New Britain Herald Newspaper, November 21, 1914, Page 9

M — NEW BRITAIN DAILY HERALD, SATURDAY HODERN BOXERS USE. SNE WAR WEAPONS /W the Days of led They Were * Equipped With Lead Knuokles. (By Mac Levy of Babylon.) German delegates objected to the inclusion of ‘boxing in the Olympic es on the score of ‘‘brutality.” They would have had real grounds for making g kick if tHe boxing matches | Were cg@nducted according to the cla precedents of the ancient | games, for in those good old days the boxers fought with their hands and | tr bound with leather thongs, to "lch werc gdded lead “knucks’ _cdpable “of. inflicting a death blow ) whien they landed squarely and with | full force on a vital spot. The same'$tyle of boxing was taken | up at a latér Refled by the gladiators: of sdficient-RoMme, and it was there | tha# the descriptive name of “pusil- atus,” from whica pugilist was de- rived; ‘was originated. Moderrt Greeks and' Italians have | by no means lived up to the reputa~; | ! c tion of the amcient fistic gladlators. although the latter race has produced sorgd excellent boxers. Hellenes of the twentieth cen- tury who have gained fame in the ring could almos{ be counted on the fingers of one hand. About the best : of. the: George Contds, better knovyn’* orge ‘“Knockout” Brown, the¥niddEweighf boxer. He was born Sn Sparta; where were re: sqme of he " greatest gladiators clent timés. Anton the Greek, also a na- tive of Greece, and a few others of hat nationality hiave rjade but an in- different showing atghe modern glove fgame. e Th { | | i Italians have been more. suc- although theyghave yet, to pro- a real champion. ' They have a ighty promising youngster, however, ®in Johnny Dupdée, who, 15 a native of ny Italy, his real name: being Joe leri. His father erigrated to New ork and opened ‘&’ fish store, and Johiy was early initiafed into the fighting game. He will be twenty- one on Sunday, but he has already fought draws with the champions of both the featherweight and light- eight divisions, Johnny Kilbane and Vili@# Ritchie. Johnny looks like a 0o0d bet for the:lightweight title, and battle between the Italian And the Welshman would probably be a dinger. f@omer native of Ttaly to get with- in :$ight of the championship perch ugo Kelly, the middleweight. ‘0! Caponi was also a good per- { resentative was Tito Carini, but was known to tae | former in that division, and so is Joe Borrell, The list of Italian boxers of merit includes dozens of modern exponents of the noble art, among them Tony Ross, Frankie Russell, Casper Leon, Harry Dell, Frank and ‘“Babe” Picato, :Frankie Conley, Joe Coster, Kid Julian, Patsy Kline, Al Delmont, Hugo Clements, Jimmy Murphy and Benny Yanger. It was in the days of Jack Brough- ton, the second champion of England, that the Italians had their first rep- in the modern ring. He cighteenth century fans of England as “the Venetian Gondolier.” come into prominence -in Venice, where he was the chauffeur of a gon- dola, by beating up ‘three thugs who had attacked a young nobleman, The ruffians were armed with and Tito had only his bave fists, e gave such a good account of them that he put for the count. There was a romance ‘mixed up in ' this, as it ‘avas_said; that-the thugs had been hired to beat up the vouns nobleman—rather, to cut him full- Scream gave the affair a in pébc story under a s¥hrehead—or so | we imagine, At any rate, Carin prowess with his fists made hero, and he gave up the gondolier business ‘fo travel about Ttaly giving boxing exhibitions™¥ Like smost- mod- | the | ern heroes, he cguldn’t resist temptation to capitalize his fame and “go into vaudeville.” A voung British nobleman, travel- | ing in Italy, saw Carini perform and decided to take him 'back and him against the English bruisers, who were then enjoying a great vogue. In a fight in Italy against ‘“the Leghorn Pitman,” Carini had shattered his op- ponent’s jaw at the first blow, but he found the British pugilists built of better material. Carini’s first fight in England was against a big Yorkshireman named Bob Whittaker. The international as- pect of the fight attracted wide at- tention, and,on the day of the match, in May, 1733, the king and a great crowd of nobles surrounded the ring. The Venetian at first looked like a certain victor, for he pummelled the Yorkshireman unmercifully, and once knocked him off the stage onto the heads of the spectators. But Whit- taker had plenty of endurance and pluck, and he fought on, all bruised and bleeding as he was, until -at length the big Italian was forced to give in and admit defeat. Carini fought James Figg, the British cham- pion, a little later, and was again defeated. But if Carini lacked pluck, the same could not be said of the ancient Italians and Greeks who engaged in the fighting game. They wore the “cestus,” a sort of metal “knucks,” in their championship battles, and these conflicts rarely ended until one man or the other was killed or so serious- ly injured that he could not stand. He had | cold steel. | f but i the three b¥avos down | up—— | by a rival in love, " The Venice Iiven- | him a | pit | The ancient Greeks not only orig- ! inated boxing gloves—although of a kind that would hardly be.popular in these days—but they also the punching bag, which the hoxers aining for their battles. T bag was made of leather and sand” training methods ancients were much more strenuous even than taose which prevail to- day. Their diet was extremely simple. Before a bout the hoxers covered | their body with oil. which they be- ! Heved made their muscles more elas- tie. Castor istic gods of the and Pollux were the pugil- of * the Greeks. and they were said to have battled their way with their fists to the heights of Mount Olympus, Homer devoted much space to laud- these ancient fighters. They rings" even