Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1920-01-02
WOMAN REPORTER
SEES HER FIRST
/ RING CONTESTS
nv NIidn Z. Sims.l

why not polo or swimming? a real /
prize fight and a woman's first one is
likely to cause some excitement The
theater wasn't half as crowded as II 7
might have been, and from the upper /
right hand box we could see that the !
stage was cleared and all set with the
ropes; why do they call 1t the ring
when it's square?
over ones shoulder was sea OF
faces in the gallery. dim and interest
ing, and below was the spectacle of
many masculine heads, all evenly
packed like cocoanuts in a crate, and
every now and then a very shiny bald
one There was a murmur of excite
ment, and no smoke, and the favored
ones sat on the stage outside of the
ring. There were four women in the
audience, one was a bride-brides
will do anything-and probably two
of the others were relatives of the
pugilists, which accounts for them.
Observing the audience was so alb
sorbing that the introduction of the
first two fighters was nearly missed
Kid Herrera wore sort of black
wooden bathing suit, and Battling
.Iiggs wore b. V. DIS. Kid Herrera
sort of slid around flatrooted all the
time, but the other, who was probably
surprising to find how interested one
could become in whether the punches
would land or not. and the audience
was getting warmed up and beginning
to yell altogether, with sudden silent
pauses.
ut was very nice. They didn't get
bloody or anything. but b. Y, DIS lost
!. out; it seemed to me that he put his
head in the Kids stomach and let
him pommeI his dome too much.
The second fight was even peppier.
And the fans were getting very per-
sonal and telling their favorites just
what to do. You're a gone chicken,
Insurrecto Kid" man with a hoarse
voice kept believing from the gallery.
/ couldn't see any blows land but l
could hear them, and at first wonder
ed If exertion was making the Kids
nose bleed so. l knew it couldn't be
altitude 1t was eXertion-Sailor
Gonzales. The Insurrecto made aw-
full faces and lay all spread out like a
dying frog when he was getting
famed.
l was lost in admiration of the at
tendants They massaged, famed and
sponged with the greatest speed and
they had the air of performing the
most important office which could
possibly exist. The tanner must be
whizz if he does everything as he
dispatched that job,
BY this time it was easy to see that
the referee was the goat for all the
odium of the adherents of both sides,
and from the tender epithets hurled
at him from both gallery and pit l
gathered that many of the audience
would have cheerfully slit his throat.
Aaf nf . , \, hot
referee out of the ring" "You chick
en-hearted - dying away in the
howls and cheers from all throats as
the Sailor slammed the Insurrecto's
lip and then the Insurrecto just laid
his head lovingly on the Sailors
shoulder and punched him in the
stomach terrifically and got the back
of his own head punched and covered
the Sailor with his own gore.
At this juncture there was an awful
hooting and yelling from the press
box and / discovered that it was me.
The referee got out of the ring just in
time. according to man behind us,
who was going to make him into chile
con carne for giving the decision to
the Sailor.
All the heads below went out for
a smoke, and came back presently to
y
looked exactly like a sketch by George
Bellows; almost everyone has seen
his prize fight drawings. And the
mems figures were quite beautiful,
tfecially Caldwelrs. There was a
--i zee, steady roar by now, just like the
-levated, with shrieks and yells rising
above the main uproar, which never
stopped after the fight began.
All of a sudden / was assailed by
a queerish sick feeling, which was
rather surprising, and l wondered if
it could be so close up there. And
then it got worse just when the heavy
fellow with the green trousers got hit
several times in the face hard and fell
down and they counted nine before he
got up. He kept falling down, and
then my sympathies began to be won
to Caldwell because he seemed more
sensible, and cleverer. He moved
around more lively and didn't just
embrace his opponent and get pound
ed; once l thought it was over and
that they were kissing like Frenchmen
to show there was no hard feeling,
but there must have been some eX-
ceedingly hard feeling for the green
trousers bit the dust once more, and
all the audience yelled en- masse, one,
two, three, four five, up to nine and
then he got up. and Caldwell hit him
again. Talk about thumbs down in
the old Roman days. Human nature
must be just the same.
kill him. Kill him. Eat him
alive
Jaw, cut out the slaughter. What's
the matter wit the referee?"
Three times and out, bang, punch,
slap, and fall, the hand is quicker
than the eye. ladies and gentlemen,
Caldwell is the champ.
OF course I approve of it, if any
one is interested to know. Some
sport! The men who are fighting
must train so that their bodies are in
perfect condition and that means the
right kind of living, and a perfect
body is something to be admired. And
the men who come to see which of
the contestants is the quicker, clever
er and stronger. admire and may en-
ulate these feats of strength. Any
woman prefers field sports, 1 think,
but the men seem to like just good,
old, plain fighting; slugging each
other with fists, and they always will.
When my brother was a kid some
one asked him how he was getting on
in school. "Aw, just fine" says he.
Il licked every kid in my grade and l
only got one to lick in the grade
ahead"
-A-