COCK-FIGHTING NEAR SYDNEY.

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXXIV, Issue 9372, 15 February 1909, Page 3

COCK-FIGHTING NEAR SYDNEY.

A BRUTAL SPORT,

Notwithstanding the vigilance of the police, cook-fighting.ds still indulged in regularly in the scrub near Botany, at a secluded spot on the shores of Middle Harbor, and the upper reaches of Lane Oove. A representative of the Sydney Daily Telegraph had an opportunity of witnessing a “main” recently and although the sport is unquestionably cruel it is nevertheless intensely exciting and picturesque and the gladiatorial behaviour of the birds and their gamenees are something to remember. A ‘‘main” is usually applied to a meeting of not less than seven pair of birds which, although perhaps belonging to different owners, are nominated by two parties only, who are usually men of considerable experience and adepts at the art of “handling” the birds during a contest. They are the seconds, whose duty is to fix the spurs on the bird, to see that there are no loose feathers in the wings, that the “buds” have been properly cut and that he “feels his feet” the moment he faces an opponent. The ring or pit is about 30 feet in circumference and hollowed out to a depth of about a foot and it ia in this pit that the birds fight, while excited onlookers surround it closely, watching every move of the birds and laying their bets in husky, hushed tones, as there is no desire to attract ontside attention and, besides, any tumult would disturb the birds.

It was a recent Saturday afternoon when in ones and twos, by boat and on foot, from an adjacent railway station about 30 men strolled leisurely by devious pathways through a thick scrub-bush to a pleasant grass plot. The birds, fourteen nn number, were already on the ground in light fancy wicker baskets, made so that they conld be conveniently enclosed within a bushel fruit-box, the more easily to escape tbe vigilance of an inquisitive constable. Several of those present were men prominently associated with the turf aud they laid as much money on a “main” as they would have done on many a race. They were a beautiful lot of birds, fed aud trained to tbe moment. Theirjthreeweeka’ diet on toast and hard-boiled whites of eggs bad evidently agreed with them and right through their life or death battles they showed wonderful stamina and courage. The first fight was between two splendid specimens of a long line of colonial-bred English black game. They looked much lighter than birds of the same breed that one sees on the show bench, for the reason that the feathers had been closely clipped from the shoulders to tbe head, giving them what is termed a “hackled” neck. The long tail feathers . were also missing. They showed the greatest anxiety to be free from tbe hands of their captors and to get to business and lost little time in sparring for an opening, which consists of warily stepping a few inches sideways and pretending to pick at some objection the ground, with the ostensible purpose apparently of “bluffing, ” but their little shining eyes were never taken from one another. Rising together they/'mixed” it fully four feet from the ground and both came down together, one of them with the steel spur of the other through his throat. It was a sudden ending to tbe first fight and the owners of the victorious bird began to wager any sum that they were going to win the “main.” In less time than it takes to tell fully another £IOO must have been wagered on the final resnlt. At times the most intense excitement pr3vailed, bat voices raised were instantly silenced by the older and moreexperienced men, who never allowed themselves to get out of hand but attended upon|their birds with the utmost seriousness, fixing tbe spurs to the exact position, examining the eyes and “handling” in a dozen other ways. There were five rounds of 40aeo. and the counts were in tens to 40.

Of the 14 thirds matched three were killed ontright, in each case the throats having |been severed by the spurs. Throughout the contests the utmost order prevailed, although there was a slight rupture at one period through the owner of a beaten bird picking up the dead body and hurling it at the [conqueror, who stood erect in the* centre of the ring crowing in rapid defiant tones, to the great glee of the other onlookers.