Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1910-08-10
PRIZE FIGHTS NOT ATHLETICS.

! The News has been favored with
communication dated Preston. Ida
no., and signel by writer who says
| he Is on the road to the evil one. lie
| attempts a defense Of the dlsgraceful
Reno afrair ana refers to the News"
| in anything but complimentary terms
| because Of our denunciations Of prize
fights and brutality In general
We gather from the nlppant letter
| however. that the writer does not real
~ intend To defend prize fights. but
athletics. on that question there Is
no difference Of opinion. Athletic ex-
ercises in their various forms. are con-
| ducive TO both physical and moral
| health Many physically weak child
has been developed into a strong man.
or woman. by the daily attendance at
gymnasums And. II II Is true that
a sound soul il likely to dwell in
sound body, the Importance OF athletics
cannot be too strongly urged.
But an affair such as that at Reno.
was no exhibition Of athletics. In that
assumption our correspondent is wrong.
It was a show arranged for the pur-
pose Of relieving the dear public OF
some OF it's surplus funds And II
was mostly fraud. 1t was in class
with horse racing. It cannot be de-
Tended as athletics. and, at any rate.
the athletic exercises that are OF benefit
are not those that men see on stage.
or In picture show, but those In which
they themselves engage Those are the
athletics that develop the body. The
Greek athletes trained for their con-
tests. and they could not enter the
arena unless they were morally quail
fed. as well as physically They did
not compete for money A wreath, or
some other small token, was enough
fer them. There Is no comparison what
ever between the Greek arena and the
modern ring.
II should be said also that It Is pos
sible 10 overostimate the Importance
Of athletics to nation. The Greek
states persisted Rome fell But this
was not because OF the lack OF ath-
letics. II was because of the dcgcn-
Grafton OF morals. Physical exercises
alone are insufficient. That Is another
important lesson taught us by the an
Client world
For tho benefit OF our somewhat as
sortive correspondent we desire 20 add
that the sentiment OF those whose opin-
ions are worth anything Is very gem
| orally against the Reno disgrace Or.
| c u. Parkhurst the American reform
err, writing from Europe, says he hopes
that the sickening details of Reno's
celebration OF the great day of the
American calendar have been read not
| only by those who revel in what Is vul-
gar and bestial but as well by the
prophets OF enlightenment and prog
ress' % He argues that 1T is well,
sometimes, for even the best Of people
to get as close as possible TO a horrible
thing, In order to be able to smell and
taste the horribleness Of II. A maln-
dorous object does not give Of its worst
scent except at close range"
IN its editorial treatment 81 this
affair. the London Times recalls the
Sayres- Heenan rrizehght Of dfty years
ago, and quotes its own words on thar
occasions The prophets Of enlightcn-
ment and progress must sometimes feel
little sore
The best papers Of London regard the
Reno AFFAIR with contempt as some
thing that forcibly reminds the world
OF the enormous contrast between man
in his real exaltatlon as "A useful server
OF mankind. and man In his debasement
as prize fighting embodiment of
| brute force.
And IL the Reno fight, as 1t seems "a
have done, has really disguised far
more people than II has enamored then,
as Mr.. Parkburst argues, another fifty
years will pass before another such
spectacle can he successfully presented