Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1871-03-21
Correspondence Of the Grant County HERALD
Pugnacity and Pugilism.

Correspondence OF the Grant County HERALD
Pugnacity and Pugilism.
EDITOR HERALD On Monday,
March Is, NJ. O'Connor ADD Danny
Carr had sort of make.believe
prize fight, of which your correspond
ent, who CHANGED to be present, begs
leave to give brief description.
They fought on an island in the Mis-
sissippi not far from Fenley's saw
mill in the southwestern part of
Grant county. The steamer Charlie |
Rogers had been chartered for the ex-
cursion, and carried the comsatants
and spectators to the scene of con-
fict at the rate of two dollars per
numskull. Your correspondent, how
ever, and four other humanitarians,
started for the arena Of manly science
in light, four-oared rig, keeping
distance with the boat that contained
the amiable excursioniSts, tho fully
a mile behind. No one knew where
the ring was to be formed, and so all
the smaller craft, which literally COW
cred the water as far as the eye could
reach, closely followed the boat, as
she foatcd down ready to moor
whenever fitting place might pre-
sent itself Many people were sadly
fooled that day, and had their long
walks through the March mud with
out even a farthing's worth Of recon-
pense. They took possession Of the
hills and wales for miles above BOAT
Yard Hollow" in Grant county,
thinking in their simple and unso-
phisticated hearts that the fight was
to come off somewhere on that class
lie and hallowed ground. But por-
fessional fighting people, you know,
are altogether too noble minded to
intrude their spectacles where the
officers of Justice might be disturbed,
or, peradventure, somewhat offended.
And that is why they did not punch
each others heads anywhere on the
Christian soil of Iowa, Wisconsin, or
Illinois.
Well, as soon as the boat had eff
fected safe landing, all the choice
spirits on board staggered ashore,
and active preparations for the ter
rife encounter were hurriedly made.
The ring was "a feet square. The
ground was rather moist and very
sandy, which afforded poor footing
for the stalwart champions. In the
southeast corner of this noble enclo-
sure we view N. O'Connor, while in
the northwest angle we behold Dan.
ny Carr. The men are stripped to
the waist, and present, | take it, a
very pictorial and picturesque APP
pearance Carr is the heavier by
several pounds, but in altitude they
are just equal. Danny has a fiuo
face, and an Apollo-like symmetry of
form but Mike looks rather scraggy,
and has an intellectual physiognomy
that would grace "the mildest man
norod man that ever souttlod ship or
cut throat"
At 2:30, P NJ, the front of the com
ing battle begins to lower. The men
approach each other with much eau
ton and some trepidation. Each
must fear the demolishing science Of
the other, or, it may be, that like
those two bad boys in history, one is
afraid and the other dase'nt. How
ever, the rib-roasting begins, and is
quite warmly carried on, on either
side. Mike mauls aud whacks away
like anything, Danny lodges, feints,
falls, and now and then gets in vi
cious "clinker" on the potato trap Of
his initiated antagonist. Very little
blood is drawn, the trampled sand be-
meath their feet is, therefore, not liter
ally drenched with their precious hu-
man gore, and dismal feeling of gen.
eral disappointment pervades the pi.
Gus crowd. But at the end of 2 hours
and 40 minutes, when just Sc rounds
had been fought, darkness came on,
and the farce was over. Danny, it
seems, would not fight 'like a man"
and Mike didn't care to fool with him
any longer. The referee declared a
draw, and the journalists, of whom
several were present, drove their
pencils turiously in their insane eff
forts to make history Of the glorious
and humanizing encounter.
At the time of the famous Heenan
and Sayers fight in England, Mr..
Thackeray took the latter to task
and lectured him in the manner fol-
lowing:
"1ou are q naughty boy, Tom
but then, you know, we ought to
love our brethren, though ever so
naughty. We are moralists and, rep
rimand you, ard you are hereby rep
rimanded accordingly. But in case
England should ever have need of
few score thousand champions, who
laugh at danger who cope with gil
ants; who, stricken TO the ground,
jump up and gaily rally, and fall, and
rise again, and strike, and die rather
than yield-in case thecountry should
need such men, and you should know
them, be pleased to send lists of the
misguided persons to the principal
police stations, where means may
some day be found to utilize their
wretched powers, and give their de-
plorable energies right direction"
Now, cannot our own crop of high
spirited and rampacious pugilists be
provided with some kind of work
other than that of drubbing each
other "in opposition bloody" and en-
deavoring most dextrousIy to double
each other up by blows in the mid
riff? Let the authorities think about
this matter. Perhaps stone breaking,
low diet, and a shaved head might
be good sovereign remedies to en-
ploy in bringing the scientific saw
ages to terms, and teaching them |
what shocking thing it is to be call |
ed bruising bully.
If anybody should be anxious to |
know what l went up to the prize |
ring for to see, | would very deferen-
TALLY reply that went there to see
the fight. That's what everybody
went for. Men are by nature of a
Ii A Al