Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1929-10-17
DUNG MCDONALD KNOCKED OUT
lock ROLLINS IN 119 ROUNDS
IN GOOD OLD DAYS AT HELENA

OTORIES of heroic battles of the prize
y rings of the days before boxing be-
- came mOdernized sport and boxers
became financial experts are generally
taken by the younger generation with
allowances for many colOrful and exag-
gerated additions they may have gained
through repetition and for q suspected
desire of the REALTORS to place the idols
of their youthful days in glamorous
| inches of fame where they will forever
evidence the vigor of their age.
But there is one story being retold
among old timers in Helena that has
the v~erif1cation Of eyewitnesses and,
what Is more, has of the parti-
| cipants to check 1t, round by round.
| When early residents of the state
gather it frequently is recalled by those
who took interest in fights and fighters.
"Dunc" Mcdonald, who came to
Helena in 1881, and who for the last
is years has been conducting q hotel
in Seattle, recently arrived In Helena
for a visit with his daughter, Mrs.
Arthur j. Williams of 722 18th street.
He was accompanied by Mrs. McDon-
aid, who was formerly Mrs. Curtis Hill
of Helena.
Was Leading Figure
For many years Dune" was a lead
ing figure in sport circles, both as a
boxer and as a referee, and was identi-
! fed as q true sport enthusiast. But
his biggest bid for fame occurred in
1883 when he defeated Jock Rollins
after 119 rounds of fighting in the old
Ming opera house, located where the
Shrine Consistory temple now stands.
The contest Is unique insofar as rules
governing 1t were a combination of the
old London prize ring rules and the
present Marquis Of Queensbury rules.
Big e~ight-ounce gloves were used, but
one of the most remarkable things
about the battle was that neither of
the fighters had any special training
for the event. It lasted two hours and
IS minutes.
Both principals started out. at the
opening gong with the intent of bring
ing to an early close what became prob
ably the longest and most grueling bat
tie in the annals of ring history in the
state. Rugged youth and strenuous
work provided the fighters with great
strength and recuperative power.
Tired in Sixtieth
While recounting the engagement In
the Office of the county commissioners
at Helena last week, with County Com
missioner Tom Sillers, who witnessed
the event, present to confirm the de-
tails, "Dunc" told of how he became
pretty tired along about the Goth round,
His knees would become stiff during
the rest intervals which followed each
Touchdown and with increasing diff
Guilty he would arise with the start
of each round.
Strategy was resorted to and one
of Dunes" followers was sent over to
Rollins corner to suggest that the
crowd was becoming rather tired OF
the long battle and that 1t might be
as well if the fight wa called to an
end.
Rollins told the henchman to return
and inform "Dunc" that he wasn't
half licked yet" So the battle con-
tinued, but after that Mcdonald would
stand up between the rounds to pre-
vent his joints from becoming stiffened
Round after round n or the other
was sent to the floor but managed to
return for the next canto until in the
10th round "Dunc" vanished his OPP
ponent.
Following the battle Dune went tc