THE APOTHEOSIS OF MUSCLE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1784, 24 January 1888, Page 4

THE APOTHEOSIS OF MUSCLE.

Under the above heading Leslie's newspaper devotes a severe article to the castigation of Britishers for the proud satisfaction with which they regard what it terms the " apotheosis " of their champion pugilist, John L. Sullivan. And the castigation is not one bit too severe, for it is a humiliating thing to read of the demonstrations made m honor of a man whose merit, or what is regarded as merit, consists m his strength of muscle and his proficiency m the art of pummelling. Indeed, it is sincerely to be regretted that those who occupy high places join the lowest of the low m their encouragement of this sort of thing, and it is with something of a shook that we read m Home papers thas " J. ii. Sullivan has given a private exhibition of boxing before H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, who expressed his delight at his performances, an! graciously presented him with a handsome gold watch." The future King of England would have have shown more good sense and good taste had he refused to countenance such an " entertainment," and given the value of the watch to some poor wretch among the starving thousands of England's metropolis. We do not believe for a minute m the " manly art " theory. We see neither mauliness nor humanity m thousands of people gathering together to witness two men, with muscles brought by training to the hardness of iron, hammer one another's faces into a red pulp . Instead of being " manly " the whole proceedings would be better characterised as £ brutal" were it. not that the adjective is a libel upon the brute creation. The plain truth is that the love of this sort of thing arises from the survival even vet, after all these centuries of civilisation, of something of savagery m the composition of human beings. This John L. Sullivan and someother champion bruiser — so the telegraph informs us— are to fight shortly for £600 a-side, somewhere m the neigh borhood of London, and that the fight will be one of spitefulness, on one side at least, appears from the statement that something said by his opponent having offended Sullivan, the latter refused to accept any apology for the insult, proposing to take satisfaction during the approaching contest. And this is the 6ort of thirg which meets with sympathy among crowds of people m the civilised England of to-day I This is what t^e American journal above referred to says about it : — " A surging mob of ten or twe.ve thousand people greeted the redoubtable Hultivan at the Luston station up n bis arrival m London, and escorted him m savage triumph to his hotel. The Pelican Club made hman j honorary member. His first professional ' appearanc - before the British public at -t. James's Hall was an event which cast completely into the shade the Lord Mayor's rival entertainment, the annua' banquet at the Guildhall, which had been audavi usly fixed for the same evening. A few minor celebrities, such as Lord Ba'isbury and Secretary Balfour, were iadu ed to be present at the latter show, for form's Fake ; but the town was with Sullivan. While tlie uu-raployed por were encamped m Trafalgar Square, most cf the male portion of the employed cr wded St. J antra's Hall, at fancy prices of ad mission. The wealthy and titled "roughs" also were th^re, together with tr.e shining lights of the English prize ring, I eluding the next opponent and presumable victim of the American champion, Jm Smith. When the Boston gladiator, 'm his customary pink tights, and shirtless,' appeared, announcing himself as ' yours truly John L. fcullivan,' there was a pandemonium of entliuiasm When ta 1 put up his dnkes * against the local pugilist who had been provided for him to practise upon, the multitude bowed down and worshipped him. What will occur after he has knocked cut his formidable Fn. lish opponents can only be surmis.d, for he is already a greater public personage than the Prii.ce of Wales or the Grand Old Man himself. Britain loves a bru-ier. If is plain that when we want her to believe that good can come out of V ankee-land we must send, not brains nor beauty, but a Sullivan, with sixteen-inch biceps, a diamond belt, and a hipprodrome championship." His is as just as it is trenchant as applied to tlie British public, but while we say this, it is quite worth while to look a little nearer home, and see whether we m New Zealand are not fast qualifying for a similar condemnation. What about those so-called "glove fights" which are coming so much into vogue, and m some of which the very light gloves used make them only one little removed from the old-fashioned P.K.? Not a few of these are rather bruising matches than boxing matches, and aro as d moralising and brutalising m their tendency as the prize fights of a generation ago. We do not hesitate to say that it is a disgrace that such spectacles should be permitted, and hope that the Legi latore will find time next session to pass an Act rendering them no longer possible within the bounds of this colony.