A Sunday Prize Fight

New York, 1895

Will District Attorney Noble Inquire Into This?

About 300 sporting men from Greenpoint and South Brooklyn ploughed their way through the snow and over the rough roads of Long Island to a well-known sporting resort at Laurel Hill last night [Sunday] to witness a finish fight between Paddy Gallagher of Greenpoint and George Kelly of Bensonhurst. The two pugilists are well known on Long Island, each having won a number of hard fought battles. The fight was for a purse and a side wager of $200. Gallagher, who tipped the scale at 150 pounds, seemed to have the advantage in reach, height, and in every other way, being ten pounds heavier than Kelly. While the men were getting ready a preliminary bout at 110 pounds, between Ruddy Pfifer of Brooklyn and Joe Brown, "the Winfield Spider," was arranged. Both lads were evenly matched, and boxed four lively rounds to a draw.

Kelly and Gallagher were then announced. The latter was the first to enter the ring, and looked like a giant compared to Kelly, who appeared a moment later. At the call of time both men went at it hammer and tongs, smashing each other right and left. When the referee called time Gallagher was stretched across the ropes, with his hands spread in the air ready to fall when his seconds caught him and carried him to his corner.

In the next two rounds Gallagher received some hard punishment, but he stood it gamely. Kelly banged him all over the ring, hitting him where and whenever he pleased. When Gallagher came up in the fourth round he was very groggy and weak, while Kelly seemed fresh and strong. Both men sparred a few seconds.

Kelly smashed Gallagher in rapid succession with his right and left on the chin and over the left eye, which was almost closed. Gallagher made a faint jab with his left, and to the surprise of everybody followed it up quickly with a right-hand swing which caught Kelly under the jaw. The latter staggered from the blow for a second, and then fell in a heap to the floor.

When the fifth round was called, Kelly was still unconscious, and the referee awarded the fight to Gallagher. The crowd almost went wild at the turn of affairs, and carried Gallagher to his dressing room in their arms. — Monday's Sun.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, NY, Jan. 25, 1895, p. 1.

Ye Gods! What'd John L. Have Said to Hair Curling and Brow Arching?

(Click the graphic for better view.)

1920

My dears, you should see that pompadour!

And that isn't half of it. He's having his eyebrows daintily arched, too!

And, to cap it all, his cheeks are adorned with the best grade of milady's rouge carefully handpainted over a field of perfumed pink powder. 'Tis even hinted that for a time he considered wearing a lace-covered corset to accentuate the lines of his form-fitting suit of clothes, but this has later been indignantly denied.

No, Genevieve, your guess is wrong. It isn't Launcelot de Slushe, the hero of "Nine Oceans of Tears" in the movie — it's no less a personage, they say, than Jack Dempsey, heavyweight fistic champion of this universe.

Dempsey won't say whether it's the influence of his recent trial at the movies or the success of his next opponent, Georges Carpentier, the bearcat boulevardier of gay Paree, but —

The erstwhile training camp, 'tis whispered, exudes an odor of lilac toilet water and face powder. Electric curling irons are said to adorn the walls where boxing gloves once hung. Cauliflower-eared attendants no longer take to road work and handball — manicuring and eyebrow-arching is the order of the day now, according to latest reports.

So much did Dempsey admire his first marcel wave at the hands of a Los Angeles society barber that he returned to have his brows arched and has since made it a regular practice, if Los Angeles advices may be believed.

But, ye gods! What would the shades of John L. Sullivan and Bob Fitzsimmons say if they could return to earth and see a modern fistic champion?

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Jan. 3, 1920, p. 10.

U. S. Boxers to Sail for France

1920

Frenchmen who are keen to see their boxers stand up against those from the United States will have further opportunities to do so, for Al Lippe sails Jan. 14 with nine fighters, having arranged terms with Theodore Vinne, French promoter. Jeff Smith, Tom Cower, K. O. Loughlin. Frankie Brown, Eddie Moy, Max Williamson, Johnny Alex, Joe Mendall and Johnny Liggett will make the trip.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Jan. 3, 1920, p. 10.

