Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-12-31
Rise OF Ring Battle
ny Frederic ,. fiassin

The recent Defnp8ny-B Dput ~
New York was enormously attended ana
seats sold for about sIS each. rash.
ionsble folk turned out 70 sec ~, ana 4
leading newspapers gave dctahsu ae
count. of IL the place Of honor ncxt day /
The fact cannot be lodged that the ring !
battle is coming to occupy very much me /
r,laee IN American life that the bull hight |
does in Spain. -,
The game seemed 70 be getting Q black
eye a few years ago after The famous
Ieffries-Johnson battle. The race noting
which followed that event PROVOKED
general disgust, and Roosevelt, VINO Was
fhen the national arbiter Of almost
everything. pronounced against the prize
fight. although defending boxing a. p spor,,
Of a high order, and one which nc followed
himself.
but the rcvilsion Of public opinion vas
only temporary and the ring hght ma ma
been growing in favor ever since. hs
coming fight between Dempsey ana Caf-
pentier is the leading topic OF conveeTsa-
ton in sporting circles, and the riss oI IN
prize fight in France, and the develop
nept of frs,-ciass fighters in that country
has given the thing q new international
aspect For prize fighting is new sport IN
France England has always had her box
ora but few Of them have been aOie 70
stand 10 against the best OF the Amen
cans The English game has always been
tanner than ours The French boZerH, On
the other hand. arc to all acoOunts the
gar,oaf tho most fcrociOus the world has
| ,,et froduced They ask no quarter ana
| tbev, give none The cries ot stop ~,
! which are generally heard IN thus cogntfy
/ whe1, bout becomes one-sided ana Nf3
much blood begins 70 how, are never heaId
/ Ia France The fair ladies of iashioh ~
/ found at the riugsidc there az here, aii9 az
i they are said n be the most unfnsIC.iuI
/ of all II is probable that our champions
eg,Il from novy on never lack French chal-
lengers and that these international Douts
/ will give the game a new dignity ana
/ interest They yin a. least be better thnn
the inter-raciaI strauRgle which prize
/ fighting threatened 70 become ~ this
| country Il few years ago
A erGs or DYcADEScE.
Fven 20. according 10 the best scientific
opir5jon We can get, the rise Of the pflze
egj ! not thirg for Americans p n
pror1 n II shows that we sre III S7rh'
ser A. decadent people-that we are
Wherever vou hear deferse n prize.
fghtirg YOU usually hear 2 deief e q
bovir o These partisars n the rlr hghf
us1,atIy fail to see bat there = al the ar
fererre in he world between taste ipf
ntlttir on the gloves and hghtir 2 ana z
,aefe FOR sittirg h perfect safety ard wa'h
nOthe other fellow fght The onels En- evl-
III ~ ~ healthy manhood and the other
an evidence of manhood slightly gone -
seed.
The Inst for battle j. an ineradicaole
ard q necessary part q the human AMI
NAL We are all effective 2 Whatever We
do iust IN 70 far 81 we are bold ana de-
terfnlr ed fighters Put as cities grow lafEe
and life grows soft, the need and the op-
porturity for physical battle gross -
ard loss Fiftv wears ego q man n tins
country was always n dagger n Delu
called lipon 10 6ght with deadly weapons
- ,,itb bia fists But row the duel has
+, gone out Of fashion and fstlcufis are popu-
Isr orIv amor z small boys. We 20 OUT
6ghfirg in the iaw courts, on the stock
excbar ee. IN all the relations II business
IN Iabor uriors. ii legislatures ana ~
Cor gress. You fight the boss ior RAISE
ard vour wife fights fOr certain Social
roeition Life remains battle, out =
ceases 70 be physical battle
:, BlIr ne are physical heIr gs as well e
rental oras These civilized struggles
nav sharpen our brains. but they DO DOT
b.rde-l our nerves. 4 man VINO c. 2 lace
]4ft SWING at his jaw cen also lace
threatened catastrophe 10 tins business
And me man who would vince from
b,ovv / also apt 20 vince from the gan Il
busIT ess or politics
We trv 70 avoid this decay of the rerv
bv all sorts II artificial physlcal battles
such as golf and tennis. But fewer an
favrer az ~ can afford these things as the
rr-a ar
race which Is strange TO physical combat
sDv sort We are becoming a race WIT
veak nerves. May not that b one res
son whv We are so easily Impo ed upo
nv profiteers end graiters and al the re-
of the PREDATORY fraternity
BATTLE BY PRoxT-
Rut the old taste for blood and battle
alxavs with us Ii ls a permanent part
Us We can no longer hght directly AZ
30 we ike 20 fight vicarIously Hence .
gather around q ring and watcn a coup
of fellows pummel each other with oto'
which we could neither denver nor {
dure,
Ne will nav as a people ten times
much. TO witness that spectacle as We y
to see ANYTHING in lhe theatre, even
musical comedy Ana not one "a a tho
sand Of the chars who gather st the IN
side ever had a glove Cn N ms HE, or eV
Will have He is a Stauuch defender OF
.nsnlv art. But for him II represer
no art nsnlier than that OF sitting on
hard bench ard smoking a cigar.
As life grows soft ana easy all the spo
and amusements Of 8 people have q
tendency TO degenerate from games
which alI participate into Spectacies
which a few do the work and thOusan
look on You can trace the same lOe
DEVELOPMENT in dancing for instance
a Young civilization like ours, dancing
n snort IN which everyone partlclpat
~ Far from being a dangerous or lmmo
Il one. as some Of our reformers would ha
y IA believe. it is a socja. safety valve 1
= Young folks dance of certain energ
= which would otherwise be dangerous
+ them and to society as constituted
- In old and decadent civilizations
Il that Of the near East for example, da
+ inp ALWAYS degenerateS from a sport Il
r a spectacle In the Orient the dancing
+ all done by girls who are hired for
i purpose and the men merely watch.
r is then that dancing becomes q res
Il degeneratIve amusement, for y awak
II hbidinous energies without providing
II outlet for them.
II You can see our oWn social dancing g
II through the same process and toward
i same goal. The brisk waltzes, pol
II and square dances Of a generation
II were lively exercises compared 70
II Ia,,,,,,or,,,e shinnrnies and fox trOts az