A Dog and Man Fight.

Cromwell Argus, Volume V, Issue 263, 13 October 1874, Page 7

A Dog and Man Fight.

The “ Black Country” in England should, we imagine, prove a useful field for missionary labour—quite as much in fact as the cannibal islands of the South Pacific, of the slave dealing countries in West Africa. The special Commissioner of the London Daily Telegraph, writing from Hanley, sends a graphic account to that journal of a brutal and barbarous sport which seems to be it> great favour amongst the denizens of the Black Country, but which, owing to its illegality, has to be carried on on the sly. Having been introduced to the scene of the “sport”—a cellar—the writer proceeds ;—“ It was a place about sixteen feet square, with bare walls and a brick floor, and at the four sides a rope was already extended, leaving a space of about a yard between it and the wall, and here, railed off from the centre, three deep, were the sightseers—pit-lads most of them (some black as when they came up out of the pit), with a sprinkling of individuals' of the rough and costermonger order, the most prominent of the gathering being half a dozen, swells of the country •fancy, with snuff-coloure,cl trousers and cutaway coats, and waistcoat and caps of sealskin. Altogether there must have been at least 50 persons packed)h the 11 mited space, white theobntrtr 6f the fioOr'Mcr twatly A

sawdusted. A parrafin lamp hung from the ceiling, and as the window was quite covered with a shutter, and the only meaqs of ventilation was afforded by the oK'vhihey,' While the 'swells’ had their cigars alight and the commonalty their short pipes, no wonder that the place , was. evil-smelling, (hot, and The pefsoniVgo -who chfefly attracted my attention Was a .dwarf -Hi man of at least middle age, judging from his grizzled grey hair and the enormous size of his head and ears, but certainly not more than four and a half feet in height, yet with tremendous hands and feet and bandy legs. This was Brummy. He divested himself of his coat and his waistcoat, his blue checked shirt and his boots leaving himself with nothing on but his trousers and a dirty under-flannel cut off high at the shoulders. Stripped, he appeared an extraordinarily muscular fellow, and his arms, which were nearly covered with hair, were scarred, each of them from the wrists to the elbows, as though at some time he had been badly burnt. The creature likewise had a scar, ugly and jagged, within an inch of his collar-bone, and an-other—-now that we come to examine him for, wounds—at the right side of his chin, whichilooked like a piece bitten out of a dirty apple and put back again. He now produced a strap to which was attached a bright ,iron ring, and this he proceeded to buckle round his waist, at the same time dispensing with his braces. Then he took from a pocket of his coat a phial filled with what looked like oil, which he handed to the sorting gent with the watch, who took out the cork and smelt at it, after which all the sporting gents smelt at it in succession, and pronouncing it “all right,’ gave it back to Brummy, who, amidst almost breathless silence, commenced to anoint his arms and fists with it, rubbing it well in. 1 All ready 1’ asked the sporting swell with the watch. ‘Ay, mun, bring him as sune as ye like,’ grinned the dwarf; and then there was heard the pattering of a four-footed animal, and an anxious whining, and, the kitchen-door opening, in came Dan'l with Physic. It was rny friend the elderly miner of the evening before, and Physic wasthe hideous jowled dirty white bull-dog. Band had him fast by the great leather collar, and, with both hands, hauled him to the wall, where another man hitched a stout chair, to a holdfast, while one performed the same office for tire dwaif, except that in his case it was a substantial strap which was used. Like the dog, however, he had his measured length of tether, one end of which was attached to the ring at the back of his waist-strap and the other to a staple in the wall opposite. As well as I could make out from the arrangemements, and the disagreement representing them, the terms of the fight were that both man and dog were to be allowed length of rope enough, as it was called, to get at each other, but there was not so much of it that either could fail to get out of the other’s reach should he deem it prudent to do so. The biped brute was to kneel or go on all-fours, which he pleased, and was to use no other weapons than his clenched fists. He was by no means to take hold of the quadruped's collar, or to attempt to grapple with the dog unless the dog ‘ made fast’ to him, when he would be at liberty to use his hands in order to extricate himself. In case the bulldog should be lucky enough to pin bis enemy, the man had only to cry out ‘l’m done,’ and means would be promptly taken to compel the victor to loosen his grip. On Brummy’s part, to win the fight he was to knock the bulldog out of time, in other words, either to stun it or so punish it that despite all its master’s urging, it would refuse to face the dwarf again after a full minute’s notice. Dan’l set out a bowl with vinegar and water, and a sponge on his side, while the dog’s antagonist received from the hands of a kind patron a pint flask of brandy, at which he took a pull, and then stood it convenient in a corner, together with a towel. Then he tucked down his flannel shirt at the neck, spat in his enormous hands, made them into fists, each almost us big as a stonemason’s mallet, and knelt smiling. Meanwhile Dan’l was giving the finishirrgtoucheK to Physic’sfightingtoilette, and man and dog ,were almost ready at the same moment. There was no need to encourage the red-eyed Physic-—he was too j t eager for the fray. He did not bark,, but he wak frenzied with passion to that degree that tears trickled down his blunt nose, and his gaspings became each moment more shrill and hysterical.' He needed no urging on, for the first round at all events. As soon as the umpire called * Let go,’ the dirty, glaring, furious , brute sprang forward with an impetuosity that caused the last link of its chain to click with a' ringing sound against the staple which held it. Tbtf-d wari howovat uesa .put bo stunned

