Hammond Gordons

BY JAMES H. HAMMOND

Strange  as  it may  seem,  the  history  of  the Hammond Gordons  could  be written  in  a  single  sentence,  for  the  Gordons  were  made  from  two  well known strains, but since many versions have been given as to the true origin of  the  two  strains  from which  the Gordons were made  I  shall  endeavor  to give a correct history of both.

It is a peculiar fact that if a man report something he has seen with his own eyes there are those in a distant land who will rise up to deny the report of the eye witness, so, even  though  I was  intimately acquainted with  the men who were  most  prominent  in  founding  and  establishing  the  reputations  of  the strains I am about to mention, I do not expect everyone to agree with me. As I  am  nearing  my  three  score  and  ten  you  will  realize  that  it  was  not impossible  for me  to have  firsthand knowledge of many of  the  facts  I  shall presently set forth, but in the outset I want it distinctly understood that I will not take issue with those who refuse to accept as authentic the events herein enumerated.  I have but  two  reasons  for writing  this article; First,  to comply with  the  wish  of  Grit  and  Steel;  and,  Second,  to  do  what  I  can  towards establishing a permanent record of the strains that have been, and are famous today. If  through my  feeble efforts  just one man  is benefited  then  I shall be adequately compensated.

First I shall endeavor to give you, as briefly as possible, a correct account of the origination of the great strain known as Warhorses.

In  Augusta,  Georgia,  there  once  lived  a  man  by  the  name  of  Barney Dunbar, who, in that particular period, was considered the wealthiest man in that entire section. Mr. Dunbar was a great fancier and lover of game cocks, though  he  never  fought  them.  About  1850  he  sent  to  John  Stone,  of Marblehead, Massachusetts,  and  purchased  a  trio  of  Stone’s  Irish  Gilders. These fowl were placed with Mr. Tom Wilson at Beech Island, S. C., where they were to be bred for Dunbar. After a trial of a few seasons these Gilders proved to be absolutely game. 

In  the  meantime,  Col.  Thos.  G.  Bacon,  of  Edgefield,  S.  C.,  discovered some wonderful  fighting cocks  in Baltimore, Maryland. Col. Bacon brought some of  these cocks  to his Carolina plantation and  they  turned out  to be  the greatest  winners  shown  in  that  section  up  to  that  time.  Occasionally  one would  run  away  despite  their wonderful  fighting  and  cutting  qualities. Col. Bacon and other prominent cockers decided to try a cross of these Baltimore fowls  on  the  Irish  Gilders,  thinking  they  would  probably  get  the  fighting qualities  of  the  Baltimore  fowl,  (Burnt  Eyes)  together  with  the  staying qualities of the Gilders, and thereby produce a great strain of fowls.

So  the Burnt Eye cock from Baltimore was put over  the Irish Gilder hens that  came  from Massachusetts  and  a number of  stags were  raised  from  this mating.

It will  be  remembered  that  the  Irish Gilder  hens were  placed with  Tom Wilson and so it was he who raised the stags from the Burnt Eye cock and the Gilder hens. Wilson was known  to his friends as “Fowl” Wilson on account of his consumate fondness for game fowl. It so happened that Tom wanted a saddle,  which,  in  that  day  and  time,  was  a  most  important  item  in  every would-be “traveling” man’s equipment In “the good old days” a man seldom bought or  traded  for  anything  as  it was  the  custom  then  to  “swap.” At  this time,  about  which  I  write,  one  Peter  Sherron,  a  policeman  in  Augusta, Georgia, had a saddle for which he had no particular need, but being a fancier of game fowl he very much wanted one of the stags of the Burnt Eye-Gilder cross. So, it naturally followed that Tom and Peter “swapped.”

In 1856 at the Old Shades on Ellis Street in Augusta, Georgia, Bacon and Bohler fought a main against Franklin, of Columbia, S. C. Bacon and Bohler used a number of these half Gilder, half Burnt Eye birds, among them being the Sherron stag for which  the saddle was  traded, now grown  to a cock and making  top weight at 6.04. This cock met his opponent high  in  the air; both came  to  the  ground  shuffling  and  fell  apart  as  if  in  a  dying  condition, whereupon  the  half  Burnt  Eye,  half  Gilder  vomited  a  mouthful  of  blood, staggered over  to  the Columbia cock and  shuffled. The Sherron cock killed the Columbia cock in this terrific shuffle. Peter Sherron, the proud owner of this wonderful  bird, was  so  enthused  he  did  not wait  for Henry Hicks,  the handler, to handle the cock, but jumped in the pit, grabbed the cock up, raised him above his head and yelled: “Be faither-rs! But ain’t he a War-rhorse?”

This  Sherron  cock was  a  typical  Burnt  Eye  in  appearance:  Black  body, dark legs, black eyes, lemon hackle. In blood he was, as has been explained, one-half Burnt Eye, one-half Irish Gilder. This was the cock, and this was the occasion, of the origin of the strain of fowls called “War-horses”

The Burnt Eyes  and Gilders were  so  entirely  different  in  every  detail  of appearances that the off-spring from this cross (the birds that were destined to become Warhorses)  came many  colors:  Some  black-breasted  reds with  the white  fluff,  coloring  after  the  Irish Gilder  cocks;  some  brown-red with  red eyes and some with black eyes; others exactly the same as the Sherron cock, a description of which has been given.

Col. Bacon seemed to have fancied the brown-reds, and on my visits to his yards most of the fowls I saw there were of that type. Old Col. John Fair also fancied this type. Hopkinson fancied the darker fowl; his hens came jet black and  cocks  the  type  of  the  original Warhorse  founder—the Baltimore Burnt Eye cock. And so  it was  that many people had  these fowls (Warhorses)  just as they carried them from that yard, of just such color as appealed most to the taste of each purchaser. And so  it  is,  too,  that many people  today may have pure Warhorses, yet strikingly different in appearances.

