Evening journal., 1897-03-24
THE PRIZE RING.
THE UTILITY OF SCIENTIFIC
PRIZE-FIGHTS.

bett-Fitzsimmons fight for the heavy
weight championship Of the world In
a few OF these comments there could
be discerned the elements of a wise and
judicial analysis, but in the majority
OF these scathing and wholesale ami
madversions of the art of self-defence
nothing could be discovered except the
elements of a bigoted and narrow con-
ception. Every man hath business
and desires, such as 1t is" So spoke
the man Of Stratford, and where the
liberallty Of a Shakespeare shows the
way we poor mortals can surely follow.
Ambition is more or less implanted in
every human breast, and the goal to
which the ambitions OF men aspire Is
not. neither will II ever be, the same in
each individual case.
Some wish to make plenty o'brass.
Lads long to grow to be men,
Some wish for a Lad or a lass.
And some to live all by their sen.
Some men have prediction and an
adaptation for the environment OF the
prize-ring. 1t would seem as If nature
had moulded and fitted them for this
especial vocation; and. because their
forte and ambition would seem to lie
in that particular direction, are we to
heap curses on their craniums and ap-
ply opprobrious epithets to their per-
sonalities for pursuing the only sue
cessful calling within their reach? Let
us be rational, just and equitable when
discussing this or any other seemingly
questionable vocation, and let us not
allow mere insular prejudice TO lead
reason captive. This life is full of
round holes. into which the vain en-
Hoo sYtrHf
stantly made; or. to drop the metaphor
and TO speak plain English, there are
myriads of people who pursue callings.
| for which they are about as much
adapted as a chimpanzee is qualified to
! dissertate on the proposed provisions of
The fiscal or tariff BILL now pending.
/ Take for instance. Hon. COrbett or now
superlatiyoy Hon. Fitzslmmons from
| the iistc arena. and the condition of
| either the one or the other would he
much akin tOthat of astranded whale or
an Othellowith his occupation gone. Ii
would, Of course, be an exceedingly
pleasant state of affairs were the ambi-
tons of all men to be of an elevated
| an ennobling character. But as we do
not seem, at this moment of writing,
to be standing in close juxtaposition to
the millennium period when the
Ion will be found to be on friendly
terms with the lamb and when the
jaekass will be discovered consuming
his quota of straw-the representative
and ultra-refined taste will be Obliged
to put up with men whose ambitions
lead them to the confines of the TWEEN
ty-four-foot prize-ring instead of to
the portals of the church door. The
public can stand these scientific prize
C..l. +. 4.
on a fair, square and manly basis This
fighting element with It's grit, its
Drawn and it's muscle, has won the bat
ties of every nation and lent a never
to-be-dimmed lustre to many a per.
sonality. And it is exactly this very
element which, to-day, warrants tht
supposition that the amalgamation o
two or three of the European powers
would be more than adequate to whil
] the world. Provided these fistic con
E tests for the championship belt be con
b Quoted in a cleanly manner, then the,
+ inculcate the lesson of self-reliance-;
, lesson which forms an indispensable
ingredient of the makeup of the physi
cal strength of the people of any ma
tion; and no man is ever any tn,
worse for having acquired, at some pc
riod or other of his life, the physica
gift of being able to defend himsel
upon each and every occasion. AZ
Shakespeare says:
Beware Of entrance to a quarrel,
But, being in, bear it that the op
poser may beware of thee.
And there is scarcely man walkin,
the earth, even though he be altogethe
hostile to the prize ring, but wha
! wishes In the secret recesses Of hi
heart that he possessed the prowess o
either a Fitzsimmons or a Corbctt. Al
amusing story is related of an eminen
dignitary of the Church of England
the incident happening just prior to th
Sullivan-Nlitchell tightin France, a few
years ago. The reverend gentleman
was invcighing against prize-fghts il
general and denouncing in strong term
the Sullivan-M Mitchell contest when, un
consciously dropping his voice to
confidential tone, he exclaimed: "Bu
from information / have received, il
/, lformation generally reliable / flrml.
n believe that If Mitchell will but cove
/ UP his defence, and wait for an openini
! he will be able to put this man Sullivan
to sleep in no time This inciden
merely serves to illustrate the fact tha
. so far as inclinations, likes and dis
, likes are concerned, we are all prett.
we'll tarrod with the same brush. Again
, 1t must be borne in mind, that if tn
! scientific contests of to-day are not ex
actly altruistic in purpose. yet tn
!, methods now employed are opposed an
, antithetical to the brutal slugging an
surroundings which characterized tn
bare knuclSle fights of the days Q
Sayers and Heenan. And it must ais
be remembered that to-day the ObieC
lesson Of the art of self-defence is [
teach the contestants to avoid rathe
II than to encourage the delivery Of
s dangerous or fatal blow. II is scarcel
necessary TO add that men like Fit
simmons and Corbett. Injured as the
4 are to the harGships and privations {
II a rigid course of training, constitute
J. type which is more desirable than thi
; represented by the callow, enervate'
cigarette-smoking dudelets who,
n times of peace, are yeritable eyesore
h and who, did their country need the
a services, would be found to be NJ
worth the powder necessary to bio
Ie them from off the face of the cart