Grand Rapids morning telegram., 1885-04-16
SPARROW FIGHTING.
sseres Mains fset~sea Tralnsd Birds sf .
ChiAasse GaaEhifns - Al ss4ss--H0s ths
Bird Ars espfisEea sas Frs-
paFsa Gsr ssattie.


A <arro~ asht tool; place last aight IA
the Cnsnese gamoling-he at rs North
NiAfh strest. l. Eas the thira lzAE u the
kidd given a. this place. ci6ong Nah
KEEPS Chinese store Al No. sle, s.as Ban
san LoI has a liltls fia "A out over the
SIDE dor aaneunei.s that there Is : Chi
nese Restaurant lns@le. The store Is SIM
ply a bind anA the restaurant IS only Fun
as = cover 80 the real haziness o. the place.
Which Is Que II lhe most complete Chines<
sporting houses ia the United States. Ba'
saa Low j. the CELESTIAL Harry Hni, o.
Fhladslphi', and for four years kept
gambling d u~s az Chinat0sn. San Fran-
cisco. Chong - an, Bhrewd little fellow
Is one q the hackers Of the game. whseh Is
patF5nizei BY nearly ali the Cinnamon IL
FhihsdsIthi
The proprietorS.of the house carry on
their business more boldly than any Of ths
keepers Of EaSiish sporting houses, and
have NO fear Of police Intervention. PINK
piece Of paper covered With Chinese hero
glyphies. pasted on the vestibuIe door
leading - the alleged restaurant, an
nouneed t1at a sparrow ight would tase
place last night. The notice was posted
several days ago, and ali of the Chinsss
sPorts knew Of the lasstal event. Lasl
night they filed into Ninth street 10 Bun
sun Lows from every direction.
The gambling room, ON the first floor
back. was cleared OF ali the furniture, aud
about seventy-dve Cinnamon crowded
about an old extension table tu ned upside
down. with the legs sawed OF. The at
nosphere was sitting. All the windows
were tightly closed, and the smell of tho
smoking cigarettes charged with opium
was sickening. About twenty Of the Chi.
nsssnen were dressed In American clothes,
and nearly all of these smoked cigars. The
bottom OF the table was covered with red
sand
When Bun Sun Low nudged his way
through the crowd to the spar
row pit he had a bird In each hand Their
wings were cut and their tails were
cropped close. Their bills were almost
white, where they had been sandpapered
to make their little leaks as sharp as
needles point. The Mongolian spectators
watched the birds and Bun Sun Low close-
w. One of the sparrow's had little
/ piece OF red ribbon wrapped around its
right leg 10 distinguish it from the other
/ Hop Chung Lung, who is one of the silent
/ partners Of the gambling house, soon sized
/ up the birds with sporting IN ans eve,
and offered TO bet ten 'plunks" (dollars)
that the bird with the red ribbon on its
right leg would kill the other. There were
no takers until Bun Sun Low ha a dropped
the birds in the pit The moment this was
done the sparrow that had no ribbon ON it
/ plunged at the other and picked a mouth
/ ful OF feathers out of its head. This
caused chuckle all around, and Charley
1 Lee, the Tenth street laundrym COW
/ cred Hop Chung Lungs ten 'plunks."
I This added fresh excitement TO the fight.
/ The bird with the red lex was the gamess,
and made lunge at his antagonist. pluck
/ ing cut his lett eve. In another moment he
I pecked the other bird in the throat and his
/ needie-pointed ball did deadly work. The
eyed bird toppled over and fell on the
sand dead. The excitement, though not
bjsterous, was intense. and Hop Chung
/ Lang and number OF the other sports
/ cried. '.Wally wah." which, in English,
means Bravo" Charley Lee reluctantly
handed over hte ten ''plunks'' he had lost,
and Bun Sun Low, gathering up the dead
tird and the victor, who was very weak, in
moment brought two fresh birds from
I thAH III tur Itdt VI itlr IOtIi. ne D-IuS
were distinguished in the same manner as
che others had been, aud were "A trihe fat
Ter.
They flew at each other viciously, and it
was plain that the fight would be fatal in
less than five minutes. Wing Lee the fat
best Chinaman in Philadelphia. who keeps
policy shop, opium joint and laundry on
Hace street, below Ninth, offered to bet
Hop Chung Lung that the red-legged bird
would be- whipped. Hop Chung Lung took
the bet. Inside OF four minutes the red :
legged sparrow had keeled over on its
back and Hop Chung Lung handed Wing
Lee the money he had won from Charley
Lee. Two more traces Of birds were put
TO fight, but none of them were killed. al
though they fought hard and cries of
s'Wally wah" were frequent. When the
fourth brace had fought for three or four
rainutes Chung Wah told Bun Sun Low TO
stop the fight. and the spectators were
told the sport was over. Some of them
went out, but the majority went upstairs
20 gamble at dominoes and Chinese pegs
On tne rear of the roof Of No 2l9 is a
hong slim box full of little holes. At one
end i a sliding slat, which. when shut,
1 covers all the holes. The sparrOws that
Sliding the slat. One OK the Cinnamon said
/ that it took nearly two weeks TO catch n
( dOzpn sparrOws. as the birds were wary of
the box. After they are caught their
wings and tails are crt short. and their
/ hills are carefully sand -papersd with fine
sand-paper twice before they are put in
the pit 20 fight. They are given all they can
eat. because they fight better when wall
fed A day or two before the fight they
are allowed 70 peck little at one another.
and are zoaded On by the trainer until
( they become infuriated. Bun Sau Low
said that in China a bird fight wa consid-
erred the finest sport in the shape Of q
fight