The First Formal Country Club Hunt in Pelham Began on October 2, 1886 at 2:30 P.M.

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In 1885, James M. Waterbury, principal founder and President of the Country Club on Shore Road in Pelham, imported a pack of Harriers.  (A Harrier is a medium-sized hound popular in England for use in hunting.)  Waterbury gave the pack to the Country Club which raised money through subscriptions and built kennels for the dogs on the Country Club grounds.  By 1886, members of the Club were ready to hunt.

I have written a number of times about the sport of riding to hounds by members of the Country Club in Pelham.  See:

 Fri., Apr. 17, 2009:  A Brief History of the Early Years of "Riding to Hounds" by Members of the Country Club at Pelham.  

Thu., April 16, 2009:  A Serious Carriage Accident and Many Tumbles During the Country Club of Pelham's Riding to Hounds Event in November 1889. 

Wed., April 15, 2009:  More About the Country Club Sport of "Riding to Hounds" During the 1880s in Pelham. 

Tue., April 14, 2009: 1889 Account of the Sport of Riding to Hounds by Members of the Country Club Located in Pelham.

There are different types of "hunts" performed when riding to hounds.  One such type is the so-called "drag hunt."  A drag hunt involves a pack of hounds hunting a scent (a combination of aniseed oils and, sometimes, animal meat or urine) that has been "laid" (i.e., "dragged") over a course with a defined beginning and end.  After the scent has been laid, the hounds are released and riders on horseback follow the dogs.  

Drag hunts typically covered ten or more miles with the "hunt" divided into "legs."  The scent is laid on each "leg" of the course.  As each leg is completed, the hounds are gathered and held while the scent is laid on the next leg of the course.  

The principal purpose of a drag hunt is to allow the riders following the hounds to ride at high speed in a "natural" environment where fences, streams, underbrush, hedges, fallen trees, and other such obstructions serve as obstacles to be overcome by the horses and their riders.  Yet, at least in the 1880s, drag hunting was considered safer than fox hunting or even the related sport of trail hunting intended to simulate the hunt for a live fox.  In drag hunting, the path on which the scent is laid can be chosen carefully to ensure a thrilling ride but to make certain that obstacles are not too dangerous or difficult for the riders and their horses -- unlike the more random and devious path that might otherwise be chosen by a live fox or someone laying a scent for a trail hunt intended to simulate an escaping fox.  

The logistics underlying a drag hunt are understandably difficult.  First there is the challenge of obtaining the permission of nearby landowners (in a territory large enough to permit a thrilling hunt) to permit riders, their horses, and the dogs to cross their lands.  Then there is the matter of compensation for inadvertent damage to fences and crops, among other things, even if such permission is obtained.  Finally, such challenges were multiplied because the courses the hunts followed were rarely, if ever, the same so that the dogs, horses, and riders were always challenged.  Indeed, every drag hunt had a different starting point, typically distant from previous starting points.

On October 2, 1886, the Country Club opened its first formal hunt season.  It planned eight drag hunts during the month of October.  Its published schedule showed dates, starting locations and starting times as follows:

Sat., Oct. 2:  Starting from the Country Club at 2:30 p.m.
Wed., Oct. 6:  Starting from the Thomas Paine Monument in New Rochelle at 3:30 p.m.
Sat., Oct. 9:  Starting from Corson's Corners at 3:30 p.m.
Wed., Oct. 13:  Starting from Mamaroneck at 3:30 p.m.
Sat., Oct. 16:  Starting from Palmer's Four Corners at 3:30 p.m.
Wed., Oct. 20:  Starting from Larchmont at 3:30 p.m.
Wed., Oct. 27:  Starting from Cooper's Corners at 3:30 p.m.
Sat., Oct. 30:  Starting from Pelhamville at 3:30 p.m.

At the outset of the 1886 hunt season, the Committee in charge of the sport announced that the Country Club had chosen the "drag hunt" form of riding to hounds for a number or reasons.  The announcement said:

"Ours is to be a drag-hunt, as that is the only kind that can be indulged in by men who have to devote most of their days to work and must have their runs, and take their exercise at a fixed hour.  The hounds are small, being not over 18 to 20 inches in height, and are what are called in England 'harriers'; they run at considerably less speed than for hounds, although they give more tongue.  They are much safer to follow by all those who enjoy seeing them work, and also enjoy spending a few hours in the open air, but who can not risk being laid up and kept away from their business by an accident."