He's Willing Now

1920

But Champion Is a Late Late, Says Georgia Poet.

The following was received by the sporting editor of The Saturday Blade from Atlanta, Ga.:

Our Champion.

He's willing to fight in France, they say,
For half a million or so;
But he passed up a chance at a buck a day
When they called on us all to go.

I think I speak for a million chaps
Who went to France with a vim,
Ready for anything — death perhaps —
So —
Hope Georges whales hell out of him.

—Jack Converse.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Jan. 3, 1920, p. 10.

Note: This poem concerns Jack Dempsey, whose reputation was tainted when it was alleged he was a draft dodger during World War I. There's some details at this link. "Georges" was Georges Carpentier, a French war hero. Dempsey had a match against him in 1921, called the "Battle of the Century."


Canadian Boxer Challenges

1920

Brousseau Wants to Meet Carpentier In Montreal.

The Canadian Hockey Club has cabled a challenge to Georges Carpentier's manager in London for the French boxer to meet Eugene Brousseau, Dominion's middleweight champion, in a boxing exhibition in Montreal, July 1, Dominion day, at one of the race tracks.

Brousseau has recovered from a slight attack of paralysis, which followed his bout with Chip, in Portland.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Jan. 3, 1920, p. 10.

Mine Fire Burns 25 Years

1915

Blaze Thought Conquered, Rages in Remote Gangways

HAZELTON, Pa., Dec. 16. — The Lehigh & Wilkes-Barre Coal Company is fighting a mine fire at Honey Brook No. 1, that was believed to have been extinguished twenty-five years ago. Stripping operations at the west end of the basin of anthracite fuel uncovered the flames, which were eating up measures which were flooded in the eighties.

In 1906, when the water was tapped from Honey Brook, nine men were choked to death by white damp found in the workings of a residue from the mine fire twenty years ago. No further trace of the blaze was encountered, but it is now believed that it continued to rage in remote gangways cut off by falls of rock from the body of coal that was being worked.



"Didn't Know It Was Loaded"

Pugilist Killed While Fooling With Man's Rifle

NEW BRUNSWICK. N. J., Dec. 16. — George Reed walked into a lunch room here and placed his rifle in a corner and sat down to eat breakfast. In a few minutes Severin J. Kucinsky, a pugilist, 25 years old, came in.

He greeted everybody cheerfully. Then he walked over to the rifle, picked it up and placed the muzzle against his heart.

"Now," he said to Reed, "pull the trigger!"

Reed did so. Kucinsky died two hours later in St. Peter's Hospital. Reed was arrested. He said he thought the gun was empty.

The Greek Myrmex — Deadly Weapon in a Fight

1907

It Was the Deadliest Weapon of the Ancient Pugilist

The four ounce glove was unknown to the ancient pugilist. When the boxers and fighters came together in the old days of Greece they wore upon their hands the cestus, which was in itself a terrible adjunct to any fighter. But Dr. Daniel G. Briton discovered that there was sometimes attached to the cestus a deadlier weapon, consisting of a three pronged fork of bronze.

This was known as the myrmex, and Dr. Brinton, who found this specimen, gave it to the museum of archaeology in the University of Pennsylvania. Classical literature has frequent references to the myrmex, which is described as the deadliest weapon of the ancient pugilist. The right hand was swathed in tough hide, bound in place with thongs and supplemented by small knobs of lead or iron, to which was affixed the myrmex. Dr. Brinton made his discovery in Paris by examining the Greek and Roman marbles in the Louvre. One of these groups represented a fighter bearing on his right fist the cestus and myrmex.

Combats in those days were much more brutal and dangerous than those of the modern prize ring. It is easily seen that a single blow of the myrmex might cause death or permanent injury.