Sometimes the dog may take
/ udil a Ody 10 COIUpltlt III, as Wnen he
reaches a waterway he has to turn 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 thrown off," as
| the saying goes. more than half an hour
A few months of this coursing and the
| bloodhound is ready to act as detective
one which cannot be bribed and is faithful
| unto death.
Even to this day the odor by which the
| dog follows a man is a subject of discus
sion among the veteran trainers. Some
argue that Ii comes from the soles of the
feet, and some say it is the natural odor
of the body. Others claim, however, that
the leather is especially adhesive, and at
! tempt to prove this theory by showing that
| where fugitive has taken of his shoes the
dogs have frequently been delayed consider
ably in tracing. AS under such conditions
the man is liable to bruse his feet, and as
his blood offers the best scent, it is merely
choosing the worst of two evils to follow
this plan.
Occasionally hounds are used TO trace
criminals in the Western States, but the
practice is confined almost exclusively tc
the South. Efforts have been made TO train
ordinary breeds of dogs, such as settlers
for this purpose, but as far as known the
plan has been a failure. While a mixed
7 breed of dog can be used satisfactorily for