Having established the facts as to the foundation of the strain of Warhorses we will no longer refer to these chickens as Burnt Eye-Gilder cross, but will call them by their rightful name: Warhorses. As  proof  of  the  splendid  fighting  qualities  of  the Warhorses,  and  as  a tribute  to  one  of  the  greatest  feeders  and  handlers  it  has  ever  been  my privilege  to  know,  I  want  to  state  that  the  Warhorses  were  used  in  42 important mains, winning  40  and  losing  2.  Forty-one  of  these mains were          fought  by  Bacon  and  Bohler,  with  Henry  Hicks,  half  brother  to  Bohler, feeding  and handling. Of  this number only one was  lost,  this  to Dr. Gee  at Selma,  Alabama,  about  45  or  46  years  ago.  About  25  years  ago  the Warhorses  lost  one main  to  S.  S. Moore,  but  Bacon  and  Bohler were  not interested in this main; Hicks fought the main on his own account, using the Warhorse  cocks.  Right  here  I would  like  to  say  that while  Hicks  fed  and handled all the mains for Bohler and Bacon, it is my belief that Hicks never

bred any cocks. He was not a breeder, not even a fancier in the true sense of the word,  but  as  a  feeder  and  handler  he  ranked  among  the  very  best  the world has ever known.

Some years  ago  I had  the misfortune  to  lose my house by  fire,  at which time all letters and notes I had were destroyed, so I am, of necessity, writing entirely from memory. It is possible that there may be some little inaccuracies in  dates, but  the  sum  and  substance  of  this  history  is  correct.  And  this represents  one  side  of  the Gordons.  The  other  side  of  the  Gordons is represented by Col. Alfred Aldrich’s Mugwumps, and these two strains make up the blood lines of the Hammond Gordons except a thirty-second infusion of Rood Warhorse, which, no  doubt, was  a  direct  descendant  of  the same Warhorses used by me  in  founding my Gordons. The Rood cock  resembled very much  the Bacon cocks and  I am  sure  there was  little difference  in  the blood except that this Rood cock had a round head, and it was from him that the round head is now seen in the Gordons. In color he was brown-red.

Greenwood, S. C., March 1, 1919.

Mr. C. R. Wilson,

 Allendale, S. C.

Friend Wilson:—The  request  that  you  have made  of me  to write  out  for publication the origin and breeding of the Mugwump strain of game fowls is one that has frequently come to me within the last five years, but leisure and inclination would never come simultaneously and so  I have never complied until now.

Referring  to  the origin of  the Mugwump  strain of game  fowls,  I will  say        that back in the distant past there was a turfman and cock fighter of this state by the name of Col. Thos. G. Bacon who bred and pitted the most successful cocks of that age. His original stock came from John Stone, of Massachusetts. About  the  same  time Major  Burnett  Rhett,  of  Charleston,  S.  C.,  bred  and fought a strain B. B.  red cocks  that had  the  reputation, deservedly, of being the gamest cocks of their age.

I got a pair of Bacon fowls and a trio of Rhett’s and crossed them and by selection  produced  a  strain  which  I  named  Mugwump.  Mugwump  is  an Indian name and in the Algonquin language it means Big Chief.

About the year 1890 I crossed into my strain a B. B. red cock with yellow legs  that  I  got  from Baltimore.  I  do  not  know who  bred  this  cock  or what strain he came from. This cock was a spangle in his third year, a white at the fourth moulting and remained white until his death. Before I bred any of his sons  to a yard of my Mugwump hens, I satisfied myself  that he was a game cock.

The first and only one of his sons that I used as a brood cock was a black with yellow  legs and beak, had a  few white  feathers  in his  tail and wings.  I fought him in a main at Hibernia Park, Charleston, S. C., where a number of fine cocks fought in the two days of the main, and the concensus of opinion was  that he outclassed any cock shown on either side. He was a high flying cock and never tried to bill as long as his adversary could stand on his feet. In several of his  fights, he killed his opponent without ever  touching him with his mouth.

It was invariably my practice to breed from the best fighter of his year and never to breed from any cock until he had fought several battles, in order that I might determine his quality. I bred this black cock to a yard of my choicest pure Mugwump  hens  and  he  sired  several  black  stags  and  occasionally  a white stag or pullet. From him I got my white and black Mugwumps. Always the white and black Mugwumps were bred exactly alike.

Note the statement that I am about to make, namely: that no Mugwump of the present day, no matter where he or she may be found, has any blood in its composition save what came from that black cock. He was the only son of the Baltimore cock that I bred from and I never used any of the daughters of the Baltimore  cock  for breeding purposes.  If  I used  a  son of  the black  cock he was invariably mated to pure Mugwump hens.

I once shipped a coop of five cocks to Sr. Bustamente, three reds, 1 black and 1 white, all brothers, and all acted alike in the pit In the foregoing I have given the origin of the Mugwumps, as many of the cock fighters in the South know it to be.

You  are  at  liberty  to  give  this  history  to  any  game  fowl  paper  for publication, if you see fit to do so, on my responsibility.

In  conclusion  I  will  say  my  main  reason  in  giving  you  the  foregoing information  is  that  I  have  replied  to many  letters  asking  to  find  the  purest Mugwump,  to  the effect  that,  in my  judgment, your yards will come nearest filling the bill If you use any part of this communication in a game fowl paper, kindly say that I am out of the game and have no fowls for sale.

Your friend,

(Signed) Alfred Aldrich.

Steel Fighters

BY C. A. FINSTERBUSCH
There is an old axiom between sportsmen saying that the cock that stands the gaff test gamely, will stand any test. That is to say: naked heel up to the sword-like slasher.
True, a dead game cock will stand any punishment under any circumstances. He will show fight after cooling down, and will fight day after day, until sexual organs are injured,—the health or integrity of which are greatly responsible for his gameness. Because we must understand that gameness is the will to eliminate the adversary who is a natural sexual competitor, and that gameness is a mental quality, by means of which the will to fight is greater than the pain of wounds, the fever of disease, or the depression of a battered condition. If a cock shows fight the second or third day, despite being cut down badly, it is pretty sure to assume that besides a general battered condition, his sexual apparatus is in perfect order. Not only his testicles, but all their secondary attributes, as kidneys, nerves and cerebral centre. General fever will affect his mental and physical condition, but if not impairing the urine-sexual glands, you may expect gameness. But a game cock, whose testicles are injured, either by a cut or feverish disease, is not willing to fight and is apt to run.

