The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1910-03-24
TEN GREAT MAN-TO-MAN FIGHTS
From the ct. Loui, Post-p,spatch.

From the st. Louis Post Dispatch.
Who doesn't love a good fight?"
asked one perhaps average mar look
Ing at a picture of a combat. Who
doesn't feel his blood tingling when he
sees two men-or even a couple of
clenched, eyes blazing, muscles swell
Ing? Who doesn't leap with a touch
OF the old brute when fist thuds on
Jaw, or nose, or solar plexus? Who
doesn't sit tense, trembling with ex-
pectation as the referee counts the
Nobody. We all love it. We have
it in US, and the only difference be-
tween US and the old fellows who used
to settle their difficulties with clubs
made of the thigh M of the dinosau-
rus is in the style of weapons. We
so we use fists, or guns, or knives, or
whatever comes handy"
The humanitarian will raise his
hands in horror at this statement. He
will say:
NO, no; you are wrong. The world
is progressing. Mar does not kill his
neighbor in dispute any more, men
settle their troubles amicably, with
argument and reasoning. Brute force
is no longer considered a good quality
it is brain over Drawn nowadays.
Fighting between man and man is all
over, a thing of the past"
And yet at the present moment ar
rangements are being made for a con-
test between two noted gentlemen of
the prize ring, to come off On the an
niversary Of American freedom for a
purse approximating some 100000 and
without their fire crackers on that day
to nave the privilege OF seeing the
fight.
How is it that when two small
newsboys hand their papers to. friends
to hold and approach each other with
men will halt in their chase OF the
mighty dollar to watch them. leaf to
the pleading of kindly old ladies to
separate those boys "or they will hurt
each other?'
Thoughts OF progress to the con-
trary, the average man probably loves
a good fight, loves it, despite any con-
y cealment or apology, just as much to-
day as he ever did. just as much as
the Romans or the Greeks. or the Cave
Dwellers did. The only difference be-
tween the average man and the men
of those b%enighted days is in the
thickness of hoe leather between our
feet and the ground.
There have been some great fights
between two men at a time. wonder-
lul coHlDdlS, lHe stories OIL Wnlcn 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 notable.
But among all of which history or le-
gend tells us there are 10, beginning at
the real beginning of things and COM
Ing down to the present, that stand
out as equal to any personal combats
in all the years that men have been
fighting.
David and Goliath.
The Philistines 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 cub
its and a span, and that he wore a
brass hemlet and a coat Of mail that
weighed 5000 shekels of brass. The
staff of his spear was like a weaver's
beam. n his spears head weighed. 600
shekels Of iron. He advanced ahead
of his army and defied anyone among
the Israelites to do battle with him. A
youth named David, who had come to
the field Of battle with food for his
brothers. 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 select
ed five round pebbles from a brook for
his sling n advanced on the waiting.
oSA'oAAe 'OAIdeil' VIII lduelleu wien lie
saw what sort of an antagonist his
enemies had selected. David, however,
dared him to fight, and finally Goliath,
thinking to make short work of the
boy. advanced with his heavy sword.
David kept at a safe distance, and,
when he found the chance, hurled from
his sling a stone, which struck Goliath
in the forehead and knocked him
senseless. Then David. who had no
sword. ran to the unconscious giant.
took his own great weapon and killed
him, cutting off his head.
David received many honors for his
triumph, which resulted in the Philis-
tines being destroyed.
Hercules and Antaeus.
Hercules, the great strong man of
Hellenic legend, had conquered about
everything and everyone, fightable,
when he was challenged by Antaeus,
another husky young man. possessed,
though Hercules did not know it at the
beginning of the battle, with strange
powers of r~ecuperation. 1t seems that
Antaeus, through being the son Of the
earth, gained his great strength
through contact with the ground.
They met and began to fight. They
wrestled prodigiously, and Hercules,
for the first time in his life, found
himself against a foe of equal. if not
superior strength. Nothing that he
could do seemed to weaken Antaeus,
and Hercules found himself losing his
power to continue the fight. 1t looked,