The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1904-02-08
HAND BANDAGES
PROPER FIRING
Liquid Substances Sometimes Used,
Which Become Hard After
Cloves Are Put on.

According 20 a well-known handler OF
boxers. nandaging a fighters hands has
become an art in itself. and has been
the medium Of winning and Losing fights
for contestants In many cases
Ordinary insulation tape or adhesive
bicycle tape is the only substance to
use, said the expert. and Il should be
spread over the knu,kles in such n
way as to protect the fist. yet come un
der the definition Of a soft bandaRe
Trick after trick has been introduced
under the clause in articles Of agree
ment permitting bandages, and on this
account some fighters object strongly to
their opponents having wrapped hands
Those who object TO bandages are gem
orally the two e5ttremes Of pugilism.
however-either th@s light Taper, who
never hits hard enough to dent his
glove, or the man with a rock-like fist
that YOU couldn't hurt with a sledge
hammer.
Naturally. neither class needs band
ages. so they always kick on their op-
ponents having the advantage wrap
pings may give them.
TrickeIy Creeps in.
Bob Fitzsimmons and Kid Mccoy
were two OF the first men to appreciate
the fact that the strips Of linen or tape
around the hands could be made 20
serve other purposes than those OF
protection. It is said that Fitz used
% put moistened plaster Of paris on
MS linen bandages and let the mass grow
ridge across his hand that could be felt
straight through the glove.
Mccoy used to soak his bandages in
some solution that was largely alcohol
and that evaporated rapidly. II had
some sort of gum in il and the band
ages generally dried quickly once his
glove was on. BY the time he had pot
tered around the ring a while ne had
regular armor casing on his knuckles.
Jim Corbett always liked to have his
hands bandaged. but he preferred linen
" LAT
was perfectly fair in every way. Now
adays every fighter has his hands band
aged before going into the ring, and
some do themselves more harm than
good thereby.
The object Of the wrappings is to
protect the entire hands. keep the fight
er from breaking his knuckies. and hold
the cartilage in the hand together, so
there Is less danger of tanning the men,
II always commence wrapping the
hand near the wrist, taking two or
three turns of adhesive tape around that
part Of the member. Then / wind II
tightly around his hand, making him
close his fist as ] stretch the tape. so
that there is no stoppage of circulation.
as there would be II the tape was pulled
tightly when the hand was open.
over his knuckles I lay n double or
triple portion Of tape. TO form a sort
OF cushion Then wind the hand tight
~ around and over the knuckles, pulling
the tape smoothly across the outside
OF the hand and twisting il into a sort
OF band across the palm. This band
gives vim grip when he closes his
hands.
The result is bandage perfectly
smooth and tight on the knuckles. soft
enough 10 conform to all rules. and yet
tight enough 10 protect the fist and
keep II from getting hurt. That thing
OF having a little cushion Of tape over
the knuckles helps a whole lot. too.
Il have seen a good many fighters
credited with the invention of this
thing OF bandaging the hands. but the
can be said TO have invented it. In the
old prize ring days, under London rules.
100 years ago, three methods Of protect
ing the hands were followed
"One was the semi pIczIing of the
hands by soaking them constantly I'm
strong brine. Another was putting them
in some strong aStringent preparation
that tOughened them and that hardened
the skin and muscles bel-saIh- The thirt
was this same thing Of bandaging the
lands. The astrinSSrt bath had the
merit Of keeping the hands from puff
ing swelling. and cracking in a hard
fight but IL also destroyed the elias
ITCHY of the muscles and made the fist
liable to breakage-
"Bandaging does GOT seem to have
become popular in tb2se days, although
Of all three methods. Fitzsimmons prob
ably revived the habit to a greater OK
tent than any other man, and may be
responsible for the widespread bandag-
ing OF the modern ring.
Every fighter winds his hands with
tape before III goes into the ring nova
days. and IL generally proves a great
worse than unprotected members"