A capon will never show fight!
Integral masculinity, or better said, sexual capacity is a paramount condition for the cock, the man or any live being, to show fight. The gradual amount of gameness, courage and insensibility to injuries depends on how the sexual segregation influences the physique generally, and the nerves particularly. Remove the sexual organs of any being and you will notice, at once, that the fighting spirit left amounts to nil. But a true game cock in full possession of his sexual ability may be cut to ribbons and still have the desperate will to fight to the last. The game cock while fighting does not feel pain, therefore the alleged cruelty of cock fighting does not exist.
Those people that decry fighting as a cruel entertainment, and who really do not engage in any violent sport, are generally mentally effeminate, and do not know what a fight is for. They will leave business of masculine character to be taken over by women, whereas it has been prescribed by nature that the male has to lead the family. Effeminate men are unable to fight and lacking gameness it would be cruel to make them do so. But generally they are the loudest preachers.
It requires game cocks to fight, and dead game ones to stand the gaff. A game cock will stand any amount of steel, either if bred for natural spur or slasher. There should be no doubt about this. But that a cock will have better chances, if allowed to hurt with a more deadly weapon than that provided by nature, is a different chapter altogether.
Man has stepped in and has improved the sport from a spectacular point of view. The old-time naked heeler was not sufficiently efficient for modern views. On the other side, the sword-like slashers used in the Orient, was too much of a gambling proposition to satisfy the western cocker who looked for both winners and constant winners.
The modern steel gaff is an evolution from the old slasher. Intelligent observation, skilled workmanship, have produced it as generally known, through such states as the haip, the silver spur, old-time steel, etc. The constant ambition to produce some wonderful fatal twists, have produced freaks and fakes, highly interesting, no doubt, but too extravagant to pursue.
The law of decent cock fighting is to give both adversaries equal chances and that is why, on the square, a determined length and shape of steel brings out the best sport and gives the better cock chances to win. The long spurs, as well as slashers, are liable to be dangerous weapons when handled by a cowardly, frightened cock.
Naked heel fights, on the other side, may place a cock to disadvantage regarding length of spur and direction of same. It is in the moderate length spur where chances are evened and where it requires a really better cock to win.
Fighting with artificial spurs should have a majority of fatal decisions and it is therefore that the cocks used must be of a superior strain.

The Breeds.
We have enumerated elsewhere the principal breeds best adapted for carrying steel. Old English, Irish, French, Spanish and most of American cocks are by nature steel fighters.
The reader will have noticed that English breeders of game fowl lay a good deal of attention to colors, sometimes going to extremes that cockers this side of the ocean fail to understand. The object is to get at color schemes that should represent famous old-timers, all of which had a reputation for excellence. Contrary to American custom, the English exhibit game fowls at shows, and there is but little doubt that nothing has had such a deteriorating influence on the quality of O. E. G., than the show coop. Many birds that go today under the name of Old English Game are neither game nor O. E., fanciers going as far as crossing the old-time pit bird with Leghorns and other breeds to produce color specimens that may deceive a judge, who does not look for anything else.
Fortunately there is a club that cares for the preservation of the real pit fowl with greatest zeal, and the show it patronizes yearly at Oxford is different to most others.
British breeders of game, when talking or writing about cocking, have a queer habit of relating to same as a thing of the past, making the novice believe that the sport is not any more practiced in England. It may be said right here that happily this is not the case, cocking being carried out secretly, but with the skill and enthusiasm of yore.
Prominent English sportsmen have only recently undertaken an expedition to France to match British against French cocks, doubtless goaded by former failure to whip the “cock gaulois” on his ground.
As stated elsewhere, what the cocker considers a steel fighter is a quick acting, good flying, alert bird. Wing power is necessary as a steel fighter depends on his speed, and speed requires wing action to a degree. As artificial spurs are nowadays thin and extremely sharp, thigh power is not essential, as the weapons penetrate with the slightest effort. Moreover leg speed is highly desirable, obviously.
These circumstances point to a light built, flying bird, i. e., a Bankiva, and actually this type of bird has been basically responsible for the best steel fighters in Europe and America.
The pure Bankiva bird however, though game and courageous, has a drawback, common to most gallus-like flyers. They are easy to kill, a fact well known to hunters. This, and the lacking thigh power, induced, no doubt, early English cockers to cross the old-time bird with Oriental breeds. Malays, Chittagongs, Calcuttas and occasionally Asils. Orientals of Malay origin are notoriously tough and hard to kill. They stand hard punishment, and even deadly wounds, better than other birds, and kick with extreme force, even when exhausted or nearly dead.
In districts where cocks were fought naked heeled, such crosses evidently improved the native stock and, in fact, subsequently gave origin to such breeds as the Cornish. The showman laid his hand on the new breed, and at once the breed lost usefulness as it became conspicuous in the show ring.
It is difficult to obtain at present pure Bankiva type Old English game, in fact, the average English cocker widely prefers the stouter bird evolved from Oriental blood infusion. It has been stated that these birds are the better for the cross, and the writer has not the slightest evidence against this statement.
So it is that many American breeders who started on imported English stock, and who subsequently bred them pure, do not know where the Oriental streak comes from. About the same thing happened in Belgium, where the Bruges cock was produced and which, formerly, was intended to fight in natural spurs.
Colors.
The reader will have noticed that Oriental birds are rather uniform in their color scheme, the great majority being dark black-reds with pearl eyes. Strains of other colors are identified by their hue, but odd colors meet with disapproval and suspicion. The highest reputed of Indian game, the Asil, is divided in a few strains only, all dark and identified merely by their color. Indian cockers do not allow chance to creep in. They have experience extending some 20 to 30 centuries and kill off every off-colored bird. The writer has observed that highly successful breeders stuck firmly to a given color scheme, dark ones being, at that time, in preference. My own experience being further, that failures occur more frequently with lighter colors. Evidence therefrom may be gathered that color stands for efficiency or absence of same, in purebreds!
White hair on most live beings stands for vanishing youth, and white color in game birds is an indication that the physiologic function of feather coloring, intimately related with sexual functions and expression, is absent. We are sure that gameness and staying power depends on sexual integrity, and therefore, white birds lack a condition without which, breeding for the pit, is greatly problematic. The danger of white color has been realized among Asil breeders, and specimens appearing now and then are killed off right away.
For steel fighting, where staying power and wind are not essential, especially if long weapons are used, the danger of white color is not always apparent, and, in fact, white birds have been reputed to possess deadly heels and high speed, but, at the expense of endurance and gameness, I have made a big jump from extreme to extreme. Between very dark and white, there is a scale of colors, most of which have been identified by a standard denomination, such as Reds, Greys, Pyles, Duns, Blacks, etc., but this does not mean that colors are absent. In fact, there are much more colors lacking standard denomination than those generally used and recognized by the standard.
Do not run away with the idea that a dark colored bird is guaranteed game, but uniform color, inside standard game qualities, at once impress you of having a homogeneous foundation upon which you reckon your chances. If you allow your flock to come all colors, you will soon realize that difference in type, combs, etc., will soon creep in, and you will probably have a lot of mongrels in no time, evidencing that your birds are not pure but crossbreds, and as such unreliable to a degree. Color in game birds is a measure of breeding science.
Fighting Style.
A Spanish cocking veteran, whom I asked, why they fought naked heel instead of steel, being as it is that the peninsular game birds are typical steel fighters, expressed his views that any length of steel assists the cock to kill his adversary easily, while fighting in natural spurs, the same cock has to put a considerable larger amount of strength, skill and gameness to obtain the same result. Further, that all that is necessary for steel fighting is a cock able to cross his legs well. Power being quite unnecessary, and even in the way, when it was there at the expense of speed, as is the case in most Orientals.
This should give food for thought and a fair idea what steel fighting style should be. But, even experienced cockers differ considerably in their opinion about the advantage of speed and wing work, the crab about steel being that the shorter the heel the nearer you come to naked spurs, and the longer it is the nearer you come to the slasher. How a slasher cock lacking wing, as they say in Peru, is a dead cock.
It is queer that in lands where cocks are fought in steel, you may find any length of gaffs from short regulation up to true pitchforks. The difference in length used not being other commodity but the adaptation of the weapon to the bird’s capability. No doubt that the longer the heel the greater the opportunity for a chance winner.
I take the words of a wise and experienced sportsman to close: “Full drop gaffs, one and a half inches, brings out the best sport.”

