The Republican journal., 1903-02-12
Letter from Tampa Bay.
COCK FIGHTING, A CUBAN SPORT,
TRANSFERRED TO FLORIDA.

TRANSFERRED TO FLORIDA.
Correspondence of The journal.
TAMPA, FLORIDA, Jan. %, 1908. The
thermometer here registers from go to
Is degrees, and although it has rained
frequently since 1 arrived here, when
the sun does shine the weather is very
fine.
Through the Kindness of friend 1
recently witnessed Spanish cock fight
and will try to tell the readers of The
Journal something of this cruel sport.
1t was long the favorite Sunday diver
sion of the Cubans, but having been in
terdicted in Cuba it has come to Flori-
da, where many Spaniards and Cubans
abide. Here they gather at the cock
pits on Sunday afternoons and watch
the birds fight to a finish, stalking their
earnings on the result.
We were driven some distance out of
the city of Tampa, for the police rules
are rather stringent here, and in little
settlement found small building, much
the same as a band stand, but larger,
with the seats ranging up the sides like
grandstand, and on the ground in the
center was the cock pit, the bottom
we'll covered with sawdust. The seats
were we'll filled with Spaniards and Gu
bans and after brief wait the ring
master entered. He was an old man,
dark in color, as are the majority of
Cubans, and carried in his hand a small
cane and an hour glass. He was follow
ed by the owners of the cocks, and the
birds were exhibited around the pit.
They had been trained and groomed
for this conflict since chickens. Much
money changed hands and was held on
a percentage by the party who managed
the pit.
The birds wore their own spurs, but
their feathers around the breast and
the tail were clipped, so that the neck
and the rear part of the body were very
lightly protected. After the money had
all been placed the heads of the birds
were either ducked in water or the own
er would take long draught from a
bottle and squirt it over the birds. to
see if grease or anything had been
placed on the heads to protect them.
After this the birds were placed in the
pit, the two owners and the ring master
remaining with them. Without any
hesitancy they walked toward each
other and then the fight began. 1t was
a case of picking each other in the
head, and eyes and spurring as much as
possible. The fight grew tiercer and
fiercer, and as one bird drove the other
to the ground the Cubans and Spaniards
grew wilder in their bets and the great
est excitement prevailed.
1t is a brutal fight. The dripping
blood tells of the pain, and it usually
means death to the losing bird. The
condition of the birds alone regulates
the length of the fight. The fight saw
was not short one and the birds were
very evenly matched. 1t was mat
ter of guessing as to which bird would
win. Time and time again one drove
the other to the wall, or to the ground,
and fought him numerically, but at
last one of the birds was driven around
the ring and fell. The ring master i'm
turned his hour glass, for if
the birds do not fight before the sand
in the glass has all gone down the
standing bird is called the winner, or if
both be standing the fight may prove a
draw.
After a hard fight one of the birds !
lost an eye and was driven madly about f.
the pit, until he fell exhausted and
gave up, bleeding and terribly spurred. |
With his defeat, or death, whichever it !
may be, the owner takes his bird from
the pit, and if his spurs are good winds
a cloth around the spur and the leg and !
takes them without the pith, even while !
the bird is yet alive. The money is |
passed over and other owners produce !
their birds. This time the fight is given
with artificial spurs about the size of a
knitting needle and bent in such posi- !
tion that the spur must be we'll handled !
to execute good work.
At the close of the last contest one is !
given between two common birds which !
nave neither been trained nor trimmed !
for the occasion. In all cases the sport
is cruel and makes one wonder at the ,
sport or enjoyment that is found in it.
Hundreds of dollars change hands each
Sunday over these fights, for the Gu !
bans and Spaniards in the cigar factory /
receive large pay, and there are many ,
factories located in this city.
Crowds of people from the northern |
cities are now passing through this
place, bound to Havana, Cuba, to finish
)ut the month"; and they will return !
here for February and March. Each .
steamer leaving Port Tampa for Cuba
is loaded with passengers seeking
warmer climate, but | would be salts
fed with this, if it were not quite so
One day it will be near Is i
and the next it drops to 60, which is
not great change but the house gets
,o1d varu nuinkly if is so large Steam