The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1918-01-11
T Fl (.

The life of a puKilIstic referee In |
these days IL pink tea affair in com
parison with that of the third men,
OF the bygone days In the boxing
game.
Twenty-Five and tA.rty years ago /
there was a certain element connect |
ed with the prize ring that stopped |
at nothing in its attempts to gain .,
decisions for its favorite Referees |
we're bui1ied, beaten and sometimes /
brutally assaulted. Every effort was
made by the hackers of certain fight |
ers of the lowest grade to hrowbeat |
the referee into a favorable decision. |
Oftentimes referees. In fear of their |
lives, yielded 10 the threats Of the |
rowdes and gave rulings that were
totally unfair. But, 10 the everlasting |
credit OF pugilisrn, there were some |
officials IN that period who could not |
be bullied; who gave q decision based |
solely on the merits of the fight IT.
self and who willingly risked per
! soual injury. and even death as a
| reward for their honesty.
George Stler was of that type He
| ofnciated al many ring battles in the
| late sos and all through the COS.
His service. always were In demand
! Frequently he was chosen as "a third
man In the ring for small bouts and
occasionally had some harror-ing eS-
! perienCes. One OF them happened
! just outside OF Chicago In the fall OF
1891
During that time there were two
| heavyweight I'm that city who were
bitter enemies: Bob Ferguson and Pat
Kilien The result was their match
ing for "a bout To q finish with two
ounce gloves which took place near
a race track outside of the Illinois
metropolis The tip orr as TO the
time ana place OF the fght was given
TO the hackers OF the rival pugilists
ana about seventy five members OF
each faction left on the train for the
, battle ground
Ferguson's ''heeiers' represented
the toughest element that existed In
, the stochy ards district In Chicago at
, that time But, tough as they were,
, the folle wers OF Killen seemed to have
, a little something on them. Each
. and every member of these rival gangs
, was armed with q revolver. More
? than A dozen carried knives in addi
. ton TO their explosive armament, To
! make matters worse. the rowdies
, drank freely OF liquor at the ring
side.
r As the lighters made their appear
Z ance in tho ring It was discovered
that the meu originally hooked to
{ referee the contest had run out, No
\ wonder almost any man confronted
vi with such a crowd would have ducked
- the possibility Of running afoul of one
r or another OF the factions. The
managers OF the principals circled
through the impartial part OF the
crowd for three hours in an effort 20
& solicitation Of the newspaper men
. who didn't want to 90 back to Chica-
u go without story, Siler. who was
9 among the spectators, agreed 70 Of
n ficiate.
The ring was on the ground. roped
on from the crowd.
Trouble began IN the second round
when kiueu went after his man
j.. After about two minutes OF fightins
a IN that session one of Ferguson's men
/. seeing that Ferguson was in bad
:, shape yelled; Time" MalachJ
Hogan was the official umekeeper AMI
a Sller at once recognized that the cal
n time" didn't come from him So h
ordered the fighters to continue ktl
fen hit Ferguson with fair right
handler in the stomach as the bel
rang. The Ferguson followers at orc
= yelled foul" but the Kilienites howl
q or mo foul" An then tho leadinl
II ro,vdies OF the rival SaHEH 3Hnp@'
!" in 70 inc ElnE ana ifee-'oi -aA "sH
Ia started.
n One Of Fergusou's seconds grabbed
t. chair and sms shed a Killen sup
~ Porter on the head. Several OF tn
y hoodlums whipped oft revolverh an
ID cracked their rivals on the heads will
IL the butts OF them. Frank Ware. chic
y second for Ferguson. rushed over a
Siier and threatened his life. Stler
cool and collected told Ware TO g
rfght ahead" Siier then backed VI
"a into a corner and squared away fo
= the threatened fight, but War
,s changed his mind.
,e when time was called for the thir'
y. round the battle royal was still goin
"a On but Siler finally succeeded in get
al ting the gang out OF the ring The
RI he made the lighters come out o
iy their corners and resume the GLOW
battle.
Ia During the remainder OF the fgh
ct every man that possessed gun an
knife was around the ring. holdin
tho weapons In readiness for instan
use. One fellow at the ringsidc ha'
4 q knife ten inches long. And when
or ever gsler rot near him he woui
Y. nrick Hiier In the back and snari;