The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-12-02

ssheaIth farmer" has been engaged for, eighteen years in the training of athletes and the building up oI run 1 down people, and is recogn1zeo a1i- thority on all subjects connected with l athletics, physical culture, and sciea- tiffc exercdses9
 LATIN AMERICA NEEDS OUR
 SPORTS AS WE'LL AS OUR
 MACHINERY AND SOAP.
 Just now the newspaperss are filled with articles dealing with the great possibilities for trade and commerce in Latin America The Knitted States and Canada. have long been preparing for big boom in South American the Panama Canal, and now that the war has put Germany, and. to large extent, Great Britain and France, out of the running as rivals, Uncle Sam and Miss Canada certainly seem to be facinga bI1fI1ant b1I1f oppoFtunity
 VVaff7GS We ~are about 1t, we North ArifeFi ans Should also see to it that the Laf1ns import a few made in North Am merica' sports Europe and especially England, has already ae- eofnp1shed much toward introducing their favorite athletic pastimes to the attention of the more progressive of sthes South American nations, but. the North American Tnission of sport can Astill find many countries where modern athletics are practically un5 known. and where the introducti on of sue h sports as4 baseball and boxing would be a.reaI boon to the people.
 In Cuba, Porto Rico and Panama, where the Americans have exercised a powerful influence, the cause of civ. ilizatfon has gained much from the adoption of baseball as the popular past1n1es Of those countries. Before the American occupation of those countries, the bull fight and the cock. ing main were the chief amusements of the inhabitants. Sucn cruel sports naturally exercise a. profound .infiu- and barbarous. In addition, such annusernents are not productive of the muscular development which comes from active spartfcipation in manly sports
 As a result of the popularity of baseball in Cuba Panama and. Porto Rico. the bull fight no longer holds sway, proving that the people are ready for better things Boxing has not yefz7yeeome popular in those coun- tries, but it is probable that the game needs only to be introduced to gain a. wide vogue.
 I Professional baseball has already
 gained a foothold in. Cuba. and Pan
 anna, but the great gain to such coun-
 tries. has been it's Introduction among
 
 been organized by hundreds among the dusky schooIboys of Cuba and
 Porto Rico, and as a result the rising
 generation of islanders issIikeIy to be 1 superior in physical vigor.
 Boxing is practically unkn own in all the Latin American republics. It does not necessarily follow, however. that the Lat1ns of America would not take kindly to the noble art The | French and Italians have proved l themselves to be highly capable with
 the gloves. and there issno reason why the Americans of Spanish descent
 should not develop an equal capacity in the great game of give and take. Quite a number of Mexicans in the United States have achieved fame IS boxers Joe Rivers, the California | lightweight, whose real name is Jose Yoarra, Zahd who is of pure Spanish
 bloodziss one of the c1everest men the
 ring f1asrsfaad in recent years Aure1io Herrera was another great California Mexican who was at one time looked
 upon as a coming champion of the Hghtw eight division. Benny Chaves, a Mexican native of New Mexico, also did fairly we'll with the gloves, and there have been several others Of les ser note. N The Latin Americans haves been ac- cused of being too prone to settle their. quarrels with the knife, but the same charge could be made against all peo- ples in a backward state of civi1iza- tfon Prior to the introduction of modern boxing in England a couple of centuries ago, the duelfo with swords or pistols was am established institution Boxing has been bitter ly criticised, by many. good people, and has been outlawed in many States, and 1t siss to be admitted that many evils haWes1at. times fastened them selves upon sthe professional game. It should be remembered, however, that it was pugilism which gave the duel its. Knockout. blow in. England,. North America, and, more recently, in France. If men must hght-and they always have@it is certainly better that they should fight with natures weapons than with swords or pistols.
 As for amateur boxing, it is one of the eIeanest and most heaIthfuI sports we have and is scarcely to be suFpas- sed for developing Vigor, man1fness and agility, both physical and mental.
 .5The natives of nearly all of the Lat in republics prefer to take their sports vicarious1y.' In the progressive na- tfons of South America, such as Ar gentina, Brazil, Chile and Peru, horse racing enjoys a great vogue. The jockey club plant at Buenos Ayres is the finssts@in the world. The Ar gentinesfand Chileans have taken up golf, -..tennisf swimming, boating and caIly no knowledge of baseball and boxing. Soccer and cricket, intro duced by the English. have. been taken