THE SAINT BERNAKD KENNELS OF AMERICA.*

BY EDWIN H. MORRIS.

topsy.—p. 356.

PERHAPS the earliest importation ofSaint Bernard dogs to this countrywas that of Mr. Henry R. Foster, ofNew York, in 1830. On his return

from Europe he brought with him Brunoand Juno, two rich orange tawny speci-mens, with white blaze and collar marks,which did credit to his judgment. Manywere afterward imported to America whichwere quite unfit to compete with them.

At the time of the first bench show atNew York, in 1877, Mr. Daniel P. Fosterhad succeeded his father, and, being deter-mined that the position his parent hadtaken should be worthily maintained, hevisited Switzerland and brought back avery large, powerfully-built, smooth dognamed Lyon. This specimen was alsoorange tawny and white, which Mr. Fos-ter says was the fashionable or ratherprevailing color on the Alps at that time,and his choice of a smooth-coated dogwas influenced by their superiority in whathe considered the essentials, viz., charac-ter, expression and strength of limb, com-bined with agility and size. His effortswere rewarded, for at the show the Eng-lish judge, Mr. Macdona, not only award-

ed his dog first honors, but congratulatedMr. Foster on possessing a specimen thatcould surpass many which were then con-sidered cracks in England. Much wassaid of this event; the papers gave ac-counts of Mr. Foster’s visit to the SaintGothard Monastery, where he had boughtLyon. There was much romance talkedregarding the wonderful instinct of thisvariety of dog, and pictures with monsterscarrying at their throat small kegs ofspirit for the unfortunate travelers lost inthe snow drifts of the Alps appearedafter the show. There were twenty-threespecimens on exhibition, chiefly smoothcoated, and some of very uncertain origin.Mr. Pearsall had brought over one fromthe Alps also, and at the same time im-ported a Swiss keeper; this dog’s namewas Fido, and when poor Fido got de-feated the Swiss took it so to heart thathe cried in the ring. He could well beproud of his charge, for he was a hand-some specimen, and with Mr. John P.Haynes’ Don, which took the third prize,was much admired.

The following year Mr. Foster sur-prised his compeers by bringing forward

* See the article “The Saint Bernard D og” in O uting, March, 1891, pp. 403-410.

OUTING FOR FEBRUARY.354

beauchamp.

a new dog, Turko, with which to keep thelead, for more than one had vowed thatLyon should be eclipsed. Alp, a dog be-longing to Mr. L. Collins, was relied onto do this, but Turko was too much forhim, and Mr. Foster still maintained hisposition.

In 1879 Turko scored again at NewYork, and hearing that Mr. Drexel, thePhiladelphia banker, had got over a pair“to lick anything New York could pro-duce,” Mr. Foster journeyed thither withTurko, and the pair which had cost thebanker so many dollars, imported directfrom their native country, had to bow totheir superior, for Turko was again suc-cessful. Mr. Drexel’s dogs were orangetawny, with much char-acter, but Mr. Foster’sdog was their superiorin bone, size and char-acter, and equal to themin color and markings.

Mr. Burchman, of Bos-ton, next tried his luck,and got overNemo, a largebright orangedog, well madeand of goodsize, and at the1880 show thisdog and Tur-ko, each win-ning in theirr e s p e c t i v eclasses, w e r ethe admira-

tained his position during the three suc-ceeding years, when he was placed on theretired list.

In 1881 the Saint Bernard class, takencollectively, was very inferior, many beingwhat were sometimes termed Burghundsand Leonburghers. In fact quite a num-ber of well-meaning people, who fondlyimagined that distinction awaited them asSaint Bernard fanciers, in reality knewnothing about the dogs. A Plinlimmonhad not then displayed his majestic pro-portions on the stage before thousands ofadmirers, and by so doing aided in theeducation of the general public in regardto what constituted the true type andfiner points of the breed. In passing Imay mention that the lately-deceasedPlinlimmon—the magnificent son of Mr.Wm. Pothecary’s Pilgrim and Mr. T. Hall’sBessie II.—was whelped in June, 1883, butdid not come to this country until 1888.

Mr. Foster still continued his successat the exhibitions, winning in the openclass with an American-bred dog namedMarco. He was a rich orange brindle,high and powerful. The following yearthe renowned Saint Elmo came upon thescene, but Mr. Foster being ill at the timeof the New York show he had to be con-tented to meet Dr. Sardel on his ownground at Boston, and there the son ofchampion Turko and Snowdrift easilydefeated those the worthy doctor had re-lied on. This new dog was thirty-threeand one-half inches at shoulders, weighed211 pounds, was perfect in coat and mark-

tion of a l l .Turko main- plinlimmon.