The Country Club announcement, published in a local newspaper, also pleaded with local landowners to cooperate and grant the necessary permissions to permit the club's drag hunts to cross their lands.  The announcement included an invitation for all to ride to the hounds, at no expense, regardless of whether they were members of the club and offered the following arguments for why such hunts were beneficial to all and why such permission should be granted to the club:

"Before anything can be done in the matter, it is necessary to get your permission to ride across some of your property.  If any damage is done to fences or crops, it will be gladly, quickly and fully paid for.  We would like to say a few words in favor of hunting, to induce you to approve of it, in case you do not already do so.  A single ride across country will yield more exercise, fun and excitement than can be gotten out of a week of ordinary riding, besides laying in a stock of health.  It is one of the best and most manly of sports.  It requires courage, good temper and discretion, as well as the exercise of some of the best qualities of man, both physical and mental.  It is essentially an American sport for it is the only one that is open to everybody.  Anyone who can manage to keep a horse and come to a meet, can follow the hounds; and be his subscriptions small or nothing, it will neither affect his welcome nor his pleasure.  The expense of our pack is to be paid entirely by those who approve of, and are fond of the sport.  We should always like to have in the field a number of hard-riding farmers, who will certainly enjoy it, and who will find that the breeding and selling of good hunters is a very valuable part of their stock raising.  Moreover, the fact of having cross-country riding in Westchester will attract a number of men to that part of the county, who otherwise would not come there.  These are men of wealth, who are often induced to buy and settle on account of the sport they have, and on account of their attention being called to the beauties of the place, a fact which they otherwise would be ignorant of.  All real estate owners should certainly favor this project."

The Country Club only rode to the hounds for several years out of Pelham.  It moved its clubhouse to a larger facility on Throggs Neck in 1890.

"A MEET OF THE COUNTRY CLUB HOUNDS."

Source: 'MID WESTCHESTER'S HILLS, New-York

Tribune, May 4, 1890, p. 20, cols. 4-6 (NOTE:  Paid

subscription required to access via this link).

NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge.

1916 Postcard View of Drag Hunt in Southern Pines,

North Carolina.  Photograph by E. C. Eddy.  NOTE:

Click on Image to Enlarge.

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Below is the text of an article that appeared in the October 2, 1886 of the New Rochelle Pioneer that forms the basis of today's article.  It is followed by a citation and link to its source.

"THE COUNTRY CLUB HUNT.

To-day, (Saturday, Oct. 2,) the first hunt of the Club will take place, starting from the Country Club House at 2:30, P.M.  The following is the official programme:

Saturday, October 2nd. Country Club, 2:30 P.M.
Wednesday, 6th, Tom Payne's [sic] Monum't, 3:30 P.M.
Saturday, 9th, Corson's Corners, 3:30 P.M.
Wednesday, 13th, Mamaroneck, 3:30 P.M.
Saturday, 16th, Palmer's Four Corners, 3:30 P.M.
Wednesday, 20th, Larchmont, 3:30 P.M.
Wednesday, 27th, Cooper's Corners, 3:30 P.M.
Saturday, 30th, Pelhamville, 3:30 P.M.

To the Property Owners of Westchester County:

DEAR SIR:  --  It is proposed to start a pack of hounds, this autumn, under the auspices of the Country Club at Pelham, which we trust will meet with your approval and encouragement.  Before anything can be done in the matter, it is necessary to get your permission to ride across some of your property.  If any damage is done to fences or crops, it will be gladly, quickly and fully paid for.

We would like to say a few words in favor of hunting, to induce you to approve of it, in case you do not already do so.

A single ride across country will yield more exercise, fun and excitement than can be gotten out of a week of ordinary riding, besides laying in a stock of health.  It is one of the best and most manly of sports.  It requires courage, good temper and discretion, as well as the exercise of some of the best qualities of man, both physical and mental.  It is essentially an American sport for it is the only one that is open to everybody.  Anyone who can manage to keep a horse and come to a meet, can follow the hounds; and be his subscriptions small or nothing, it will neither affect his welcome nor his pleasure.  The expense of our pack is to be paid entirely by those who approve of, and are fond of the sport.  We should always like to have in the field a number of hard-riding farmers, who will certainly enjoy it, and who will find that the breeding and selling of good hunters is a very valuable part of their stock raising.  

