Police Pinch Chicken Fight (Defiance Democrat 22 Feb 1909)

    Like birds of the night; without a flutter of the wing or without a cry of warning Defiance city and county authorities swooped down upon a crowd of sports who, ensconced behind the walls of the historical old brick building situated near the Carriage Works on the Fort Wayne road, were enjoying a cock fight. The fight was taking place in one of the room in the building and so interested were the chicken enthusiasts over the contest that they did not notice the approach of the police who surrounded the building and blocked every exit. Chief Hubbard then walked into the room undiscovered. He grasped one of the fellows by the arm and asked him to allow him to see the fight. The fellow pushed him away with the words that he had paid as much as any else and intended to see the scrape. He glance at the fellow who was causing so much trouble and imagine his surprise when he looked into the face of Chief Hubbard. By this time the crowd had "got next" and were trying to escape the eye of the authorities in every way possible.

    One fellow crawled into an empty cupboard which unfortunately was too small to hold his bulk and there he stood with his head hidden from view, but he though he was safely covered and was congratulating himself on his quick action, when he was tapped on the shoulders and asked his name. Another endeavored to escape through a window but policeman Wahl very gently pushed him back into the room. Another jerked up part of the floor and crawled under. He would have remained undiscovered had not one of the unfortunate ones who were unable to escape told of his hiding place and he with the rest was put on record and told to appear before the Mayor.
     There was forty gentlemen in the crowd and all appeared before Mayor Crowe to hear their sentence. The Mayor was very lenient with them and fined each $1.00 thus making the fine $2.00. All paid and went their way with a deeper respect for the Defiance officers of the law.