THE SAINT BERNARD KENNELS OF AMERICA. 355

ings, and in color was the then prevailingone, orange tawny; hence Dr. Sardel had

in our picture with the child; Hector, atawny and white smooth-coated dog,

his youngsters of the Bayard, Jr., breedingdefeated by a worthy competitor.

and Daphne, a tiger brindle and white

Mr. Pope, another gentleman of Boston,bitch, did much good work for the breed

decided to see what he could do in Saintfor a considerable period.

Otho had some excellent points, andBernards, and sent to the kennel of Mr. has been referred to by a well-knownMacdona, one of the most noted English American critic as superior to the repre-breeders at that time, and with Bayard,Jr., had a walk over during the absence of

sentation of Bayard which is so frequent-

the pioneer breeder and importer. Mr.ly seen, and consequently is often broughtto mind in making comparisons. It did

Pope had given $750 for this dog, andreadily got $2,500 from the late Mr. Em-

not seem to occur to anyone to inquire

mett for it. Such a price for a dog inwhether this was really a picture of Bay-ard, and if proved that it was taken from

those days was as astonishing as the a photograph of another dog it wouldannouncement of the cost of Sir Bed-ivere, and Mr. Foster, who was thenin Canada, quickly heard the news, andas quickly hastened to make good theground lost. Saint Elmo was then pre-pared for the great show to be held atWashington the same year, under thepatronage of the President and sena-ators; many new arrivals fromBaltimore and Philadelphia putin an appearance, all confidentof the blue ribbon, but SaintElmo not only defeated them,but robbed Bayard, Jr., of hislaurels. After the show Mr.Foster was invited bySenator Holliday totake his Saint Ber-nard, Saint Elmo, andEnglish mastiff, Ma-jor, up to the WhiteHouse.

The dog of this yearwhich deserved specialattention was perhapsCarter, a rough-coatedtypical specimen, thewinner of the thirdpr i ze a t the g r ea tWashington show,coming next to themuch talked of Bayard, Jr. After thisevent, and the special notice of the Presi-dent, Saint Bernard breeders and import-ers increased rapidly in numbers, and itbecame no mean achievement to securethe blue ribbon, or in fact any ribbon, atthe dog shows, which also gained in num-ber and popularity.

Bonivard and Beauchamp were soonseen upon the bench, but Mr. K. E. Hopf,the late chairman of the American SaintBernard Club, came to the front withthe Hospice Kennel, and with Otho, afine orange and white specimen, given

otho.

upset not only the speculation of manybut the value of numerous pedigrees. Itis not our province to go fully into suchmatters here, and it will suffice to saythat Otho was certainly superior to therenowned Bayard, although perhaps nopicture has so flattered him that it out-does the picture which is supposed torepresent Bayard.

Otho came from world-famed stock, hav-ing Abbess, Alp, Hedwig, Hospice, Mäd-chen, Hermit and several other excellentspecimens in his pedigree. He did muchfor the reputation of the Hospice Kennel.

356 OUTING FOR FEBRUARY.

m o n a r q u e .

Hector came forward at the Buffaloshow, when he was placed first, after-ward winning throughout the States.He was not worthy of any special praies,but was considered a superior specimenof his day, making one of the pillars ofthe breed in this country, and was one ofthe Hospice Kennel cracks. Top-sy was deeply engaged with ma-ternal duties when her picturewas taken, and her stock speaksbetter for her than any repre-sentation. Her full cheeks, lightbone, poorly-carried ears and tailand lack of character and typewere happily rarely seen in herprogeny.

The Hermitage Kennel alsomade a strong and continued ef-fort for public favor, importingthe then mag-nificent Leila,after she hadcreated quitea sensation inEngland, whilewith Don II., af ine o r anget a w n y a n dw h i t e d o g ,they contest-e d f o r t h esmooth-doghonors, hav-ing also Dukeof Leeds and

Mr. John P. Haines, of the Toms RiverKennel, about this time paid some con-siderable attention to the breed, exhibit-ing several superior specimens, and Mr.L. Daniels, of New York city, was thencoming to the front with Flora II., Vic-tor Joseph and others.