Moreover, the fact of having cross-country riding in Westchester will attract a number of men to that part of the county, who otherwise would not come there.  These are men of wealth, who are often induced to buy and settle on account of the sport they have, and on account of their attention being called to the beauties of the place, a fact which they otherwise would be ignorant of.  All real estate owners should certainly favor this project.

Ours is to be a drag-hunt, as that is the only kind that can be indulged in by men who have to devote most of their days to work and must have their runs, and take their exercise at a fixed hour.  The hounds are small, being not over 18 to 20 inches in height, and are what are called in England 'harriers'; they run at considerably less speed than for hounds, although they give more tongue.  They are much safer to follow by all those who enjoy seeing them work, and also enjoy spending a few hours in the open air, but who can not risk being laid up and kept away from their business by an accident.

Trusting that our project will not meet with your opposition, we remain, yours truly,

F. O. Beach, John C. Forman, H. N. Potter, J. M. Waterbury, Committee." 

Source:  THE COUNTRY CLUB HUNT, New Rochelle Pioneer, Oct. 2, 1886, p. 3, col. 5.  

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I have written extensively about The Country Club at Pelham and its famous steeplechase races, rides with the hounds, baseball games, polo matches, and other such events of the 1880's.  For a few of many more examples, see:  

Bell, Blake A., The Pelham Steeplechase Races of the 1880s, The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XIV, Issue 12, March 25, 2005, p. 10, col. 2.

Thu., Mar. 23, 2006:  Baseball Fields Opened on the Grounds of the Westchester Country Club in Pelham on April 4, 1884.

Tue., Apr. 14, 2009:  1889 Account of the Sport of Riding to Hounds by Members of the Country Club Located in Pelham.

Wed., Apr. 15, 2009:  More About the Country Club Sport of "Riding to Hounds" During the 1880s in Pelham.

Thu., Apr. 16, 2009:  A Serious Carriage Accident and Many Tumbles During the Country Club of Pelham's Riding to Hounds Event in November 1889.

Fri., Apr. 17, 2009:  A Brief History of the Early Years of "Riding to Hounds" by Members of the Country Club at Pelham.

Wed., Sep. 09, 2009:  1884 Engraving of Winner of the Great Pelham Steeplechase, Barometer, and His Owner and Rider, J. D. Cheever. 

Wed., Sep. 16, 2009:  September 1884 Advertisement for The Country Club Steeplechase.

Thu., Sep. 17, 2009:  Controversy in 1887 When The Country Club Tries to Dedicate a Large Area of Pelham as a Game Preserve.

Wed., Sep. 30, 2009:  Score of June 1, 1887 Baseball Game Between The Country Club and The Knickerbocker Club.

Mon., Oct. 19, 2009:  Polo at the Country Club in Pelham in 1887.

Fri., Oct. 30, 2009:  Preparations for Annual Country Club Race Ball Held in Pelham in 1887.

Thu., Apr. 15, 2010:  Account of Baseball Game Played in Pelham on June 9, 1884: The Country Club Beat the Knickerbockers, 42 to 22.  

Tue., Feb. 25, 2014:  An Interesting Description of the Country Club at Pelham Published in 1884.

Mon., Mar. 03, 2014:  The Suydam Estate known as “Oakshade” on Shore Road in the Town of Pelham, built by James Augustus Suydam.  

Fri., Sep. 12, 2014:  Reference to an 1884 Baseball Game Between the Country Club of Pelham and Calumet.

Fri., Feb. 27, 2015:  Brief History of the 19th Century "Country Club at Pelham" Published in 1889.

Thu., Jul. 16, 2015:  More on the History of the Country Club at Pelham in the 19th Century.

Tue., Nov. 03, 2015:  A Major Tennis Tournament was Played in Pelham in 1885.

Tue., Feb. 09, 2016:  Polo Played in Pelham in 1887.

Wed., Sep. 07, 2016:  Origins of the Country Club at Pelham and the Move to its New Clubhouse in 1890.

Archive of the Historic Pelham Web Site.

Home Page of the Historic Pelham Blog.

Order a Copy of "Thomas Pell and the Legend of the Pell Treaty Oak."

A Brief History of the Early Years of "Riding to Hounds" by Members of the Country Club at Pelham

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web Site
Located at http://www.historicpelham.com/.
Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.

