The Colfax gazette. [volume] (Colfax, Wash.) 1893-1932, 1906-12-28
SLUCGING vs.. DEBATE
Aftermath of High School De-
bate in Spokane Last Week.
Spokane Daily Prints Cock and Bull
Story of 2O-Round Prize
Fight in Colfax.

That sugging match bet ween High
school boys reported to have come off
last week in Colfax is not edifying matter
to send broadcast over the country The
Spokesman Review devoted three quar-
ters OF a column TO the suggers and 10
lines to the debating team. Ia this a
case OF mind over matter, or has matter
gathered on the brain of the newspaper
man? Or is the body polite out OF joint
that 1t demands rot instead OF brains,
slugging in place Of books. The fact Of
the matter is that the Spokesman Review,
through it's correspondent, has made a
mountain out of q molehill. Few people
in Colfax knew that slugging Tor a
sparring match more strictly speaking)
had taken place between two High
school students until they saw il IN the
columns Of the Spokane paper. And the
people of this town are not taking kindly
to the way this matter was exploited for
the ediication of the curious on the out
side. As matter Of fact no slugging
match, as such, took place as reported
by the Review. A representative of The
Gazette investigated the matter and
found that two young men attending the
High school met ia the basement of a
building on Main street, after school
hours, put on boxing gloves and in
dulged in several rounds of give and
take. Several citizens passing by dropped
in and witnessed the contest. One prom
inent business man who was mentioned
by the Spokane paper as being present
was seen, and he declared that he had
no idea at the time that the boys we're
mad; that they seemed to enjoy the fun
more than any one else, and he took it
they were having a friendly bout; fur
thermOre, they did not give each other a
black eye, and pound and maui one
another through 20-round ring contest
as was reported to have taken place.
Other business men said to have been
present at the so called slugging match
deny in toto that such is true.
The facts Of the case boiled down are
that two High school boys having a
grievance, or thinking they had against
each other, decided to put on boxing
gloves and have it out. They met in the
basement of building. Neither one be-
ing expert boxers the contest resolved
itself into school boy scramble, where
neither party is injured nor is there any
attempt to do great bodily injury. In
the days when the editor Of the Spokes-
man Review and the editor of The Ga
zette were young the boys would have
met in back alley, put chip on each
others shoulders and dared the other to
knock it off; other school boys, of course,
looking on and enjoying the fun. There
is probably not a man in the state of
Washington but can look back On many
such occurrences in his life, events that
had no real Importance and that cast no
shadow in the path of the future man.
And such was the event of last week, a
bOyish prank. without malice and more
on fun intent than anything else. There
was no slugging match.
But there ls more back of all this than
the simple narrative which appeared in
the Review would seem to Indicate. Fri
day of the week before the Colfax High
school debating team went to Spokane
and held a Joint debate with the High
school debating team of that place. The
Colfax team won the debate, and the Re-
view next morning dismissed the whole
subject with ten lines. This was felt by
maDy to be slap in the face. The Re-
views evening annex, however, came out
in a lengthy interview with Principal
Cloyd of the Spokane High school,
charging the judges of the debate with
being unfair. This charge was answered
in last weeks Gazette and will rot be re.
peated here Now comes the sugging
incident. The Gazette il informed that
a brief account OF the mill was sent to
the Review by one of its correspondents
here. The Review referred this report to
it's regular correspondent, who makes
his headquarters at Pullman, telling him
to elaborate and send full particulars.
A all Colfax readers know he needed no
further cue. The wish was father to the
thought, and the next morning there
appeared, under a scare head, three
quarters of a column of sush about a
20-round prize fight between two Colfax
High school boy-, in which many busi-
ness men we're made to appear as urg-
ing on and encouraging the contest.
This was followed by an editorial giving
some very good advice, if there had been
any occasion to give advice
The people Of Colfax are opposed to
prize fights, as such, and if a prize fight
had come of as reported in the Review
the affair would have been denounced on
all sides. v hat did take place was
simply prank of school boys, that had
no business in the columns of q news
paper, much less such a paper as the Re.
view, which draws big revenue from
the people of this place.
The report was undoubtedly sent out
to humiliate the High school. People
here will remember for many day that
the High school debate got ten lines
from the Spokane paper, while the box
ing contest was made to figure as a
notable event.
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Long Tennessee Fight.
For twenty years w. l.. Rawls, OF
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