Evening star., 1940-06-30
KEEPING TAB ON THE DOG WORLD
News of Leaders Dogdom and Their Masters Comments
Breeds; Notes Shows Here and Elsewhere
By X. X. Taynfon.

which wage war on each other some
such weighty subject as correct
type, correct size, color variation or
something equally technical. How
ever, in the breed now recognized by
the American Kennel Club as
Staffordshire terrier, the war is
waged more bitterly and over more
fundamental subject. Here we have
breed whose very origin is obscured
by its name, whose earliest propon-
ents have seemingly been showed
aside by its current fanciers, and
whose very reason for existence has
been ignored by those who are now
trying to promote it.
1t is frequently said that there are
only two American breeds of dogs,
the Boston terrier and the Chesa-
peake Bay retriever. To this list
must be added several more which
are widely disseminated and rec
ognized as pure-bred, although they
have no official rating in the Ameri-
can Kennel Club stud book. Among
these was the "pit bull terrier"
Yankee terrier" American ter
rier," call it what you will. 1t is
this terrier whose common names
denote its American heritage that
was admitted to the stud book in
1896 under the cognomen of Staf-
fordshire terrier and started the
intratribal strife.
Fought Strange Dogs.
Dog lovers who were kids 80 or 40
years ago remember we'll the terriers
which accompanied them on their
rambles, dogs which were recognized
members of the neighborhood gang"
and kept their young owners in con-
tinual hot water by fighting all
strange dogs that came their way.
Buster Browns Tige, the dog in the
Our Gang" comedies, and good ole
Bullseye" in Regular Fellers are
nostalgia representations of the au-
thors' dogs.
This dog so long and favorably
remembered by present fanciers no
doubt owes its origin to the same
crosses which produced the white
bull terrier, the colored bull terrier
and the breed recognized in England
in 1885 as a Staffordshire terrier.
All can be traced to crossings of the
English bulldog and the English
white terrier, now extinct. These
crossings resulted in what was
known at the beginning of the 10th
century as bull and terrier" a
dog bred by the Staffordshire miners
and toughs of that neighborhood for
the express purpose of matched
fights. The bulldog, already bred
for the batting of bulls, was used for
its courage and perseverance. The
terrier was used for its agility and
strategy. The result was rough
and ready dog with the body and
stamina of the bulldog, the legs and
quickness of the terrier, ready for
anything, and a fighter to the death.
From these Staffordshire bull and
terriers which, needless to say, had
no standing with the respectable
elements of the dog-loving popula-
tion was evolved the all-White bull
terrier by breeding genius called
James Kinks. This dog, retaining
the courage and gameness of his
progenitors, was especially designed
to catch the eye and the admira-
ton of the gentry who admired these
qualities, but demanded more than
just courage and gameness in a dog.
Later, the all-white bull-terrier was
bred back to the Staffordshire to
produce the lately recognized color
variety.
In this country, long before the
bull dog and bull terrier were mated
in Boston to produce the Boston
terrier, boys all over the land had
their bull and terrier companions
sometimes with a little something
added, sometimes more bull and
sometimes more terrier. These dogs
were often from litters bred with
one purpose in mind-to produce a
dog with courage, stamina and per-
severance, cog that could and
would enter the fighting ring or pit
and fight until one or the other dog
was dead. The likeliest pup of each
litter was kept by the breeder. The
rest were distributed for little or
nothing. The fact that the other
pups had the qualities of courage
loyalty and devotion meant moth
and Mrs. Miles E. Myers were third
in the section.
The Washington master PLAYERS
game is the only major event of the
league remaining before the Dis
trict championship contests are
held next fall. The match win be
in two sessions, on July and July
IT. There are approximately rs
players in Washington with master
points. Registrations already make
up II tables, and Director Golden is
having trouble arranging the game
for II tables in two sections, as that
number does not readily conform to
a satisfactory movement.