The Corning Egg Farm takes a great many precautions in regard to efficient policing, and has earned a reputation for straight shooting, not with a gun carrying bird shot, but with rifles. It is thoroughly understood for miles around that we shoot first and investigate afterwards. The farm carries some of the finest Blood Hounds in the Country, all trained man-trailers, and it is thoroughly understood that if the rifle fails to stop a thief, and it becomes desirable to see him, the hounds will take up the trail the next day, and no matter where he may have gone there will be no difficulty in reaching him. Should he take train the dogs will tell the fact, and then it will be only necessary to try each station until the one is reached where he left the train. Should he leave by means of a horse, when he either gets into the wagon, or mounts the horse, the hound will take the scent, and carry it until he again takes to the ground.
“SOCRATES,” THE GREAT BLOODHOUND WHICH HEADS THE CORNING KENNELS
Socrates, the Great Bloodhound
The head of the kennel, “Socrates,” No. 127320, (his registered name is “Ottawa’s Major”) is a direct descendant from Rosemary and Delhi, the two great dogs of Mr. Burgh, of England, who for years has been the leading breeder of man-trailing Blood Hounds. Altogether the Farm to-day is carrying seventeen dogs. Fifteen of them are pure and grade Blood Hounds; two are Fox Terriers. The Fox Terriers are kept for a breed of thieves other than the two-legged kind, and rats have no place on which to rest the soles of their feet.
The dogs, every night, are distributed at different points of the Farm, and one of the great qualities of the Blood Hound is its marvelous nose, which works just as well in the dark as in the light, and as watch dogs, because of this peculiarity, they are most efficient, giving notice of anyone approaching the Farm long before he could possibly be detected by a dog of another breed. When they give tongue there is no doubt in the mind of anyone but that he is approaching a very dangerous zone.
On the Foreman’s Apartments there is a Tower which connects with his room, the windows of which command a view of every part of the Farm. In this Tower there is a searchlight, and at any time of the night, if the dogs give warning of a possible disturber, any part of the Farm can be instantly flooded with light. Back of the search light is the high power rifle.
Throughout the Range there is a trolley system which is used, the overhead wire being so divided that each dog has a run of one hundred feet, and the leash attached to the sliding pulley gives him twenty feet on either side of the wire. This makes a complete circuit of the Colony Range, so that it is impossible for anyone to cross in among the Colony Houses without being reached by one of the dogs.
We have been breeding some grade hounds, which make a rather more ferocious animal than the pure breed, so far as natural disposition goes. The nose quality, however, is all retained, thus enabling these grades to become perfect trailers.
