Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-12-26
CANTON GAME COCKS WIN.
A Christmas Main That Was Largely At.
tended
Many Battles Fought - Sports Win
Money and Are Jubilant-Exciting
Scene In an Old Barn.

Once again the game-cock fanciers Of Bal
timore have demonstrated that their birds
are invincible.
In the great Christmas main" between
Baltimore and Washington fought in the
Canton pit yesterday the local sports were
victoricus-15 battles out of "a falling to
home talent. Everyone, even the vanquish-
ed Washington sports. admitted that the
main was one Of the squarest they ever at
tended. The heelers did their work with
efficiency and dispatch. There was nc
bungling, no unnecessary delay. The police
were successfully kept in the dark. and
consequently there was no interruption
Everything worked as II by magic. The
Washingtonians went home satisfied, bu,
crestfallen and disgruntled at the outcome
of contest the squareness of which they
could not impugn.
An unprecedented attendance was one OF
the remarkable features of the days sport
Those who selected the large barn where
the pit was located never counted on such
an enormous attendance
mo more can be admitted, tickets or nc
! tickets" was the stern declaration of the
man at the turnstile last night The spa.
cious barn was then packed to its utmost
capacity. Small sports and hopof.l youths
sat on the knees of their more portDy friends
among the audience. Every availa BILE space
was occupied, and that accounted for the de-
cision of the man at the turnstile.
The Visitors Arrive.
The Washingtonians arrived on the scene
of action early IN the forenoon. The whole
party alighted from a train which pulled
into Camden station about 10 O'Clock am.
Those who didn't know the way to proceed
to the happy hunting ground" at Canton
took hacks, but the majority being old
timers who knew the haunts, proceeded to
the headquarters of some of the local
sports and went to Canton by the street
cars later on. accompanied by some Of those
who were strictly in the know" AS early
as O'Clock the crowd began to congregate.
Some of the boys wet their whistles at a
| neighborinG saloon and moved back to the
Mecca OF the cock fighters. But they didn
go there all together. Before they arrived
within a block of the alley on which the
rear door of the barn opens they scattered
and dropped in by different routes. Who
were they? The question could not well be
answered in a short space of time. Genuine
sports every one of them. Drawn from var
lous walks OF life. they rarely meet except
at main.
man who attracted much attention and
| seemed TO be a walking encyclopaedia on
the breeding of birds was the man from
| Washington who managed" the birds from
the capital city. He was dressed in a blue
| which
| one envied.
The heller from Baltimore knew his bus
mess. A plain sort of a sport he was lie
wore a piqued cap and black ana white
plaid pants. He had his coat on in the pit.
Watching the Police.
The Canton police kept a sharp lookout
Tor the cock-fghters from early morning.
and the cock-fghters watched the Canton
police 1t was resolved to send crowd up
10 saloon on the Shell road for the pur-
pose OF decoying the cops" The scheme
worked like a charm-all the attention of
the peace guardians WAS attracted to the
smell road saloon. and the Mecca was
left without surveillance
! Inc leading patrons of the sport arrived
al ABOUT the same time. A well-known
cltlzen who resides on North Charles street
S up WITHIN block of the pit in a fash
ionaoie rig, drawn by a prancing pair of
DAYS: he mad with him in the Carriage a
sen'ieina1 from Washington and two To-
eals. All woie Picadilly coats, looking
glass stovepipes and outshone all the other
toward the pit.
George, you needn't come back for me ;,
said the North Charles street gentlamsn
to the colorei man who held the rih6nns
/ oman What de boss is up to dis blas a
ed DAY Cd grace said the driver-man as
he cracked his whip ana the bays pranced
ferrah! blazes. Mickey. Wen KNOCK s.v-
ngnts out Nv Wash!n'ton." said a Celtic
Sport 10 chuIa, as they were hurrying
hanrsa t tosgt a. me lighting place. rive
neeIed Talk IKE that before. Morris" re-
p:iei ms partner How de We know what
thin Washia'ton chickens is made iv?''
Hould your pirate, Mickey. 1 seen Jack
= on west Pratt street this morn,n' am
he tould me. spakin' aisy, that thin Wrssh-
IN ton Stages wor the most lamentihIa-
iookln objects he ever looked upon They
en- go. wan hincfeather among them. We
ltr-FA fnar-
soul an shoestrngs well whip 'em The
got the weight" VIC
on arth." e oeS' haier
Calvert street saloon keeper rode I'm
IN buggy with a gentleman who sits M q
aes so,i near the city han every day except
crowded into the buggy
Two boys came along. a basket between
tnen. me basket contained two Crack
f o,fas, which the Washington sports
birds here several days ago
dis heah cock fights 2goin' to be hot
stun, Abe. said an old colorei man who
has patronized the game for half a century,
as he showed the reporter through the mass,
| ageway to the barn pit
The Crowd Dense.
The crowd inside was dense The Mace
was lighted by four large oil lamps which
!
tremely oppressive. The windows of the
place We're boarded Up. making IL impossi-
bic for any one to see in. A heavy cloud of
smoke from holiday cigars hung over the
pit when the hecle-s threw the first con-
testants on the hoor There was 4 short
controversy at the start and a few hot
words exchanged over the squirting of the
birds Somebody said the Washington heel
er was Eaffing'' one OF the birds badly.
1T all blew over In few minutes. Wash
inSton won the first fght, and this encour-
aged the sports to make good bets on tho
subsequent tights. The next fell to Balti-
more, and then there were three Washing
ton victories in short order. The "Sena-
tors yelled defantly-but they hoped
against hope. The fight wound UP with If
teen battles in favor of Baltimore ont of
the twenty-four More than $1,000 was
dropped to the monumental city sports be-
sides several private wagers.
A plentiful supply of refreshments was
on hand in the barn and full justice was
done to the good things.
| Helping the Poor In PHILADELPHIA
The chief events of the day in Philadel
yhia Yesterday, outside of the church ser