Evening star., 1939-09-10
Bloodhound Hobby
Keeps Wisconsin
Fancier Busy
It's Expensive, Though,
He Finds os Trips
Cost Him Dearly
n the Associated Press.


LA CROSSE, Wis, Sept. 9.-To
meet George Brooks, one of the COM
munitys best known citizens, sit at
his spotless soda bar, give him a
new combination for matted milk
and then casually bring up the sub
ject of bloodhounds.
George, new and firm friend,
will stand behind the bar all day
long talking about King, Lead and
Nereholme, his bloodhounds, and
never spill drop of chocolate or
get a pecan out of place.
He is, possibly, the perfect exam
pie of man whose hobby if that's
the word) is entirely the opposite of
his regular work See him in white
waistcoat and apron, with wide,
gold-toothed grin on his thin face.
and he's just about the mildest sort
of person there is but that restless
CLINT in his eyes gives him away.
Eight years ago George trained
Labrador dogs for the bird hunting
season, but the season was only
three days long and it seemed an
awful waste of time. So he switched
to bloodhounds, and because no
other person for several hundred
miles has gone into bloodhounds as
extensively, he's kept busy.
Delicate Business.
It's delicate business having such
q hobby and keeping steady job,
ho
pretty well with his boss, Bill Bona
durer. The calls come from sheriffs
and police all over Wisconsin. Min
nesota, Iowa and even Michigan,
and sometime he's gone for days.
He won't admit it's strictly a
hobby, but the public has the idea
SO firmly in mind that he's becom-
ing reconciled, meaning that he
doesn't always expect to get paid
even expenses. Generally he has to
take his fee in the satisfaction of
seeing pltiful lost children returned
to their parents, or in knowing he
and the dogs have done a good lob.
He supposes he should be more firm
about this and admits he's a poor
businessman, having gone broke"
twice since starting the hobby"
On a recent case he was away
from work too weeks, had to pay his
transportation and buy a dollars
worth of meat day for the dogs,
and hasn't got around to mail
Ing the bill.
Served on Many Cases.
George has no record of the num-
be- of cases he has worked on. His
wife kept track up until year and
half ago, when the count reached
290, and then gave up Sometimes
1t runs as high as II a week. Most
OF the cases are humdrum-going
into Iowa to try to find somebody
who cut up somebody else's tires, or
going to the next county looking
for two children lost in the woods.
But there have been spectacular
cases, too. One was the Jens Thomp-
son case of two years ago in which
Bob Dunn, La Crosse newspaper
man. got his story book scoop.
Thompson. later sent to Mime
sofa State Prison for the murder
OF Louis. Joe and Anton Lukes of
Austin. Mimi, was hunted by the
dogs in Southeastern Minnesota.
George was working two dogs. Dunn
covering the story had on leash
Ted. big brown dog.
Ted led Dunn to thick brush
and then jerked. nearly sending
Dunn sprawling. Under the brush
was Thompson. Although armed
he surrendered to the reporter and
marched back to the main party
with Dunn holding % pistol on
him, Ted lending moral support.
The dog died of poisoning not
long afterward.
Bloodhounds are much maligned
George believes, probably because
they were cast as villains in Uncle
Toms Cabin" Actually, they can
be friendly and at times astonish.
ingly human.
Craziest Dog.
Take Lead, for instance. George
calls Lead the craziest dog he ha.
ever owned. He never knows what
Lead will do next. In the man.
hunt for Ray Olson at Hayward
Wis, last June Olson broke into 8
store for food. King, who was
being worked with Lead, was pu1
into the store. King nosed arounc
and took trail to rear window
from which there was a 10-foo
drop. King waited to be lifted dowr
and then took up the trail again.
But not Lead. He nosed abou
the store for moment, then dow
head-first through the window
taking glass and all with him.
The Olson hunt rivaled the
Thompson chase as the most i'm
portant in which George has WORKED
dogs. They travelled the rough
country, through rain and mud
keeping Olson on the run and th'
posse on his trail, until Olso1
finally was shot down.
King, the big red dog Georg'
works on all cases as the trai
blazer, is years old. George bough
him as puppy for SITS. Lead, mex
ablest, is 5 years old and the leas
expensive bloodhound George eve
bought. He came from Canadt
and cost Sl30. Nereholme, yer.
promising. is years old. Georg'
bought him in England, shipping
him here at a cost of 1854. Thos
figures only approximate their value