The Red Cubans

BY GEO. B. MEANS.

It would take many days to write a complete history of the Red Cuban Games, and as I only have a limited time, and during my spare time at that, I must, at the beginning, make an apology to those who are interested in the Red Cubans, on account of the briefness of this history. 
It has been 55 years since the originals of the Red Cubans landed in this country. Charleston, S. C., was the city where they landed, in the year 1871, and it was in 1877 that my father, George W. Means, became the proud possessor of his first trio of that stock of Spanish-Cuban blood. The dead gameness of the Spanish-Cuban blood is known in all parts of the world, and that trio was the beginning of the strain of fowls now known the world over as the “Means Red Cubans.”
In the beginning all the Red Cubans were red, hence the name “Red Cuban.” It wasn’t very long before new blood became necessary to prevent inbreeding. The first infusion of new blood was one-eighth of the original “Old Nick Arrington Stonefence,” such as was bred by him before the ’sixties. This one-eighth proportion of new blood was added in this manner: It was done by mating in small yards, the first year. a pure Stonefence cock to three pure Cuban hens; the second year a stag from the first mating was used on another yard of pure Cuban hens (this stag was of course one-half Cuban and one-half Stonefence); and from the second mating a stag was produced that was one-fourth Stonefence and three-fourths Cuban; and the third year this cock was used with pure Cuban hens, and this mating produced stags that were one-eighth Stonefence and seven-eighths Cuban. These were then used as brood cocks on the regular yards. At another time my father, by breeding in that same manner, infused one-eighth blood of an extra fine cock which he obtained at a South Carolina main. This cock was a cross between a Rucker Warhorse and a Hackle.
Sometime after this he secured another fine cock, sent to him from a Charleston main, and he was as fine a cock as was ever used for breeding—a beautiful bird and a winner of several fights.
Another infusion was one-eighth imported Derby stock, obtained by him from Mr. Charles Harris, of this city, a friend having made the shipment to him. This fine cock was admired by many, and his gameness and fighting qualities were all that could be desired in any cock.
Some more infusions are as follows, and these infusions are of strictly Cuban blood:
Captain Holt, a friend of my father, and who for years ran a merchant vessel from Wilmington, N. C., to the West Indies, purchased for him a magnificent cock. Captain Holt brought the cock over on his last voyage in person. This cock was a terrific fighter and his progeny dead game. This was a valuable addition to the Red Cuban blood. Captain Holt now resides in Texas.
On another occasion, and through the kindness of Hon. E. R. Chervalley, who was known as a lover of thoroughbred stock, my father was enabled to procure a fine Spanish cock, another valuable addition, and as game as could be.

