The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1896-02-15
PRIZE RING PUGS.
Appearance Of Pugilists Before
and After Fighting.
The yietar Becomes a Lion and the Van
qzished Is Left to Suffer In NeI,a-
choly Shareholders and After
the Battle.


the Battle
Mufied to the ears in q dark-blue
sweater the heavyweight sat in his
dressing a couple Of burrows.
denoting concentrated thought, ap-
peared in the narrow space between
his eyebrows and hair. de vas about
TO enter the ring and expose his chin
to the deadly Knockout blow. Near
this magnificent human brute lowered
his trainer, also attired in a sweater.
and keenly alert to every move and
sound. The suave gentleman in the
role of financial hacker, who man
ipulates the gate receipts, vas also
there, trying 70 appear gay and deb
oraire, but palpably anxious. At the
bolted door stood 4 fawning tin
horn sport without a penny in his
pocket, but with a good prospect OF
fondling a couple of dollars if things
went right. He knew the heavyweight
from having seen his picture in the
pink periodicals and worshiped him ac-
cordingly.
The dressing-room contained little
beside the heavyweightand his friends.
In one corner was a wide cot of rough
boards hastily knocked together. on
which the pugilist reclined, thinking
that he thought. On a table opposite
stood number Of bottles containing
whisky, alcohol and iniments. There
were also a sponge, some fans and
towels, and under the table a tub of
ice.
Outside could be heard the roar of
the rabble at six dollars per head, en-
joying the preliminary bout as seen
through the murky haze of tobacco
smoke. The event of the evening
the meeting of the heGvyweights-was
next on the programme. A favored
few gained admittance to the dressing
rooms, for there were two or three re-
treats. Substantial-looking men in
cheese-colored ovcrcoats and diamonds
a shade or two lighter crowded in TO
shake the hand of the thumper on
whom they had stal1ed their money,
and to whisper a word of encourage
ment in his ear. Some who were not
sports, but had friends in that line,
Cazed awestrfcken at the reclining
gladiator and his array of fighting par
aphernalia.
Having exhausted his oratory in
making the match, the heavyweight
had nothing to say, and those who did
give vent t. words spoke in subdued
whispers. It was painfully solemn
and impressive occasion. Now and
then the trainer, lest he be overlooked
in the shadow of the stellar attraction.
clipped a bit of court plaster with
which he tenderiy dressed an imagi-
nary scratch on the prickled paws Of
his employer.
Eventually the battle takes place,
and at the end of an hour the heavy
weights are back in their rooms. The
winner is now the most Soluble of the
excited throng which crowds the small
apartment to the door. He recapitu-
lates every blow given and taken dur
ing the fight, and points out on the
chin of the hacker the exact spot on
which he landed the final punch.
Everybody is deliriously happy, for
they have won money, and call the
hacker Familiarity by his first name.
That astute individual is effusivelv
solicitous for the welfare of his trained
animal. and presses upon him drink
of brandy from very small and curl
hnf
the flank creates the impression that
the liqror is of a superior quality, dis
titled expressly for winning pugs.
lie is slow about dressing himself, is
the victor, for the red welts and gouges
on his neck. breast and arms enhance
his popularity 100 per cent. But he
affects not to notice these wounds and
chats gayly about how he knew that
dub wouldn't be in it with him, etc.
They all finally depart, however, with
the gate receipts, and spend the night
in drinking champagne.
Across in the other dressing-room
the dub sits blinking dizzily at
' acaDcy. He shakes so that the trainer
Is unable to dress the fallen idol. There
is no one present but the trainer and
couple of poor but loyal friends who
had nothing to stake on the result.
Even the hacker has retired in disgust,
and the Kisses of the sports who sup
ported the loser before the fight, and
who followed him as he was dragged
limp and beaten from the ring, still
sound in the purple ears of the van
quished man. His stomach has been
hammered back and welded TO his
spine, his nose broken and swollen and
every bone and muscle in his pain |
Iacked body aches.
In melancholy silence, disturbed |
only by the intermittent grosns of the |
pugilistic ruin. his trainer rubs him 1
down with camphor and arnica. occa-
Eionally pouring something from a
black bottle into the throat OF the suf- |
ferer. He still trembles like a man
with palsy and is too weak and vabbly |
TO stand without support.
After an hour Of grooming the VIC
tim of misplaced money, sodden with 1
drink, is squeezed into his clothes. then l
bundled into a hack and spirited away 4
through side streets and alleys 20 the
oblivion of a Hannah bath BE is
simply a whipped dog. With no more
credit or standing than the bull pup
,hewed 20 finish in the regular pit. The
Other fellow is honored By the inter
levers and his remarks are wired to
very portion Of the civilized world.
Later on he opens saloon and be-
zones q power in Politics.-S. l. Jour
aal.