Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-01-21

.IHE SUNDA \
weather Of the past two weeks had on
uuafls in this section He has talked to
many market dealers who come in from
the country. and with q number Of farm
either having seen or heard Of birds being
frozen to death. One reliable farmer
showed FIVE Quaus which he had found
f1uddled close together and frozen stiff.
The writer examined these birds carefully
and found them In excellent condition,
showing conclusiveiy that they were not
starved, but had frozen to death.
On the other hand, several sportsmen
have reported that they had seen numbers
of bevies that had weathered the storm.
Tub Dickinson. Tom Baldwin and others
went out last Sunday and found and fed
several coveys. w. L. KidweIl did the
same thing. and this portsmanlike action
cannot be too highly commended and it
IL to be hoped that the spirit will move
others to go and do likewise. Inquiry at
the Zoo Park elected the cheering infor-
nation that they had heard of no birds
freezing to death. but could well under
stand such a thing happening. The COW
eys they have been feeding were thriving
well. On one day they fed forty quails.
! The most remarkable story heard was
from farmer living at Chillum Heights
near the SOiOleTS Home. lie Sd10 oil tue
rabbits on his place were frozen to death.
The writer expressed great establishment
and some doubt at this, when the farmer
in all seriousness, said: why. mister,
when / got up one morning to make the
fire and looked at the thermometer it
was 30 degrees below zero Then we
understood.
One Of the prett!est things in the puppy
line seen in long time was Chesapeake
bay pup. owned by Mr.. Richard Stewart
of Hampstead, Va. At his home. Cedar
Grove, on the Potomac, he has litter of
nine out of the Thoroughbred bitch
Pickles, formerly owned by II. X. Bliss
of this city. The sire is Beaver III. the
leading stud dog of the KEENAN, kennels
of Easton. Md. They are the otter breed
and of beautiful ledge color. The term
otter breed" is very appropriate one
for one can but wonder why, aside from
their splendid sporting qualities, their
fur is not valuable for commercial plir-
poses. It is to be regretted that more at
tention is not paid to the breeding of
these superb water retrieverS, for their
equal as duck dogs has never existed.
In recent issue Field and Kennel con-
tanned some statistics on the running of
pointers and settlers in field trials, and
also expressed some views on the relative
merits of the two breeds as field dogs.
Being a setter man. the writer may
have favored the long hairs" little,
but intended doing justice to both. Mr..
W. l.. kidwell, who has owned and bred
some of the best pointers ever produced
in Washington takes up the cudgel for
the short hairs in an interesting let
ter in which he says: Il don't think you
are quite right when you say that a litter
of settlers will be better than litter of
pointers of equal number. l can't see
where you can more than guess at 1t.
We said nothing about a litter. What
was said in these notes was from read
ing and observation the writer Is con-
WINGED that, taken a whole, the pro-
portion of good field dogs is greater
among settlers than among pointers. In
other words. take fifty well bred pointers
and the same number of we'll bred set
tiers and give each lot the same oppor
tunities and training. he believes that
greater number of good shooting dogs
would be found in the setter than In the
pointer lot.
Continuing. Mr.. kidwell writes; Nor
can l agree with you in regard to the
setter being the better. dog for dog. 1
tiers than good pointers. but only because
they greatly outnumber them the coun-
try over" The query occurs here. II the
POINTER was the better dog would not this
inequality be reversed?' 10th Mr.. Kidwell
and the writer can remember when point
ers greatly outnumbered the setter. .ur
ther on Mr.. Kidwell says: las for the field
trial qualities of the two at the present
time, 1t Is In favor OF the pointer, as the
record will show from day to day"
The writer made a careful compilation
of the records for the two breeds for the
entire year. and thinks 1t the first to APP
pear in print. He therein stated that it
showed the pointers had a very slight ad-
vantage on percentage basis In 1911. How
ever. one swallow does not make sum-
mer
Mr. kidwell thinks pointer breeders are
handicapped by not having as good train
erS as setter owners. Now dog training is
not a matter Of sent ment There are very
few professional handlers who would not
just as soon develop and win with one
breed Is the other. Ed Carr. one of the
most successful field trial handlers in the
country, is more than partial to pointers
Mr. Kidwell, of course. knows what Carr
did to develop the great Masterpiece tbred
by Mr.. KidwelD after he fell into his
hands.
Not for an instant did the writer in
tend to disparage pointers Some of the
greatest field dogs he has ever seen have
been pointers and he knows that Mr..
Kidwell has bred and owned some splen-
did ones In short, he is convinced that
they are the greatest dogs in the world
after Llewellin settlers.