San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1926-01-23
T%aa4
They Must FIGHT
, Here. ,.
The Old Ridgewood
Grove.
Deep Down in Brook
lyn.
The Neighbors Turn
Out.
The Strange Mr.. Gil
lespie.
n n.-nn R,,vvon
BY Damon Runyon---.

Copyright, 1895. international Feature
Service. Incl
Deep in the heart of Brooklyn, in
that section known as Ridgewood
Grove, there is a little boxing arena
called the Ridgewood Grove club.
1t is an old established institution.
The neighbors and the neighbors' chill
dren have been going there for years,
of a Saturday night, to watch the
boys slug one another. On warmish
nights, the citizenry attend in shirt
sleeves, and without collars.
Sometimes, il their feet hurt 'em,
they will remove their shoes. And
why not? What can interfere with
a mans comfort more than aching
feet?
The Ridgewood Grove club is a de-
lightfully informal place. The folks
talk to each other and TO the fight
ers, too, especially if they don't hap
pen to care for the fighters. A Ridge
wood Grove crowd is extremely criti-
cal. 1t pays for action and action
is what it wants.
In other years, big bar prefaced
the arena, where one might obtain
mugs of cooling beer, and what-not.
The bar is still there, but the beer
is a vague memory. Only soft drinks
are to be bad, even in these wet
prohibition times in New York.
The matchmaker of the Ridgewood
Grove is Mr.. Clarence Gillespie, for
many years associated with the Police
Gazette, and a man of pessimistic
spirit. The Ridgewood Grove arena
may be strained to the roof beams
by crowd, but if you ask Mr.. Clar-
ence Gillespie how it looks, be grips
his hands together with gesture of
anguish. and means:
Terrible. There's six vacant
seats!"
When the fighting starts. Mr.. Clar-
ence Gillespie takes seat in the rear
of the house and looks on. But not,
l regret TO report, with the apprecia-
ttion of true lover of The Manly
Art of Scrambling Ears. not with the
glad eyes of one of artistic soul.
In deft parryiDg and side-stepping,
in swift counters, and cunning block
ings. in shadowy maneuvers and keen
jabbings, and crossings. Mr.. Gillespie
has no interest, especially if the mat
ter continues beyond one round. The
jolly old haymaker TO the chin. deliv-
cred Immediately after the bell, the
thud of human body hitting the
floor. and the mellifluous tones of the
timeleeper saying Ten !'-Ah, that
is what Mr.. Gillespie dearly loves.
He has been known TO smile under
such circumstances. You should know
that in New York State, preliminary
bout is financed by rounds under the
rules of the New York State Com
mission. If a fighter gets knocked
out, his pay for his services is pro
rated at so much per round.
Thus with every knock out in
preliminary. Mr.. Gillespie save
money. He is not really blood-thirsty,
Won understand, but there is the rent,
and the taxes. and the grocer. Per-
haps you know how it is.
He specializes in six FOUNDERS in
the Ridgewood Grove Club, because
Mr.. Gillespie knows the temper of his
clients. A bout that goes beyond six
rounds. especially between raw hands,
is apt TO grow tiresome and the tim
beers that hold the Ridgewood Grove
together can be pulled out by firm
hands. and hurled far.
l have attended q number of soirees
at the Ridgewood Grove in my time,
not only because I find Mr.. Clarence
Gillespie an interesting study. but b.
cause / am always sure OF plenty OF
action.
The roof Of the Ridgewood Grove
is low hung. The spectators sit on
sloping seats that run clear up among
the rafters. The floor seats are wood
IN benches. IL is not a large place.
so everybody is right close together
in naighborly fashion.
The crowd is punctiliously polite
10 new boxer for at least the first
round. If he fails 10 show very much
the folks set II down 10 slight en-
barrassment due to his strange sur
roundin.s. and wait for the second
round. If the strange boxer continues
to fail to produce something, the
clients begin admonishing him. They
speak to him in loud, clear voices.