Those who visit the Historic Pelham Blog regularly know that recently I have tried to document the sport of "riding to hounds" by members of the Country Club located in Pelham during the 1880s. See:

Thu., April 16, 2009: A Serious Carriage Accident and Many Tumbles During the Country Club of Pelham's Riding to Hounds Event in November 1889.

Wed., April 15, 2009: More About the Country Club Sport of "Riding to Hounds" During the 1880s in Pelham.

Tue., April 14, 2009: 1889 Account of the Sport of Riding to Hounds by Members of the Country Club Located in Pelham.

I now have located a brief history of the early years of the sport at the Country Club located in Pelham published in Harper's Magazine. I have transcribed the pertinent excerpt from an article in that magazine below, followed by a citation to its source.

"From that time, about 1881, there was no hunting in Westchester until, in 1885, a pack of harriers was imported by Mr. James M. Waterbury, and by him given to the Country Club, then located at Pelham. To this pack the Country Club loaned its name and provided stabling and kennels, but the hounds were supposed to be maintained by an uncertain subscription list, and were hunted by different members of the club, who, in an informal way, were annually chosen at the hunt dinner.

Such a haphazard method, of course, proved very unsatisfactory, so that when the Country Cloub moved from Pelham to near Westchester town, the hunting members organized an independent club -- although the old harrier livery, green coats faced with canary, was retained -- called it the Westchester Hunt, and moved the kennels to the neighborhood of White Plains. New hounds were bought -- mostly from the Meadow Brook, which now had about thirty-five couples in its kennels -- the quality of the hunt improved througout, and Mr. T. A. Havemeyer, Jun., the first master, had an immediate and flattering success. Mr. N. C. Reynal succeeded Mr. Havemeyer, after the latter had served several years, and the pack continued to show good sport; but, alas, there came a cessation of interest, which last year caused the sale of the hounds, and to-day the only hunting in Westchester is done by Mr. William Iselin's superb pack of beagles. Of the names most closely identified with Westchester hunting are Messrs. T. A. Havemeyer, Jun., James M. Waterbury, Major Cooley, De Lancey Kane, Edward C., Howard, and Robert Potter, Charles Pelham-Clinton, Laurence Jacob, N. C. Reynal, and William Iselin."

Source: Whitney, Caspar, 'Cross-Country Riding in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol. XCIV, No. DL, p. 832 (May 1897).

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web Site
Located at http://www.historicpelham.com/.
Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.

A Serious Carriage Accident and Many Tumbles During the Country Club of Pelham's Riding to Hounds Event in November 1889

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web Site
Located at http://www.historicpelham.com/.
Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.

Recently I have been trying to document the sport of "riding to hounds" hosted by the Country Club once located in Pelham during the 1880s. See:

Wed., April 15, 2009: More About the Country Club Sport of "Riding to Hounds" During the 1880s in Pelham.

Tue., April 14, 2009: 1889 Account of the Sport of Riding to Hounds by Members of the Country Club Located in Pelham.

The sport seems to have been part of a fad that swept the region in the 1880s and early 1890s. See, e.g., A Dozen in at the Death; Brilliant Riding to Hounds on Staten Island, N.Y. Times, Oct. 3, 1889, p. 5; An Exciting Hunt; A Great Day for the Richmond County Country Club, N.Y. Times, Oct. 6, 1889, p. 5; The Essex County Hunt; Following the Hounds Over a Heavy and Rough Course, N.Y. Times, Dec. 4, 1892, p. 3; A Lively Hunt at Lakewood; Large Field of Riders and Many Spectators in Carriages, N.Y. Times, Dec. 22, 1895, p. 7.

Today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog transcribes a report published in 1889 that describes a hunt hosted by the Country Club located in Pelham during which there was a serious carriage accident and numerous tumbles.

"TUMBLES WERE NUMEROUS

-----

BUT THE COUNTRY CLUB HAD A FINE RUN.

EXCITING SPORT FROM BEGINNING TO END -- MISS CAREY CARRIES OFF THE HONORS -- A CARRIAGE OVERTURNED.

Although the weather was unfavorable for riding to hounds, the Country Club of Westchester has seldom known a more enjoyable time than that which it experienced yesterday. Major James C. Cooley, a prominent member of that organization, gave a hunt breakfast at his pretty country place just outside West Chester Village, and almost the entire membership of the club responded to his cordial invitation to be present. The guests were so numerous that the commodious house was overcrowded, but that fact only heightened the pleasure of Major Cooley and Mrs. Cooley, who are never so happy as when entertaining their friends.

