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Show BRUTE STRENGTH. i, It matters little that the brutality of the con test held last Monday has excited general condemnation con-demnation of society, and has been under the general ban of the law for more than half a century, cen-tury, such exhibitions possess a certain fascination in which the public generally take a great interest. Since Cain 6lew Abel the history of the human race, individually or collectively, is inseparable from the 1 "prize ring." All wars prove this. J Theseus, King of Athens, one of the most cele- I brated heroes of antiquity, is the reputed inventor I of boxing. lie, it was, who caught the bull of Mar- I athon and sacrificed it to Minerva. Homer de- iecribeB pugilistic contests, mentioning Pollux, Hercules Her-cules as excelling in fistic battles. In the Olympic games boxing was the principal feature, Anceint pugilists wore a cestus (girth), consisting of strips of leather wound around the fist and arm and as 't ' ' far as the elbow.. Those were studded with knobs ' loaded with lead and not unlike our modern brass knuckles. The rules of ancient prize fighting were J somewhat similar to those now in use, except that wrestling was not permitted. Like modern, ancient an-cient prize fighters entered the arena naked, sim-pjy sim-pjy wearing a girdle around the loins. At the Olympic games only freemen were permitted t o measure arms. . The "manly art of self-defense" was introduced into England in 1740 by Broughton who, through the patronage and assistance of the nobility, built j a theatre for pugilistic contests. . The Prince of Wales was among his list of patrons. In 1795 Jackson was champion. He gave instructions to many of the nobility. Lord Byron was his pupil. In 1S17 Nicholas, afterwards Emperor of Eussia, occupied a seat at the ring, and after the battle congratulated the victor. Pugilism lost its popu- Ilarity because of the rough character of its patrons, "the selling out" of the combatants, and other frauds inseperable from the sporting element. From 1S57 to 1SC8 interest was revived in England Eng-land in the contests for championship of Heenan. King, Sayers, Mace, Goss and Baldwin. After this but little interest was taken in pugilism. It was revived in America when John L. Sullivan won the championship in 1882, to be beaten ten years later , ; by James J. Corbett, who in turn was defeated by j . Robert Fitzsimmons in 1S97, who again in turn lost his laurels before James J. Jeffries in 1899. . , ' This supposed invincible met hi3 Waterloo last Monday to the great chagrin, dismay and financial , ' loss of the white race. Those who look with scorn and contempt on our sister Republic, Mexico, because of its barbarous barbar-ous bull-fights, will find an object lesson in the last r Fourth of J uly battle when public interest and en thusiasm were at tension point and the only ab- Iporbing topic for the Associated Press to 6end to the four quarters of the globe was the Jeffries-Johnson Jeffries-Johnson big fight. |