Another infusion which explains where most of the tasseled Red Cubans are from, is a pair of tasseled Cubans imported directly from Havana about thirty-four years ago. Of this pair, the cock stood the test, and all his offspring, as well as the hen.
A little later, when General Lee was American representative in Cuba, and an acquaintance of my father, he secured for him a pair of the celebrated Rodrigues strain. This particular blood is said to be the best in the island of Cuba. It was well tested and infused in every yard.
Then there was another beautiful cock that was loaned him, so that he might breed him, by a friend in Baltimore, whose name is coupled with that of some of the best game fowl in America. This cock was called a spangle, but he came nearer to being a pyle. At any rate many of his offspring were pyles. This cock was bred in 1902 to one of his largest and most highly prized Cuban hens. Then his Baltimore friend gave him permission to test the cock to a finish, and he proved to be pure game. All the stags from that mating (except the one that he sent his friend) were tested and all died fighting to the very last. One of them was bred before testing, and from that one was taken the brood stock.
For infusion of more new blood, I will now go back to 1906 and mention another great cock that helped to make the Red Cubans what they are today. Mr. Wilson Wright of Tampa, Fla., a patron and friend of my father, visited Havana in that year, and while there with a Spanish friend, attended a pit at which Senor Juan N. Cannizares, one of the most noted cockers of the Cuban Republic was handling. Mr. Wright was presented to him by his friend. During that same day Sr. Cannizares pitted a beautiful black-breasted, yellow-leg cock which won after a hard fight. Mr. Wright was much impressed by the cock’s action in battle, and also by his style and beauty. His Spanish friend, noting this, bought the cock from Sr. Cannizares, paying 46 for him, and presented him to Mr. Wright. The fight that day made the cock a winner of five battles, and later on, in the spring, he won three more battles for Mr. Wright, making in all an eight-times winner of him. Mr. Wright then presented this cock to my father, who bred him to two of his finest hens, and secured from that mating a few fine stags and pullets. Later on he raised enough from these to give a thorough test of that blood and found it so satisfactory in every respect that he infused it into his yards.
All of the foregoing is the blood of the Red Cubans as it is today. It was necessary to add new blood from time to time, and it was done in a scientific way. As stated, nothing but the very best blood was added. Inbreeding cannot be done for very long at a time, except at the expense of bone, muscle and general vitality.
The Red Cubans are now bred on 21 different yards, and also several small yards. The stock is pedigreed by breeding full sisters on a yard, and then by properly breeding from one yard to another. This results in keeping all the lines of blood up, and also results in well-formed, strong-muscled cocks, without the introduction of new blood, only as mentioned. There is practically no weeding out to be done. Occasionally there are a few “culls” or birds that are not shaped up properly, and these are disposed of at once. Much care is taken in selecting the cocks and hens to breed from, on the Cuban yards, and constant vigilance is the price of success. Like does not always beget like, as many firmly believe. One will find this out to his sorrow if he tries to inbreed for any length of time; and new blood should be tested for quite a while before being added to good stock.
I am somewhat of a believer in evolution (and as I live next state to Tennessee I realize that it is rather dangerous to make this statement, but I am obliged to believe in it) for I have seen it work out to an extent with my own eyes. I am almost 38 years of age, and was brought up with the Red Cubans.
By my father’s careful and selective breeding I have seen the Red Cubans “evolute” from a small breed, with cocks on an average of about 4 pounds in weight, to what they are today, with an average weight of cocks around 6 pounds. Being well acquainted with his method of breeding, I could easily make them average 7 pounds in another ten years. But the demand calls for cocks weighing on an average of about 5 pounds, 8 ounces, and the Red Cubans won’t be bred up to a larger size until the demand is for larger cocks. Some of the Red Cubans weigh up to 8 pounds now, but very seldom does one attain that weight.
Now I will tell my readers just where and how the Red Cubans came by their different colors. As I have mentioned before, the Cubans were all red originally. Now the colors vary from a spangle to a coal black. Included in this assortment of colors are light reds, dark reds, blue-reds, a few red-pyles, and some almost white-pyles. Dark red, however, is the predominating color among the Red Cubans. The blacks are from the Chervalley cock as mentioned before, and from the Hackle, one being very dark, and the other a coal black with brass wing butts, from which one of my father’s famous cocks, “Starlight” by name, was descended. The blue-red, pyle, and also the spangle, came from the Rodriguez blood. The latter blood brought forth quite a number of spangles, and wherever this blood was infused an occasional spangle appears. Sometimes these spangles gradually turn white each year at moulting season until the cock seems to be almost white, and the hens sometimes pure white.
As to the shape of heads on Red Cubans, they have large heads well set upon strong, lengthy necks. Most of the Cubans have straight combs (or single combs). They also have knob-combs and tassel (or roundhead and tassel). By carefully reading the different infusions it will be made clear where the tassel and knob-comb (or roundhead) comes from. The tassel and knob-comb can easily be bred out, yet the blood retained. As the demand for knob-combs or tassels is not very great, they have been bred down as much as possible, and not a great many appear among the Cubans. The Red Cubans are of a good average station, and have large, heavy-boned legs set wide apart, and are generally dark in color. But they also show white, moccasin and yellow legs, all of which comes from the imported Derby blood, the Holt, and the Cannezares cock.
Each cock used on the Red Cuban yards for breeding is put through a rigid examination. He is carefully looked over for any deformities, and he must be dead game. Some contend that a cock that has been fought a few times should not be used as a brood cock, but if that were so the Red Cubans would never
have gotten a start. All blood on brood yards has been tested. If the brood cock himself has not been tested his father has, and very often a brother or two. All of the brood hens are of tested stock and must conform in all particulars to the qualities that a first-class brood hen should have.
There are hundreds of Red Cuban cocks that have outstanding records and that have fought for big money, and their descendants are equally as good. I will name a few of the famous cocks that have given fame to the Red Cubans.
First I will name “Jaybird,” the most famous and best known Cuban of all, whose picture adorns the wall of many a sportsman’s den. In 1898 Jaybird won. at Jesus Maria, Mexico, 10,000 in one battle. In all he won four battles and fought for more money than any cock of his day, and he was sold for more money than any game cock on record.
“Patchen,” another famous cock, and a son of Jaybird, was winner of seven battles, and although he was not fought for as much money as Jaybird he was every inch as fine a cock. The Patchen and Jaybird blood was infused into every yard of the Red Cubans except five.
Other great Cubans and brood cocks are as follows:
“Starlight,” a beautiful coal black cock with a few brassy colored spots on each wing. He was a shake, weighing 7 pounds, 13 ounces. He was winner of three battles and his opponents were some of the best. There are three yards of this blood today, and his descendants have upheld his reputation for fighting ability.
“Stonewall” was another cock that was several times winner, and used as a brood cock with the best of results.
Other famous cocks were: “Gaston,’ ” weight 8 pounds; “Daylight,” weight 7 pounds, 2 ounces; “Allen Cooper,” weight 7 pounds; “Evan Taylor,” weight 6 pounds, 4 ounces; “Albemarle,” weight 5 pounds, 12 ounces; and “Darkness,” the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th. I could name a hundred or more that were great brood cocks and wonderful fighters, with enough victories to their credit to fill a good-sized book, and all were pitted against the best, their records being made only by hard-fought battles.
Nothing would give me greater pleasure than to give the readers of this brief history a record of the mains fought by the Red Cubans over a period covering the last ten or twenty years, but for me to attempt that would mean that I would have to write to a great many people who fought many of those mains and get their permission to use their names. Also I would have to look up dates and go over many thousands of letters to get a complete record.
After all, the object of this history is to give the readers the origin of the Red Cubans, and to show what method was used in past and what method is being used now to keep the Red Cubans second to none in gameness and fighting ability.
All the yards of Red Cubans are in the hands of men who have had many years experience in raising game chickens. One of the yards has been in charge of one family for two genthose mains, and on account of the fact that the Red Cubans were up against some of the best fighting strains.
When the “Derby Game Bird” was published at Tell City, Ind., a record was kept of battles fought by different strains. This record was kept for five years and every strain was striving for the lead. The showing of the Red Cubans in that record was 408 battles won out of 564, and the next best record made by a well known strain was 263 out of 514.
In conclusion, I wish to ask my readers to pardon me if the tone of this history sounds a little boastful. A lover of game fowl is apt to get a little boastful in writing of his own strain of birds, and I am not unaware of the fact erations. That yard was started just 37 years ago. Another yard has been in charge of the same man for 27 years. It is of great assistance in carrying out the proper method of breeding to have nothing but experienced men on the yards.
If I find the time I will at a later date attempt to give a complete and authentic record of mains fought exclusively by the Red Cubans, and also to give percentage of all hacks fought by Red Cubans that have been reported for the last ten or fifteen years.
The Red Cubans were originated in 1877 and have borne that name since that date. The year 1927 is the 50th anniversary of the Red Cuban games as bred and originated by George W. Means.
It has been an undisputed fact that the Red Cubans have participated in more great mains in this country, Mexico, Canada and the Philippines than any other strain, and have the credit of having won some of the most sensational victories. Below are a few mains in which the Red Cubans won practically every fight:
In a large main at Chihuahua, Mexico, they won 23 battles out of 23 fought; at Durango, Mexico, they won 16 out of 17; in Elmira, N. Y., they won 6 out of 7; near the town of Ashland, Ky., won 14 out of 17; at Charleston, W. Va., 4 out of 5; and at Stampburg, Pompano Province, Philippine Islands, they won 7 out of 9.
I mention the above fights on account of the large amounts of money that changed hands at that there are many strains of fine fowl and that each man thinks his own are the best. I hope that it will never be said of me that I have tried to sell one bird by slinging mud at anyone else’s strain of fowl. I submit this history, brother cockers, for your approval, and hope that all our efforts in the future will be for “the good of the order.”

