The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-03-19
Beagle Hound

The Beagle of America is an English bred dog, believed to have been in exis- tence as a breed since the beginning of the eleventh century. Some of those whose importing of the breed into this country has had the most to do with our modern Beagle ale General Rowett of Carlnsville H.. Capt William Asshe- ton, A. c. Brenger of Wrightsville, Pa; Hiram Card of Ontario MT. Arnold of Providence. MT. Diffendoeffer of Penn sylvania, and James l.. Kernochan, who imported several about 1s96 These men are most all dead, or have retired from the fancy. but the dogs which they inn ported have had great influence in pro- ducing our modern Beagle Hound which IS black, white and tan dog, ranging in height at shoulder from 12 to Is inches, with long ears, often hanging below the point of nose and of d soft, veIvety tex ture, hung low on the head. The eyes are large and full, with a kind, mild expression in them, often sort of plead ing look. The skull and muzzle should conform nicely with one another The skull should not be pointed, nor should
 
 neither pointed nor square, but having a well defined stop. He should not have long back, but be rather shortly coupled with well rounded body. espe- gaily, erect or slightly curved toward the pair of inexhaustible lungs The legs and feet should be we'll musced and large in size to proportion of the body, enabling them to travel for hours at a hard pace. His thighs should be full and well rounded, and the tail carried gally, erect or slightl curved toward the head, but the tip should not hang down. ward, When trailing many of the breed Keep the tail swinging from side to side. showing their keen interest in their work, which is chiefly rabbit hunting, although some have had good success with them in running larger game. The Beagle in hunting has the richest voice, or more musical, of any hound, their bay or tongueing" as it is called by hound men, IS hlgh-clasS music, and has grand opera beat both ways-it is music and you can understand what the dog is say- ing, while in grand opera 1t is a con-
 tlnual squeeching of some foreign lan- gUage
 To any ear. whether interested in q hunt or not, one hearing a pack of them running trail on a frosty day could not neip but be pleased with the sound of It, or, as Reno B. Cole says "A perfect brace of Beagles matched in color and size, and working Tremendously together. IS sight well worth seeing as their ner- vous little bodies culver with excitement or the coming chase, and their noses drink in the still warm scent of a lost bunny; and when the welcome note. found at last is sounded and the ioy- out cries of perfectly matched voices grow fainter and fainter in the distance. It IS certainly not moment to be soon forgotten
 The Beagle has soft spot in the writ. CTS heart and I never spent a more pleasant day or enjoyed myself better than when following pack of Beagles. something is doing all the time, and the music runs up and down the scale from mgh pitch to low, and many times as the speeding rabbit has passed near enough to be within gunshot, I have let It pass, just to hear the music at short range. The south is behind in good Beagles, and as the game laws don't cover the rabbit, there is plenty of room to introduce the noble little animal among us It is not an expensive breed as F. H. Griffith manager of the Hounds Home Kennel, Atlantic. Ia writes me that he sells young Beagles either sex, up to months of age at $1o surely any boy can save enough change to own a Beagle
 The Beagle breeds rather young. and at about the age of g or 10 months the fe- male is ready to assume the responsibiIi- ties Of life The mother raises two filters year. and the average puppies to the litter is about seven. The life or female is 10 or 12 years, with the proper care.
 MT. Griffith writes me that the Amer ican Kennel club has recently passed some rather arbitrary rules, which re- quires that the sire and dam of any dog eligible to registration must have been registered previously; if not then pups from this union are not eligible to reg istration This seems rather step toe far in advance to the writer, and we are glad to see opposition registration organ zlatlons springing up. It looks too much like money-making scheme to the writer. At any rate there are other or ganizatiOns which have stud books open to register any breed with pedigree One of these is the United Kennel clut of Chicago, Box 156. It deserves any CO., operation which the fancier may give We are under obligation to the Hounds Home Kennels of Atlantic, la, for the magnificent specimen reproduced on this page. In all the advertising literature of this kennel one point Is always em- phasized-that their dogs were raised and trained in the corn fields of Iowa, and as the cornstalks in Iowa reach the pro- portlon or young sap1ngS in that cOun- try their hounds certainly must be well trained at lodging about with MT Bunny, for the striking of one of these aforesaid stalks by a hounds head means instant death. Mrs. Griffith has invited me out to enjoy the sport but as news paper men cannot exchange advertising space for free transportation any longer we have decided not to go
 l This kennel produces several hundred ooh vI,A At
 Hemphfls Sturdy Q4O40S), whose likeness appears on this page. is both beauty and field trial winner. having won 2S
 ribbons on the bench and also several classic field trial events, and as he has headed the kennel for a number of years