Among the gentlemen who were ownersor exhibitors of these dogs prior to 1888we may also mention Mr. Horace E. Kei-fer, who had a son of Monarque (the sub-ject of one of our illustrations). Mr. Har-ry L. Goodman, Mohawk Kennel, who hadCarl; Mr. W. E. Connor, the owner ofFonthill Hector, a young dog that cameout at the Jubilee Show in England; Mr.Wm. De Haven, who owned General But-ler, a winner at Newark and Philadelphia;Mr. Geo. Jarvis Geer; Mr. F. C. Phœbus,Mr. R. J. Sawyer, Mr. Sidney P. Slater,Mr. Wm. G. Martin, Mr. W. Fulton Mil-ler, Mr. E. H. Moore, Mr. Chas. E. Ed-wards, Mr. Jas. W. Dunlop, Mr. WalterPierson Mr. R. M. Conway, Mr. W. Stew-art Diffenderffer, and many others werewinners at the dog shows of this period,and may consequently be named amongthe pioneers of those who have bred theSaint Bernards in the kennels of America.

Rhona in therough division.

bonivard.

.

THE SAINT BERNAKD KENNELS OF AMERICA.

a snap shot at the grasmere kennels.

THE reign of the present canine king—the rough-coated Saint Bernard—in America began in 1882, when atypical specimen, Hearn’s imported

Monk, was shown, and from that year thepopularity of the breed has steadily in-creased. Monk was a good enough speci-men to win in England, but he was a light-colored dog and not altogether attractive.Mr. F. W. Rothera, of Canada, who broughtout the great Otho, was third with Priam.

Before the show of 1883 was held therewere several accessions to the ranks ofSaint Bernard breeders, the most impor-tant being Mr. Rodney Benson, of NewYork, who made a clean record. His Boni-vard beat Hearn’s Monk, but by conditiononly, for the latter was a physical wreckand died a few weeks later. The judgeon that occasion had to face the difficul-ty of deciding whether or no conditionshould carry the day. In equal conditionthere was no question as to Monk winning,and we must remember that Bonivard hadjust arrived from England, where he waswell up in the front rank of winners.Bonivard lacked size, but for coat he had

never been excelled, and he was a dogthat “grew upon you” the longer youlooked at him. Mr. Benson also showedCæsar, Ursula and Regie and beat Mr.Haines’ team for the Kennel prize. Sincethat show the roughs have always had thelead.

Mr. E. R. Hearn was the next fancierto invest in high-priced dogs from Eng-land. He had previously got the giantRector, which Mr. Emmett bought fromhim for $4,000, and Mr. Benson, not caringabout being beaten, got Mr. Hearn to addBonivard to his string and thus win sixfirsts at New York in 1884. Rev. Cum-ming Macdona came over here that yearwith a kennel of dogs, the best beingCaliph. He sold nearly everything hebrought out, but they were never seenagain on the show bench. We had nowreached high-water mark, and there wasa lull for a few years in Saint Bernards.The rule of putting a dog in the cham-pion class which had won a first prizedraughted the good ones so fast out ofthe open class that it was only by impor-tations the quality could be kept up, and

442

duke of wellington.

importations were not now so frequent asthey had been. The result of this wasthat in 1885, after Duke of Leeds hadwon the champion class prize, we camedown in the open class to St. Elmo. FirstChoice, placed second, was a better dog,but even he had a greater claim to noticethan his appearance, and that was thefact of his being out of Bessie II., the damof Plinlimmon. Breeders of those dayswere not the stud-book students they arenow, or the name of First Choice wouldbe found in the pedigrees of the presentday. In the absence of anything newand startling in the matter of St. Ber-nards at New York in that year, it is wor-thy of notice that in the prize list appearsthe name of K. E. Hopf, whose maiden

success consisted of a commendation cardfor the imported smooth-coated bitch Bel-line II.

No great change occurred until 1888,when Centaur was brought from England,a grand-headed and well-proportioned dogthat had done good work there for thewell-known breeder, Mr. L. C. R. NorrisElye; also, a very well-marked and beau-tiful bitch, named Carrette, a daughter ofthe wonderfully typical English crackchampion, Save, and another Englishchampion, Queen Jura. Carrette took theblue ribbon at the Philadelphia show of1888, and she was bred by Mr. Sydney W.Smith, who was the owner of the greatPlinlimmon and the breeder of many ofthe finest specimens. Another of this gen-

lady eva.

THE SAINT BERNARD KENNELS OF AMERICA. 443

tleman’s breed, named Lorna, and a pupof the Plinlimmon strain, also belongedto this importation.