Black Roundheads

BY MRS. O. I. PAYNE

I am enclosing a letter from one of my father’s old friends with whom he often exchanged game chickens. This may not be just what you expected in the way of a history, but it is relative to the Black Roundheads and Blue Jews, originated by my father, Capt. J. D. Mayberry.

It was always a great pleasure to me to assist my father in caring for his chickens, but, not expecting the burden to fall upon my shoulders, inquired very little into the blood lines and what it took to make up these two strains.

During his life time he had raised different strains and colors, was foolish about any game chicken, but had a love for solid blacks, bred them mostly for his own pleasure, always having plenty for table use and there is no chicken so good to eat as a game—when you have a game chicken dressed you have

something to show for your trouble. When you kill some domestic chickens you have only a bundle of feathers and a “gizzard.”

It was not until my father was getting very feeble that his chickens brought him much in return for all of his trouble and expense. He was born at Centre, Ala., June, 1844, entered University of Alabama in 1860 at Tuscaloosa, enlisting as a Confederate soldier in June, 1861, serving the full time, wounded in the knee, came home July 1st, 1865.

In the six years following the war he became interested in game chickens. After this he moved to to Bibb County, hi sold home. In 1897, resided at Butler, Choctaw County, Alabama, where he spent much time with his games,’ wes elected sheriff and tax assessor, also U. S. deputy marshal under President Cleveland.

Bringing his games with him, he moved back to Bibb County, his old home in 1897, resided at one place twenty-two years, still a great lover of games. In 1918 moving near Montevallo, Ala., he died 1920.

It was when he was about 75 years of age that he shipped so many cocks and stags to Mr. J. H. Forrest, of Omaha, Nebr. This gentleman was very successful with both the Blue Jews and Black Roundheads, with the assistance of Mr. C. A. Hartgrove, pitter, winning six mains with our two strains.

Since my father’s death I have tried, to the best of my ability, to keep them pure.

Letter from Mr. Oakley.

Ashby, Ala., Bibb Co., Mar. 8, 1927.

Dear Mrs. Payne:

Replying to your recent letter asking for what information I could furnish concerning the blood lines and history of “The Mayberry Black Roundheads,” will say they were made up and carry the blood of several

different strains.

Your father, the late Capt. J. D. Mayberry, was a life-long breeder and fancier of game chickens and always partial to the black ones. For a number of years in Choctaw County, Ala., he bred a strain of chickens known in Alabama as “Black Clippers.” On his return to his old home near Centerville, Bibb County, Ala., in the early 90’s, he brought some of these chickens with him. I have always lived in Bibb County and for more than twenty years we were close friends and neighbors.

At the time of Capt. Mayberry’s return here I was raising and fighting quite a number of cocks, attended nearly all the big mains and tournaments, several of which I participated in. At a number of these meetings I secured top-notch cocks that had distinguished themselves in battles of different strains and from different cockers and breeders. Of these I let Capt. Mayberry have such as he wanted and for more than fifteen years furnished him with many brood cocks obtained in that way.

Among the number I recall was an Eslin Red-horse from A. P. O’Connor, of Washington, D. C., a Hopkinson Warhorse from Dr. Edwards, Sturgis, Miss., a Rucker Durham from Rucker Bros., Athens, Ga., an Allen Roundhead picked from a bunch of cocks fought by Will Allen at the old Flory Pit in New Orleans, two different blue-black Bushwhacker cocks from Judge Pfeffer, St. Louis, Mo., and also at different times two black Hammond Gordon cocks. The two last named cocks had a tendency to oval heads as did the two blue-black Bushwhacker cocks. The Allen was a distinct Roundhead. The others were all strictly straight combed. Capt. Mayberry liked first a cock black in color and fancied next one with a round head. By judicious selection, crossing and inbreeding with these two cardinal points in view, Capt. Mayberry made and typed the black Roundheads by crossing some and maybe all of the different strains named above first onto his old “Black Clipper” hens, many of which showed pea combs. 

