[ J. H. Clark ]
The September, 1914, issue, published a note and photo submitted by J. H. Clark, regarding his Newfoundland breeding efforts.
Herewith we publish an illustration of the imported Newfoundland dog, Lieutenant, A. K. C. 181104, which dog was brought over from England the first of the year by J. H. Clark of the Clark Farm, Boonton, N. J. Lieutenant is by Ch. Shelton Ruler, who is by Ch. Shelton Viking, and Mr. Clark considers him to be the most typical specimen of a Newfoundland in America today. There are some good bitches on the Clark Farm which have been bred to Lieutenant, and there will probably be some good puppies for sale this fall.
Lieutenant's sire, Ch. Shelton Viking was a highly regarded dog of the time; photos of him appeared in James Watson's 1905 The Dog Book and in the 1909 C. S. R. Blue Book of Dogdom; the July, 1915, issue of The Dog Fancier mentions him and uses a photo of another of his get as an illustration of the Newfoundland breed standard.
The fact Clark is importing Newfoundlands would seem to lend support to his later claim, in 1917, that quality Newfs are hard to come by in America. For more
Clark and his Newfoundland "Lieutenant" were also featured in part of the Newfoundland breed column in the July, 1915, issue of The Dog Fancier:
We are pleased to publish herewith the reproduction of a photo of the Newfoundland dog Lieutenant, owned by J. H. Clark of Boonton, N. J. Mr. Clark writes us that he has been raising Newfoundlands for several years. He says it was very hard to get a start, as there are very few well-bred ones in American. He started first with dogs imported direct from Newfoundland, the kind that were very common all along the Atlantic coast some year ago. Later he secured some Ch. Fearless foundation stock and two years ago, after trying for several years, he bought in England a Ch. Shelton Ruler dog, which heads his kennels at this time and whose name is Lieutenant. He is registered both in England and with the American Kennel Club. A picture of this dog was published by us some time ago. The photo shown in this issue is of the dog jumping and shows well how active these large dogs are. Mr. Clark's dogs contain much of the Ch. Shelton Viking blood, and he says that anyone who knows Newfoundlands will tell you there is no better breeding. Lieutenant, whose picture is shown herewith, weighs 120 pounds. (16)
Lieutenant was featured again in a photo (similar to but not identical to the first image above) which appeared in the 1916 edition of the C. S. R. Blue Book of Dogdom, a short-lived annual directory of breeders & kennels and other information relevant to the fancy.
In the October, 1917, issue of Dogdom, Clark published a note and two photos in response to a column on the Newfoundland, which had mentioned the reduced number of dogs in the United States.
The idea that the Newfoundland was a vanishing breed was touched on in a surprising number of magazine articles and books in the early years of the 20th Century. For discussion of the idea, see this article here at The Cultured Newf.
