The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1922-12-08

NAA~N
in a few days from Governor Hard
wick of Georgia, on a petition re-
ceived by the chief executive of that
state from j. C. Solomon of CAL
houn Falls, complaining Of rowdiness
and d~isorderly conduct in connection
with chicken fights on an island in
Savannah river near Hester. Ac-
cording to Mr.. Solomon's letter to
Governor Hardwick, game chicken
fighting has gone on for years, and
for some reason the South Carolina
authorities have failed to break 1t
I'D. A recent decision of the Supreme
Court of the United States gives the
island to Georgia, and for that rea-
son Mr.. Solomon is appealing to the
Georgia executive to put a stop to
the chicken fights, which are held
semi-annually and oftener and which
are usually accompanied by gamb-
ling, disorderly conduct of various
kinds and rowdiness of almost every
description.
According to information set forth
by Mr.. Solomon, one of the biggest
fights ever staged at Hester (thls IS
the nearest railroad point to the is
land although it is four or five miles
from the C. and W. C. railroad) was
staged there last Wednesday and
Thursday of last week. Of so great
proportions was the fight that even
eamecocks from Mexico were on
hand and participated in the "main'
which is declared to have been one
of the biggest in recent years, al
though Hester station on the c. and
w. C. and Col. lobe Hester's fight
ing games are known the country
over. The announcement by MI. Sol
ONION that games from Mexico took
part in the "main" is not considered
unusual since hardly a year has
elapsed since two Mexicans whose
broken English barely enabled them
to say calhoun Falls, Hester,
Games" visited the famous chicken
ranch and bought some of the Hes
ter strain and shipped them to Mex
leo.
The Hester island is a spot long
heard of IN Anderson. A number of
Andersonians have visited the scene
of the chicken fights, which was
claimed neither by South Carolina
nor Georgia for years, and reports
Of the greatest fight of the year held
every Thanksgiving, have caused
large crowds throughout the Pied
mont section to visit Hester, a little
more than IS miles south of Ander-
sS2. It is not unusual for Calhoun
Falls situated on the Seaboard and
C. and W. C. 70 overflow with crowds
eager to reach the island where the
fights are staged. The island in ques-
ton is reached, according to those
who have witnessed the fights, by a
large fat, which is poled back and
forth from the South Carolina bank
to the island as many trips as is nec-
essary to accommodate the crowds,
after which it ties up on the island
until the festivities are over. Several
fights are usually staged the night
before and on Thanksgiving, during
which time cards and dice furnish a.
musement for those who r crowd
ed out of the chicken fights or who
hold an aversion for fighting games.
1t is noticed that Mr.. Solomon IN
his letter to the Governor of Georgia
states that the crowd in Calhoun
FaRs for the last fight was 50 large
that many automobiles did a jitney
business getting men to the scene Of
the fight. He also states that there
was drinking and gambling on a JOY
Gus scale and that the conduct of
many persons attending the celebra-
ton was of such nature that officers
should have interferred.
Word reaching Anderson regard
ing the fights, which were witnessed
by a few Andersonians and a num-
Der Of people from this section is to
the effect that Mr.. Solomon's yer.
sion of the affair is not wholly exag.