Evening star., 1928-04-16
The Sidewalks of Washington
BY THORNTON FISHER.

has to do to earn million dollars. He
must be good TO get that much and
they pay TO find out what he has that
| the other fellows lack. But speaking
| of SportSmanShip in the ring, / minC
a fight that was scheduled shortly
after the war. II was a contest between
two apparently evenly matched light.
weights unknown TO the public
This particular bout was a "prelim'
and / don't suppose either of the boxer:
| was guaranteed more than hundred
| dollars. OF course they wanted thu
| money, but more than that, they sought
/ the opportunity to strut their stuff II
q big city with a chance some day al
the title. Some Of these boys will fight
for nothing Just TO get a start. sc
this contest was important to bo;r
OF them. When the bell rang both
boys leaped 10 the center Of the rins
and began 10 exchange blows
1T was whale of a first round and
they tore into each other like couple
Of wound wildcats. The followins
round was repetition of the preceding
one. III the third round one of the
contestants beglan 10 slow up per-
ceptahly and it looked as if the other
boy had him licked. During the fourth
session the stronger of the two was
seen to pull his punches---in other words,
hit his opponent lightly. The fight-
frenzied crowd called for a knockout.
which appeared to be an easy matter,
but the stronger lad let the chance e.,
by. There was no doubt that the weak
boy was simply trying to stay on his
feet,
During the minute interval the win q.
ner'S seconds told him 10 so in and fin
iSh his adversary. The spectators were
beginning TO cry fake" and 'frame-up''
when the fifth round started. but the
winner paid no attention to their shouts
and hootS and refused 10 lay a glove
on the other boxer. Moreover. he stopped
and whispered something TO the referee.
but that Official simply shook his head
and ordered the bout to proceed Then
the winning lad dropped his arms and
stopped punching His opponent Was
still groggy from the results Of the first
round and his seconds finally tossed in
towel in token Of defeat I'll tell
YOU why the obvious winner refused
10 pummel his man. Between the sec
ond and the third rounds he learned
that the other fellow had been With
the A. E. F. and was Still bearing the
scars he received over there.
His weakness was not due so much
TO the blows he had received as to the
fact that he had not fully recovered
from his experience in France. Only
few in the house knew this and both
boxers were roundly hiSsed as they left
the ring. I call that genuine sports
manship. especially when the victor
could easily have gotten away with 1t
and perhaps have signed Up for more
important event on the strength OF It,"
Life consists of strange and some
times tragic contrasts. Riding on a
bus t!t would be Friday. I3th). two
well attired persons were discussing a
European trip each expected to enjoy
IN the near future. They expected to
visit London. Berlin. Paris and Rome.
At the same time those sittsng on the
port side OF the vehicle looked out and
saw furniture piled on the sidewalk
No moving van was there and a police
man stood guard over the household
goods. A gentleman turned around and
said Huh, somebody being evicted be-
cause they couldn't pay the rent"
What contrast