Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1891-08-25
SOCIETY COCKFIGHTS.
A Fad Among Certain Chicago
Circles.
Parlors and Billiard Rooms Turned Into
Pits Where the Guests Are En-
tertained by Battling
Gamebirds,


''Coachy, where are you going with
the rooster?" asked man the other
evening, on the corner of Michigan
avenue and Twenty-third street, of
coclzney coachman who was hurrying
along with sack under his arm. The
officer showed his badge, and the coach
man opened the sack and showed two
game ROSTERS, which were returned to
their roost by the officer.
THAT coachman was going out on
Wabash avenue with those birds to have
main at some private residence" said
the officer of the humane society to q
Chicago Times reporter 1T is a fad
for millionaires to have private cooking
mains in their dining-rooms, or billiard
rooms. Board of trade men are espe-
cially given to this form of sport. OF
course these mains are conducted very
quietly, for, as rule, these people do
not wish it generally known that their
tastes run that way.
''When a main is to take place, the
word is quietly passed around to Sc
| lect few and there is a gathering Of a
dozen or perhaps more In the dining
room at the mansion designated. Some
| times they are invited to dinner, as was
| the case on Wabash avenue, not far
| from Twenty-fifth street, a few even
| ings ago After dinner the ladies ad-
| journed to the parlor. The gentlemen
| remained below in evening costume.
| The dining-tablc was cleared, the guests
| ranged around the room in circles, and
| the master of ceremonies summoned
| the coachman, who carried two fine
game ROSTERS They were placed on
the mahogany dining-table, and when
/ one of them tapped his wing and
| crowed his defiance a round of applause
| shook the room.
1.-The butler, an English cockney with
mutton-chop whiskers and an unspeak-
able accent, wore steel-pen coat
| knee breeches, and low-quarter shoes
| with silver buckles. The coachman
wore the regulation pantaloons, high
| top boots, etc. There were no gaffs
used. Now, am telling you this as it
| was told to me, for l know nothing
about it of my personal knowledge"
said the officer, in explanation. "Wen,
as l understand 1t, after few small
bets the butler took one of the birds
| and the coachman the other, and the
feathers began to fly Whenever a
bird got in lick, or rather a kick, on
his opponent, he would receive a gen
erous burst of applause from his cham
| pions. The host stood at the head of
the table and acted as timer, or umpire
or Judge, and as earnestly and as sol
EMMY as If he were about bulling
wheat or selling October lard short
Three or four rounds had been
fought and neither bird knocked out,
and the interest in the fight was grow
| ing intense, when the host took the
buffers place at the table saying:
Let me fight this bird Mr.. -, take
the other bird, and we will have fight
to the finish The other gentleman is
a millionaire and has acres Of real es-
| tate and numerous blocks of buildings
| in Chicago
1.-THE real estate owner offered the
host a bet of one thousand dollars and
champagne supper for the party that
his bird would win. The wager was
snapped up by the host, who declined to
let certain large railway shareholder
in the deal At it the birds went.
The host proved to the satisfaction of
all his guests that he was no novice in
the business-in fact, he managed
his bird so well as to prove that
he had had considerable experience
in affairs of this sort. His bird,
however, was not quite SO game,
or, rather, less scientific than
the other, and the real estate gentle
mans rooster was victorious after seven
well-fought mountaineering his op-
ponent off the table. The butler called
time for he was now timer in place of
his master, and the victory was given
to the real estate aristocrat.
"Private cocking~mains, continued
the officer, ''are very popular, and be-
coming quite frequent with some of the
wealthy class. There are several aris-
tocratic mansions in Chicago which at
times are private palatial coclxpits.
The owners are not even suspected be-
cause of their high social and financial
main Just as socia1s are held at the diff
ferent houses of those of set By
this means this select coterie of lovers
of cooking mains have a half-dozen or
more during the season. Each host
trains his own birds, and sometimes
there are two or more mains of an even
ing. The butler and the coachman do
the training, and frequently they are
selected with special view to their
qualifications in this line. These serv-
ants train the birds In the stable, barn
loft, carriage-house, or yard, and often
test the mettle of the birds, and con-
tribute to their own amusement by
having mains of their own and perhaps
betting their wages on the result"
Captured the Kaiser.
The story is told that while the young
| German kaiser was watching a shan