The times., 1898-05-15

i
ing. altogether disreputable crowd be-
low. For it is rough and noisy col
( lection of all sorts of Puerto Riquenos,
and for Babel-like sounds and confus-
ion generally not even the redoubtable
stock exchange can equal it. You are
sure TO be surprised at several things
if this be Your first visit TO the ''valla;"
the amount of betting that goes on, de-
spite the apparent confusion, the quiet
manner in which all bets are settled
when you fully expected to see a score
of contestants weltering in their gore;
! the smallness of the birds and the
amount Of pluck they possess to the
/ square inch, and the skill, even science,
requisite to become a first-class ma
nipulator of fighting cocks.
a commcn sight in the streets of
/ san Juan, early in the morning, is
! that of numerous game cocks staked
out by short strings to pegs driven
4 into the sidewalks. There they seem
to imagine themselves strictly in evil
/ dence and On exhibition, and keep up
a Growing 10 inform their neighbors
that they are as good as anybody
/ else, if not a little better If by chance
che of the cocks gets loose there is
soon a dead bird for somebody TO pay
for The birds are as carefully groom
( ed as any blooded horse, and part
OF their keepers duty is to keep them
! in fine fettle fer fighting. To see their
owners pass along, from one to an
ether, and give each one morning
refresher, is one of the sights of San
Juan. First, taking one of the cocks
up in his hands tafter having filled his
mouth with water) he lifts each wing
I successively and squirts d fine steam
! beneath it like a Chinese laundryman
! dampening the linen Of his ''washee-
- H. h.,
/ head and neck, and carefully deposits
1 the cock on the pavement. Thus each
one has his pick-me- -up-in- -the-morn-
/ ing" which is considered as essential
/ TO his health as a rye-and-tansy eye
opener is to his owners.
In the various market places of
Puerto Rico you will see numberless
I fowl in wicker coops, the air always
/ resounding with their challenges and
! counter challenges of defiance. Even
/ the negro on the corner who sells dull
/ ces" and 'refrescos," is likely TO have
! roster tied by a string to his
/ stool, and viii bet his bottom dollar
! upon that birds invincibiIity and ped
4 igree. The while he has nothing to do
which is pretty much all the time
I he devotes TO the education" of his
pet. The peripatetic vendors of var
( icus articles such, for instance, as the
seller of bread (who goes about with
q basketful on his head and another
in one hand. of queer-looking. twist
ed loaves and roils) probably has a
game cock in a corner, which he VIII
I produce the moment any one Is will
! ing 10 match him. All the while he is
/ crying out, Pan, pan, no quiere PAM
( Bread bread, don't you want any
/ bread%'-he has one eye out for
! prospective set-to between his bird and
some other.
But 10 return to the cock pit. After
the crowd has gathered, the first bus
! iress transacted is the weighing of
the birds. 1t is usually done by Dig
nified. spectacled old gentleman, white
haired or bald (at least old enough 10
know better) and with the air of be-
I nevolence, who takes each bird sep
arately and carefully singing il in a
bandana bitches il TO one arm of a bal
ance scale and notes its fighting
weight with great exactness. 1t will
/ certainly remind the American OBJ
server Of that popular piece of stat
uay usually found in the parIor of
/ every first class boarding house,
known as Weighing the Baby" But
in this instance the old grocer with the
Benjamin Franklin cast of counten-
aEce. who peers through his glasses
SO mildly, is the umpire and the roost-
er takes the place Of the baby. Surely,
no infant ever received such undivided
attention from fond parent as this
skinny bird with its plucked neck and
back and tail deprived OF its chief or
namental plumes He is coddled and
cUddled as though worth his weight in
gold-as he is, for the average price
of bgd sc fair quality only is from
SIS TO S2G. and there are not many for
sale at any price whatever.
The manner Of play is always set
tied before the fight begins; as to
whether is shall be de cuchillo''-Iit
orally, with knives or gaffs, sharp and
teTrible-or al pico"-without arti-
fetal spurs These preliminaries ar
ranged. each man takes his bird to the
middle Of the arena, and placing him
ia position lets him go, facing the en-
emy. There is no hesitation on the
part of either combatant, and the
feathers fly at once. The contestants
are small, but game to the backbone
and are only separated when one OF
the other is completely exhausted
This seldom happens before one OF
them has an eye gouged out or his
neck and head laid bare and bleeding
10 the bone.
And all this takes place in the midst
of a perfect pandemonium of howls
and yells, which subside the moment
each pair has fought il out, when the
bets are paid punctiliously and in or
der. Each bird has his hacker, as a
pugilist in a prize fight; also, there
is an umpire, 10 whom appeals are
frequently made. Exact and known
rules regulate proceedings and wound
ed birds are allowed 10 be succored un-
der certain conditions. Perhaps a
cock may become temporarily blinded
by dust or blood He is then tenderly
raised by his hacker and a little rum
or alum water squirted through a
quill into his eyes.
No pair Is removed until one of the
twain is dead or dying, and when
are, the defeated cock gasping in its
death agonies, the victor hangs 10 him
TO the last The winner has hardly
time 10 crow exultantly-which he is
sure to do-when he is taken away tc
make room for another pair, equally
eager, equally full of fight; one of them
perhaps both, destined to be laid prone
and mangled on the sawdust
No, there may be more noise, display
and buster in the bull fight; there may
be more gore, more risk 10 the human
participant, but there is something
lacking there which the cock fight sup
plies 1t is found in the pitting to-
gether of two creatures to whom the
fight is mutually interesting. while in
the case of the bull fight, the enjoy
ment is pretty much all on one side
AS the old squire said of fox hunting
THE horses like it; the dogs like it;
the men like it; and, egad, we don't
know but that the fox likes 1t, too"
There is some doubt about the bulls
perfect enjoyment in being prodded
by ''picadores," goaded by "capea-
!, ! dores" tormented by "banderilleros >