Among the many present were Mrs. W. H. Sands, Sir Frederick Franklin, Mr. and Mrs. James M. Waterbury, Mr. Frank Watson, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Pelham-Clinton, Mr. and Mrs. Story, Mr. Louis Haight, Mrs. Jacob Lorillard, Mrs. McDonald, Mr. William Chapin, Miss Carey, Mr. Dwight Collier, Mr. M. V. B. Davis, Mr. Henry Watson, Mr. and Mrs. Howard Potter, Mrs. Zerega, the Messrs. Thorne, Mr. and Mrs. E. C. Potter, Col. and Mrs. DeLancey Kane, Mr. and Mrs. William Iselin, Miss Campbell, Mr. John Davis, Mr. Robert Potter, Mr. Frank Johnson, Mr. and Mrs. Oliver Iselin, Mr. and Mrs. Hoyt, Mrs. Taylor, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Hunter, Mr. and Mrs. Blois, Mr. and Mrs. Wissmer, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Carter and Miss Carter, Mr. Henry Adee, Mr. Ernest Adee, Miss Pinchot, Mr. Clarence Sackett, Mr. Theodore Havemeyer, Jr., the Messrs. Harriman, Mr. Boyle, Mr. Lee Taylor, Mrs. McDougall, Miss Camilla Moss, Mr. Cram, and many others prominent in Westchester society.

The exterior of Major Cooley's residence was almost as interesting during the breakfast as the interior. The grounds were filled with gay traps, while directly in front of the main entrance more than a score of spirited hunters were paraded. Outside in the roadway were many vehicles of farmers, who had taken advantage of the holiday to watch the sport, even though they were not invited to be present. In the yard to the rear of the house the hounds were penned, and they kept up a constant and impatient accompaniment of yelps to the laughter of the gay throng indoors. The whole scene was striking in its color and its life.

When the breakfast had ended, Mr. Theodore Havemeyer, Jr., who has taken Mr. Pelham-Clinton's place as master of the hounds, announced that the chase was about to begin. Instantly the house was emptied of its occupants, and there was a general scurrying for horses and carriages. Among the ladies having mounts were Miss Carey, Mrs. Howard Potter, Mrs. Collier, Mrs. Story, Miss Pinchot, Mrs. William Iselin, Mrs. E. C. Potter, and Miss Camilla Moss. The gentlemen who started out to follow the hunt numbered at least twenty-five, while Master Cooley and Master Iselin brought up the rear on ponies, and another little boy was grotesquely mounted on a big-eared donkey.

The order of the gay cavalcade as it filed into the highway was as follows: The hunds, the horsemen and horsewomen, the gay traps of the invited guests, and promiscuous assemblage of farm vehicles that had never before been put to such use. The entire line was flanked on either side by a hilarious throng of urchins and half-grown boys on foot, who found some amusement and infinite exercise in trying to keep up with the swiftly-moving train.

The throw-off was in an open field about 200 yards from Major Cooley's residence. Unfortunately for the riders, this field was guarded by a high stone wall. The result was that about half of the pack broke away from the huntsman, climbed this wall, caught the scent, and were away with a chorus of yelps before the riders realized what had happened. Then the remaining dogs followed suit, and all the hounds were in imminent danger of being lost in the thick underbrush, toward which they were rushing with startling speed.

A majority of the riders stood immovable with astonishment when Mr. Havemeyer led the way at the formidable fence. His horse refused, and not another animal would take the obstacle. It was a critical moment, but the master of the hunt was equal to the occasion, and with a whoop and a rush, plying both whip and spurs, he got over. Major Cooley followed, with Miss Carey and Mr. Robert Potter at his heels, and the doubt as to the pack being lost was dissipated. Away these few riders went splashing through a bog and then climbing a rocky hill until they were lost in the dark brown cover of the woods.

The other riders made no pretense of following, but hurried away with the carriages up the road to the place where it was known that a check would be held. Here they had the satisfaction of getting into line and parading through Westchester Village and past the grounds of the New-York Jockey Club to the resumption of the drag. In this parade a very painful accident happened. Mrs. McDonald and Mr. William Chapin were driving in an open wagon. As they were turning the corner of the street in the village, a heavy six-seated vehicle was driven recklessly behind them. It caught the rear wheels of the light wagon, and in an instant the whole thing was a jumbled wreck in the gutter by the roadside. Mrs. McDonald fortunately escaped, but Mr. Chapin sustained serious injuries. His forehead and cheek were cut open and both eyes were blackened. He was knocked senseless by the shock, but recovered sufficiently to bind a handkerchief about his head. Then he was taken to the clubhouse attended by several friends, who refused to follow the hunt after witnessing the accident.

