The Sun.
London, England, 1861-04-11 00:00:00

THE INTERNATIOA I: DOG FIGHT.

(From the New Fork Serer.)
There have been international matches of nearly
every sort, and last evening the climax was capped
by an international dog fight. The yacht America
sailed internationally ; Morphy's games were in-
ternational; Prioress ran an international race;
Heenan gave Sayers international punches about
the head—in short, the word international has clearly
gone to the dogs, and may with propriety be applied
to the fight we have to describe. This match, be-
tween Rosie of Brooklyn and Bess of Liverpool,
England, was made some time ago, and has created
very great interest in sporting circles. The repu-
tation of Rosie is as wide as the country. She has
won ten matches and many collars for her owner,
who, finding here no more dogs to conquer, con-
sented to match his pet with the English Bess.
Bess had been equally fortunate in England, having
won every match of the five she had fought—and
her trainer, who rejoices in the cognomen of "Shef-
field George," had not the slightest objections to
crossing the Atlantic if his expenses were guaran-
teed. The match, therefore, was readily made for
250 dols. a side. Sheffield George and the other dog
came over about a month ago, and all parties went
into training for the contest. The former perfor-
mances of the dogs are of no sort of interest to any
but sporting men, and they know all about the
animals already. The betting up to yesterday was
slow, and the odds rather in favour of Rosie. Not
less than 10,000 dols. depended upon the result of
this fight, and in the West and South, in Cali-
fornia and in England, the betting was heavy.
Outsiders, to whom a dog is but a dog, " and
nothing more," can form no idea whatever of the
excitement which such matches produce among
sporting men, the delight with which they are
anticipated, the zest with which they are enjoyed,
the amount of money which is staked upon them.
The preliminaries being duly arranged, and the
dogs in good condition and eager for the fray,
which they seemed to know was near at hand,
the fight came off last night at a well-known
sporting house near this city. Seats capable of
holding about 500 persons sloped up from the pit,
which was about sixteen feet long by twelve broad
and two deep. For fear that the showings of the
spectators should attract the police and interrupt
the fight, the doors, windows, and ventilators of
the room were closed, and in this almost airtight
apartment over 1,000 persons, having paid the
admission fee of 50c., were packed so tightly that
movement was impossible and respiration Gifficult.
The assemblage consisted mostly of Brooklyn men,
of all shades of character, and, as in the Houses
of Parliament and of Congress, the members of
opposite opinions are seated upon opposite sides
of the House, so here those persons who backed
the English kept themselves separate and distinct
from those who backed the American champion.
At half-past eight o'clock, when the proceedings
began, the room was lined with hatless, coatless
men, shouting, swearing, betting, offering, and
taking odds of seven to five and three to two upon
Rosie, the Brooklyn pet.
The proprietor of the hall having announced
that the fight would proceed if there was no in-
terruption, but that if the disorder among the
spectators attracted the police the fight would be
concluded privately, the dogs were weighed, and
found to be under the specified 211 b., and Bess was
brought into the pit. Bess is a small bull terrier ;
her body white, her ears and side-face black, her
every muscle splendidly developed, with no ounce
of superfluous flesh about her. Her beauty as a
fighting dog elicited shouts of admiration and
delight from the spectators. Having been washed
by Jem APLoughlin, a fine-looking Irishman and
trainer of Rosie, she was tasted—that is to say,
M'Loughlin applied his tongue to the dog to taste
if any pernicious drug had been placed upon her
to poison her opponent during the fight. Bess was
then concealed behind a curtain of coats held by
closely-crowded men, and Rosie (who appeared a
trifle heavier than Bess, and who was entirely
white) underwent a similar process at the hands
and mouth of Sheffield George. So particular are
the trainers about this drugging business that in
champion matches it is usual for the two trainers
to exchange clothes; but in this instance the point
was waived.

