The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1916-01-28
ENGLAND'S SACRED BEAST.
on~ritten Law Against Shooting Ever
hen Eating Foxes.


Down in the country the othe
day There was a village sensation j
which | was called upon to adiud
cate for the farmers assembled i
the parlor of the only village inn.
writes the London correspondent o
Town and Country. cone of thei
number had shot FOX which ha,
prowled aloHt among the fowls 70
so many ,hts that fowl keepin,
was becom : Il risky business.
"The o. nary farmer does no
mind losi' an occasional hen, bu
reynard Is 4 greedy Least and kill
for the mere pleasure of the thing
and the hunt does not always pa,
up promptly. So here was a fnt
point in sporting etiquette to bt
settled. The farmer had shot a fox
he did not deny i. In fact, he pre-.
ferred to t4dht his chest with
pride, as If n defiance Of all the un.
written laws of British sport.
Now, custom from time imme.
mortal has decreed that the fox
shall be as safe from gun and trap
ss if he were sacred. He belongs to
the hounds and must be allowed to
roam through the covers and farm
yards at will, devouring what NAV
happen in his way. Custom, too,
demands that the hunt shall paw
the damages. The hunt generally
pays, though in innumerable cases
the secretary Is we'll aware that he
Is being swindled.
"But this particular farmer said
he had hunted for many years him
self and had never made a claim for
lost hens. A year or two ago, how
ever, fox had paid a nocturnal
visit to his fowl yard and had PLAYED
havoc with the feathered denizens.
\ night or two after it happened
again. A third time the fox came
rround and made most deplorable
mess of lot of fine Wyandottes
and some expensive Buff Orping-
tons.
'l'fen the farmer wrote to tic
'iunt secretary anu asked for dam
ages. The reply was that the claim
would he attended to shortly, and
1T Christmas the settlement came
n the form ola ham. Thereupon
The farmer declared war on all foxes
md killed them ruthlessly. And
ms was the p int which puzzled the
'armers on Saturday night.
Jim Crawford shot a fox last
'ear,' said one of the men, and no
good has come to him since. 1t
int lucky and it amt sportsman
Ike. Let 'em Kill your hens. That's
Ehot they are there for, and L one
4unt secretary IS mean there are {
who are generous.'
"There YOU have it. Sport is i
port and its rules are adamant. It
aust, however, be, put to the credit
+ British hunt clubs that they G
pend millions of pounds a year in I
'ngland, u les and Ireland for the s
pkeep of / e sport. i
''Think cf the hunters that are
red and SD annually, the packs s
t hounds, the huntsnen, the stable t
eople, the dozens of hangers on q
no make living out of it, With n
1T the hounds certain districts of b
ngland woald be Gepopulated s.
eicesterSEire and the midland f
'unties would be almost impover d
he'd If law were suddcnly prt il c.
rec to make an end to the ric "
ans pastime Country houses il W
,nhunting districts may be had a! Il
ost for the price of a cottage in n
aicestershire, whereas in the sf
lorn and Pytchley country a coun h
house is as expensive, if not h
ore so, than a London mansion II
stead of diminishing, hunting has h,
own III popular favor"