A majority of the people, however, were happily ignorant of Mr. Chapin's misfortune, and they continued pell-mell after the hounds. The going was remarkably rough and at times dangerous, not only on account of the stiffness of the country, but by reason of the soggy and uncertain condition of the ground. With the exception of a half dozen daring spirits the riders decided that discretion was the better part of valor and kept to the road.

But the others kept up with the pack, and after a hard run of about ten miles had the satisfaction of coming in at the death, or at least of being in at the place where the death would have been if there had been a fox instead of an aniseed bag. Miss Carey was the only lady who succeeded in following the hounds, and she would have succumbed to the perils of the going had she not possessed remarkable pluck and skill. As it was, she had two heavy falls, but remounted after each and dashed away in the lead of Mr. Havemeyer.

Mr. Sackett also got an ugly fall, but suffered nothing beyond a shaking up. The master of the hunt, the Messrs. Potter, and Major Cooley escaped accident, but the run was generally considered the most exciting and, consequently, the most successful that the Country Club has yet had. Major and Mrs. Cooley were awarded most cordial thanks for their entertainment and Miss Carey was deservedly the heroine of the day."

Source: Tumbles Were Numerous -- But the Country Club Had a Fine Run, N.Y. Times, Nov. 6, 1889, p. 3.

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web Site
Located at http://www.historicpelham.com/.
Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.

More About the Country Club Sport of "Riding to Hounds" During the 1880s in Pelham

Please Visit the Historic Pelham Web Site
Located at http://www.historicpelham.com/.
Please Click Here for Index to All Blog Postings.

Yesterday I published to the Historic Pelham Blog an account of a so-called "Drag Hunt" hosted by the Country Club of Pelham in 1889. See Tue., April 14, 2009: 1889 Account of the Sport of Riding to Hounds by Members of the Country Club Located in Pelham.

Today's posting transcribes another account of such a "Riding to Hounds" hunt hosted by the Country Club in 1888. The account appears immediately below.

"COUNTRY CLUB DRAG HUNT

-----

BREAKFAST AT 'WILL MOUNT' AND A SPLENDID RUN.

THE COURSE SO SELECTED THAT OCCUPANTS OF CARRIAGES AND ROAD-RIDERS SAW ALL THE SPORT.

If the Country Club had had the making of the day it could not have had more perfect weather for riding to hounds than yesterday afforded. An Indian Summer haze hung over the hills of Westchester, and the breeze that blew in from Long Island Sound was as delightful as that of an October afternoon. The sky was cloudless and the slanting rays of the yellow sun produced a temperature that was neither too warm nor too cold. The going was just right, too, not too hard and not too soft. As a consequence the attendance was a large as that of any meet this Fall. Gay and fashionable folk came from all points of the territory bounded on the east by Mamaroneck and on the west by New-York City.

An unusual incentive was found in the elaborate hunt breakfast given at 'Will Mount' by Mr. Frank Watson and his mother, Mrs. William Watson. The palatial country residence was thrown open with unreserved hospitality and the company that did ample justice to the tempting viands was quite as notable for its quality as for its quantity. There were more than a hundred guests, and, as they all knew each other, the cheer was unlimited and the wit was more sparkling than the wine. There were Mr. and Jacob Lorillard. Mr. and Mrs. W. H. Sands, Mr. and Mrs. Livingston Beekman, Mr. and Mrs. George Adee, Mr. and Mres. Howard Nott Potter, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Pelham Clinton, Mr. and Mrs. William Iselin, Mr. and Mres. Edward C. Potter, Miss Charlotte Zeroga, Mr. Richard Zeroga, Miss Carey, Mr. Louis Hiaght, Mr. and Mres. E. Blois, Mr. Luis Onativia, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Sloan, Mrs. Ladenburg, Mr. and Mrs. James Waterbury, Mr. and Mrs. C. O'Donell Iselin, Mr. and Mres. Henry Havemeyer, Miss Waterbury, Master Monte Waterbury, Mr. J. C. Furman, Mr. Jacob, Mr. Henry Watson, Mr. and Mrs. Thorne, Mr. Robert Potter, Mr. Frederick Ball, Major James Cooley, and many others whose names are familiar in social and hunt circles.

