ORIENTAL FIGHTING COCKS

By Andrew P.O’ Conor, 1929

The first fighting fowl brought to this country from the Orient, of which there is an authentic record, were the rose comb dark-legged black reds which were brought from China to Baltimore in 1827 by Capt. John O'Donnell, who founded the town of Canton, on the Patapsco river, and which now forms part of the City of Baltimore, the principal street of which bears the name of O'Donnell.

Capt. O'Donnell's chief opponents were the Winans. Mr. James Eslin thought the O'Donnell cocks were as game as any he had ever seen. There were two families of them—black breasted willow-legged Muffs and black red, dark-eyed, dark-legged cocks, with rose combs.

After the death of Capt. O'Donnell, his fowls reached the hands of, among others, Sam Robertson, who obtained the Muffs, and George Ohlënschlager, whose name was corrupted to Wellslager, and as "Wellslager Reds" they achieved world-wide fame, and the blood entered into the make-up of many strains which also became famous, especially the Goss "Counterfeits," which were a blend with the Winans Baltimore Top Knots.

Mr. James Eslin frequentlly crossed his strains with both the Wellslagers and Goss strains, and at the time of his death, in 1886, one of the best families of fowls he left, were the top-knots, which were taken over by Harry Middleton, and cocks of his breeding were extensively used by the sons of James Eslin.

As has been previously stated, it was a family tradition in the Arrington family, that the first game cocks brought to America, were the white cocks from China, which were brought to North Carolina by Sir Francis Drake.

The reference to them which appeared in Dr. J. W. Cooper's book, "Game Fowl," which was published about sixty years ago, was furnished by Gideon Arrington, but as early as 1770, reference to the "Thompson Whites" appeared in the Virginia Gazette, a copy of which I saw at Blucher Hansbrough's home. They were called "Thompson's China Whites," and were advertised by Simon Stamper, "near" Savannah, Georgia.

If the truth were known, the origin of the Cheshire Pyles might be traced to Sir Francis Drake's importation.

But when we now refer to Orientals, we have in mind recent importations of Asils and Japs. In 1848, travellers returning from the Orient, spread the fame of the fighting  cocks of the Island of Sumatra.

Commodore Perry, going so far as to say the Sumatra  game hens could whip our best cocks; so in the course of time, the Sumatra feathered fighters were brought to Washington by Naval officers.

James Eslin, who was considered an authoritÿ on fight ing cocks, was presented a trio. He described them to me, as being jet black, both cocks and hens, with the longest and most brilliant plumage of any fowl he had ever  seen. The cocks, he said, were really splendid fighters, but  they were deficient in courage.

The first fighting game cocks brought to this country from Japan, was in 1876, when they were exhibited at the Philadelphia Centennial. A man by the name of Fox, of San Francisco, had the Japanese exhibits in charge, and through him, Capt. Anthony Green of Sacramento, obtained a cock and hen. Capt. Greene at that time was breeding and successfully fighting John Mulholland's famous strain of Gray fowl.

  The Jap cock was bred to Gray hens, and from that day to this, Capt. Greene has been an advocate of Jap crosses, and his long and brilliant record in the pit with them, is the answer to their quality.

Whether we like them or not, their record is before us and while I personally have had no success With the crosses, those which I got direct from both Capt. Greene and our great friend, the late Phil Dougherty, •bf Hartford, Conn., were as game as any cocks I ever saw. 

Perhaps the first Asils brought to this country, were  those which were brought from India by Admiral Daniel Amman, about 45 years ago. He bred them at hig home,  Ammandale, Md., where he had breeding pens constructed after the plans used by the natives of India, which consisted of large wire runs, and smaller runs inside, in which a hen was placed, in full view of the cock. This arrangement kept the cock active, hopping on and off the coop in which the hen was placed. The cock and hen were permitted to enjoy the society of each other every fourth day.

When I went to Ammandale in the late Autumn to "dub" the stags, I was amazed at their strength, solid flesh and hard plumage.

The stags were placed in large pens, as above described, with a hen confined in a small pen, which was moved from time to time.

Admiral Amman told me that his fellow-officer in the  U. S. Navy, Admiral Quackenbush, also bred Asns; but of  a different family, and that they had arranged to have a fight late in the Spring. Amman had crossed the Asils with English Duckwing grays, and Quackenbush had crossed with Hennies, from John Harris, of Liskeard, Cornwall, England.  

Their trials with stags were unsatisfactory, both with the originals and the half-breeds, and they decided to defer the trials until the stags were matured. 

In the winter of 1889, Quackenbush sent 13 cocks to Ammans, and I fed both lots of cocks, among which there were five original Asils in each lot. The Amman cocks were superior in every way, due, I expect, to superior care in walking them. I gave them the weight lists, they matched the cocks, I trimmed them, and these old cronies heeled and pitted their cocks. Among those present were Hon. John W. Douglas, Columbus Eslin, Harry Middleton,

Hon. Joe Blackburn, of Ky., Hon. John G. Carlisle, U. S. Senator Callum, of Ill., and many others of equal fame in the world of sport and politics. 

