The Lexington dispatch. [volume] (Lexington, South Carolina) 1870-1917, 1906-01-10

and smashed him on the Jaw, knocking
him against the ropes practically
senseless. was ready to smash him
again when something white was
thrown from his corner, falling at my
feet Charley Mitchell had thrown
towel as a signal that Kilrain was
beaten and that had won the long and
hard battle. Poor Kilratn was a sorry
sight in his hour Of defeat, but he had
lost with honor In one Of the greatest
ring contests In the history Of the prize
ring, and even those who had lost
most heavily by his defeat were sat
isfied that he had tried his best to!
save their money. y
After the Battle Race for Liberty.
The next thing I knew Mudloon and
Cleary had surrounded me and gave
me hustle out Of the ring, while
lighting off the GRO wd that had broken
down the ropes and were fighting to
get chance to shake hands with me.
never heard such roaring as l was
pushed into a wagon and a rush made
for the train. AS we got aboard the
cars, another train came choo-chooing
down the track and the holler was
made that the Mississippi militia was
on 1t and would arrest the lot Of us.
T don't know to this day.how I did
! it, but when the alarm about the NIL
| litia was raised, dived head first
| through the window Of an ordinary
coach and ran like g. rabbit several
hundred yards to q swamp, where
hid until the alarm was declared to be
a false one. I got out OF the State
Of Mississippi all right only to$be ar
rested and brought back. It cost me
$18, 900 to keep from going to the PEN
itentiary, but financially came out
| oh hn 4otof Of fhof
All the foregoing is ancient history
and some of it does not look pretty on
paper, but it is worth reading, so the
sports who have forgotten what they
use to go through with can size 1t all
up against the la-de-dah work done in
the ring today. Fighting was mans
work then, and a fighter went into the
ring expecting to- come out Of 1t on q
stretcher if he didn't put the other fell
low into the doctors hands. NOW
fights mostly go to the fellow who can
run the longest, and the bellows count
for more than the wallop.
1t Was Plain Fighting Without Frills.
The grooming Of a fighter nowadays
makes some Of US old fellows laugn.
| We used to fight our own battles. NOW
they are mapped out by experienced
trainers who go about 1t as a general
would plan a battle. We didn't do any
rag-chewing about weight. The main
thing was to get to fighting. There
were no limited contests, SO that a man
could figure closely on his method OF
carrying the battle or win on the slen-
der thread Of points. 1t was fight
from gong to gong, and until one man
was down and out.
It is mighty seldom that had man
with a bottle Of smelling salts, lot
Of towel waverS, oranges, lemons,
chunks Of ice to rub on the neck and
back and the other stage props. used
! in the ring today. Some Of my great
est fights were under conditions that
would make some Of the fancy box
ers shudder.
| Had Fitz not used himself up In
training for O'Brien, he might not
have had to stop to repair his bel
flows. None Of the men on the mat
of my day wrestled with cows, jumped
over mountains, held exhibitions at q
! quarter per head admission to let the
reubens all know we were using our
selves up training, but we managed to
get into the ring in pretty good con-
dition It was the man with the clout
and the sand and the skill that usual
ly won.
| 7 have been against a lot of good men
in my day, and I've been against an
awful lot Of dubs, but always had to
look out for the fighter and not the
fancy boxer. It was owing to com
| bination of the two and my own fault
Of not taking care cI myself that :.
| lost the championship