Early life and the New York underworld Born Christopher Keyburn in New York City on February 23, 1831, Burns joined the Dead Rabbits as a young man and, by the late 1840s, co-led the organization with Tommy Hadden. Both men started their own businesses in the Bowery with Burns opening his Sportsmen's Hall on Water Street. His establishment was widely known for holding illegal
bare-knuckle boxing prize fights as well as featuring such entertainment as the infamous "rat pit" where
blood sports such as
rat-baiting and
dogfighting took place. In these events, large gray
wharf rats were captured and set against dogs. These dogs, mostly
terriers, were sometimes starved for several days beforehand and set against each other as well. Burns had two of his favorite dogs stuffed and mounted over the bar. The first, a black and tan colored terrier named Jack, reportedly set an American record by killing 100 rats in 6 minutes and 40 seconds. The other dog, Hunky, was a champion fighting dog "that expired after his last great victory". Sportsman's Hall occupied an entire three-story frame house, and the "rat pit" took up the first floor. The pit was described as being "arranged as an amphitheater, with rough wooden benches for seats. In the center was a ring enclosed by a wooden fence about three feet high." Another Bowery character,
"Snatchem" George Leese, served as the
bouncer and official "bloodsucker" during prize fights, or more precisely, sucking the wounds of the participants to prevent
blood loss and allow the fight to continue for as long as possible. Behind the building was a small space, which reached through a narrow doorway that could be defended against a police raid, which was built to seat 250 people, but attendance often reached 400.
Role in the Water Street revival Burns was one of several saloon keepers targeted during the public crusade against
John Allen, then called the "Wickedest Man in New York", and it was soon reported in the press that he and others had been "reformed" by religious leaders and agreed to hold
prayer meetings in their establishments. Though he had declined their offers several times, he eventually allowed his "rat pit" to be used for a high fee. One such meeting held at Sportsman's Hall in September 1868 was described by the
New York World, Burns later mocked the movement calling it "sheer humbug" and said, in reference to John Allen's holding an evangelical meeting in his establishment, "I've known Johnny Allen fourteen years and he couldn't be a pious man if he tried ever so hard. You might as well ask a rat to sing like a canary bird as to make a Christian out of that chap." The general public became skeptical of these meetings at the "rat pit", and a public inquiry was made to investigate the relationship between Burns and the missionaries. It was Burns himself, however, that was the first to turn against them. He and the other Water Street dive keepers were angry at having been paid less than half what John Allen had received. Prompted by
Henry Bergh, founder of the
ASPCA, it was Burns'
cruelty to animals that led to the final closing of Sportsman's Hall when it was raided on the night of November 31, 1870. It was recognized at the time as the city's largest dogfighting ring and, that same night, Burns held his last event in the rat pit. He offered 300 rats to be "given away, free of charge, for gentlemen to try their dogs with". It was this advertisement that caught the attention of Bergh and who personally led the raid. Burns and all involved were arrested for violation of an anti-animal cruelty law passed by the
New York state legislature four years prior.
Death Though everyone was acquitted at the trial, Burns caught a
cold which developed into
pneumonia and died on December 19, 1870, shortly before he was to go to trial. The funeral service at his
South Brooklyn home was attended by "a motley crowd of young street urchins, grown-up rowdies, hard-faced men, 'sports' and women" who accompanied the funeral procession from Sackett Street to
Calvary Cemetery where he was buried. His Water Street establishment was carried on by his son-in-law Richard Toner and the English
rat-catcher Jack Jennings, but they closed Burn's infamous "rat pit" and instead turned Sportsman's Hall, or the "Band-Box", into a full-time saloon. His widow later stated her intentions to apply to the common council, or Judge Joseph Dowling, for compensation when police disposed of a cage filled with rats in the
East River in a recent raid ordered by Police Commissioner Bergh. She also wanted damages for a
bullpup, valued at $100, which was also seized by police during the raid. Although little of the original structure remains, Sportsman's Hall occupied the land where the Joseph Rose House and Shop, a four-unit luxury apartment house, now lies and is the third oldest house in Manhattan after
St. Paul's Chapel and the
Morris-Jumel Mansion. ==In popular culture==