Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-01-15
BOOSTERS TRAINED TO FIGHT.
The Sport which some People Find In Pit
ting Feathered Gladiator

BOOSTERS TRAINED TO FIGHT.
The Sport which some People Find In Pit
ting Feathered Gladiators-
Interest in cooking does not wane, notvith-
standing prohibitory legislation. No single
social stratum nourishes the sport The idea
that the pitside is Q rendezvous for toughs 10
wrong. These preponderate. but Tenders are
also there.
Tie birth Of cooking IL not recorded in the
family Bible OF the world. It's antiquity balks
TIE seSrcher. II is said that this, like all else
born below the horizon of history, was prac-
ticed by the Chinese before the Christian era
Some claim that pit games are descendants Of
the wild jungle fowl of India, some that galli-
naceous warfare was first wsged in Rhodes and
others that Persia was the cradle Of the sport
certain Is il that the rooster was with the
Sreeks an emblem Of divinity and by the
Syrians and SamariSns was idolized as a god Of
war-a plumed Mars. His effgy was stamped
on tne com OF the Dormant and on the shield
OF idameusus CrGsus fought cocks The
mis,ocies pitted games before Dalmatis 10 show
ms iegions valor and Severus gave mains for
.ne oincers OF his army. There were rooster
battles at Westminster during the reign of
nehry VII and cock pit at Whitehall palace,
though Henry VIII advertisedly opposed it,
Cromwell. however, Jumped on its neck
Enzaoeth smiled on II, James attended mains
twice week and Charles III bred the distin-
guished Pyies strain. Pits we're maintained at
Chester, Gloucester, Newcastle Lancaster and
many other towns OF the kincdom Once at
Lincoln. a cocker named Gilner won a main at
a 900 sterling, a bottle and $4,000 on the odd
stringent laws stringently enforced have
wrought havoc with British cooking. In Span
ish countries chicken fights vie with pepper
and stilettoes.
ENGLISH AND AMERICAN BIRDS.
The most famous strains Of English bird
were the Pyles, Sourfaces, Smithenwings Var
nihalls Mealy Grays, Smocks, Duckwings and
Strokeshires. In the United States the best
known birds are the Red Horses of MARYLAND
and Virginia, Suit Shawlnecks Of Maryland.
Dusty Millers of Kentucky. Stonefencers of
North Carolina, Georgia Shawlnecks and Red
Rippers of Georgia, Irish Muffs Of New York.
Red Quilts of Virginia, Eslins of Washington
city, McClelands of the west. Newbold Reds of
the east, Japs of California. Sections. Dare Dew
lis, Heathwoods, Clairborns. TGssles and Tar
tars. American fanciers affect crosses rather
than straight strains and count color as of
minor moment. They believe that the low
sprrred. broad-chested, fiat-foo;ed, blaze-eyed
bird OF defiant mien and dead game blood is
the winner.
HOW THEY ARE TRAINED.
The regimen which fighting fowls undergo il
all to the end that they enter the lists sound.
vigorous and devoid of surplus feathers. flesh
or tat. Ii suffering from obesity vinegar and
pills OF epson salts are prescribed. rooster
Dill OF fare embraces bread Of -four and eggs
cinnamon, aniseseed, ground oyster Shells pow
dered bone and hard-bo!led eggs. Regular train
ing oeglns aboul three weeks before the mill.
They are allowed to spar with muffs like box
ing gloves. on their spur stubs, and are made
to run, hy and walk. Chickens suffer from,
meianchols, apopleIy. asthma, corns. catarrh
and rheumatics. and are physicked accordingly.
The feathered fighter is usually in his prime a,
two years old. In being .'cut OUT for fight his
hackie feathers are SHARED, his wing feathers
pointed and ell his tail plumage excepting the
long and strong feathers cropped.
THE PIT.
The pit in which the steel gaffs clash and the
battles wage is either a circular or square
space about twelve feet in diameter, foored
with mating carpet or maybe only earth. and
roped in by web one and a half feet high,
with meshes about the same as of a crab net
This Is the exclusive domain of the combatants
ana their pitters. The birds are allowed 20
bill each other, and grow SO irate that what
ever friendly sentiment might lurk in some
dark Granny of their breasts is melted into
hate. The birds are released and from oppo-
site corners rush to the middle of the Dit.
Here with horny beak and bladed heel the
ROSTERS rip and tear. Duck. dodge and Jump
it is; feathers fly. jets of blood spurt; then
there is a flutter; the vanquished falls; the
victor crows and the fight ends. Birds that Il Y
the plt are rare and these are usually cured Of
their cowardice by throat cut.
WHAT THE aAFFs ARE.
CATS are the steel blades that are fitted on the
stumps of the amputated natural spurs Of the
bird The leg is first swathed in a strip of
chamois skin and the gaff ligated with wax
end Setting the steels is a delicate task; if
too wide or too high they are Ineffective if too
close they may brain their wearer. The lower
they are adjusted the Geadlier they are. Full
drop socket gaffs are mostly used in the south.
thimble-spurred gaffs in the west and a slightly
curved gaff in the north. The first is the most
deadly and the latter the least So The spur
sanctioned by New York rules is one with an
inch and g. quarter blade, nearly straight and
round from the point to a short round socket
With these weapons a battle lasts about twelve.
fifteen or twenty minutes, though an hour fight
ID not unusual Some of the finest heels are
made in Allegheny City, Pa, Marion, Kansas.
and Vickeryv;lle. Mich. Then there are the
Singleton and Cincinnati spurs-the Damascus
and the Toledo of gaffs.
The cooking season begins on THANKSGIVING
and runs till the Fourth of july Several mains
have been fought thus far. though but few have
received reportorial recognition. Perhaps the
largest main in American cooking annals was
that fought Thursday night at Newark " j.,
and reported in the kilograms to The STAR YES
terday 1t was an interstate fight between Cali
fornia ami Maryland.