The Dillon herald. [volume] (Dillon, S.C.) 1894-????, 1911-06-29
THE LOVE OF CRUELTY.

Out of Them in the Prize Ring is
"CivilizatiOn."
Sunday American Journal Examiner
Ladies and gentlemen of the old
en- days amused themselves with
sports in which men butchered
each other.
That was thought TO be noble.
legitimate sport, calculated TO make
men brave. 1t has passed away
Gentlemen and ladies of America
until recently amused themselves
with pigeon shooting. The birds
were butchered as they were releas-
ed from the cage, some were killed
outright and others left with brok-
en- wings to die in slow misery. A
series of newspaper editorials pub
llshed throughout the country de-
stroyed that sport" Certain leg
lslators, defending it, said that it
when the citizens could not bear
. the sight of blood" Apparently
they are doing fairly we'll without
the sight of pigeon blood.
gentlemen of good old English
days enjoyed bull batting The bull
dogs were trained to seize the bull
by the tender sensitive muzle.
sometimes the bulldog was gored
and smashed to death, sometimes
the bull was horribly torn. Always
the onlookers greatly enjoyed the
bloody sport" and that was sup
posed to be a good thing for the
courage of England But it has
passed away.
Dog fighting has disappeared.
cock fighting has disappeared -
except occasionally when criminals
and drunkards gather in vile re-
sort and refresh themselves with the
brutality which their natures crave.
Even the rat pit has disappeared
mat gentle sport is now forbidden,
and gentleman" may no longer
amuse himself by putting one hun
dred rats in pit with terrier and
watch the terrier kill the rats.
In short, what certain classes
contemptuously call "moralists and
goody-goodies" have interferred very
much of late with the so-called
innocent amusements of healthy,
natural men"
1t has gone so far that gentle
men may not even organize them
selves in a racing association and
open public gambling hell in the
name of sport and pay the expenses
or amusement by taking in at the
gate and through their partners, the
'bookmakers,' money stolen by
the children that need it.
Truly, the manly sports are in
terferred with. These are days of
pettlcoat government, days when
the moral busybody" triumphs
amazingly.
In no civilized country is man
permitted to take two miserable, in
Terror animals and set them to
lighting and tearing each other for
his amusement.
But, strange to say, in this land
OF civilization prize fight promoters
may still take two human beings
and set them to fighting each 9TH
er- after paying an admission fee
ten times that charged for the
greatest opera And degraded hu-
manlty enjoys intensely watching a
process in which two men in the
pink of physical condition fight
brutally until one, bloody, bruised,
battered, conquered in body and
spirit, is knocked senseless to the
floor.
This is a spectacle of which the
United States was recently the thea
ter
The administration of one entire
state disgraced itself -prostituted
itself for little profit-and well
coined the collection of criminals,
thugs. fight promoters, pickpockets,
gamblers and general worthlessness
7 that was willing to spend money
Tor the pleasure Of seeing man
fight.
/ Great events were ignored while
attention was concentrated on
brutal, contemplate, inhuman spec
tacle.
! black giant in his prime was
Sejected to amuSe the nation and to
make few schemers rich by batter
ing down white man weakened by
the drunkenness and the disease
that always accompany the prize
fight career. And idiots who talked
about the supremacy of the races
and men calling themselves intelli-
gent solemnly theorized as to the
Importance of the victory on the
white side or the black side.
1t would have been just as impor-
tant, just as full of meaning, far
more appropriate, if these prize
fight schemers had gone into the
sewer and taken out one brown rat
and one black rat and set them to
fight for the supremacy of the black
or the brown race among the rats,
at least, physical supremacy would
mean something.
There are those that ask, "Is
there any harm in boxing, any harm
in the manly art?"
There is perhaps no harm in box
ing, although there is no reason
why a brutal exercise should be
chosen-one most brutal and use
less-when other exercises worthy
OF human beings are so plentiful. 1t
is not mere boxing skill that draws
crowds to prize fights.
It's fighting, the love of brutality,
the hunger for bloodshed of the
half-educated savage
/ 20.