Mr. Eslin was not impressed with either the action or courage of the Asils or the crosses. Some were exceptionally game, and others of practically the same breeding sulked, but we were all impressed with the Quackenbush hen cocks, and the Duckwing Grays.  

 Had I not seen the Kearney cocks fight, which instantly became my ideals, I would very likely have taken some of these fowl and bred them, especially the Hen cocks. A few years after my experience with these Asils, I saw some splendid cocks fought at John Dixon's pit, in Philadelphia, which were called "Ide Rossiter" Asils, and a few months later, Pat Carroll met 4 of the same strain, in a main at Pottsville, Pa., three of which met cocks of my breeding, and were defeated, but I never want to see gamer cocks. I think the name of the man who fought them, was Smicker. The "Rossiter" importation were  unquestionably game, and were different in appearance and action from the strains with which I had become  familiar.

  The last I heard of the "Rossiter" fowl, was about 25 years ago, through Frank P. Casey, who told me that Frank Coolidge, of Boston, had the last of the strain that he knew of; that they were still very tough cocks, but had become mediocre fighters, and were no longer feared  in the pit.

Great changes have taken place in the general appear ance of fighting cocks, during the last forty years. In my early days, the sight of a Roundhead cock was unusual. Mr. Kirkpatrick, of Baltimore, fought some of them, and I  fought a few from the Costa Rica hen.

Nearly all the leading strains then were dark reds, with dark legs and straight combs. Some Pyles and both light and dark grays. In Northern New York, a few  strains of light reds and spangles were at the top, and in the South, the "Claibornes" and Bacon Spangles were fighting it out with the dark reds and grays for supremacy.

Today, light reds with round heads are seen almost everywhere, and I hear through correspondence with friends all over the cocking world that the round head blood may be traced in the pedigree of at least 80% of the foremost winning strains of today.

I will risk my reputation as a prophet that the breeders who are fortunate enough to have pure straight-comb strains, and who have bred them properly under natural conditions, will be the saviours of the sport.

The following letter relates the experience of the late Ralph W. Pierce, and it is worthy of the serious  consideration of all breeders of fighting fowl. 

 World's Dispensary, Buffalo, N. Y., Nov. 20, 1929.  My dear Andrew :

I was glad to get your letter today. Time passes quickly—it seems only yesterday that our first conversation relative to Asil's took place, yet it was over 28 years ago, but I distinctly remember it all, and I have long since realized that you were right, when you said: "No matter how good the first crosses may be, you can never make a dependable strain with them. They cannot be successfully in-bred and you can never breed a consis tent strain of any fowl by continued crossing"' 

I have again read your reference to me and the Asils in the first and second editions of The Cocker's Hand Book—1910-11—

You were right 28 years ago, as you were in 1911, and as you are today.

I could fiill a book myself with my experience in fighting Asils and their crosses, during the 30 years I have bred them. To give it all would hurt some of my best friends. This much I know, my first Asil (or Indians) were game. The first was the Arty Courny Peelen strain (or some such name, the spelling of which I have forgotten). They must have been imported about 50 years ago. Then there was some Atkinson and Rossiter stock I got from Dr. Heffinger, who lives near your farm, and Graves that were game, but unfortunately, some of the American fowl I crossed with them were short-bred.

I had good success in the pit, with the half-bloods,

but could not win with quarter-bred ones. The importation of Asils I made in 1910 and 1920 or 21 from Atkinson, were not strictly game, as I proved it by breeding and testing out some pure ones that I raised, but I got some very successful half-bloods from them—very few stopped. The funny part was, I never could get any good fighting quarter-bloods. Kennicutt's experience is different. He has a Jungle-Shawl hen that throws very even and sensational cocks bred to either grade Jap or grade Jungle, which is strange. She must be a "dominant." .  A former partner had a pure Asil hen from Dr. H. P.  Clarke. We got some good fighting cocks from her, but  like •my others, we were unable to breed a successful strain from her, of grades. The last six or seven years I have experimented with Jungles. I got four pure Jungle cocks from Gleezen. I bred from two of them on game hens, and I then fought and thoroughly tested out all four cocks. They acted very game. Now the funny part of it is, some of the half-breeds quit. They were fairly good fighting cocks and won a majority against ordinary cocks. I destroyed them all. I feel that I have and can do better without any Oriental blood and have finished my experimenting with them, for the reason that whether game or dunghill, I could not breed a strain of consistent grades, I now, after all these years of breeding, cannot see anything to be gained by Oriental blood in our best  fowl, only the increase in the size of bone, and I think our native fowl have enough bone, and many of them, too much, as the larger the bone, the slower the cocks.

  You can use any part of this letter in your books after re-writing it to conform with your ideas, leaving the crux  of my statements, but I wish you would omit the name of  Atkinson."