The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-08-14

IN TIL FOOTHILLS
Continued From First PACED
man's sheep, and Tor the upbulldlng O
the wool industry.
InnlcQuntc Laws.
| The law that Is alleged to be In the
interest OF this Industry. as 1t now
stands. Is hardly worth the paper II
was engrosseu and printed upon. II
provides for dog tax and sets aside
the money arising from this tax to
pay sneep-ralsers the damage sus-
talned by the ravages of the dogs, but
1t makes poor provision for the ex-
t...ction OF offending CANNES. In the
first place, not one In twenty OF the
worthless ours receives the attention
OF the assessors and the tax collcc-
tors. and 80 ut best the fund for rc-
llnbursing the farmer for the sneep
killed by dogs in any county that
makes any pretense Mt sheep raising
Is ridiculously inadequate. In the sec
Eond place, the law is much stricter
against the sheep owner when It
comes to the assessment and proof Of
damage than 1t is against the owner
OF the dog which did the mischief. IT
provides that the dead and injured
sheep must be viewed and damages as
sesscd by two men who must be en-
tirely dlsinterested" parties; that is to
say, II they are remotely related to
the injured man. II they are creditors,
UT II III any way they feel even a
remote interest in the welfare OF the
man whose sheep have been slain, they
are incompetent. No pay Is allowed
the entirely disinterested assessor OF
damages. and he is not required to.
act when called upon. and SO when he
does act is purely as a favor to tho
injured friend. When II is remembered
that In order to act as assessor he
must needs lose something like a half
day from his own business, and
probably ride five or more miles. he
must be a mighty close friend II he
acts at all. so close, indeed, 1t could
probably be said that he is entirely
disinterested"iin the welfare of the
friend who has been despoiled OF his
property by cur dog.
A Case In Point.
A gentleman this morning gave me
his experience. He once had a very
large flock OF sheep. The dogs both
cred him not little. but when only
one or two sheep were killed he did
not take the trouble to comply with
the bunglesome law In the matter of
claiming his share OF the dog tax
rund. One night q worthless cur. be-
longing to a worthless white man,
who often boosted that he always
found some waySto dodge the tax ass
SCISSORS and collectors and had never
a cent to the support OF
the county or State, made q raid on my
fvt r. &C. r,C1PE ND ~ JnH aJ& Ma
sheep. 1t SO happened that my friend
belongs to one OF the old large and
prolific families OF the county. and
all Of his nearby neighbors at that
time were either nearly or remotely
related to him, and so he had to
ride more than five miles before he
could find two men who were COM
petent to sit as Jurors on his MUIR
dered sheep BY the time the Jury"
could get together and get impaneIed
the buzzards had preceded them to the I,
held Of carnage and so dist1gured the
most of the slain lambs 1t was diff
cult. almost impossible. for the Jury
to render an intelligent or acceptable
verdict, for be it understood the law
does not allow the owner or any OF
his neighbors who may have had
knowledge of the value of the animals
Ni41o4A SASS W SA Z Oil Illlc HOOL anu Oe.l
fore the cur and the buzzards got In
their destructive work to TESTIFY In
the case. No wonder my friend be-
came disguised and reduced his flock
from about 100 ewes to about a dozen,
which number he could keep in his
back lot and protect them with his
shotgun.
Protected Cur Dogs.
N .lAF Ri n n, IN NM,
record right here the fact that neigh
borhood Indignation and public sentl-S
ment have since driven the owner OF
that our away from this region. and
ne 5is now lodging the tax collector In
other parts, while the cur, after having
killed as many as hundred sheep
was caught In the act and filled with
buckshot. The law does not allow
the introduction OF Scircumstantlal evi,
dence for the conviction OF a sheen
killing dog. Nothing short Of catch
ing him In the act Will suffice in order
to convict and execute.
Two: sheep-raisers In the nelghbor-
hood from which ! write once under
took to protect their nocks by the
J 'atLl use Of strychnine. but they
We're sadmonished by the Common !
Wealth,s attorney that the serving Of
AAAN wi ~ 6ueep- KILN r |
dogs Is, under the laws made by the
Virginia Legislature, an or
tense that calls for indictment ana
heavy. fine. 1t is. OF course, possible
that I would not know how to 20
about framing a law to amply protect
the sheep industry in Virginia from
the ravages Of cur dogs. but were
q Legislator I would give the subject
the benefit Of prayerful consideration.
and I am vain enough to believe that
in$the end would manage in some
way o patch up statute that would
at least wonderfully thin out the Yir-
glnia breed OF ours II it did not entire-
~ exterminate them. and, In that
event. the Minors and the Magruders
and the Shacklerords and the Langs
and the Gosses and the Everetts ana
The. hcAlurdos. and ALT the other sheep
raisers and wouldbe sheep-raisers OF
this part Of Alhemarle county would
erect monument to me. even In adj
vance of the ohsequies.
breeding l'r0liflc Sheep.
Notwithstanding the stupidity OF the
- =