The St. Louis Republic., 1901-02-17
By ]. q. s.

the strict "a. l."
AS the sport is against the law 1t is
necessarily pulled off very much sub rosa
Sporting reporters are not welcome at a
dog fight unless they promise before hand
not TO divulge the names of the dogs. their
owners. or those present. Hence. as such
story without names is no value to news
paper, dog fights rarely find their way into
print. Then, as rule. 1t Is not easy 10
finally settle who owns the competing dogs
and it might be libelous to state that man
owned one when 1t could not be proven that
he did. Under these circumstances the press
has very little use for such sport, nothing
is heard of dog fighting. and the latter
day generation OF sporting editors knows
very little about II.
The writer is a sporting reporter Of seven
wears standing, yet he saw his first dog
fight one week ago. In his time he has
seen hundreds of prize fights. coon ana
dog bull and bear, chicken fights and other
so-called brutal competitions between men
and between beasts. From what he hao
heard of dog fighting he went to this one
prepared to be shocked by its brutality.
which he had been told and which ne De-
lieved was much greater than cock hghtins
or pugilsm.
After witnessing a fight pronounced the
greatest ever seen put up by -pound
dogs in St. Louis. which lasted two hours
and twenty minutes. and in which one ot
feeling that he had not seen anything halt
as brutal as the ordinary boxing match.
which we have been lately assured, py tnat
eminent authority. Billy Brady. Is Mt ior
any mans wife TO see
The dogs fought, as may be imagined.
tooth and nail. For two hours they olt aaa
clawed and tugged and wrestled. Yet neither
was badly disngured, neither was pauIy cur,
nor was there much blood spilled nave
seen more blood spilled in one rouna Oh "a .
f,.rb han in
the dog fight. As far as the writer couu
see there was but one distinctly brutal
feature of the fight That was that ,he t,,Icd Iei
mos probably. because in the Anxiety OF
his owner to secure a match Tor neF. ne
made the weight two pounds s,inni lower thIil
ably at her weight, twenty-five POUNDS, she
was much the better dog of the two. TOT.
while her strength lasted she Simply S pS' ~ -
the strength she had lost in training. she
weakened and was killed.
WHERE THE DOGS
CAME FROM.
The defeated dog was q brindle oitcn,
owned by a local farrier, who Is IN every
way a good sportsman and decent ielloW'
He simply was brutal to MS DOG, pecauSsa ~
in his confidence in her ability to peat the
other he consented to match ner AT q
weight that she could not do and be strong
II seemed a pity that really good cog,
such as she was. should be done TO 9eatn
owner The victorious dog was q wnue
bitch, with small brindle spots. owned oy q
prominent local storage and moving man;
There was another feature which mght
be called brutal. too. 1t was that when tne
beaten dog became helpless. and lay prone
on the clay floor of the ring. the other oSs Ss
was allowed to fight on. To be sure. she
lust got grip with her teeth and hung
on without doing any particular oanase.
but 1t seemed that when the other was VIVA !
is known in the vernacuiar as all out, the
fight might be ended then and there. instead
Of waiting for the other dog to XIII 1t or iaii
to scratch"
to the death is one more of money tnan
anything else. for even though a dog may
be practically dead The he nn,y,. may yet ,n wn pit
and the other dog turns from him, the han
dier Of. the prone and all but ,deaa oog
snatchss up his charge sGes the anc aef.
cree. Then, according to the rules botn
dogs must be taken by their handlers 70
their corners and wiped and sPonsed on pm
for thirty seconds. Then the handler OF sae me
dog that was prone will take him up pc
tween his legs and show his head and shoui-
ders to the other dog. which is across 40 10
which turned" must then cross the ring
and. getting a hold on the other drag MN m
out for fight. II the dog should iaii 70 90 90
this should he turn away or refuse 10
sscratch," as 1t Is called, the decision must
be given against him, even though the other
dog be dead. for he is not oihcially deaa n. un.
til the referee so announces. and referees
are disinclined to call dead dog. until ne
is indeed properly well dead.
HOW A DEAD
DOG MAY WIN.
Again. the chances Of 9 dead dog to
referee be a bit slow In calling dead dog,
the live dog is pretty liable 10 quit nght-
ing when he finds the other dead, and ms
perceptionS are acute Further, dogs are
very unwilling to scratch" TO a dead dog.
even though they surely would scratch, to
a fresh orfe They know at once when thelr
antagonist Is dead and do not want any fur-
ther trouble with him. Thus. the best dog
NAV lose on a technicality. as the condi-
tions of many matches demand that oe-
cision of "dead dog must be followed Dy
''scratch, that the dead dog be held up and
the live one made scratch to him or lose
To a novice 1t seems that II the rules could
be changed so as to allow the referee TO
count out a dog which lay prostrate and
helpless on the floor for a certain period and
eliminate the scratch from dead dog. the
snort would not be at all brutal.
Most OF the fights about St. Louis are
brought of In a pit located In the cellar OF
a certain saloon near the citys center. Inc M
nit is a small circle about sixteen feet IN
diameter, with a hard clay floor and boards
about two and a half feet high, covered
with cheese cloth. About the pit are erected
rows of seats, like those In a circus. On
these the spectators sit. Each dog has one
handler, who accompanies him into the pit
and stays close by him In his entire hight.
They are permitted to encourage their
dogs by voice and gesture This seems all
right until a time comes when one is all
but dead and the other Is liable to turn
from him. As there is always an even
chance that the live dog will refuse to
scratch to the dead one. particularly after
a hard fight the handler Of the live one Is
eager to keep his dog fighting until dead
dog IS declared. The other handler Is anx-
ious to save the money bet on his dog 50
ing his own dog-which may be insensible
and almost dead-he calls to II to come
away. This, OF course, affects the live dog
and may cause 1t to turn. Then II may
refuse to scratch and the dead dog may
win. The competition between handlers IN
such a case is very fierce and keen. but Inn
personal and not offensive.
There is also a referee as In q prize nxht
The referee and handlers closely follow the
dogs about the pit Then there is a bucket
Is a wooden bucket half full of water to
be used in case of the dogs being taken up
to scratch" The referee gets the buckets
and the water. After inspecting both he
from one of the buckets to the other OBJ
viously to give each dog the same water,
lest by any chance some chemical stun, IN
furious to a dog. might find fits way into
buckets are handed to the holders. who at
once seize them in their arms. cover them
with their coats and reassure them as care
fully as IL they were fil,ed with diamonds
snytining sssy hi I'M into them that might injnre or
aid their principal.
HOW THE DOG
FIGHT IS ORDERED.
The referee enters the pit and orders the
dogs brought in at oposite sides. They are
then put down and required to scratch:
that Is come together at once and without
an instants delay. II either hestates or
refuses to come forth and fight the stakes
y - ,,rovnptlv aUa rdsd 10 tha other In 900