And defeated all in a moment Once the ghastly tight began there was a dire faseination in k; and I iidw nttfcd closely the combat, . the man. was on all fours when the words * Let go’ were uttered, and, muk ing accurate allowance for the length of the dog’s chain, he arched his back cut wise, sd as "just to escape its fangs, and fetched it a blow on the crown* of ita . head that ! brought it almost to ita knees. The dog's recovery, however, was instantaneous, and before the dwarf could draw back Physio made another dart forward, and this time its teeth grazed the biped's arm, causing a slight red trickling. He grinned scornfolly, and sucked the place; but there was a tremendous excitement among the bulldog’s hackers, who dapped their hands with delight,-rejoicing iu the honour of first blood. The hairy dwarf was still smiling, however, and while Dan’l held his dog, preparatory to letting it go for round 2, he was actually provoking it as much as he could, hissing at it, and presenting towards it the bleeding arm. The animal, flushed probably with his first success, made for its opponent with a sudden leap, but the dwarf leaped forward too, and smote the bulldog such a tremendous blow under the ear as to roll it completely over, evidently bewildering it for a moment, and causing it to bleed freely, to the frantic joy of the friends of the man-beast. But they in turn were made to look serious, for with astonishing energy Physic turned about, and with a dash was again at the dwaif, and this time contrived to fix its teeth on one of the hairy arms, a terrible gash appearing as the man snatched the iamb out of his ravenous jaws. r i he bulldog was licking, his lips, and had fewer tears in his eyes as his master drew him hack. As for the dwarf, he retired to his corner for a whet of brandy and a moment's comforting with the towel. He was ready and smiling again, however, for round 3, and this time it was a fight in earnest, the dog worrying the man, and the man dealing it terrific blows on the ribs and on th* head with those sledge-hammer fists, till in the end both the man’s arms were bleeding, and a horribly cheerful business was going on behind the ropes at 2 to 1 on Physic. But let me make short work of the ensuing seven rounds, which in some of their details were so shocking that more than once I would have left the place if I could. The company, generally, however, were made of far less sensitive stuff. The more furious the ghastly fight, the keener was their relish for it, and in their excitement they leant over each other's shoulders and over the rope, and mouthed and snarled and uttered guttural noises when a good hit or s»ap was made, just as the dog and dwarf were doing. By the time round 10 was concluded, the bulldog’s head was swelled much beyond its accustomed size ; it had lost two teeth and one of its eyes was entirely shut up; while as for the dwarf, his fists as well as his arms were reeking, and his hideous face was ghastly pale with rage and despair of victory. Fate was kind to him, however. In round 11, the bulldog came on fresh and foaming with awful persistence of fury, but with desperate strength the dwarf dealt him : a tremendous blow under the chin, and with such effect that the dog was dashed against the wall, where, despite all its.master could do for it, for the space of one minute it lay still, and the wretch who had so disgraced what aspect of humanity was in him, was declared the victor. I shfdl have gone through that horrid spectacle to little purpose if any such tournaments are in future waged at Hanley.” 'ln connection with tho above, we notice the following item of pews in an exchange: —A horrible description by Mr James Greenwood (the amateur casual) pf a fight | between a dwarf and a bulldog atllanley, which appeared in tho JJaiiy, Telegraph, excited great sensation. The Hanley authorities deny the accuracy of the re port, and rewards offered have failed to elicit any information. Mr Greenwood, on visiting the town again, failed to idea* tify the house or street in which the fight is said to have taken place, so that many persons pronounce the account to be m hv vention.