Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1881-06-11
A Brutal Prize Fight.

All mOf8llSt8 are 36re0O aS W LILO eX-
treme caro- which should be taken to keep
juvenile books and newspapers free from
everything that can corrupt the youthful
mind. It is the boast of tho Tribune that
it never contains anything which can bring
blush to the checks of its young readers,
and justice requires the admission that, to
a large extent, this boast has hitherto
been true. Parents have placed the IT.
6une in the hands of their small boys, con-
iident that in its aged jokes, clipped from
of "Tom" and "Jim" +" and "Silly Billy"
they would find nothing that could either
corrupt or stimulate the mind of innocent
boyhOod while the young ladies of Vassar
have fearlessly used the Tribune sex
tras " rs cheap substitutes for esoteric
articles of dress. Yet in this very journal,
which is thus confidently circulated among
the young of both sexes, there appeared a
few days ago q detailed account Of a re-
cent prize-fighter, told in slang Of the
most lOathsOme description. and illus
trated with what was evidently 4 portrait
of the victor clad i'm a costume which
could not be described in these columns
without shocking every reader Of the
Times. This elaborate description of Il
brutal and criminal atfray appeared in the
Tribune of last Sunday, and, SO it is said,
also in the weekly edition Of the same
journal. The amount of harm which such
a publication may do in our female SEMI
naries and primary schools is too terrible
to be calmly contemplated.
The reporter who furnished the account
of tho prize fight begins his story in all
incOherent way, which can be readily ac-
counted for, but which reflects no credit
upon him or upon tho editor through
whose hands his ''copy' must have passed.
So far as can be gathered from his con-
fused Introductory paragraph, the COM
batants were known as the Zephyr and as
SaxOny WOol-the latter being apparently
a negro. Tho fight extended to 1856 rounds
and ended in a victory for the Zephyr, al
though there seems to have been much
dissatisfaction concerning the result
among the bystanders, who evidently tried
to break into the ring and engage in a
fight. The Tribune gives, in the low and
uniutelligible slang of the prize ring, a
detailed account of nearly every round.
Sometimes these rounds are called ''rOws,"
but whether this is misprint, or whether
"row" and round - are synonymous
terms among pugilists, We are not told.
It is very difficult for any one
within reach to understand the horri-
tie is told. Many of the rounds are de.
scribed simply by tho word "purr'-as
for example, :" Second round Purl."
This undoubtedly is slang word for
"blood," and in the language Of the mod
crn prize-ring has taken the place of the
old word "claret." In fully half of the
1856 rounds "purl'' is said to have flowed
from which We can gain some idea of the
ferocity and bloOdthirstiness of the
wretched combatants and their degraded
hackers. The fourteenth round was
"plain," 80 we are told. That is to say,
it was without any decisive result, and
probably without bloodshed. Few of the
rounds were, however, as dull and unin-
teresting as this, and tho twenty third
round was sufficiently brutal to satisfy
even the most hardened patron of the
ring, In this round increased stitche
were added" and were I" worked into the
rib" Doubtless, the rib in question had
been broken, or the Zephyr was trying to
break it, by working increased stitch
es"-or blOws-ito it. This horrible spec
tacle was witnessed with the utmost CON-
placency by the reporter, and is described
with GOODNESS and utter want of moral
sense which is simply amazing.
From the one hundred and fifteenth to
the one hundred and twenty-seventh round
the miserable pugilists devoted their whole
efforts to breaking each others ribs. The
account of tho rounds is as mOnOtonous
as it is revolving. Round lis is described
as marrow knit 10 in the rib, turn and
knit back in the rib''-which, being inter-
preted by help of tho context, means that
Saxony Wool gave his opponent what
used to be called "a ten-strike''-or. in
other words, a terrible blow, in the ribs.
and that the Zephyr struck back, hitting
Saxony Wool also in the ribs. This is nice
reading for innocent boys and the guile.
less girls of Vassar. There was a time
when the Tribune regarded the least al
lusion 10 the human ribs as indelicate
but it has now lost all sense of shame.
Decency forbids any quotations from
this sickening story that are not absolutely
necessary in order to fully expose the
nature of the outrage of which the Iri5uue
has been guilty. The account of the one
hundred and fifty. first round NAV. how
ever, be reproduced as specimen Of abso.
lutely unintelligible slang The reporter
writes :" One hundred and fifty. first round.
On the over twice of the last round l,ni.
purl 1, then knit 3, repeat form.''' This
may, of course, be sheer drunken iucober
ency, but it is more probable that II is a
l.