The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1895-09-05
AN INNOCENT PARSON.
his ATTEMPT TO DESCRIBE A RAM
: FIGHT IN RING vERNACULAR.

succeed IN Appearing Unsopbistic3tcu.
Tho Little Rams Ring Tactics.
4 preacher told this story at q we'd
ding cuprer Oh tho South Sido tho other
evening:
81 was riding along country road
near Bloomington, he said, ''when 1
noticed group of sheep i'll pasture
There was large open space in tho
midst of the flock, and at either end of
tho space stood n ram In the center,
but standing little at one side, was "a
third RAM The two rams had evidently
had falling out about something, or
else they had come to settle in friend
ly contest which was the better ram
liam No. 8 seemed to be acting as
Dudge, umpire-what do you call it?
Referee? Yes, that's it, the third ram
was tho referee. | don't know under
what rules tho meeting took place. 1t
may have been Quecnsberry or Rosebery.
You SEQ am not up TO these technical
matters.
When all the preliminarics had been
arranged and both contestants had been
cautioned apparently that there was To
be no 'fouling'-I think [ have seen
that word i'll tho newspapers occasional
ly, and therefore 1 suppose it is cor
rect word TO uso i'll this connection
each backed off to the farthest limits OF |
tho circle, which, by tho way, was not |
a squared circle. The referee stepped |
ont of the way and the rams dashed to-
ward each other. When their heads |
came together, there was terrific crash.
and the forco of tho conclusion threw
them rs far apart as the length of this |
table. "
All the guests looked the full length |
of tho table from tho passion flowers mt
one end to tho brides cake in the far
perspective, and then ut the preacher i'll
tho middle distance, but nobody said
anything.
-'Then," continued the preacher,
They took their places, apparently mono
the worse for the encounter. Again, owl
sdentlyat preconcerted signal from the
referee, they dashed together. This time
tho shock was even more terrific than
tho first, and J. noticed that as one Of
them went back to his-ah, what do
they call it, corner?-he was n little un-
steady on his legs -
"Groggyr' ventured tho bride
Il believe that is tho technical term,;'
replied the preacher, although, us /
have intimated, am not at all familiar
with sporting phraseology. When timo
was called for the third round-ahcm-
that is, mean to say when the rams
had recovered strength for third col
ision = there was another rush,
crash and ono of the rams, the one You
so aptly described rs groggy' with an
acknowledgment to the brdo) fell to
his knees. His adversary did not seem
inclined to follow up his advantage, but
possibly ho may have been restrained by
tho rules of tho meeting At any rate,
after contemplating his fallen foe grave
lly for u moment he walked back to his
place. The other ram, after resting
briefly, struggled to his feet. The third
ram-thc ono l have called tho referee
looked ut him rather inQuiringly, as
1t seemed to me, but tho warrior show
ed no sign Of recognition. He ambied
to his side of the ring and faced about.
A murmur of some sort seemed to go
through the flock Tho odds were ap-
parently 8 to l in favor Of the other
ram-,hat is to say, it seemed tn be tho
general opinion that tho ram with tho
4.
other ono WAS decidedly the heavier CT
the two
However, the smaller ram seemed
to have wonderful rccupcrativO powers.
When the proper interval had elapsed,
ne came up smiling, as it We're. | even
thought l could sec q twinkle III his eye,
for [ was quite close to the fence, and
this thing took place only IL little dis
TANGO away. AS tho referee stepped back
from the center Of the ring, where he
kept his position between tho meetings,
tho other two rams drove at each other
pellmell. AT the very instant when
their hard horns would have met, how
ever, the smaller ram suddenly changed
his course to the right and the other
went through the ranks like catapult
Just rs he turned about, evidently
boiling ever with Indignation AT the
trick which had been played on him,
the other one with the added force given
by q longer run from one side of the cir
Gle to a point several feet outside of it,
where the larger ram's momentum had
carried him, shot at him like IA cannon
ball, striking him full in the face and
driving him several feet away, where
he lay limp and hclpless The third
ram, who was promptly on the spot, as
suppose every competent referee should
be, nodded his head several times-in-
deed it looked to me as if he was count
1ng-and then the fallen ram failing to
rise the whole flock marched away to-
ward a knoll in another part of the
meadow with the victorious ram mt the