The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-10-11

of Connecticut.
 New Haven. Oct. g. | To Our Members and Friends: The columns of the press furnish the l only practical means by which can answer the many inquiries concerning 1 the prize-fight which IS booked for No- yember 9th at Waterbury It is as- | stunned by many that I can stop that | fight if I want to; that if can prevent one down in Kentucky I ought to in Connecticut.
 | Now let me set everybody right to start with. I have no power personally nor by virtue of my office to prevent any prize-f1ght here or elsewhere. I did not stop the fight in Kentucky. I wrote an open letter to Colonel Waiter son and some private letters to other citizens regarding the expulsion of the fighters from Connecticut and the char acter of the proposed exhibition in Lou fsville. am pleased. of course, if these letters aided in arousing public senti- ment and preventing the fight.
 Now to the question before us. Shall Young" Corbett and Rice be permitted to fight on November 9th in Waterbury?
 The law in Connecticut prohibits prize-fighting. That prize-fights can take place in this state with such law on the statute books is to our everlast- ing shame, and disgrace to the com monwealth. What astonishes me most of all is that so many people are fooled l by the promoters of these exhibitions, who claim that they are not fights. but boxing matches" "sparring exhibi- tions," etc.
 It is well known by everybody that these affairs are prize-ights if the English language means anything. There are always There are always high money stakes and sometimes champion ship belts of great value, which consti- tute a prize That they are fights is clearly proved by the rules of the con- test, which provide for counting out" as it is called That is, when one of the contestants is knocked senseess, or is so disabled that he cannot go on, the t fereree counts ten and decides the con- test for the victor.
 That these fights are brutal and de- moralizing is well known to anybody who has ever attended one. Look at the picture which Terry McGovern, known as Terrible Terry" gives of his fight with Dave Sullivan.
 His face looked like a rotten apple; his left ear was half the size of his head; it was cut, bruised, swollen terri bly,. His cheeks were puffed out until you couldn't see his eyes. His lips were black, blue and purple, dripping with blood. His body looked like a raw beef steak. He was splitting blood every time I sunk my fists In his stomach, over his heart or into his ribs. He was clinging to me to keep from going down, or, when I pushed him away, staggered around like a drunken man, dazed, wild-eyed, half conscious"
 A few nights ago Young Corbett, who is advertised as one of the contes- tants for the Waterbury bout, fought with Eddie Lenny in Philadelphia. The newspaper reports of the affair are in teresting. One says: "He was sight for the slaughter house when the gong rang down the final curtain, A gaping cut over his eye poured forth gore like a young Niagara. His eyes were both much to the bad, and he was bowed in the fore-legs like a broken down gee gee. Lenny was on one knee, all in, covered with blood, a frightful sight for gods or men. He was hammered to pulp" g,
 Another, in describing the same affair, says: with the sound of the gong in the third round Corbett was the same fighter who beat Terry McGovern at Hartford last Thanksgiving day. He assumed the aggressive. His right shot into Lenny's stomach with a thud. His left hook went to the face. They were awful smashes. Lenny was tired and distressed fighter at the end of the round. A cut under his left eye told of the terrific force of Corbetts wicked blows" His cut face was bleeding and his eyes were swelling more and more Lenny was wobbly as ship in heavy sea. He was sent to the floor again from the jolts of Corbett's right hook. His seconds fairly carried him to his corner and then he sat down and showed sure signs of seasickness. It was the best fight ever seen in Philadel- phia.''
 One of these papers in the same col umn with the above description records another fight which took place that same night in these words: "A bloody fight between two English bulldogs took place at resort near the Harlem Bridge last night More than four hundred persons paid five dollars each to see the ferocious canines tear each other to pieces. The spectators got their moneys worth so far as a gory spectacle was concerned. The fight lasted forty-two minutes and two sec onds When it was over poor King Tom'' lay dead in the sawdust arena. while Jack the Ripper" mangled so that "it is doubtful that he will live, was acclaimed the victor"
 The price of admission to both of these contests was the same and the character of the Four Hudred" com prising the audience in each instance was undoubtedly the same. Such af- fairs are occurrinf more infrequently than they did few years ago, but that they can occur at all in any civilized