The breakfast was so inviting and the company so entertaining that the hunt was almost forgotten in the enjoyment of the repast. It was nearly 4 o'clock P. M. when Mr. Howard Nott Potter, acting master of the hounds, announced that everything was in readiness for the start. Then there was a general scamper for the spacious lawn, and the halls of 'Will Mount' were quickly emptied of the ladies and gentlemen. The pack was at the door and manifested their impatience of the delay in deep-mouthed baying.

The Country Club does not boast of its dogs. They are not imported English foxhounds, but simply a pack of harriers [ed. note: a breed of hunting dogs that resemble small English foxhounds but that were bred for hunting rabbits], a little uneven, but keen of scent and game to follow the trail so long as it lasts. They have no regular master of the hunt, for the club has never yet been able to afford that luxury, but there is an able committee of Major Cooley, Mr. H. N. Potter, and Mr. E. C. Potter, who alternate in discharging the onerous duties of that exalted position. Nor does the Country Club make believe to follow a live fox from start to finish, but they [have] just as much sport as it desires, for the dragman can always choose a course that will test their metal to the utmost. Another advantage of this style of hunting is found in the ability to lay out a course so that the occupants of the carriages and the road-riders can always see and enjoy the sport. Major Cooley was eminently successful in this respect yesterday. He had the dragman go such a course that the pack and hunters were never lost sight of once by those that had to stick to the roads.

The number of gentlemen who turned out yesterday in bottle-green coats, with yellow collars and vests, was a three to one to the number that actually followed the pack over the entire course. Many who went boldly at the jumps when the start was made retired gracefully to the easier going of the road long before the finish. Of the dozens or more ladies who had mounts only one went the course and was in at the death, or rather the place where the death would have been had there been a fox to die. This was Miss Carey, and she rode with a pluck and dash that awakened the envy of many and aroused the admiration of all.

The start was made in a field adjacent to the grounds of the Watson homestead, and after two stiff stone walls had been negotiated the huntsman found themselves in a field of soft plowed land that tested the gameness of their horses and gave the pack a decided lead in the race. The next field afforded better going, and hounds and horses were soon rushing away to the east like the wind. Then came a grand scramble by the carriages and road-riders. More than two score traps of every description and half as many people on horseback had assembled on the hill overlooking the course. There were ladies in jaunty habits, big men on big horses, and little boys on little ponies. The equine display ranged from the big-boned carriage horses to the most diminutive of Shetland ponies, and the diversity in the size of th horsemen was quite as great. As the pack disappeared everybody rushed to the front at once and the skill of the drivers was the only thing that prevented a serious collision. Down the road they rushed pell-mell, kicking up a cloud of dirt and covering each other with dust. They quickly came in sight of the chase again, and thereafter kept nearly abreast of them, picking out the several huntsmen and commenting on their style and pluck.

Over all sorts of obstacles and across every kind of ground the hounds and hunters rushed until the Catholic Protectory was reached, and there a halt was called for a few minutes until the stragglers caught up, and then the trail was resumed with greater vim than ever. And so it continued until the end was reached in front of cheery Major Cooley's residence.

Mr. Howard Potter and Mr. Louis Haight were the first in at the place where the death ordinarily occurs, and plucky little Miss Carey was close behind them. The brush and mask were not awarded, for the simple reason that there were none, but the Country Club is such a family institution that it would probably not have cut off the fox's tail had there been one, so wholly do they deprecate rivalry among themselves. The run had been about eight miles, and as no serious accidents had occurred everybody was delighted. Mr. Louis Onatiyia's horse had refused early in the game and his master had been compelled to retire to the road in deep chagrin; Mr. E. C. Potter had caught a nasty cropper, but had pluckily remounted and ridden the run out; Mr. Robert Potter's mount had fallen in a blind ditch, but had extricated himself; Mr. Freddie Bull had bruised his horse severely, and Mr. Louis Haight had nearly ridden the pack down in his efforts to lead the hunt.

All these happenings and many more were recounted as the pack was whipped in, but they were only ordinary casualties of chasing either a fox or a drag, and did not count. The universal opinion was that the meet was one of the most successful the Country Club has ever held."

Source: Country Club Drag Hunt, N.Y. Times, Dec. 9, 1888, p. 5.

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