The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-06-17
SPORTING NEWS.

Mill on the Public Streets of Cincinnati De-
feat of the Press Militant.
Under the head of Indecent Sporting News"
a New York journal gives this spicy account of
a lively MILL
Mr. Richard Smith, managing editor of the
Cincinnati Gazette, engaged on Monday last in
an ertempOre rough and tumble fight with Mr..
Thomas Alcibiades Nesmith, proprietor and
manager of a city horse railroad line, known
"Route No. g. who was aggreved by an article
rejecting upon him in that capacity, published
in the Gazette. The parties met on Walnut
street shortly after noon, when the following
scene, described by the Cincinnati Commercial,
took place.
''Nlr. Smith, want to know whether you
wrote that article about me in last Fridays
GdzeHe?"
Mr.. Smith-"Yes, sir; il was who wrote it. "
Mr. Nesmith-'Well, Mr.. Smith, what do you
propose to do about it ?"
Mr. Smith, don't know that propose to
do anything about it, sir"
Ms Nesmith-''Well, Mr.. Smith, I'll tell you
what do propose to do about it; l propose to
give you q id good licking for it, sir" And
with this plain statement of his intentions, Mr.
Nesmith, at ten minutes to 1 o'clock, Cincinnati
time, uncoiled horsewhip with short hard,
heavy handle, and a long, limp, leathern lash,
which he took from one of his pockets, and pro-
ceeded to apply it with considerable vigor to Mr..
Smiths shoulders, holding him firmly by the
lapel of his coat the while. Mr.. Smith con-
ceived the idea of soaring his assailant. He
made great show of fumbling about his pistol
pocket behind, as if for a weapon, but did not
accomplish his object, and made for Mr.
Nesmith with his fist. But old Mes having had
little experience in matters pugilistic, threw
up his left, and sent his right bunch of fives
straight into Mr.. Smiths breast
Quite large crowd had gathered around the
parties by this time and great excitement pre-
vailed. But nobody thought of stopping the
fight just then At last Mr.. Smith made a rush
at his enemy and they clenched. After wrest-
ling together for several seconds Nesmith threw
80 tln,
heavily. Several gentlemen then pulled Nes-
mith off, and assisted Mr., Smith to his feet The
former, having accomplished his purpose, walked
leisurely down the street, and the latter was
taken into an Office hard by, where his clothes
were brushed and his face and hands washed
In few minutes he was presentable again. and
walked to the Gazette office by the shortest and
most direct route. He appeared to harbor no
desire to hunt Nesmith up for an explanation of
his strange conduct Mr.. Smiths sad mis-
take was in losing time in feeling for
an absent pistol. He lost at this moment the
golden opportunity of removing the remainder
of the skin from Nesmith's nose and indicating
the liberty of the press.
From tie Cincinnati Inquirer, June Is.
Mr.. Richard Smith, in his set-to with Mr.. Mes
mith committed fragrant breach of the rules of
civilized warfare in biting the ear of his oppo-
nent. Much allowance may be made for what is
done in the heat of passion and excitement, but
the cool and foe-defying self-possession with
which Richard squared Off at Nesmith. pre-
paratory to the final 'closing in" denies him
the right of any such plea in mitigation, and
forces us reluctantly to the conclusion that
the bite was deliberate and premeditated, and
lacked but the single element of time to
have converted 1t into savage and malicious
''chaw." We regret this exceedingly, the more
especially as 1t cannot but cast dark shadow
on the fair fame of Mr.. Smiths illustrous
oountryman and fellow-pugilist, Mr.. McCoole,
who is to-day to contend for the championship
of the manly art in St. Louis. There is, too,
another and more severe aspect of the case,
which we would fain overlook, but cannot. Mr..
Smith is a member of the church in high stand
ing-a deacon, in fact. He prides himself on
being of the church militant but Mr.. Nesmith's
| MANNED and bleeding ear proclaims him of the
church masticant-if we may coin a word for so
sad purpose. To defend oneself when at
tackled is in perfect harmony with the teachings
of the Christian religion, and had Deacon
Smith done no more than that, we should not
feel compelled to use the pen of reproof to-day
But we submit that biting-not to say ''chaw-
ing"-a mans ear nearly off is neither meek nor
lowly, nor warranted by that apostolic sanction
which church deacon should aim to secure for
all his worldly deeds.