THE FIGHT.
At about nine o'clock, the dogs having bean dried
and the referees calling time, the curtar7,s were re-
moved, and the dogs sprang togethe-i... With low
snarls of rage, with every muscle rigid, with jaws
closing and holding like keen ;lees, the champions
fought more like exquisiAely-arranged macnines
than animals. For the first few moments Rosie had
the best of the bargain , and her admirers shouted
accordingly. The trainers stood each behind his
own dog, snapping their fingers for the animals to
keep their hold ; stamping to order them to make
brisker fighting, oneouraging, advising, and assist-
ing them by word and gesture, but refraining from
touching them with even the tip of a finger. In 10
minutes Bess's victory was begun. The instinct of
the dogs, their education and their skill, were won-
derful. Now they rose upon their hind feet and
wrestled and tripped, like champions. Now Bess
allowed her opponent to retain a painful, but not
dangerous hold, until she had breathed herself a
little. Now Rosie, by a quick summersault, a
sudden rally, or by seizing one of her contestant's
legs, succeeded in shaking herself loose from a fatal
grip. Now Bess threw the American dog heavily
several times in order to weaken it, and then, secur-
ing a good hold, crouched her back and bored her-
self into her opponent's very heart. Then came a
quick rally, in which each tried to secure the best
grip—fencing, dodging, moving like lightning,
watching each other's eyes, and the moment an
opportunity occurred fastening. its teeth like a spring-trap, and pulling the other dog back-
wards and forwards around the pit by main
force. It is impossible to express the agility of
the dogs movements, their celerity, the scientific
precision and certainty of their attack and
defence, the instinctive passion which made every
limb like iron and every muscle like steel, the
knowledge which they seemed to possess of every-
thing which would favour or defeat them, the in-
domitable pluck with which they endured the pains
of the combat, the coolness with which, while suf-
fering terribly or inflicting equal punishment, they
heard and obeyed the commands of their trainers.
And all this in perfect silence, the low snarls with
which the combat began having ceased as the dogs
warmed to their work. In 15 minutes a low mur-
mur from the English benches, and a defiant shout
from those of the Brooklynites, announced that
Rosie's tail had dropped—a sure sign of distress—
and in 17 minutes from the commencement of the
fight the pet of Brooklyn, who had never been made
to complain before, began to cry for quarter, and
now lay helpless at the mercy of her adversary ;
perceiving which Bess paused a moment to take
breath for the coup de nzort, but even then lay upon
her opponent so as to deprive it of the power of
respiration. A moment, and, with hind legs firmly
braced, Bess pushed her way to Rosie's throat, and
the contest instantly ceased
Bess's trainer now called his dog away for a scratch
or torn, which is almost equivalent to a round in
pugilism. The dogs were taken to their corners,
sponged, and again let go. Bess flew across the
ring at her adversary and worked hard to finish her
task as soon as possible. All the while Rosie uttered
weak, plaintive cries, and tried feebly to beat off
those sharp teeth which were gnawing out her life.
One or two Brooklyn men, who are interested in the
fight some hundreds of dollars, rose to leave the room,
but as it was anticipated—such is the boasted hon-
our among sporting men—that they were going for
the police, tremendous shouts were raised, the
keepers refused to open the doors, and the informers
were not allowed to go out of the building.
111‘Loughlin now used every means to carry Bess
away. Sheffield George, excited, apprehensive,
anxious, encouraged his dog to make a death
of it. Finally, at just thirty-one minutes
from the beginning of the fight, the dogs were again
scratched. M‘Loughlin accidentally touched Bess
a moment before, but the referees took no notice of
this, on account of the obvious defeat of his dog.
Under the circumstances this carelessness would
have lost M'Loughlin his fight. The dogs were
again sponged and brought out, it being Rosie's
turn to cross the ring and attack Bess. The Pride
of Brooklyn was humbled, however. She was
pushed a foot or two towards her adversary, who
was anxiously endeavouring to get at her, and then
sank clown so nearly dead that she is not expected
to recover, and Bess was declared the winner of the
fight and the champion dog of the world.
In such a combat, if the dogs alone be considered,
there is none of that repulsiveness which is generally
supposed to accompany dog fighting. The deg,
fight quietly, scientifically, and evidently love their
work. Of the men who make dog fighting a liveli-
hood, however, or of those svho habitually encou-
rage, attend, and support such exhibitions, there
can be but one opinion, and that not the most
favourable. The class of men who get up and at-
tend these fights are sufficiently and justly under
the ban of public opprobrium already, and to that
we
the leave
superior niml.

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