The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1897-03-20
nONCE WAS ENObGHFOR M"
Ex-senator ingalls, Says One Ring
Battle Satisfied Him. !.
In His Opinion PriEe Fighting Is
Less Brutal Than Many Other
Forms of Athletic Sports.

"Once was enough Tor ihe,'' says ex
Senator Ingalls,, and henceforth prize
| fighters may pursue the even tenor OF their
way undisturbed by my presence or my
observation
Senator ingalls, last dispatch from
| Carson to the Journal was more of an
essay than a news item. However, any
thing from the brush of the greatest word
i painter of the forum is interesting. no
matter what colors he uses or what the sub
ject selected He telegraphed from Carson
/ Thursday night as follows:
! 1t was very much like a Presidential
| nominating convention, or a political rally
| inthe openairt tow ardtheeado fa Campaign,
| when party feeling runs high aud public
| questions are to be debated by popular
| orators.
1 The assemblage was composed almost
| entirely OF young men under thirty There.
werefew in middle life, and the gray he ards
scarcely outnumbered the women It
| was a goodnatured, jollylng crowd, hut
| not boisterous, nor rough, nor guying, nor
| turbulent.
The newspaper representatives were
] charming young fellows, a IA the sports and
toughs appeared to be affabie men If the
world, as much interested in the preserva-
| ton OF order as the magistrates or the DO
| lice.
| The clergy and the professors were not
| present, unless disguised, but every other
| rank in society had its representatives,
Altogether the assemblage was fulIy up
| TO the level OF those in attendance Az horse
races, base and football games, bench shows,
| agricultural exhibitions and similar gather
| ings, East or West. As at those, there also
were fakirs, crooks, gamblers, la lies OF the
| half world, gentlemen with Cleveland necks
| and diamonds on hands not strictly mani
| cured, saloons in fun activity, games of
chance, poolrooms, and the usual opportu-
mites for indulgence and dissipation.
Any gentleman desiring to risk his money
or his brains could find the chance, as ne
! can in San Francisco or New York But
did not see drunken man or pistol nor
, did hear more than customary profanity
at the arena or elsewhere in Carson not
withstanding the alleged depravIty of the
people of Nevada in legalizing glove con-
tests.
If the encounter between Corbett and
FitZsimnons yesterday was one of the
memorable battles of the world, as as
serted by many chroniclers and Judges of
such events, then tie sorrow, the dangers
and the immotalities Of TIE prize ring aIe
largely a product of the mag
The ordinary game Of foothal between
two college teams displays mole brutality
and is attended with more perm TO life and
limb than appeared in any oftte fourteen
rounds that closed so disiistr ously for
Corbett. %a4
Moe broken ribs AMI factmed collar
bones result from hurdle jumping and
horse racing every season than al e possible
in pug ilism for a century
King fighting has become one Of tie e.
tablished Industries. 1t is trade or
vocation.
The Carson meeting was a purely mer-
cenary venture, thoroughit advertised hy
ingenious pIovocations TO riGue the curl
osty, and adIoitly nanaf Ell as a money
making speculation.
1t lacked every element Of personal
heroism. The danger was nlinimiZed by
whatever prec;tution ingenuity could devise
without depTiving the public altogether OF
an opportunity for exciten eIlt and emotion
The two wary veterans, after many
weeks of elaborate preparation by exer-
else, diet, practice and attention to the
rules of good health, appeared at last
in the arena, like actors upon the stage
OF theatcr, for cash. Neither seemed
TO be spelling for a fight" The object
apparently was to avoid rather than to
inflict injury. There were minuets and
embraces, genUfleXions, side talks and
horse play, and grins at the audience
The catastrophe came unexpectedly, harm
lessiy. with no more pain than the drawing
of tooth under the Influence of ether,
perhaps not so much.
Taken altogether, it was an Interesting
spectacle, but with no more excitement in
the audience than passion in the performers
AS an exhibition of gymnastic skill,
dexterity and physical science, it was
success, but as gladiatorial combat.
whose participants were ''butchered TO
make Roman holiday" was defective.
The performance might have been WI
messed by women and children like the |
feats of Sandow and the trapeze perform
ers OF circus, with no moral or intel |
lectual Improvement, perhaps, but with 10
detriment to mind or health.
Those who travelled three thousand |
miles and paid $40 for a seat to witness |
the battle may possibly question whether |
it was not high price for a tame hour, |
but they will have no reason to lament the |
injury to their manners or their morals.
There are great many things in this |
world that a man is glad to see once, but /
does not care to see again.
l never saw prize fight before, and / |
shall not attend any more, no matter what |
compensation may be offered-not because |
il is wrong, but because once is enough for !
me. l feel like Lord Chesterfield, who, |
after his first days hunting, inquired of |
his host il a gentleman ever did it a see |