The Sun.
London, England, 1847-09-10 00:00:00

PUGILISM.
ALEXANDER KEENE AND JOSEPR Pimps Ton
1001. ASIDE.—The contest, which took place yester-
day, and of which it is our present intention to pre-
sent a brief sketch, was, doubtless, from the time of
its first proposal to its final arbitrement, one of the
most interesting and doubtful in its issues of recent
matches. The respective merits of the men as ex-
ponents of the art pugilistic, were considered by those
best versed in the tactics of self-defence, so nicely
contrasted and balanced as to leave in extreme doubt
by which the palm of victory would eventually be
won. Phelps, however, as best known in the betting
circles, made their favourite at 7 and 6 to 4, on the
fair assumption that he was a man who had been tried
and proved to be.deficient in neither courage, strength,
lasting, nor temper; while his consummate tact in
avoiding punishment had showed itself, on former
occasions, too much for his antagonists. We may
here observe that Phelps, who is a most inoffensive,
civil, steady, and well-conducted young fellow, made
his essay as a pugilist in October, 184, when at the
age of twenty-two, he de!eated Barnash, of West-
minster, in a style which showed considerable
tact and steady perseverance against superior
strength. In 1846 and 1847, he was twice victor

in contests with Sam Martin ; on the first occa-
sion at the Lower Hope, below Gravesend, on
the 22d of September, when three hours were
io present
Martin a. e ar,
declining when 97minutes
t r
consumed in a tedious, and, lattelly, a shifty en-
counter; on the second at Purfleet, May 26, in tbe
and
favours49 roundsat
his
hands.resulted
Still were there many, whosejudgment subsequently
proved itself sound, who consideredp ,
who help's style as
one which must succomb to a in
perse-
veringly "stay" with him, and
dnh could
thought they had selected
.in young
Kea one these
youth, whose age is 22, has been for some timeene.k This
in the sparring schools of the metropolis as clever,nown
courageous, strong, and skilful with the graves,and
his debut with the naked knuckle, near Twyford, in
December of last year, when he forced WillianaCain,
the brother of the celebrated Dick Cain, of LeiCester,
to succumb, after a determined battle of 61 minutes,
left little doubt of his capabilities of taking and re-
ceiving, if need should be. The weight of each man
was restricted to 9st. 71bs. ; and they both in tip-top
condition came a couple of pounds short of the stipu-
lated balance. Phelps, who had taken his breathings
firstly in Wilts, and latterly near Woburn, Beds.,
under the eye of Young Sambo (Welsh) appeared
a trifle more fleshy than on former occasions, still
his eye was bright, his aspect cheerful, his step
springy, and his confidence of the first quality. Young
Keene, on the other hand, was all his friends
could wish for an aspiring and youthful athlete. He
was, to use the standard phrase, "as hard as nails,"
and displayed in his general bearing that quite, sub-
dued self-reliance which generally accompanies re-
solved purpose and innate bravery. His training
under the lively Bob Fuller, at Jem Burn's retreat,
the Greyhound, Fulham- fields, had been admirably
carried out ; andthe rollicking boniface of the Queen's
Head showed his huge person in draught-board cos-
tume, clearly proud of the lei he hail at his corner of
the roped quadrangle. His height, .5 feet 8 inches,
gave him a trifling advantage in reach, but of course,
at equal weight, detracted proportionately from the
bulk of his muscle. Despite his length, however, he
positively looked the thicker man. At a few minutes
after 11 o'clock those in the secret found themselves
on Working-common, a short distance from the
South-Western Rail, around a ring so well pitched
by the grey-headed and civil veteran who for so many
years has performed the duties of " Commissary of
the P. R," that its position was invisible from the
travellers on the rail itself, and completely secluded
from the view of every neighbouring dwelling.
At a quarter past eleven, the men's toilette
,:ompleted, they advanced to the scratch, and then
and there having shaken hands, they stood up. Their
seconds, Hannan and Fuller, for Keene, and Jem
Turner and Sambo for Phelps, retired to their respec-
tive corners, and let the principal actors to do their
devuirs. While furnishing the tact of the more im-
portant contests of the day, it has ever been cur care
to avoid that offensive detail and repulsive minuteness
which may pander to a morbid taste, but cat; inform
no admirer of the bravest mode of man's encounter,
as needs must be that offences will come, and the best
intentioned phil nthropists are forced to admit the
necessity of " fighting upon occasion." Hence, as we
have before remarked, we prefer an outline of the
main features of the fray, rather than a minute
record of " all th' occurrences of a heady fight." The
style and attitude of both men was of the modern
school. Each man kept his hands well up, in an easy
and unconstrained position, his left foot a little in ad-
vance, balanced on the right, alike ready to lead off
or step back, as circumstances might require. After
some minutes spent in sparring, each seeming
anxious for his opponent to break ground and betray
his style of opening the ball. Phelps having gra-
dually got near,r his work, popped in his left sharply
on Keene's proboscis, and jumping back avoided his
return ; shortly after a slight trickle.of the crimson
fluid told that Joe had been "knocking at the door,"
and this won the " first event." Some more stopping
and parrying led to Keent's getting home his right
on Phelps's ribs, and after another break away, and
several rattling exchanges, the combatants closed, and
both went down, Phelps undermost. The first round
was a specimen of the battle. Keene proved himself
the stronger man, and Phelps having satisfied himself
that he should do little by wrestling, after the first
15 rounds, began a style of dropping to avoid, kneel-,
ing and slipping through his adversary's hands in the
closes, which we regret to say is but too prevalent
among modern practitioners of boxing. Again and
again did he punish Keene on the head, hitting, how-
ever, too often across or too high, and dropping after
ielivering his blow. This led to continual appeals ;
Keene, in his over-eagerness to fix his shifting oppo-
nent, more than once letting his hand go, when it was
doubtful if his adversary was not down, according to
the rules of the ring and of fair play. The worthy
baronet, however, who kindly accepted the office of
referee, determined to adhere to the "stand-up" prin.
ciple, ordered the men on each appeal to " go on."
The receipts on either side were pretty fairly
balanced, and for an hour and a half, neither scale
preponderated materially. Keene bore up with undi-
minished strength and courage, driving his man to his
corner, where lie managed to get down cleverly. Still,
it was clear to good judges, that although he pro-
tracted the fight by these tactics, he did but little
towards achieving victory. Indeed, he could not
avoid every now and then receiving an ugly smack to
accelerate his descent in return for his retreating de-
liveries. At the end of the 801) round, and second
hour, Phelps was evidently in trouble, although
cheerful and active. He could not get " on" to his
man, and when they countered his blow seemed with-
out force. Keene's left was also damaged, yet he used
it often and effectively. The stopping on both sides,
too, was good. Keene shortly atter made a decided
turn in his favour, when Phelps, determined to bring
matters to an issue, stood up firmly for a rattling
rally, which ended in the latter going down from an
undeniable one-two on the body and head. From
this moment poor Joe fell off—he had expended his
ammunition, and, with the 118th round, struck his
flag to his Keene antagonist, three hours all but two
minutes having elapsed from their first standing up.
Victor and vanquished then once more grasped hands,
and the assemblage hurrying to the station, were
quickly flying on the wings of steam to the great
ville—satisfied that though in one point the fight had
not been first-rate, each had done his best, and the
best man had won.
T. OLIVER AND SPJCER.—The son of " Old Tom,"
and Spicer, of Chelsea, fought on Wednesday! near
Croydon, for 10 sovs. a-side. Oliver was th e winner,
after an indifferent contest of 1 hour 43 minutes.
ter

