The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1920-12-31
liz HaslIin, Len
The Rise of / he Ring Battle.


well q mental ones. ne, ~,
lied struggles may sharner ~ j.
brains, but they do not hardsn ~.
nerves. A man who can facs & -
swing at his Jaw can ~ ~ J
threatened catastrophe in his fsss .
ness. And the man who v5Sss
vince from = blow is also ~ ~
Vince from the gan in businsss - =
politics.
We try to avoid this decay y y .. s
nerve by all sorts Of artifciai Ss.
sical battles. such Is eolf NJ
mis-. But fewer and fewer q 80
can AFFORD these things q tS
rise IN price. Therefore Ne ~
becoming . race which il strSsss
to physical combat Of any scrt. T =
are becoming race WITH vSS
nerves. May. not that be one rSSss
son why We are so easily impoSss
upon BY profiteers and graftsrs ~
all the rest Of the predatory f
ternity?
battle By Proxy.
But the old taste for blood -
battle is always with us. Il
permanent part Of us. We ca
longer fight directly and 80 y I
to fight vicariously. Hencs 4
gather around q ring and Wa p !
couple of fellows pummel
other with blows which We -
neither deliver nor endure. $50
We will pay as a people 10 tiri 4
as much to witness that specfsi1s
as we will to see anything i n
theatre, even a musical Con- = 1
And not one in a Thousand 81 -
chaps who gather at the rinrsi75
ever had q glove on in his ll1l I
or ever will have. He is stann1 !!
defender Of the manly art B
for him 1t represents NO art manll1,y
than that Of sitting on hard be1lS ]
and smoking = cigar.
AS life grows soft and easv n
the sports and amusements a 81
people have this tendency to y.
generate from games in which 81
participate into spectaclee q
which a few do the work and thos,
sands look on. You can trace ~
same line of development in dane.
ing, for instance. In young ciyil-
ization like ours, dancing is : mn
in which everyone participetaa
Far from being dangerous Of -,
moral one, AZ some of our reemn.
ers would have US believe, II IA
social safety valve. The w.
FOLKS dance of certain enefrle1
which would otherwise be dane1r.
GUS to them and to society a. a.
stituted.
How Dancing Degeneratea \
In old and decadent civilixstiona!a
like that of the near east, for "a
ample, dancing always degenefat1u
from . sport into a spectacle. ~
the orient the dancing is all doAes
by girls who are hired for the bar 4
pose, and the men merely watch Il /.
is then that dancing becomes i
really degenerative amusement. tuF
it awakens libidinous energies VIA
out providing an outlet for then
You can see our own social
dancing going through the ana
process and toward the same ri. !
The brisk waltxes, polkas "a !
square dances of q generates 10
were lively exercises compared u 1
the languorous shimmies and III
trots Of today. We are grsduAllys
becoming too fat and lazy to shala !
a foot. And at the same time yu1Es'
see the dance as a spectacle risin{
in favor. Already at the cabarets,
hired dancers occupy the floor for
a good part Of the time.
We are. showing signs of getting
too soft to dance and we are a.
ready as a people too soft to fight.
Shall We then, as the reformefs
urge. forbid prize fighting? No; BE-
cause the prohibition would not
work, any more than a good many
other prohibitions have worked.
The lust for battle is there, and il
it cannot get a direct satisfaction It
will get an indirect one. A better
way would be to have boxing taught
in all the schools, and to make our
champions instructors Of boxing In
the universities. Then, il . young
man went to the ringside. it would
be to learn by watching an expert,
and he would not so gloat over.
bloody knockouts because he
would know from experience what
a knockout feels like.