Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-03-30
MODERN ATHLETIC SHOWS.
Good That May Come From Fair Tests
Of Skill and Strength.
From the Lancet.

FROM the Lancet. -tf7--
we are not among, those who can see
nothing that is good in3public exhibitions of
athletic skill in which :eanger is not entirely
absent or in which the element of personal
antagonism also plays a part. It is easy to
deride such sight as that of a recent great
wrestling match and to declare that with
all our Wanted advances we preserve the
debased tastes of Rome in its degenerate
days Moralists in this strain are one-sided
persons and are likely to miss important
points. To begin with, there is all the diff
ference in the world between combat sucb
as tnat 10 which We have referred and the
gladlatoriaI shows of ancient Rome
To witness such sight as that of a man
battling for his very life with an infuriat ted
wild beast may be exciting but 1t can have
no elevating influence of any kind A yery
different effect is produced when two highly
trained i atnletes choose to enter the ring for
a fair trial of strength and skill There is
something stirring in the mere aspect of a
nne specimen of physical DEVELOPMENT and
condition The same quality of admiration
by which the typical Englishman is moved
at the view of a splendid race horse is not
thing to be deplored or despised: and It
Is the same emotion in a higher degree
Wmcn is aroused by the spectacle of human
physicaf attainment at its highest point
In the latter case moreover the sight an
peals more directly as an example and NAV
lead in the case of many a beholder to some
exercise OF those admirable qualities of re-
stra1nt or, of self-denfal and Of good temper
without which a. successful athlete Is
scarcely to be developed. cavil might be
raised that what we have said applies equal
ly to the abolished prizefight. That is true
only so far as the combatants are concern
edit is not true with regard to the nature
OF their contest. Nobody objects to the
skill. the strength and the courage of the
prizeffghter; 1t is the brutality which neces-
sarfly accompanies a competitive exhibition
ofthese qualities in boxing that justifies the
tails no such brutality; and though to our
minds far less interesting sport to witness
than good boxing, 1t is yet worthy incen-
tive to physical training on the part of those
who seek proficiency in the art.
We have suggested that athletic exhibit
lions by trained experts are to be approved
Of because of the fine physical example an
emulation of which they may stir within
the Breasts OF young men who witness their
performance 1t is spectators Of this kind
with whom alone we sympathize The young
mans inclination for athletic exercise and
all the advantages that proper physical ex-
ercise entails is stimulated by watching
those of greater prowess than his own: and
such a young man is the proper element in
an audience such as that at Olympia. We
confess to no sympathy at all with those
who watch a contest for the mere excite
ment of IT. The fat man who has never at
tempted athletics. who is chiefly attracted
to boxing matches by the big cigar behind
which he watches them and the big bet by
which he may gain from them--such men as
he have no more fitting place in the audi
ence than has woman or child.