It was not long after this that the Oak-hurst Kennel secured Burns from thesame source; another English crack, Ly-sander, followed, and then came Ben Lo-mend for the kennel of Mr. E. H. Moore,where Carrette had eventually found ahome.

The renowned Plinlimmon soon fol-lowed, Mr. Emmett, the actor, having se-cured him at the phenomenal price of$5,000, but his new owner would notplace him on the show bench, and also

Champion Merchant Prince by Sequa, andthere was considerable interest awakenedacross the border. Many of the cracksfrom the States were sent to the showsgiven at the leading cities, but the Ca-nadians were far behind the Americans intheir enterprise and admiration of thisgrand breed. There are many who willeven now argue that the black Newfound-land, so fond of water and so hardy andof native origin, is good enough for them.

There was even a strong desire to sur-pass the old country, and much talk ofbeing able to win with American-bredSaint Bernards in England. Mr. Sears

thyras.

declined to allow him to be of benefit tothe stock then in America.

Mr. John Marshall had in the mean-time sent for Lady Flories, Mr. F. Hallhad his Princess Mona, Mr. Crowellbrought over Manon, the Hospice Ken-nel had La Duchesse, the Wyoming Ken-nel had a grand array of females, includ-ing Lady Wellington (used by the Dukeof Wellington, whose portrait we give),and Lady Aveline, which Mr. Sears after-ward reinforced by the importation ofsuch bitches of renown as Plevna andJael.

Canada could at this time point to thePottersburg Kennel, devoted to the breed.Mr. W. H. Auld had secured a son of

had Plinlimmon, Jr., Mr. E. H. Moore hadBen Lomond, Miss E. H. Cushman had afine young dog in Donald, the ElmwoodKennels possessed a good one in Beau-champ, the Hospice Kennel had still abetter one in Hector, Mr. Chas. T. Barneygloried in his fine youngster Nevis, bring-ing him on to New York in 1890 to takefirst prize, after having won second at thesame show in 1889 and first at Boston. Mr.Thomas Burke’s Duke of Sparta was con-sidered a nice dog, Mr. W. Euche’s Ro-land was much liked, and there was ahost of very promising youngsters comingon; but this would not satisfy the ambi-tion of American breeders, so Mr. JohnPoag sent over for a celebrated smooth-

444 OUTING FOR MARCH.

coated specimen named Watch. The pricein this instance did not reach the amountpaid for Champion Plinlimmon by a fewhundred dollars, but still $4,700 was con-sidered “a lot for a dog.” Not manymonths after all those interested in thisfashionable breed were startled by thesudden announcement that the dog whichhad succeeded the old crack Plinlimmonin England, Sir Bedivere, admittedly thefinest specimen extant, had been boughtfor America, and when it was learned thatMr. E. H. Sears, of Wyoming Kennels,was the fortunate owner he was the re-cipient of congratulations from far andn e a r .

Among other strong supporters of thebreed may be reckoned the Dutchess Ken-nels, the home of Aristocrat, and the NewYork Saint Bernard Kennels, with suchgood specimens as Kingston Regent,Marquis of Ripon, Refuge II., ChampionPrincess Florence, Champion Flora II.,Republican Belle, Queen Regent andZenell i .

The great kindly Saint Bernard hasever been a prime favorite with ladies, and

no American record would be completewithout some reference to the dogs whichthey have owned.

Mrs. J. Grant secured an English win-ner, daughter of Avalanche and old Cham-pion Bayard’s daughter, Ursula, and fromBeda she expected much.

Mrs. Browning had always a lingeringdesire to possess a really grand Saint Ber-nard, and although there are numerouscases where her dogs help to make up thepedigrees of winners about this time, stillher kennel did not contain anything ofconsequence until she obtained Queeniefrom Mrs. Grant’s Beda, but the ranks ofthe Saint Bernard breeders had beenstrongly reinforced, and only unusually finespecimens could expect to make a record.

Miss Anna Whitney was another fairadmirer of this dog, and she was destinedto receive special recognition if her dogsdid not secure such distinctions; for in1888, and ever since she entered the ringas a judge of this breed, she has beencalled to many of the larger shows, aswell as New York, to make the awards inthe Saint Bernard classes.

rex.

IN THE YOSEMITE.

The centuries have builded here,O’er many a rugged rod

Of peak and cave, a temple whereNature doth worship God. Robert Loveman.