Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1883-03-01
THE SLUGGERS.
A xArakn rAA. fx.roxnAxus


ing, announcing the coming Of Richard
(. FOx's Police Gazette athletic cOmbin1r
lion, which includes Jem Nace, the old but
fav0rite pugiiist, and Herbert Shade, the
Maori, his pupil, who, it IL said, will b
to fight John sullivan. There
was scarcely boy or man in this city who
patrOnizo such amuSemeuts that did not
know of their coming. Most of them knew
the hour of arrival 50 that when the day
express came in at 5:25 last evening there
was large crowd at the depot, eager to
see the famous pugilists. Mace was %.
by his wife, and with Slade
and Mr.. Rice, manager OF the party, they
quickly stepped into . coach and were
driven to the Stevens house, the remain
ing members of tho company going to the
Cooper house. A crowd soon gathered ct
the former hotel and all succeeded
in getting . look al Slade who walked
about the hotel as though he felt proud Of
being considered q curiosity. Mace took
q room and was not seen again by out
siders until he appeared on the stage. A
crowd hung around the opera house al
evening and when the doors opened there
was great rush for tickets. The gallery
was soon full and by the time the curtain
rolled up the down stairs was
almost full. The entertainment opened
with what was called negro
sketch by Budd Granger and his wife. It
was very tame, and neither of the parties
could sing or dance, but attempted both.
w. w. Hodgkin played the banjo, but he
was q miserable failure and his songs vera
SO old that many in the audience shed
tears. How actors a. bad a. he can get
n IA hn-
ing shot is mystery. Lynch and Nc
sketch, which showed that McMahon
GERS. The audience by this time was be.
ginning to tire of seeing actors whom
they had never heard of before, 30 when
Gus. Hill, the club swinger, came
out, it was a great relief. Mr.. Hill
was here but few weeks ago with the
" Meteors' and as he is . favOrite was
we'll received. His ability as club
swinger is we'll known, and he is unques-
tioRably the best in the country. he
swung heavy and light clubs in almost
every style "A sket,h followed entitled +:
"Scenes in Boxing School," which in.
troduced James Kelly and Jerry Murphy.
These men are light weights we'll. known
among the fighters and are considered
very clever. Their exhibition was worth
seeing, their sparring being excellent. Tht
hitting was hard and the men are 50
evenly matched that the mill was very
entertaining. The audience grew very
demonstrative and the light weights were
considered the best people of tie evening.
Miss Annie Granger then came on the
stage to sing Willie, Light the Fire ,
and other songs. She did not sing tn
other songs. That audience did not de
sire to waste time on a bad serio-
comic, so when Willie had the fir
lighted it was warm enough TO
Annie to stay behind the scenes. Steve
O'Donnell and Gus. Hill were then intro
duced to do collar and elbow wrestling
best three falls in five for gold medal
presented by r. X. Fox. w. E. Harding
of the Police Gazette, member of tn
company, was chosen referee. After con.
siderable work, which greatly tired anC
almost annoyed the audience, OD0nnel
threw Hill twice upon his back and th'
latter scored one ON him. This act die
not come up to expectations. The pro
gramme was now finished to the winduI
between Mace and Slade. Mr.. Harding
came upon the stage and exhibited the
champion belt of England which was WOE
by Tom Sayers, and tho champion belt o
Australia, both of which are owned By
Mr.. Mace. He then brought on the cham
pions, introducing them amid loud ap
plause. Slade IN a man about 6 feet
inches in height and will prob&bl!
weigh two hundred pounds. He ha
big strong looking arms and leg
and is we'll made all over. He has
broad, pleasant looking face and re
minds one of big school boy. His hal
is cropped short and is jet black and b
has a swarthy complexion. Mace is shOrte
than the Maori by several inches, but is
powerfully madc man. He is somewha
heavier about the body, but will not weigl
as much. He is q rather nice looking
fellow with black mOustaehe and bald head
and is said to be SO years old, which b
looks. Bob men were attired in whit
pantaloons to the feet with flaming re
shirts and long sleeves. They presente
I a fine appearance. After the introductio
they began sparring without any furthe
ceremony, and it lasted for thIs
short rounds. Both men showed cOnsid
cradle science, but no hard hitting, Z
Mace stepped to the fOOtlights and sail
during the match that it was an exhibl
ton of science, not fight. Slade wa
quick with feet and arms and created
rather favorable impression. He had th'
best OF the sparring, but it would b
almost impossible for any one to JUG
from that what he is capable Of doing in
ring before a man like Sullivan. III
majority Of the audience seemed to thin
that he will be knocked clean out Of tim
if he is ever matched against the BOst0
man. During the sparriDg of the tw
big men a crowd ON the gallery kept vel
ing for Sullivan and making ugly r.
marks concerning the Maori, all Of whie
were unheeded.
! w. E. Harding, who is with the part
is sporting editor Of the Police Gazstt
He attends to all of Mr.. FOx's busine
and represents him in all his engag
ments. These two men have done gre;
deal to bring about fights, and are alwa!
on the look out for something now, q
pecially if it will advertise the Gasstl
Fox has lots of money and is willing
put it up. Harding is q short man, pro-
ably 40 years of age, who dresses rath
loudly, sporting plug hat and paintl
moustache. He is willing and anxious
talk on all kinds of sporting matters, q
to an INTELLIGENCER reporter he was n
long in showing check for q, 500, signs
by Mr.. Fox, which no holds to put mp a.
forfeit on Slade against Sullivan. IL
Harding says he has not missed priI
fight since 1853, and attended all gpoftin
events of note He says he has BEEN
"boy' in his time and has stood - reft II
in matches of all kinds. Fox il natl,
of Belfast, Ireland, and has been in Il