Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1881-06-05
SONS\OF "KAINTUCK."
A Story Told by Ex-GOv. Beriah Ma
Coffin, of Kentucky.

oVINO VI AA1N OOAs
A Story Told by Ex-GOv. Beriah Ma
Coffin, of Kentucky.
"I we'll remember" said the Gov
ernol, "an incident which occurred just
before the breaking out of the war, and
which afforded us infinite amusement at
the time. Breckenridge, who was then
Vice President; Floyd, Buchanan's Sec
rotary of War; Senator Powell, of Ken
lucky, and myself, met one Sunday
evening at the residence OF Mr.. Floyd,
and the conversation turned on the
sporting proclivities of Kentuckians.
Breckenridge and myself good humored-
" maintained that Kentuckians were an
improvement upon the old Virginia
stock in this particular, and that, while
they had inherited dash and daring OF
their ancestors, they were really the
better of the two. tAs men we are your
equals, at least, said1, turning to Floyd.
Our women are the handsomest in the
world. We have finer and faster horses,
md even better chickens, than the Old
Dominion can produce To the latter
proposition Floyd demurred energetical-
~, and proposed then and there to ar
range main to be fought on the Vir-
ginia border. I agreed, and then pro-
oosed to let one fight between two
picked birds at the close of the main
lecide the question of supremacy.
"This was agreed to, and we wagered
81 900 each on the result. Breckenridge
wanted half of my 81 900, and gave it
to him. The dispute was to come off in
September, 1860, and we arranged all
the preliminaries then and there. When
the question had been all adjusted I
turned upon the party, and, with mock
solemnity, proceeded to read a lecture.
"A pretty picture we present, do we
not?' said I. Here we are, the Vice
President of the United States, her Min
lister of War, Senator from Kentucky,
and the Governor of the same State,
Decorating the Lords day arranging for
a cock fight, while the greatest crisis in
American history is approaching. The
cloud is spread over more than half the
horizon, and the storm may burst any
moment I went on in this strain for
some time, and the company at last
separated.
"Imagine my establishment and dis
gust the next day to read in the New
York Herald full report of our con-
versation and of my lecture. The hack
man had given it away. When I read
the Herald 1 started for the Capitol to
tell Breckenridge about it; but on my
way up Pennsylvania avenue my atten-
ton was attracted by chorus of cock
growing which seemed to come from a
long row of coops ranged in front of an
express Office. I stopped to see what it
meant, when [ saw that the coops were
all directed to the Vice President. At
first did not know what to make Of it,
but suddenly Light dawned upon me.
Four or five months before Breckenridge
and myself had asked Gen. Preston, who
was about to go abroad in the discharge
of his duties as Minister, to send us
coop of game chickens for a gentleman
of whose kind offices we were in need,
and who could not be reached in any
other way.
"Instead of one coop he had sent
dozen or more, thinking, as then sup
posed, that it would be an excellent joke
on us. I hurried to the Capitol, and,
calling Breckenridge from his place as
presiding officer OF the Senate, laid the
whole matter before him. There was
the consignment of game chickens in
confirmation of the Herald story, and I
assured him that unless he did some
thing promptly he was ruined man.
He laughed, but together we made our
way to the express Office and paid the
charges, which were enormous, amount
ing, believe, to several hundred doll
ars, and, having no use for the birds,
sent them to noted cockfg hter in Lex
ington as present.
"The war breaking out soon after
ward, the proposed main was declared
off. Subsequently learned the inward
ness of the chicken business from Gen.
Preston. It seems that in visiting Mad
rid, Paris, Rome, Berlin, Vienna and
other European capitals he had prose-
cuted inquiries about game fowls, and
that when he reached London he found
all the birds he forwarded to us awaiting
his orders. As the easiest way out of
the dilemma, he shipped them to Wash
ington. Those cocks afterward whipped
everything in the United States, and
these strains, I understand. are yet in
great demand"