The daily gazette., 1883-10-03
MITCHELL VS.. SHERIFF
THE FIGHT PROVES ALMOST A
FlZZLE.
TOO SHORT TO BE A TEST.
And Too Mi Id to Suit the Savage Specta-
tors 1t Ends In a Draw at the End OF the
Seventh Round

| William Sheriff took place to-day at Flush
ing, L. L., and ended In draw. The con-
test was according to the Marquis of Queens
| bury rules.
| In the Judgment of a number of gentle
men, who are versed in the sluggers' art,
| the fight, while decidedly scientific one
did not last long enough to test the staying
qualities of either of the combatsnts.
| Neither Of them exhibited any extraordinary
signs of exhaustion at the finish, both being
seemingly capable of continuing the con-
flict for a half hour longer.
The place Of meeting was kept a secret
from all the buyers of tickets. They were
directed to be at Pier 80, East River, at
o'clock, where the steamboat "Harry Hill"
would be In waiting to convey them to the
battlefield.
The trip from New York to Flushing was
tediously slow. 1t was nearly O'Clock
when theimpatient passengers were landed.
At O'Clock u loud cheer announced the
approach of Mitchell, who made his way
| through the crowd, crawled under the rope
and seated himself In a chair In a corner OF
| the ring. A few moments later active little
Arthur Chambers lesped lightly into the
| enclosed space and then the Prussian, after
following the time ,honored custom of shying
his castor into the ring made his appear nee
| and was greeted with cheers and clapping
or hands. Billy Madden and Joe Coburn
came next and took their position alongside
of Mitchell, and Billy Edwards joined Cham
bers and Sheriff. Very little time was lost
in preliminaries.
OPENING THE FIGHT.
Time was called at $50, and both men
placed themselves in position and began,
sparring cautiously. For ten seconds or
more they circled about each other, scarcely
moving their hands. Mitchell thought he
saw an opening then and led lightly with
his left, which was neatly countered and re-
turned, and then the cautious circling began
again. The Prussian made the second at
tack, which fell short, and Just scraped
MitchelPs nose The latter made an ineffect-
ual attempt to strike his opponent in the ribs,
but received two quick blows, and then,
while moving backward, another, which
sent him down on his hands and knees, the
"Prussian's" seconds claiming it as a
knockdown. Mitchell was on his pins In an
instant, however, and came up Just in time
to get a stingiDg blow full in the face. This
was returned with blow on the Prussian's
neck, and the men clinched. For an iostant
they gave and took several hard knocks in
the head and broke away. just as they
faced each other the referee told them'to
take their corners, the three minutes having
expired.
The beginning of the second round was
an extended repetition of the beginning of
| the hrst. Nearly hall minute was con-
sumed in ovell cautious sparring without
blow being struck. Suddenly Mitchell
reached out with his left and delivered a re-
sounding blow on the Prussian's stomach,
| and followed it up with another on the
Prussian's nose, causing it to bleed slightly,
but enough to give the young EnRlishman
the honor of having drawn first blood. The
| Prussian, In retaliation for this, struck out .
powerfully for Mitchell's chest, aud the
clever manner in which the blow was par
r!ed called forth a storm of applause. Feel
lsNkI
gan taking more chances, just as they struck
each other pretty powerful blow in the
face, the round came to an end.
The audience begain manifesting a good
deal of impatience, when the men faced each
| other in the same cautious manner In the
third round. The fighting was not half
savage enough to suit them after paying for
the exhibition, and they began hooting
Whether this had any effect or not is a ques-
tion, but, nevertheless, the men began work
ing harder. The Prussian got in a facer,
which caused Mitchell to blink and cough,
but returned the compliment with interest
by pounding his opponent savagely in the
ribs. This was soon made even, however,
ny the Prussian landing his left with good
deal of force above Mitchell's belt, and then
| they began feinting and sparring again to
i recover their wind. Mitchell attempted to
/ reach the Prussian's neck, but the blow fell
short, and in the return the two elinched
and thumped each other wickedly about the
1 head and neck, Mitchell occasionally swing
| ing his arm around and catching his adver-
sary in the ribs. This only lasted a moment,
and, as they were about to clinch again,
| they were sent to their corner.
The fourth round was fairly exciting and
seemed to please the spectators a little bet
| ter. After making two or three harmless
passes Mitchell managed to get in terrific
| blow on the Prussian's stomach, causing
him to shiver, and before he could recover
himself he received stinger In the face.
| This he returned with two effective blows on
| MitchelPs neck, staggering him, and another
full in the face. Again did Mitchell lunge
| out savagely and catch his opponent In the
i ribs, and again did the Prussan return this
with blow In the face. Up to this time
neither man had followed up an advantage
with any result, and the crowd-grown
i rath nolsier-began giving all sorts of ad-
vice. Mitchell smiled as though he intended
to do something, but jEst as he led off for
the Prussian's chest time was up and the
| round ended.
The fifth round was an exhibition of
savage slugging nearly all the way through.
Soon after they started the boxers got to
close quarters and gave it to each other
right and left. Once the Prussian delivered
a terrific under cut, catching Mitchell in the
chin, but almost Immediately afterward he
was turned around and nearly knocked off
| iOFb uJ u OiOW VIC SllO Vi bue n6hQ.
Slight signs Of exhaustion were evident in
Mitchell when he came up for the sixth
round. He was smiling but did not strike
as hard nor as quick as before, while the
Prussian looked more dogged and resolute
Mitchell succeeded once in forcing his op-
ponent against the rope, but was in turn
pressed back himself and then
wickedly punished about the face
and neck. The spectators were then
wild with excitement, and insisted
that the fight should go on, although the
stipulated six rounds had been fought, and,
in obedience II this demand, the men faced
each other again. The Prussian at once
began delivering body blows In the hope of
knocking Mitchell's wind, but he almost
lost his own breath by a tremendous crack
in the ribs. The latter half of the round
consisted mainly of hard, savage hitting,
without much guarding, and when TIE ref
cree announced that time was up aud the
fight over, the crowd insisted that the men
| should continue until one suocumbed.
Chambers was willing for his man to 90 on,
but Madden objected. Referee Hill then
announced that the fight was draw, but
that Mitchell had the best of 1t in the sixth