Democratic Sentinel, Volume 15, Number 52, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 January 1892 — TRAINING HIGHBINDERS. [ARTICLE]

TRAINING HIGHBINDERS.

Flesh from Savage Animals Believed ts Impart the Requisite Ferocity. 1 At the corner of Sansome and Clay streets yesterday morning half a dozen Chinamen were bidding for a dead wildcat in the hands of a quail peddler, says tho San Francisco Examiner. The beast was shot in Marin County the day before, and the eagerness of the Chinese, together with the spirited bidding, was a., source of much arauseojcqt to the crowd that collected. Representatives of the dreaded Chee lvung Yong society were there, and so also was a member of the Ping Ong Tong, and both sides were determined to secure the cat. Two dollars , and a half was first offered, and from this the bids raised to five dollars. The old man who had the cat merely smiled. A truce was declared while the body of tho feline was examined. Many grunts of approval emanated from the warriors when it was found that the wildcat was fat. “Fi dollu hap,” said one of the Chinese. “Six dolla hap,” promptly came from a member of the Pings. The other sldo held a conference and raised the amount another dollar. At the close of the contest the representative of the Ping Ongs inarched proudly away with the bobtailed cat, after having deposited sls in gold for it. “That’s nothing,” said tho quail peddler, “I sometimes get more than that for ’em, They eat ’em so’s to get bravo.” Last night about twenty members of the Ping Ong Tong society regaled themselves on wildcat, and consequently increased their bravery. The custom of eating tigers, lions, and other animals of a fierce nature by tho Chinese dates from the days of Confucius. Moy Sing, one of tho most intelligent Chinamen in San Francisco, thus gave his opinion on tho subject last night. “A Chinaman believos that if he oats a portion of a lion or tiger tho bravery and courage of the animal will enter Into his system and ho will become daring. In China the smallest piece of a tiger is valuable for this reason. I have eaten lion meat, and tho effect is to make a man very brave. Hero in California,, wo eat wildcats and foxes, and think whenever we oat of tho flesh of cither kind wo becomo bravo or cunning like thoso animals. I think the man who sold the wildcat to thoso Chinamen made them believe it was a young lion, or they would not have paid so much for it, becauso the flesh of a wildcat is not of near as much value as that of a lion.”-