Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-01-24
LATE ANIMAL FADS
Rivalry Among the Rich fer
House and Field Pets.
THE ENGLISH WHIPPERT
FASTEST DOG TO BE FOUND THE
WORLD OVER.
Falconry May Soon Have First Place
in Fashionable
Sports.

Written for The Evening Star.
The very rich of today are going into
rivalry in pets with a vengeance. Never
has there been such a craze for new pets,
unique pets, or for sports in which animals
play leading roles.
Nobody Is anybody whose lawn Is I'M
decorated by a pair Of white peacocks or a
number Of golden pheasants, or who is I'M
able to pit against such striking beauties
the destinations Of a pack of beagles, or
even invite to dinner, as did Mrs. Stuy-
vesant Fish, q well-behaved monkey.
Fanciers are more than usually discon-
certed by the difficulty involved in secur-
ing the courted white peacocks, rarities
from Japan. Their tameness, and the
males fine way of making love as, over
come by emotion, he spreads, waves and
shakes his superb tail for the admiration
OF his mate, both amuSe and pique the in
terest. To the unsophisticated, however, it
may in kindness be whispered that white
peacock means an unusually long purse.
James J. Hill, whose taste in most things
is forceful, keeps on his place near st. Paul
two tame buffaloes pets, while J. Pier
pont Morgan has one Of his country homes
situated in Wilds so remote that deer from
the adjoining forest nibble the honeysuckle
decorating its veranda. 1t is to Richard
Croker however, that the honor is due Of
possessing the best lot of whpperts in this
country, dogs which may justly be regard
ed as the novelty in pets.
Phenomenal Runners.
The fifteen or twenty whipperts now in
the states came from England. They are
small dogs, standing but seventeen or eigh-
teen inches high, and are built on the same
lines as the greyhound, their heads being
perhaps not so long in proportion to the
length of their bodies In color again they
resemble the greyhound; also, they are of
a deer-like brown, less often reddish. Along
their backs runs a line of coarser, longer
hair than that which covers the rest of their
bodies, suggestive of a similar feature along
the back of hog. Large and uncropped
ears decorate their heads, while the express
sion of their faces, instead of being dociie
and sad as is the greyhound's, is fierce and
wild, true index to their ugly dispositions
Those who have whipperts delight in them
mostly for coursing. They are the fastest
dogs in the world In the pursuance of this
sport six or eight of the dogs, or as many
as are matched against one another, are
brought to starting post where each is
held by an attendant. Here they bic and
snarl at one another like pack of wolves
until at the other end of the line a man
drops an uplifted white handkerchief. At
this signal the dogs start running in a
straight line of perhaps a hundred yards
The speed they snow Is phenomenal. "Jen-
nie," the most famous and fastest whippert
in this country, is of reddish color and Is
owned by the sons of Richard Croker, who
possess six dogs of this breed .,he is very
thin, because she is kept in racing condition.
Falconry Again.
While whipperts are monopolizng a good
deal Of attention among smart people there
is an old and exciting sport clamoring for
a place In America. 1t is falconry. In
France and England modern falconry now
throws strong lure to American residents
Soon they will bring 1t nearer home. An
hours journey eastward from Paris the
American in search Of adventure may offer
his gloved fist as the true perch of the fall
con, for the sport is one easily self-taught
by those that have an innate knack Of
things; hand light enough to hood a hawk
without frightening him; delft enough to
slip and tie the jesses. The falconer must
possess also the tact and courage to take
from the fierce victor the quarry after the
KILN other words, to substitute the lure
for the prey
Happily, there are a goodly number who
now recognize that no country in the world
offers the abundant and varied opportuni-
ties for falconry that are to be found in
America. Awaiting the peregrine hawks,
those trained for the high flights, are part
ridges, quail, even the wild ducks; and for