An Amateur Pugilistic Encounter.

Observer, Volume X, Issue 603, 24 January 1891, Page 6

An Amateur Pugilistic Encounter.

A select little party gathered in a quiet corner of the Domain on Saturday last to witness a fight to a finish between two young fellows well-known in athletic circles. The affair had been brewing for a considerable time, and as ÜBual in such oases a woman was at the bottom of , the trouble. s Each of the competitors had the reputation of being able to use his hands, but in order to do justice to themselves they went in for a thorough course of training. One was looked after by Jimmy Saxon, while the other was prepared by Professor Davis and a pupil of Prof. Carrollo's. The battle in the Domain .was gamely contested, no less than 21 hard rounds being fought, when Saxon's man gained the victory. The fight was carried out under Marquis of Queensberry \ Rules and with due regard to prize ring etiquette. The reßult was somewhat of a surprise, but I understand the two young fellows are now frienda again.

The New South Wales representative team of j amateur athletes leave for New Zealaud on the 22nd inst. ! An average of a penny per head represents the • collee- '< tion ' at E. T. Smith's lectures. Can that be called a fiasco ? How • birds of a feather flock together ' may be seen by glancinS at the class of lawyers who appear in affiliation cases. A correspondent writes to the gay and festive flats of Dairy Flat that little Jack will carry off the girl at the Queen's Hotel before their eyes if they don't mind. The Northern Roller Milling Company complain that the Harbour Board's efforts to protect them will have the effect of strangling them. This is a huge joke altogether. A dapper young man was practising the balcony scene from 'Romeo and Juliet* in Pitt-street last Sunday evening, whilst the good people were returning from church. A young fruiterer was kissing a girl at the corner, when her employer opened the door. ' Oh, what a surprise !' He had better mind lest her curly-headed grocer boy gets to hear about it. The old Auckland schooner Julia Pryce, which was wont to sail with impunity over coral reefs in the Pacific, has at last been obliged to succumb. No other vessel in New Zealand has been wrecked so often as the Julia. Casting my eagle eye around, it rests upon interesting announcements, in which electric and moonlight, sacred and secular music, and hard and soft refreshments are sweetly blended. The splendid ferry steamer Eagle is to make a moonlight excursion up the harbour on Sunday afternoon, leaving at 2.30 ; and on Monday night the same steamer will have a run down the Gulf, leaving at 8 o'clock. With cheap fares, refreshments and music on board, and moonlight thrown in gratiß, these excursions are becoming highly popular.