I might also add the Clippers pure, both cocks and hens, were black in color. Just what per cent and the varying degree of blood of each of these strains mentioned that the Black Roundheads are carrying today is beyond the ken of man to tell.

Jas. G. Oakley.

MY EXPERIENCE IN BREEDING PIT GAMES

By T. K. BRUNER.

This subject has always been very interesting to me and I have devoted much time and thought to the breeding of pit fowl with the idea of producing each year a larger number of first-class cocks on each yard. I feel I have met with some success along these lines, so I will write my ideas on breeding in this article.

In  selecting  my  fowl  for  brood  purposes,  I  have  been  governed  not  by  the  performance  of  one individual  cock, but by  the performance of  a whole  set of brothers. For  example.  I  take  a  set of  six brothers  and  fight  them. One  shows  to  be  a  perfect  fighting  cock,  two  others  prove  to  be  above  the average,  two average cocks and one  just worth fighting. The first  time shown,  they win four and  lose two; the remaining four win three out of four in their second fight and two out of three win their third fight. This gives these six brothers nine won and six lost out of 15 battles fought. This proves that they are as a whole cutting, fighting cocks and any one of  them  that  is correctly formed  is worth breeding from and the same is true of their sisters.

On the other hand, say you fight six brothers and out of the six you found one real fighting cock and the other five brothers unable to win their fight? Are such fowl worth breeding? I say no, not even the one good one, as you could not expect his offspring  to average much better  than he and his brothers unless he was bred over hens that were known to produce winners, then it would be necessary to breed a  stag  back  to  your  hens  to  keep  from  reducing  the  high  qualities  of  your  hens. The  same  principle holds if you breed a cock from an exceptionally high class family of performing brothers onto a set of ordinary hens—you must breed the cock back on his daughters and granddaughters to get the benefit of his good qualities and improve the average of your flock. It is true like begets like, but it won’t work in half bloods—you have too many different forces pulling against each other in the first mating. All this takes time but to my mind it is the only way to produce consistently good fowl.

Some  breeders  say  breed  your  strain  absolutely  pure without  any  out-cross;  others  say  cross-bred cocks are best; but I don’t agree fully with either viewpoint, as I think fresh blood from time to time is essential to keep any strain up in the running. On the other hand, I believe that continual crossing in a haphazard way will ruin the good qualities of any fowl. If a man has a strain of consistent winning fowl that he feels are in the need of some fresh blood to strengthen or increase the size, I suggest he secure a cock of a family as near like his own in style, conformation and action as he can find, and of a family known to produce cutting cocks. Single mate this cock to one of your very best hens, fight all the stags or cocks, select the one that brings forward the characteristics of your old fowl, breed him back over the same hen or her full sister, fight the stags and if they win the majority of their fights, put the one that suits you best over a yard of hens. This will give you seven-eights of your old blood  in  the offspring and they should be as good, if not better, than your old, pure bloods. If not, you have not accomplished what you desired  to do when you made  the  first mating and  I would discard  them and  try  it all over again until I did make the cross that nicked and improved my fowl.

If a man is breeding some old well-known strain, he need not go outside and add some new blood for freshening or strengthening. For example, one breeds the Dyer Claibornes. He can get a Boyce cock to breed and still breed pure Claibornes, yet  the Boyce cock will have  the same effect as  if he made  the cross with another strain. There  is nothing  to be said  in  favor of continually crossing  fowl except  for strength; yet every time a cross is made you run the risk of ruining: your fowl in many ways. There are now  two  strains  of  fowls  that  have  exactly  the  same  conformation  and  action  and  by  continually crossing you soon have a regular “Duke’s mixture” on your yards with no uniformity or likeness in any two of them. How can you expect them to come alike in cutting and winning ability—and it takes that to win—when they are alike in no other way? Like will produce like if like is bred to like, otherwise it will not. The  three-hundred egg hens were not bred  this way:  they were bred by breeding a  son of a high egg producing hen on to a hen of high production, then line-bred. If such methods weakened fowl they would not go on increasing the egg records year after year.

Boys,  you  can  learn  a  lot  by  reading  some  of  the  dunghill  chicken  papers  and  following  the principles used  in  breeding game  fowl,  substituting  fighting  and  cutting  ability  in  the  place of  show qualities and egg production. Most any strain or cross will produce one or two high class performers in every lot raised, but can a man afford to raise and walk a dozen or more stags in order to get a couple of good ones fit to fight for his money?

These are the general lines I have followed in breeding my fowl. It is true that my methods take time, but I have not found any short cuts to raising consistent winning fowl. The past season—my last in the game—I had the pleasure and satisfaction of fighting every cock raised from two of my yards and not one of  them  lost  their  first battle.  I did not  accomplish  this  in  a hurry,  it  took me years  to get  these chickens up  to  this  consistent  form, yet  I  feel  I have been  fully  repaid  for  all  the  time, patience  and expense  required  to  accomplish  it.  In mating my  fowl  year  after  year,  I  have  been  careful  to  select brood  cocks  as  near  as  possible  like  their  predecessors  in  length  of  feather, conformation,  style  and action. I like a brood cock that has plenty of strength, long, tough plumage, plenty of foot action, short shanks,  low  spurs,  long  thighs,  small  keen  heads,  bright,  fiery, wide-awake  eyes, medium  bone  and good balance, running in weight from 4.12 to 6 pounds.

In  selecting  brood  hens  I  have  paid  no  attention  to  size,  but  have  selected  them  as  near  alike  as possible  in  feather,  shape  and  action.  I  have  not  for  years,  bred  anything  but  full  sisters  on  a  yard, figuring that the youngsters would be more alike and uniform than from a mixed yard of hens, even if of the same blood, and I did not care to guess which hen out of eight or ten threw the good stags. By breeding full sisters only on a yard your fowl will soon all come consistently good or bad and you will know where you stand.

