The Timaru Herald WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 1908. BOXING IN LITERATURE.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13682, 26 August 1908, Page 4

The Timaru Herald WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 1908. BOXING IN LITERATURE.

Australian 'interest" in the national pugilist i.« sufficiently indicated, in the enormous money taken for admission to Monday's , fight* ' between Squires ami his American The attractions of the''visiting fleet, itself. pal<?d into, insignificance beside the. contest, between the two pugilists, and 1 the crowds that thronged to Rushcutter's Bay must, have, been satisfied that the exhibition gave them their money's worth, even if Ihr-y had to como .to the* disappointing conclusion reached by the. " Sydney Morning Herald" that Burns -is the -better man of ■the two. The Sydney journal's comments on nhe fight practically sunn'up ( the- 'merits, nob only of tire particular encounter, but of the sport of boxing in general. Pluck , and Endurance and coolness of brain are the-qualities it tends to develop, and the promotion' of 'these cannot but- render good service to the race, in which from time immemorial the instinct of selfdefence 'has been deeply ingrained and reflected in the literature which mirrors tlielife of 'mankind.' In a recent article—an editorial' article, let lis hasten to add lest ■«:« bef siißpecterl of unduly exalting the- cult of tlie Ring—the Melbourne

'"Argus "■ reminds the intellectuals who regard: the sport with supercilious superiority, -.some of "the world's greatest geniuses have described l box'ng contests with a knowledge and a zest which show that" they were in no way superior to the great game, but, oh the contrary, regarded it with genuine sympathy and delight. . Nobody bub one who had seen and appreciated' a. glove fight could have left Homer's description of the short but, sanguinary bout ' in which the boastful Trus wqs knocked out by the veteran Ulysses. Theocritus, too, was responsible for one of the best specimens: of sporting news that is extant to-day in his account' of the. contest be'tween Poly d'euces and the Bebrycian Ainycus. in the first round, after some flush "Slitting on either side, the Bebrycian heavy-weight came on head-downwards, vainly attempting to lodge clumsy body blows on his opponent's short rib.«, but the son of Zeus evaded' his opponent's rushes by clever foot-work, and then, seeing his opportunity, stepped in and: delivered (he first recorded instance of the upper-cut, stretching his adversary helpless on the grass. Theocritus-expressly tells us that, his hero hit straight from the shoulder, buci tlie later Roman poet, whose ideal 1 of manhood was the priggis'h ;Aeneas, had less personal.-familiarity with the requirements of boxing, and when he attempts to describe a fight, finds him-, self rather at a loss. vVgil makes his two champions advance 'to the combat on (ip-toe, with their hands lifted high above their heads for the blow, and the (first. of the pair to miss his'blow topples over and falls heavily to the ground, whereupon Aeneas' stops 'the fight and 1 declares the match a, draw." Fighting in. this instance must have needed even greater courage than' Burns exhibited in supporting his opponent's ; punishment, for the. ".glove" used in the Virgilian encounter, consisted of .seven folds of ox-hide, heavily fortified' with masses' of lead and iron—a, wonderful weapon at the sight of which the spsc'iafors might- veil s;pnd ". silent and awed':" But even more contemptuous 'than• Yh'gil of :'th» prosac reality is Victor Hugo in the remark ible description 'lie gives of a prize-fight. iv>

" J/Honvm* Qui Rit." The combatants were ;i. Scotchman named Hehngail unit an Irishman called Phelem Omadonc. They were groat friends, and on the nirrhfc before (he fight shared (he same.bod. For weeks beforehand they had been in strict training, nf which Jingo gives no particulars' beyond I lie fact that both wore abundantly supplied with wine. Between each round there wis an interval of five minutes, every second' of which mu.«fc have been needed if the contestants suffered a, tithe of the punishment meted out to them by the author. During tin' first round tho Scotchman delivered a foul blow, and finally, getting the Irishman's head into chancery, reduced' hist face* to pulp. Phelem's supporters protected at. the end' of the round., and there was .some fear lest the. fight should' bo prematurely ended by the protest being upheld. Phelem, however, to avert snch a calamity, sport ingly offered- to coni'nue the, .fight if he also were allowed to deliver one? foul blow during the succeeding round without protest. Tho offer b?ing joyfully accepted', the Irishman hit his opponent very hard below the belt, knocked him out, ami -non *i. famous victory. In modern literature, Conan Doyle in " Rodney Stone" has given a description of a fight which will gladden the hear* of any athlete who has entered a ring. The thirty round) <yicounter between Crab Wilson <iud the veteran smith. Jim Harrison, fakes tv back tin ih.B beginning of last, century, when men fought! crouching with both bands protecting the mark, when . the ring was kept with whips by England's finest pugilists, and every buck from Ui'ooke'i. or White's understood and .practised tho finest of all sports—the sport which, as Conan Doyle remarkis, has throughout its history been invariably clean, manly ami above-board as far as its chief exponents have been concerned'. '