DEATH FROM STARVATdisclosed circumstances
Tuesday last an inquest, w
h NhA T
was held by
Mr. Brown. Harriet Atkins, aged the Coroner,
of a very distressing nature,
52 (the deceased) the
lOw NOTTINGHAM.—OH
wife of James Atkins, of Coalpit-lane, had been sepa-
ratedher husband six years, five of which had been
a p ecinthe union workhouse. During thelast eleven
from
monthss she had lived with Charlotte Sims, wife of William
Sims, coachmaker, Brook-street, where she tried to get
her living by sewing, but latterly she had not had any.
thing at all to do. She had Is. 6d. a week and a quar-
tern loaf from the parish, which is all abe bad to live
upon for the last two months. She paid is. 6d. a week
for a furnished room, so that the quartern loaf consti-
tuted her whole support. She 'has been con-
fined to her bed three weeks. No application was
made to the parish for extra relief • and on her
husband being asked to do something for her, he said
" he could not do anything; but when she died he would
bury her." Last week she bought a half-quartern loaf
for 2id., a halfpennyworth of butter, a halfpennyworth
of tea, a halfpennyworth of sugar,
raisins, and a penny fartbingworth of tobacco, towards
which Mrs. Sims gave her a halfpenny. This. was
t the
all
a halfpennyworth of
she bad during the week. She objected
union,
gon
see her on Saturday; he found her in ady:€.l Leon
Mrs.
workhouse. Mr. Hugoe, surgeon to the
dying state;
and
in about an hour after she fell out of
Sims going up stairs she found her on the floor, quite
dead. Verdict--" Died for the want of the common
necessaries of 'Fe."
THE WEATHER AND THE CROPS.—This season has
propitious in the memory of man. Reap-
ing in the neighb•turhood of the town,
tasnfid stacking is v.,11 advanced. We may this
bnworg:as'te a very early " harvest home," and a very
3.ib.nneegi been 1
is
sehadiel:i
year
in•gathering. New wheat has already been
sold in our market at rather a moderate price. Potato
blight has appeared, but not to any extent that can
affect the price of food. Patches of tainted crops may be
Been, but viewing this department of crop as a whole, to
the most titeia there is not the luast cause for alarm.
The wheat in many places this year is of a very superior
quslit v.— Inverness Jorrnat.
Three early white potatoes have been Aug during
the w i k, in tile garilen of C.,lonel South, of Southlands,
Hoavit ree, vt llieh Heigh toarther t4O pounds and a half.
They are very flue in appearance, and shows* We Of
disease.— Western Luminary. '