The daily Alaskan., 1914-07-01
HUNTING THE WOLF
in Russia the Vicious Brute, #
 Full Grown, Is a Marvel
FLEET, FIERCE AND STRONG,

Pack of Trained Hounda and Falriy
 Fiahts His Way to Fro0dom--An EE'
 citing chauo WIth a Grand Duke.
 Hunting wolves with dogs ia one of the most expressing and exciting of the winter sports in Russia, and in the pursuit of the full grown wild beast three types of dog are used-the ordi- nary fOxhound pack, the borzoi, or Russian wolfhOund. and the bear hound. a type which is becoming rarer all the time. The Russian imperial hunt. which is situated at Gatchina, about thirty miles from St Petersburg, is the scene of most of these sporting events
 The method of hunting is to employ ring" or locate the animal by means of his tracks in a certain portion of the forest, tue mounted huntsmen remain ing quietly about, with groups of Dor. z0is in leash. three together The next step Is to send the .fOZhOundS into the forest to force the wolf to break cover, and on his appearance the wolfhounds are slipped. If the quarry can survive two miles of hard pressure be will huye outlasted the pace and staying powers of bis pursuers, but If not the wolshounds will have pulled him down. They can make no impression on his hide. however, but must wnit until the first horseman comes up The wolf Is either killed then by knife, or his legs and .0ws are bound up, and he is taken back home and exhibited a few days In captivity, when be is turned loose to furnish sport at a future time
 In the London Times N Kravtchen- kO tells of a hunt ln company with R grand duke, in which one Of these full grown vicious brutes proved too much for the hounds:
 We had reached our stations and be- came accustomed to patient mOtiOnless waiting when far away was heard the voice of a hound on the scent Soon a whole chorus joined In, and a little later the wood In front of US began to lu with noise. and then suddenly, not far from us, appeared a huge full grown wolf.
 He seemed to be absolutely undis- turbed and trolted of as if nothing par ticular was occurring, but in reality he was travelling at great speed and had almost covered half the distance when the grand duke uuleushed upon him. Like lightning the wolf turned and re- treated, but the dogs were quicker. Let go"' shouted the grand duke, and my leash quickly followed Every mo ment thought the dogs would roll the wolf over and pin him. But the task was evidently no easy one. The wolf went on and on Now and then be would turn hls head when some more eutcrDrisiug hound pressed him with his attentions. It seemed that there was nothing particularly menaclng in the act, but so quickly did the mighty jaws snap that we could only tell as one hound after another fell away with ripped sides that It had been far more than a mere head shake. The in- credible strength and agility of the beast aud the apparent ease with which he dealt with six of the might fest and best borzois of the grand ducaI kennel compelled One's respect and admiration.
 But now came a whlrlwind directly in his path-two borzois, dark as night, gallopiug toward the pursued, intent at the risk of their lives to Overturn him 1 thought to see him torn to pieces iu few moments. But 1t is not in vain that according to the rules of wolf coursing a grown wolf has the honOrs of the whole kennel-al the borzOis on the field must be unleashed-fOr be- sides his strength the grown wolf Is extraordinarily agile and intelligent All these qualities he displayed to the full before me. For the first time l saw grown wolf at bay, and was no longer disposed tO feel any surprise that so many dogs should be unleashed agalust one beast. Without changing bis course or his gait, suddenly, under the very noses Of the borzois that were rushing upon him, he turned to the right and headed straight toward us. Some dogs, trying to turn quickly, fellr but jumped up again and gave chase But the wolf, 1t seemed, continued on uts course at the same quiet gait, as if he felt no need to eZpend bis strength Ju such foes
 Not far from me the dogs almost overlook him. ] thought that one had stripped him, but be turned his head, and those terrible fangs of bis again did their deadly work. SaplIngs of birch and oak, the outpOsts of the for est were already nigh The dogs made a last desperate effort and almost sur. rounded bim op the very edge of the wood. We saw how they all came to- gether. and then we heard the howl Of one dog after another as the wolf snap led them of and his gray body disap, Deared in the thlcket Then the borzl- atuiH began to call their dogs together and to gather up the wounded.
 So we coursed the grown wolf. Ip twenty five years the PershInO hunt has taken only dftysIZ of them, where