COCK FIGHTING.

Pelorus Guardian and Miners' Advocate., Volume 17, Issue 5, 20 January 1903, Page 7

COCK FIGHTING.

* A FAVOURITE SPORT IN SPAIN. An attempt is being made to introduce the sport of cock fighting into France, but up to the present it has not met with much success. Iu Spaiq, however, the sport has found nn abiding home. A writer in "Black and White " says that in the slums of Andalu3ian towns Spaniards, with faces burnt yellow by the sun, and ringers stained yellow by nicotine, train birds that came originally Erora England, keeping them in some welllighted, whitewashed room, in wicker cages a few yaids apart, training them daily, not stopping at mutilation. The fierce birds shriek defiance to eaqh other from daybreak to dusk, their native strength and ferocity purposely increased by stimulating food. One fineday.after many months of probation, n, bird is ready for his debut in the arena. He has no comb, all feathers have been removed from the neck, the wings have little more than the primary quills remaining, and \h& spurs are long and sharpened. The entrance to the cockpit is guarded by i soldier, but a ticket for the best places can be secured for a couple of pesetas or less. The cockpit is a circular covered place, built like an ordinary circus or bull-ring, with iccommodation for two hundred visitors at most. The rounded platform on which the birds are to tight takes the lowest place, in the centre of the room; the wooden benches rise in circles; the arena is railed round and id about eight feet wide. From the ceiling i pair of scales depend. WOMEN NOT ADMITTED. So soon as the seats are filled you notice the ibsence of women, and learn from your neighbour that they are not admitted. ■Schoolgirls, not yet in their teens, may see twenty horses disembowelled and half a lozen bulls killed in the two honh' traffic of the plaza de toros; they must not enter a sock-pit, and the reason is far to seek. Perhaps it is on account of the betting. Sport has many attractions, but mere sport lias not sufficed to bring 200 men through summer streets on a Sunday morning. So soon as the birds appear wagers will be made; ivhen one of the combatants is vanquished :be losers toss their stakes across the arena ;o the winners, and as these stakes are often n five-peseta pieces, and the losers are very jxcited, accidents will happen. Sometimes jnives are drawn. Perhaps it is as well that ;he fair sex should be forbidden to attend ind that the official is on duty to see the Drder enforced. THE FIGHT BEGINS. Something akin to applause greets the m-ival of two men, each holding a fine bird inder his arm. The scales are drawn down ;o the level of the arena, weights are tested md found equal. Each man waves his bird ;o and fro through the air, then puts it on ;he arena floor and retires. As two skilled masters of the fence engage ifter the salute, these fierce birds start fencng with their long bare necks; their wings, from which the small feathers have been stripped, rattle nosily. Suddenly one bird iraws back, makes a savage snap, and flies .ip with his opponent's scalp between his jeak. " First blood," scream the backers, ind straightway the bets begin', with odds slightly against the bird that was caught. A uinute later each fighter has " found " his jßDonflnL and the marks are very evident

Tiie ain occouies deafening; perliaps tnen arc ton men in tlie room unmoved; these taki the hots, aiul,by skilled trading on the vane< etrokos, manipulate the odds until the; themselves stand safe from loss. The clinch ing process is in full force, beak, wings, an( "spurs are busy, the birds are not pleasim objects. After five busy minutes, it is ap parent that the blood from scalp wounds i beginning to blind the combatants; eacl seeks relief by getting his head under tin wing of his opponent, as though to clear hii eyes in a few Boft feathers remaining, THE FINISH. It is a case for even money now ; the firs bird to get in an effective blow will certainl; win. bo soon as a bird '• feels his eyes," hi darts back, and puts all remaining strengtl into a sudden rush. Very often the stroke ii missed. Tha bird that has been in higl favour hitherto makes two attempts, fails and before it can recover from the second receives a mortal blow. It staggers, strive to stand erect, and then slowly droops, beatei at last. A shout threatens to raise the roof winners scream with joy, losers with rage whik the victor moves unsteadily after hii vanquished foe, and proceeds to administe; the coup de grace as well as his enfeeblc< condition will permit. This done, he gives a shrill crow o: triumph, and is promptly secured and carriec out. IN HOSPITAL. Leaving the losers to pay their stakes t< the winners, and only pausing to note hov wonderfully the backers keep their books it their head and know without paper or ponci where to pay and what to receive, let us fol low the victor to the hospital outside. "Hi will do," says the expert, who sits on a chai in tho shaded stoneyard waiting for the win ning birds to be brought out. On a tray b; his side are two bottles, some long feathers Bcissors, and a knife. The attendant hold out the bird, the expert dips a feather ii one of the bottles, and passes it down th bird's throat; this operation is thrice re peated. For tho bleeding head and neck i spirit embrocation is forthcoming, and th bird, greatly benefited by the treatment, i put into a wicker coop tp live on the fat o the land and fight again next year. By thi time the expert has completed the work. an< said a few words about the breeding of gann —fowl, a tremendous shout from the arens announces the end of another encounter, an< the attendant returns with another victor this time in a pitiable condition. " Too ba< to save," remarks the man in authority laconically, and picks up the knife from hi tray. . . . WINNERS AND LOSERS. There are ten or twelve battleß in tin course of two hours, and abouione bird ii four survives. Often victor and vanquishei die together in the arena; sometimes thi effort to crow in a manner worthy of tin occasion is too much for the winner; bird; have been known to exchange mortal wound; and to seek opposite corners. There is a pro found silence until one dies,'and then tin screaming begins again. Soon after on< o'clock the lighting is over, the wild crowc seeks the streets; judicious bookmakers havf netted ten or twelve pounds, few of thf backers have done well. "He who is sileni laughs in the end," remarks an old man.whc has scored heavily; while one of the gipsiei stalks off with an ugly look in hib eyes and i hand suspiciously near his gash.