El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-09-10

HfHE 1910 season for the great
American sport OF hunting with
dogs has begun. the initial num-
Der on the program being the field
trials now being conducted by the Man
itOba Field Trial club at Dominion City,
Manitoba. Dogs from every section
of the United States and Canada are
taking part in the trials, and from now
until the beginning of next summer
there will be busy times for both the
dogs and their handlers. For bird dogs
the season starts with the Manitoba
meeting and ends with the United states
field trials and the championship
stakes, which viii be held in January
at Rogers Springs, Tenn. As all roads
of the political world at one time LEI
TO Rome, so all roads of the bird shoot
ing world lead to Rogers Springs To
win tbe championship and the United
States, derby or alI-age stakes, i the
last letter IN a bird dogs career, ana
the whole circuit of field trials con-
stitutes a process, of elimination DIX
ing toward the final event at Rogers
Springs
This Season TO Be Long.
The present season is to be the long
est IN the history OF field trials, ana
dates are so arranged that dogs MAY
atteI.d every one of these trials, Just
as horses make the circuit of the grea-
shows or of the principal racetrackS-
1t requires from 10000 to 10000 acres
of land for conducting a modern field
trial. and ii is growing harder each
year to find sufficient contiguous ter
ritory. When trial week arrives the
dogs are assigned by lot the order ~
which they shall run. The names OF
all candidates entered are written on
slips of paper and placed in a hat.
They fhon hV
and the dogs are assigned to run in
braces The dogs getting into the first
brace run first, and so on until the
whole list is completed, which usually
requires many days. Much depends on
the luck of the drawing, since the dogs
which start In the frost of the morning
or the neat of the afternoon are at
disadvantage. After all of the braces
have had their run, the judges select
the best dogs for the second series and
the winner of this second series is
awarded first honOrs.
Art OF Handling Dogs.
The handling cf dogs for these events
is an art in whicn but few men are
skilled To train dog so as TO make
him as much 4 master of his work in
the field as if he were a human being,
while at the same time developing
that wonderful power OF sense which
makes him the most discriminatory ami
nal in the world, is no small task. and
requires a degree CT patience that IS
almost sublime. we'll trained bird
dog can point birds at from 10 to Is
yards, with no other guide than his
remarkable sense OF smell. He can tell
whether a bird is alive dead or wound
ed. He can unerringly recognize
whether the scent is from a Convey or
from a single bird. When crossing a
foot trail he can recognize tire differ
ence between that and a body scent
and is able when crossing a foot trail.
to decide instantly which way the birds
went He will barely pause at a roost
ing place but Invariably will stop when
he approaches the game While the
dog IS q splaying this marvellous power
OF his Olfactory organs, he is at rnc
same tine giving mis- master an Iuu
mate picture of all the mental Op-ra-
lions going on in his mind. To see
him courSing over broad acres, choosing
with -unerring accuracy the spots where
birds are likely TO be found, ranging
through a large field with as much
Intelligence as man, pointing when
the birds are near. backing when mis-
brace-mate points. dropping at shot and
wing makes q picture to warm the
c 'clIles OF the heart of any man, how
ever slowly the blood may course
through his veins. AS the dog is trav
cling at the rate of about 10 miles an
hour wien he perceives the body scent
of the cIarry he points, and must stop
stock-stiH at the first perception Of
this scent. the feat becomes the more
remarkable.
The Setter IS. the Pointer.
There long has been a controversy
between the lovers Of the setter and
the supporters of the pointer, as TO
which is the better from the spOrtman's
point of view. TIE friends of the set
ter declare that the pointer never mas
won championship stake; while the
friends Of the pointer reply that the
pointers have won high hOnOrs in pro-
portion to the number entered at the
big field trials. To this the setter peo-
pie reply that the reason there are so
few pointers entered at the big trials
is that few OF them are able to make
sufficient showing in the smaller events
TO get chance in the more important