The herald., 1897-06-12
WRESTLES WITH A STEER
A Strange Form Of Amusement Intro
duced by a Texas Negro

Almost every one hae heard OF lions
wrestling with men, but here for the.
first time is an account of the strangest
contest ever held between man and
beast. A giant negro of Taylor, Tex,
jumps into small inclosure with pug
nacious Texas steer and engages in a
tch-as-catch-can wrestling bout in
which the man does not always come out
best by a long shot,
r. e. Barker of Taylor is now organ
iging great cattle-ropng contest, and
this season he will visit the foremost cit
les of America, and this wrestling match
is one he devised for the entertainment
of the public.
A colored man in his employ, who goes
by the name Of Lige, is the one who
performs this exciting act. He is giant
in form, being feet inches in height,
and weighing 225 pounds. His every
muscle Is like iron and stands out like
those of the Nubian slaves of old, who
did battle with wild beasts for their lives
in open arenas, while royalty looked on
and applauded. This act that Lfge goes
forth to do smilingly, however, is every
whit as exciting as any of those old time
contests, and would make the blood tin
gle in a Spanish bullf1ghter's veins. And,
indeed, this contest is very similar in
some respects to the.bullfghts of Spain,
with the one exception that the steer has
the best Of it here, as the negro is total
ly unarmed, and goes forth to the fray
depending solely upon the strength in
hie brawny arms.
When one gazes on those massive
arms with their huge punches of muscle
showing up and glistening like hard
knots of polished ebony, it. is realized
that the beast hae by no means an easy
victory before him.
A ring is made and inclosed in the
same manner that an amphitheater is
built for prizefight or bullfight. The
floor is made of earth and sprinkled
over with sawdust. Then the steer, mad
dened by his confinement, is turned loose
into the arena, to daeh around the saw
dust ring and paw up the earth in his
defiance. Then the giant negro appears
upon the scene and makes his bow to the
spectators. The contest is on. AS soon
as the steer catches sight of his antag-
onist there Is wild rush, a quick scram-
BILE Of flying feet, and the spectators see
through the flying sawdust that man
and beast are locked in fierce combat
Sometimes it is several minutes before
fall is scored, and the combatants
struggle all around the arena. And it is
a fierce struggle, too. The favorite
clinch of the negro is to clasp his arms
tightly around the steers neck just be-
hind the ears, and, seizing one. of the
animals ears In his mouth, he endeavors
to twist his neck in such manner as to
bring him to the ground. When the
steer wins a fall it is usually no fun for
the negro, as he is thrown up in the air.
and when he strikes the ground again he
has plenty of evidence that the beast has
won. Sometimes it is necessary for the
employees to rush in and drag the negro
out from under the hoofs of the enraged
animal, but, as a rule, he is very agile
and does not allow such thing to
happen.
The contest, outside of the very now
city, Is intensely exciting. and will
doubtless create something of sensation
when given in the cities Of the east
Chicago Inter Ocean.