in those days, of years ago, for in the are told tha circle now each champion “Iliad “Amid the stands And poises high in air his iron hands. With clashing gauntlets now they fiercely close Their crackling jaws blows, g At length eus dealt a mighty blow Ifull on the face of his unwary foe.” It was a knockout, and as his sec- onds carry the fallen hero from the ring— “Nodding, his head shoulders o’er; His mouth and nostrils clotted gore.” As a sporting reporter, Homer was “‘bear.” we re-echo to the hangs down his pour the a WRECKING CREW IS "IN PATH OF LOCALS (Continued from Eighth Page.) timer, Caven. NEW HAVEN. HERE TONIGHT. “Barney’”’. Doherty, he. of the hair, and his fast flving five | New Haven, will do battle this ining at Hanna's armory with “Jim- my” J. Smith’s pennant chasers. A big crowd is expected as the home team put up a rattling good exhibi- tion against Pittsfield in its other game played ths week in Hanna’s ar- mory, beating Pittsfield 6 to 1. The New Haven team is in solid with the fans’as is shown by the fol- lowing clipped from one of the New Haven papers: “The brand of roller polo being dis- played by the local team has done a great deal towards placing the play- ers in good standing with New Haven sports. Kid Williams has proved him- ex- from eve- invented, i Pence 41, Harper 31; referee, Ahearn; i3 Kaiser’s *“Knife Auto” Safely Along Roads KAISER'S AUTO FITTED \WITH KNIVES PHOTO (©) 7074 BY AIrTERICAN PRESS ASSOCIATION. This is a picture of" the “knife auto.” The imperial machine, which is used for field service in con- veying the emperor from one part of the war zone to another, is fitted with two knifelike arrangements that either cut or stretch any wires that may im- pede the way. When being conveyed rapidly at night from one point to another the kaiser wauld often meet O CL T WIRES. with delay were it not for this de- vice, which is so arranged that it spreads the wires apart, letting the car safely through. or cuts the wires if they happen to be in such a position that they cannot be stretched. selt one of the sensations of the league on the rush line and with so clever a partner as Harkins should develop into one of the game's best players. Bob Griffith continues to play the center position as it should be played, while Doherty and Mal- lory seemingly improve in their play as the days roll on.” PLAN T0 ORGANIZE CITIZENS CORP. HERE| Grand Army Auxiliary to Be Per- fected on Wednesday. In view of the fact that other cities about the state, notably Bridgeport, New Haven, Norwich, New London, Hartford, Thompsonville and others, have strong Citizens’ Corps, as aux- iliaries to the Grand Army posts, and | also as the state encampment will be | held in this city on April 15 and 16, it is thought advisable 'to get the New Britain Citizens’ Corps organized and in working order at once. Therefor Department Commander ¥rederick V. Streeter has called a meeting for next Wednesday evening when an éffort will be made to perfect this organiza- tion, which will be composed of fifty or more of the leading business and public men in this city. Past Com. Beers Coming. Commander Streeter will call the organization meeting to order and he | will introduce a number of prominent and interesting speakers. Among them will be Past Commander-in- chief Alfred B. Beers, of Bridgeport, and J. H. Crosley, president of the Citizens’ Corp in the Park City. Louis R. Cheney, president of the Citizens’ Corps of Robert O. Tyler post of Hartford is also invited. The meet- ing will be open and will be called to order at 8 o’clock. Work of the Auxiliary. As the ranks of the Grand Army grow thinner and its fewer members are enfeebled by advancing years the duty of carrying on its work and as- sisting in its time-honored customs must devolve upon those who have their interest at Theart, and it is for !(his purpose that the Citizens' Corps are organized. Thus, when the state ercampment is held here next sPring a large share of the work of enter- taining the visiting guests wilt fall upon the willing ghoulders of the citi- zens. Already a half hundred of the most prominent men in the ecity have signified their willingness to help out the old’veterans and many more are expected to fall in line. In Bridge- port Frank Miller, president of the | Bridgeport City Bank and a brother of Darius Miler of this city, is one of its prime movers, Department Commander Streeter, sometimes accompanied by his staff, 1s constantly visiting the various posts about the state and is succeeding in arousing enthusiasm to such a pitch as has never before reached. Last Thursday night Com- mander Streeter and staff were the guests of honor at a reception ten- dered them by the Elias Howe, Jr., post of Bridgeport, at which time over. 300 members of the post, and affiliated organizations, honored them. In his visits about the state, Com- mander Sfreeter finds everything progressing in first class order. Dur- ing December and January he will visit practically all of the Connecti- cut posts, been | t bul r, Chd be i irters (eive a i whi i1y last { outline scciety a the true tree. Mrs. T interpretin spirit, as by virtue and Ger) similar 1 + shculd many doubtedly In =dd Arpi Sexts hand to and there program. Dr. Sven the church, tainrment, and been invited members of ti of the Red Cri Eight grad numbered amo Lutheran chu jact as ushers fo will be attired 1 number of you | serve refreshmen of the program, characteristic Swed The committee on not yet completed csses for the event, How to Make Your Your Mind Try feeding your ing with Sun and Mo Liniment if you wa {#nd happy. Dickinson - Good light during the hours when artifical light has to * be used does a great dealtoward keeping the eyes young of light that “is next to sunlight’— 1.85 complete installed —NEW_BRITAIN GAS LIGHT CO. . )