The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-02-27
DOPE FOR PUGILIsTs
How It Works in the Ring
 Various. Drugs Used

| The claim by Abe Atteu to the New York boxing commission that he had | been given an overdose of cocaine jus
 before his recent bout with Knock out" Brown directs attention to 9 practice which shou d be stopped-a practice that is all too common among a thletes about to enter into competi- tiOn and of which the public is not referee of the St. Louis Athletic CIIh | boxing shows. The athlete who must resort to, a drug Of any kfnds either to deaden pain or to stimulate increas-
 ed activity, is not physically fit to en- ter a contest and should not. be per
 mitted to do so-
 AtreT complained of 8 sore hand
 the result of an injury ,suStafued some time ago. Cocaine was Injected into
 his thumb, and he afterward declared
 this so affected him that he was un- able to make good showing in the contest He had been accused of stall
 ing and this was his defense. But
 the commission refused to believe it,
 and banished him for six months.
 Had Atten been given an overdose, it is not at all probable he would have
 been abe to box ten rounds, because
 he would have suffered total collaTse
 before that time. It is a characteris-
 tic of this drug that, while a small dose stimulates, an overdose weakens
 the heart action in a very short time, makes breathing difficult, and is fol- lowed by a general col apse.
 mere IS nJtie cause To QOuDCs now ever, that the drug was used, but not in the quantity claimed by Atteatl When used hypodermically to deaden pain or sense of fee ing, cocaine caus- eS a profound anasthesia throu ghOut a small space, but this is only tempo rary, and when used for the purpose of stimulation the effect of a single hypodermic injection lasts only for about fifteen or twenty minutes, and this is followed by depression.
 The drugs usually resOrted to by athletes to spur them on are alcoho, [, ammonia, strychnine, digitalis. nitro- glycerin, and cocaine. The latter is particularly dangerous and harmful, because there is danger of contracting the habit.
 It is recognized wrong to- send a "doped" horse to the post, and it is just as wrong to send a ''doped's box CT into the ring. During the days of the West End Club in this city drugs were resorted to in a number resulted in unusual excitement, and some things happened that the specta- tors could not understand
 On one occasion the spectators were electrified by a sudden and wonderful rally made by Benny Yanger, the Trip ton Slasher,'' when he fought Abe At tell. This fight took place on April 24, 1902. The late George -Siler was referee, and. an agreement had been made that if he could not render decision at the end of fifteen rounds the bout was to continue for another five. At the end of if cen rounds Siler- ordered that the bout be contin- ued. Yanger was slowing up, and something had to be done to keep him going A physician in the audience, and who was there for the purpose, if occasion required, was ca led to the ringside, and at the beginning of the eighteenth round injected a thirt1eth of a grain of strychnia sulphate into Yanger's arm.
 The dr1Iar began to in work and in the nineteenth round the little Italian was fighting like a mailman. His frenzied rushes and disregard of danger to himself brought alarm to the Attell corner and Jack McKenna, manager of the latter, who evidently suspected something wrong called to AtteI to fall to the floor.
 The latter obeyed, but could not eS- cape some of the punishment dealt out by Yanger. Soon the fury of the drug had parely spent itself, and Yam ger began to relax, but so ferocious had been his sudden attack that the police interfered, and stopped the bout to save AttelI from what they thous Int wou d be a knockout, and Siler gave the decision to Yanger.
 However, after the bout Yanger was in a serious condition as the result of punishment sustained and the drug ad- and was unable to leave for his home in Chicago until the eV ening of the following day.
 Those whe were present on February 12, 1903, and saw the bout between Mike Schreck and Cyclone" Kelly wondered al the marvellous reCupera- tive power of the latter. Despite the fact that ho was knocked down re- peatedly, it seemed impossible for to put him out, and in the fourth round, after Kelly had been down many times, I stopped the bout and gave the decision to Schreck.
 It was not until a long time after wards that I was told what had been done and which accounted for Kelly's strange actions. He had been gwen One-ffteenth grain of strychnia suI-