The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1886-04-07
FUTURE OF PUGILISM.
The Bright Prospects of a Noble
and Profound Science.
Four Days Spent In the Company of Mr..
Dempsey on q Railroad Traln-Tho 4 I
Pugillsts Good 0uaiities-A
selfMade Man. ~
lBla Nye. in Chicago News.]

bess A'y ~ "a OhsSSU0 AtSWosl
The recent prominence Of Mr.. John e.
Dempsey, better known as Jack Dempsey,
of New York, brings TO mind a four days
trip taken in his company from Portland,
Ore, to st. Paul, over the Northern Pacific.
There were three pugilists in the party
besides myself, viz Dempsey, Dave
Campbell and Tom Cleary. We made o
together, and may truthfuly state that
never felt so free to say any thing want
cd toto other pasengers-as Ibid at that
time. wish could afford to take at least
pne pugilist with nae all the time. In trav-
cling about the country lecturing q good
pugilist would be of great assistance.
would like TO set him on the man who al
ways asks: "Where do you go from here,
Mr.. Nyep He does not ask because he
wants to know, for the next moment he
asks right over again. do not know why
he asks, but surely it is-not for the purpose
Of finding out H W R..-
Well, throughout our long journey across
the State Of Oregon and the Territories of
Idaho, Montana and Dakota, and the State
of Minnesota, it was one continual ovation.
Dempsey had q worldwide reputation,
found, co-extensive with the horizon, as /
may say, and bounded only by the zodiac.
Mr.. Dempsey is not man who would be
picked out as a great man. You might
pass by him two or three times without
recognizing his eminence, and yet at
scrapping matinee or swatting recital he
seems to hold his audience at his own
sweet wlll-also his antagonist.
Mr.. Dempsey does not crave notoriety.
He seems rather to court seclusion. This
is characteristic OF the man. His logic,
however is wonderful Though quiet and
unassuming in his manner, his arguments
are powerful and generally make large
protuberance wherever they alight
Nothing is more pleasing than the sight
Of man who has risen by his own unaided
effort, fought his way up as it were, and yet
who Is not vain. Mr. Dempsey conversed
with me frequently during the journey and
did not seem TO feel above me.
Iopened the conversation by telling him
that / had seen a number Of his works.
Nothing pleases young author so much
as little friendly remark in relation to
his work l had seen a study of his one
day in New York last spring. 1t was an
italic nose with quotation marks on each
side.
1t was q very happy little bon mot on
Mr. Dempsey's part, and attracted good
deal Of notice at the time.
Mr.. Dempsey is not a college graduate,
as many suppose. He is a self-made man.
This should be q great encouragement 10
our boys who are now unknown and whose
portraits have not as yet appeared in the
sporting papers.
But Mr.. Dempsey's great force as a de-
batter is less, perhaps, in the matter than in
the manner. His delivery is good and his
gestures can not fail TO convince the most
skeptical. Striking in appearance, aggres-
sive in his nature, and happy in his gest-
ures,. he Is certain TO attract the attention
Of the police, and he can not fail TO rivet
the eye Of his adversary. saw one Of his
advesaries not long ago whose eye had
been successfully riveted in that way.
And yet John L. Dempsey was once
poor boy. He had none Of the advantages
which wealth and position bring. But con-
fdent Of his latent ability as a middle
weight convincer he toiled on, ever on, sit
ting up until long after other people had
gone 10 bed, patiently knocking out those
who might be brought to him for that pur-
pose. He never hung back because the way
looked long and lonely. And what is the
RESULT To-day in tho full vigor OF man
hood, he Is sought out and petted by every
one who takes an interest in the onward
march Of pugilism.
II is wonderful record, though brief It
shows what patient industry will accom-
plish unaided. Had John T.. Dempsey hest
tated TO enter the ring and said that he
would rather go 10 school, where he would be
safe, be might to-day be an educated man,
but what does that amount TO here in Amer
lea, where every body can have an educa-
tion. He would have lost his talent as
slugger and drifted steadily downward,
perhaps, till he became a school-teacher or
narrow-chested editor, writing things day
after day just TO crafty the morbid curl
osity Of a sin-cursed world.
In closing would like to say that hope
have not expressed an opinion in the
above that may hereafter be used against
me. Do not understand mo to be the foe
Of education. Education and refinement
are good enough in their places but how
shall we attract attention by trying to be-
come refined and educated in land where,
as say, edscation and refinement seem al
most TO run rampantl
Heretofore, in America, pugilism has
been made subservient to the common
schools. Pugilism and polygamy have both
been crowded TO the wall. Now pugilism
is about TO assert itself. The tin ear and
the CORY nose will soon come to the front,
and the day is not far distant when pro-
gressive pugilism and the prize-ring will
take tho place OF the poorly-ventilated
common school and the eneryating evening