Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1910-02-01
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY I, 1910.
STORIES OF VALOR
NOW AND OF OLD
The Greatest Man-tO-Man Fights In The
Worlds History.

ed one perhaps average man, looking
at a picture Of combat. Who doesn't
feel his blood tingling when he sees
two men-or even a couple Of news
boys-facing each other, fists clenched,
eyes blazing, muscles swelling? Who
doesn't leap with touch of the old
brute when fists thud on jaws, or nose,
or solar plexus? Who doesn't sit tense
trembling with expectation as the ref
cree counts the fateful one, two,
three and so on?
Nobody. We all love it, says the
New York World. We have 1t in us,
and the only difference between us and
the old fellows, who used to settle their
difficulties with clubs made OF the
thigh bone of the dinosaurus, is in the
style Of weapons. We can't get any
dinosaurs thigh bones, so we use hsts,
or guns, or knives, or whatever comes
in handy"
The humanitarian will raise his
hands in horror at this statement. He
will say:
mo, no, you are wrong. The world
is progressing. Man does not kill his
neighbor in dispute any more, men set
tie their troubles amicabiy, with rea-
soning and argument. Brute force Is
no longer considered good quality-it
is brain over Drawn nowadays. Fight
ing between man and man is all over,
a thing Of the past"
And yet at the present moment ar
rangements are being made for con-
test between two noted gentlemen OF
the prize ring, to come of on the ami
yersary Of American freedom next sum-
mer for a purse approxiamting some
s1OO 1000, and a half-million people
would gladly go without their fire.
crackers on that day to have the priv
ilege Of seeing the fight.
How is that when two small news
boys hand their papers to friends to
hold and approach each otner with
doubled fists and flying arms busy men
will halt in their chase Of the mighty
dollar to watch them, deaf to the plead
ing of kindly old ladies to separate
these boys cor they will hurt each 9TH
err"
Fights have always been the inspir-
alton Of poet, author and painter. From
time immemorial the valor Of certain
knight or soldier or frontiersman has
given the world matter to glory In.
The heroes of history were all fighters,
and, for that matter, fighters who had
killed their men, not in great battles,
backed up by armies, but in hand-to-
hand contests. For, while the world
loves a fighter, 1t loves best him who
has the courage to stand out from the
line and meet the champion OF the oth-
er side hand to hand, face to face.
That is why the world loves David-be-
cause he killed Goliath. David Will
ever be known more as game young
ser who dared fight a giant than as
a wise king.
There have been some great fights
between two men at time; wonder
ruf- combars, the stories OF which are
full of personal courage and thrilling
bravery. There have been so many
that It Is a hard task to say which
have been the greatest, the most nota-
BILE. But among all Of which history or
legend tells us there are ten, begin
ming at the rear Of things and coming
down to the present, that stand out as
equal to any personal combats In al.
the years that men have been fighting.
The Pnilistines and the armies OF
Israel were facing each other on the
field of Shochoch, a valley between
them. The Philistines had for cham
pion a giant by name Goliath. We are
told that his height was six cubits and
a span, and that he wore brass hel-
met and a coat Of mail that weighed
5000 shekels Of brass. The staff OF his
spear was like a weaver's beam, and
his spears head weighed 600 shekels OF
iron. He advanced ahead Of his army
and defied any one among the israeli
ties to do battle with him. youth
named David, who had come to the
field of battle with food for his BROTH
ers who were in the army, heard the
giants challenge, and insisted that he
should go out against him. He could
not be dissuaded. So he selected five
round pebbles from brook for his
sling and advanced on the waiting, de-
fiant Goliath, who laughed when he saw
what sort Of an antagonist his enemies
had selected. David, however, dared
him to fight, and finally Goliath, think
ing to make short work Of the boy,
advanced with his heavy sword. Da-
vid kept at safe distance, and wnen
he found the chance, hurled from his
sling a stone which struck Goliath In
the forehead and knocked him sense
less. Then David, who had no sword,
ran to the unconscious giant, took his
own great weapon and killed him, cut
ting off his mead.
David received many honors for his
triumph, which resulted in the Phil
istines being destroyed.
Hercules, the great, strong man OF
Heller.c legend, had conquered about
everything and everyone fightable'
when he was challenged by Antaeus,
another husky young man, possessed
though Hercules did not know 1t at the
beginning of the battle, with strange
powers Fl recuperation. 1t seems tnat
Antaeus, through being the son OF the
Earth, gained his great strength from
tn, ground.
They met and began to fight. They
wrestled prodigiously, and Hercules
for the first time in his life, founo
himself against a foe Of equal II not
superior strength. Nothing that ne
could do seemed to weaken Antaeus'
and Hercules found himself losing
his power to continue the fight II
looked, after hours Of fighting as
though he had met his match. SUD
denly it came to him in mysterious
way that Antaeus would never lose
strength unless he be kept free ol
the ground. So Hercules, with
his remaining strength, raised An