St. Paul daily globe., 1891-01-04
new ATHLETIC CLUB.
Several st. Paul Men Making
a Move to Have One
Started.
A Rumor That the Harris
Theatep Will Be Fitted for
That Purpose.
Outline Of Some Of the Plans
Of the Projectors Of the
Enterprise.
The FitZsimmons Dempsey
Fight---General Sporting
Events Of a Day.

Sporting stock is on the rise. Glove
ntests, and athletic sports generally,
..vc become more popular than ever
Ssey were before, and people will pay
Pore money to see a properly managed
iRhibition of physical strength and skill
.Aan they will to witness the finest the
Btrical production on the road. Mime
spolstook the initiative in the establish
ment of an athletic club, and very
well conducted club it is. The member
ship of that club comprises many names
of men well known in st. Paul sporting
circles; and these gentlemen, princi-
pally, are responsible for the movement
now attracting attention in the local
sporting field, for the establishment of
an athletic club here which shall eclipse
anything OF the kind in the Northwest.
1t was learned by advices from
Baltimore few days ago,
that the Harris theater would
shortly be closed entirely. A confer
ence with Manager Dean failed to es-
tablish that he had any knowledge of
such an intention OH the part of the
management, but the projectors OF the
scheme persist in asserting that the
theater will close, and that they are
negotiating with Britton and Dean for
Il lease of the premises which Will be
converted into first-class sporting club
house. An architect is now engaged i'll
preparing plans for the reconstruction
of the interior. According 10 these
plans, the auditorium will be preserved
almost intact. An expenditure OF
$4,000 is proposed in the redecoration
of the interior, and an additional sum,
not yet estimated, for converting the
basement to serve the required
purpose. The latter will be
arranged for the reception Of
Turkish, shower, plunge and hot and
cold water baths. An exercise room
and bowling alley will be included, the
extent of the basement affording plenty
of room for ALL The prime movers in
the scheme refuse to have their names
divulged until some agreement has beeu
arrived at with the leSsees of the prem
ises it is proposed to occupy, but they
are among the most influential of the
sporting fraternity. Membership in the
club will involve an initiation fee of
S25 and monthly due Of $3.50. Mem
berS will enjoy all the privileges of the
club, the use of baths and exercising
rooms, which latter will be fitted with
every appliance for muscular develop
ment. 1t is proposed TO have weekly
Sparring events, and. in fact, to place
the institution on the same plane with
the other well-known athletic clubs of
the country. A boxing instructor will
be kept on salary for the instruction of
members desiring to acquire the
Art of SeIf-Defense
and to teach calisthenic exercises. This
movement has not been gone into
blindly. The subject was broached to
all gentlemen known to be interested
i'll sporting matters before step was
taken. and it was founu that the club
could start out easily with member
ship of 1900. The figure at which initi-
alton is placed will serve to keep out
rowdyism, and will allow of the conduct
of the place In purely sporting lines. A
spoke to many of those interested in
square sport, as 10 their views of the
probable success of the club, and the
universal opinion was that nothing but
success could follow the establishment
of sporting headquarters on the lines
here mapped out. All healthily cOnsti-
tuted men like to see contests involving
physical strength and prowess, and will
pay for the privilege. They, however,
object to the roWdyism and gem
eral backguardsm which usu-
ally prevails where such con-
tests are brought off in this
locality, and only need the assurance
that the events are to be properly con-
Quoted to induce them to place their
names on the membership list. 1t is the
purpose of the club management to
demonstrate that there is nothing about
graceful scenes which some times ac-
company them. A wrestling match is
purely and simply a contest for physical
supremacy, in which the wrestler sup
plements his strength with skill. Prop
erly handled. wrestling match is an
event that might be witnessed by lady
without causing her any other emotion
than that of admiration for the manly
strength of the contestants. That glove
fighting had once almost fallen into dis
repute was due, not to the fact
that glove fighting contained the
elements of brutality as alleged,
but to the gross mismanagement of
numberleSS events which which were
allowed to be carried Oh more after the
manner of dog fights than of contests
between human beings. The establish
ment of such clubs as the one to be CIV
en- st. Paul, all over the country, and
patterned after the celebrated Athletic
headquarters, of New York and San
Francisco, has done more than any other
Dne thing to redeem legitimate sport
from the slough into which it had been
dragged by representatives unworthy
the name. The st. Paul Athletic club
Is, as yet, in embryo. No officers have
been elected: no membership has been
secured, but the preliminaries have been
SO carefully looked after by gentlemen
eminently fitted to handle them, that
establishments of the club may safely
be said to be a sure thing, hinging only
m the ability Of thp nrOipntO IN snoura