The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-12-11
THE PASSING OF
 THE COCK FIGHT Sport Still Exists in Parts of
 Mexico BUT GLORY IS GONE Strains and Families of Birds as Well Known Finest Flooded
 Horses of Other
 Countries
BUT GLORY IS GONE

F. l.. Villela in the Mexican Herald.
 The ancient inhabitants of Mexico were ever fond of sports of all kinds, and in the days before the coming of the white man to the shores of America they in- dGlged In a sort of pelota game, in aqu1- tic contests, races, wrestling matches and military exercises of various kinds They also held endurance races much after the manner of the modern Mara thon races. All these were purely ath- | letic.
 l But they also had many games of chance and skill and certain pastines such as fighting coyotes and other wild | animals. There is no doubt that these | tendencies of the Aztecs and other na- tive races made them take kindly to the bull fight and the cock fight.
 | The latter. especially, owing to its in- expensive nature, early became a favor lte pastime of the lower classes and was. | later on, taken up by the better peo- 1 pie. Soon every one who was able, and most people were, had one or more fight l ing cocks.
 Every Sunday and every feast day there were literally thousands of places throughout Mexico where the populace, or goodly part of the men, spent the afternoons at the side of the cockpit. II was no uncommon thing for some l well-to-do gentleman to go to the scene of the contests, accompanied by half a dczen or more servants, each with bird under each arm. In those days the true devotee of the sport prded himself on his knowledge of the fighting qualities of the birds and he believed that he was able, in most cases, to pick the winner on sight. Then, too, there were strains I C., ~G .t.I- |. .xl,<.. Mexico as well and as favorably as the finest blood horses are now known throughout the United States, Canada and all the sporting countries of Europe. Some of these birds brought very high l prices. Sometimes & rich gentleman risked as much as s10o,Oo0 in one day on various cock-fghting contests. l In years past the great cock fights were held during the month of December in connection with the festival at Guada- lupe. Then this sport vied with that of gambling for popular favor. Of the 1 thousands upon thousands of pilgrims who visited the shrine the greater num- Der of the men brought with them one or more fighting birds each and some of the peons and lower middle classes from interior points brought many birds to sell at the villa. These were either carried in great wicker cages upon the heads of the owners or in OK carts; often the Journey to the villa took from one | to three weeks.
 In those days the cities and towns swarmed with professional gamblers who made a living at the side of the cock pit They were men who had spent all their active lives in the sport, and they l had learned, almost instinctfvely as il were to judge of the merits of the birds | as soon as they appeared at the pit side. Profiting by this experience, they were able to gain the majority of bets that they made and thus to make a good living out of the sport
 There were still others, as there are today, who acted as the givers and takers of bets from whom they collected smal commissions. Of these men there were
 thousands throughout the country and no hamlet, however small, was too un. important to possess one. They were the counterpart of the modern bookma- kers.
 The glory of the cock fight has forever gone from Mexico; but the sport stil exists, though 1t Is now confined to the lower classes in the cities and towns and once in a while a rich hacendando takes an interest in it in rural districts But though it has fallen upon evil days it still survives as picturesque relic of the past, when 1t was once the sport and pastime of kings, princes and nobles | A novelty and an entertaining experience to one who has never been there before Il In the smaller towns and villages of Mexico the cock fights still holds it's own in the hearts of the populace, and no fair or public festival is complete with out it's cockpit, which Is generally well advertised and made one of the attrac- tions of the festival. At these festivals, as in the olden days. betting is still a feature of the sport, and often much money changes hands.
 The laborer bets his few cents while the owner of the hacienda stakes his hundred dollars or more. Sometimes In the excitement of the moment he makes a bet that causes those who have known him as a betting man for years to open their eyes and their ears in astonish- ment and admiration, for the plunger Is admired in Mexico among the fraterni- tv. as in other countries where the sports man has become an institution.