The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-02-17
NO MORE BOUTS.
License Board Decides
Against Boxing Shows.

No more boxing tournaments for
Worcester this season. That is the
way it looks at the present time.
The license board at its meeting
Thursday afternoon, considered among.
It's routine business two petitions for
licenses for boxing exhibitions They
were the petitions of Thomas ]. Nc
Grath, representing the Winfield Ath-
letic Club, and of John w. Drewson.
representing the Chatham Athletic
Club. In each case the board gave the
petitioner leave to Withdraw.
AS has been stated already in The
spy the members of the board are not
opposed to boxing as a pastime in this
city. But they are thoroughly sick of
the tights and discussions that have
peen engendered almost from the time
OF Ming the first application several
weeks ago and when counsel was en-
gagged 10 appear before the board in
behalf of rival petitioners, the board
thought the whole business was going
altogether too far. Then, too, the
board has been inclined to look upon
the exhibitions as arranged primarily
as money making schemes rather than
as an incentive to clean sport in this
city.
| The first application was made some
time IN December by j. Frank Sween-
ey, who applied in the name of the
Pelican Athletic Club. Inasmuch as
the Pelican Club was not in active ex-
1stence, the tournament was really a
benefit for the petitioner Then the
Winf1elds jumped in and asked for a
date a few days ahead of that claimed
by Sweeney; Both licenses were grant
ed by the board, and the resulting
tournaments furnished fair exhibitions
Of bookings and the crowds were fairly
well behaved
Then a party of we'll known men
about town, in the name Of the Wor-
cester Athletic Club, applied and re,
ceived license for an exhibition and
the entertainment they furnished was
by far the best of the series.
Hardly had the wv. A. c." exhibit
ton been pulled off than two more APP
plieations came before the license
board for consideration. One was from
the Forestdale Club, which was in
reality no club at all; the other was
for benefit to Billy Whalen and Geo.
Boles. The license board turned down
the Forestdales for lack of organiza-
tion and the Whalen- Boles application
because it was purely a money making
scheme.
Thomas Sharkey, when he came here
with his vaudeville troupe, a week or
so ago, applied and received a license
for his exhibition with Bob Armstrong
1t is still a question in the minds of
many whether the board did not over
step its rights in granting this license,
inasmuch as Sharkey himself was one
of the beneficiaries.
The last two applications received
were those Of the Winhelds and the
Chatham Athletic Club, the latter be-
ing an organization seemingly in name
only. The Winfelds desired their show
on Feb. 81, while the Chatham Athletic
Club made application for the follow
ing evening. These two applications,
as has been stated, We're given leave to
withdraw for o variety Of reasons.
If those desiring licenses had gone
about the matter quietly, the license
board would undoubtedly have shown
no disposition to turn down any rep
utable persons. But the promoters"
of these boxing exhibitions have APP
parently cut off their own noses by
getting the members Of the board and
a good many others thoroughly tired
of the whole business