The basis of  the fowl I have referred  to  in  this article were five hens, full sisters, bred by my good friend, Mr.  H.  H.  Cowan  of  Riverton,  Ala.,  and  were  presented  to me  by Mr.  Henry Waddell,  of Corinth,  Miss.  After  receiving  them  I  wrote  Mr.  Cowan  and  secured  their  exact  blood  lines  and proceeded from that point to breed them along the above methods, using the blood of an outside cock of the same blood, and the blood of two hens of another family which nicked perfectly. Such fowl can be secured from any one of the many reliable and experienced advertisers in Grit and Steel. Write the one you select exactly what you want and pay him his own price for them and in nine cases out of ten you will get good fowl. You cannot expect to get quality fowl for nothing. It takes both time and money to produce  them, and  if you want a man’s best you should be willing  to pay a fair price for  them and not erpect to get them at dunghill prices. I would rather pay  50 for one good hen that will reproduce, than to pay the same money for a dozen hens that were of unknown quality. The absolute truth is, one real hen is worth a dozen good cocks.

I have not referred to it above, but I assume you have understood that gameness was essential in any pit fowl. I am a firm believer in the Hon. Ewing A. Walker’s doctrine that gameness is the third heel in the pit. A cock that is not deep game will go to pulling his punches when wounded, while a deep game cock  will  strike  harder  and  keep  it  up  as  long  as  he  has  the  strength  to  move.  I  have  won  many seemingly  impossible  fights with  cocks  almost  dead,  all  because  they were  real  game  cocks.  I  have been  given  credit  for wonderful  condition when  it  really was  the  heart  in  the  cock  that  carried  him through to victory. You cannot put cold-blooded cocks in the same condition you can real game cocks; their spirit won’t stand the grind of real conditioning.

A  first  class  cock,  in my  opinion, must  have  the  following  qualities:  cutting  ability  strength  and gameness. With these qualities as a basis I want a cock that starts off fighing carefully, ever seeking to get the advantage without closing in, where he only has an equal chance to trade licks; yet when he is caught  I want him  to  throw caution  to  the winds and  fight with all his might. Have you ever noticed how  few  licks  it  is  necessary  for  a  real  cutting  cock  to make  in  order  to  put  his  opponent  out  of commission? Then how many blows a poor cutter has to strike before he cuts his opponent down? Isn’t there a big difference?

Now, boys, this is written for what it is worth to you. and if you get nothing out of it just forget you ever read it and all is well: but if I have helped one man to breed better cocks, I will feel my time has not been wasted.

T. K. Bruner.

P.  S.—For  fear  that  some will misconstrue  this  article  I want  to  say  that  at  the  close  of  the  past season I retired from the game and have disposed of all my fowl.—T. K.B.

Jr Timms, True Lover of Game Fowl

By: James ‘'Mac" White

Introduction

When Joe Mac asked me to interview Jr. Timms, I said to him that it would be an honor and a pleasure. Jr. has been a friend to me for about 16 or 17 years. He came with the late Tommy Harvey who wrote many fine articles under to pen name “Longscore”. For those of you who don’t know Jr., you should, and for those who never knew Tommy (Longscore) Harvey,  it is your loss as he was one of the finest gentlemen to ever in our sport.

The Interview

Mac.  Jr. how ure you?

Jr. Oh. Mac, I can’t complain, good to hear from you

Mac. Jr. Old Joe Mac want me to interview you ls that okay with you?

Jr. Well. I’m honored, but don’t know why anybody would want lo hear what I’ve got to say, but yeah, I’d be glad to.

Mac. how long have you had game fowl?

Jr. All my life,  Mac, I'm 82 1/2 years old and I got my first roster from my granmother when I was 6 or 7. She had some Old warhorse chickens running around the barn and each year would give her a dollar a piece for two or three. I fell in love with chickens and still do to this day.

Mac. Who helped you out the most when you were starting out?

Jr. Grit and Steed helped me more than anyone because I learned a lot about feeding and breeding and also about the real good            men.

Mac. Any famous men around you back then?

Jr. Yes, a man named Tobe Hester. He had a pit on Hester Island and had some big fights there and some famous men like Andy O’Connor came there, and believe it or not. Poncho Villa came there. There  was a man named Mark Colbert who was at the famous Main in New Orleans when Madigin fought Allen and Shelton.  He got to be friends with Madigin and started walking rooster for him. Madigin sent the fowl in by rail depot and he would tie a red string around the leg of a special one and say “put him on a special walk, I have to have him back”, i wound up with some from Mr. Colbert but don't remember what I did with them. You know how we are, we let fowl slip away that later we wished we had them back.

Mac. I guess we’re all guilty of that. What are the best chickens that you’ve had?

Jr. Oh, I’ve had lots of good chickens because I’ve had lots of good friends. I got some good Whitehackle blood from Pennsylvania that’s been real good. I still have the little Gleezen Whitehaekles that you gave to Tommy Harvey just before he died. They have been wonderful fowl. That’s one in the picture with me. In 1958 Mr. Jack Teams gave me some Murphy blood that Tom Murphy let him have. Did you ever hear of Jack Teams.

Mac. Yes, he was a famous referee at Orlando and St. Augustine.

Jr. That’s exactly right and he could get anything he wanted from the men who fought there in the forties and the fifties. Anyway, Mr. Jack told me that when the northern cockers like Dan O’Connor, Hatch, Marsh. Murphy, etc., etc. started coming down, that a whole new ball gome started. Mr. Teams said that if the shotgun cocks from the south didn't win quick that the northern power cocks would start hitting those hard smashing blows and then it was a matter of time before the fight was over. Mr. Teams asked Murphy for a brood cock and Murphy said he’d send him one when he got back to New York. Well, he sent a green leg cock down and said a lot of that blood was in the cocks they were using. Mr. Teams thanked him but said he would much prefer a yellow leg cock Mr. Murphy told Mr. Teams to send the green leg cock to the Mitchell Brothers (Emmitt and fondren) and he would send him a yellow leg cock, which he did. Mr Teams said Murphy sent a low stationed straight combed yellow leg cock but no hens. He (Teams) said I bred the Murphy cock to some Boston Roundhead blood I had (Teams) and bred back seven times to the Murphy cock. Mr. Teams let me have them in 1958 and I still have them to day.

Mac. You say you still have them.