"A FIGHTING PARSON."

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1341, 19 January 1912, Page 3

"A FIGHTING PARSON."

[ » '■ CLERGYMEN AT BOXING CONTEST. D At an amateur boxing tournament, .in i aid of the Longreack (Queensland) Hospital the three ring official positions were s filled by clergymen, the Rev. Unlton 1 Sams, of the Anglican Church, who is [' known throughout Queensland as 'tho fighting parson." being referee, Ihe R-ey. Father Lane, of the Roman Catholic Church, time-keeper, and the Rev. ('. Hicks, of Iho Bush Brotherhood (Angli- : can) ten-seconds check. ' Some terrific rounds were fought, writes the iS'vdnev correspondent of the Auckland ""Herald," the contestants being i covered with blood. A number of ladies ' were among the spectators. ; The bout between the bantam-weights, ; Thompson and Miles, was a particularly i "willing" one, and very even, and the judges not being able to arrive at a dci cision, Sir. Sams—who, by the way, is , light-weight champion of North Queens- , land—was required'to settle tho question. I He declared a draw, whereupon a section '. of the crowd behaved uproariously, and indulged in a good deal of boo-hooing. s Mr. Sams, taking off his coat, invited ! anyone who disagreed with the verdict to step into the ring and have it out with ! him. No one.accepted the challenge, and the noise subsided instantly. Queensland's "fighting parson" _ is a young man, and always boxes with his "blue" on. He gained it at Cambridge, whore he took his B.A. degree at Trinity College in 1904. He was made a deacon in 1905, and his first appointment was. us curate at St. Paul's, Balsall Heath, where he served until 1508. He then proceeded from England to the Rockhampton diocese, and was appointed to the charge of the Church of England at Winton. Every visitor who goes there is told, with some pride, about his achievements, and the young men of his church derive much satisfaction from the knowledge that he can use the gloves to some purpose. In last year's tournament he received a black eye, but accepted it as one of the fortunes of war, and did not regard it as a disgraceful possession—not even for a clergyman. In a letter read at a recent meeting in London in support of an effort to provide additional clcr?y for the diocese of Rockhampton. the Bishop of Kockhampton remarked: — "/The work most difficult to cope with is the proper visitation of the many selections and stations all over the country, some close to the towns, some fifty miles from anywhere. The longer these are left mivisited the more difficult it is to go and get a welcome for the Sacraments of the Church or a hearing for the little church or mission service. And some do need another man—we have need for one here at St. Andrew's House, our headquarters, when we are all together, and there is room for him to roam about in tho whole of tho parish when we are not. Wo can also arrange for him to have first-class boxing lessons, if he needs them, from Hulton Sams (one of the Bishop's clergy), who is the idol of the West- Sams is wonderful—he travels over the.country on a sroat horse which he won in a boxing match, his doves are always at his saddle-bow (as the novels sav). and the skin of his nose is rarely whole."