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The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. THURSDAY, MARCH 15, 1888. THE REVIVAL OF THE P.R.

The pugilistic renaissance which seems to have set m at Home is a sad anachronism m these boasted times of enlightenment and education. It is more than pitiable, it is shameful, that such disgustingly brutal exhibitions should find admirers and supporters amongst the very cream of society, and the circumstance that this is the case brings to mind the fact that it is not only cream, but sometimes scum, that rises to the top. Some of our contemporaries published yesterday m extenso accounts of a savage encounter which took place a day or two ago, between Sullivan, the American prize fighter, and an Englishman named Mitchell. We do not blame them (the papers we mean) because the record of such transactions certainly comes within the scope of news, but we prefer not to follow their example as we have no wish to fill our columns with that which can only give pleasure to the low-minded and brutal, aud our object m referring to the fight at all is merely for the purpose q{ expressiug the hope that any attempt at a revival of the P.R. m this colony ! will be determinedly set foot upon. To refer to this Sullivan-Mitchell affair which is the text of our remarks we find that it took place at Chantilly m France, the principals and their noble (?) and ignoble admirers crossing the Channel doubtless because they calculated upon being the better able to escape police interference, and they appear to have been right m that expectation as the fight was allowed to proceed to a finish. It is described as a most brutal and disgusting exhibition, and no wonder, for we read that the two men battered one another for three hours and eleven minutes, and that when a draw was accepted at the close of that time, one of> them, the Englishman, was so mauled as to have the lost the semblance of a human being, hiß eyes being "puffed and fast closing, and his features cut and bruised beyond recognition." j Another account adds that both combatants "were mauled terribly, their bodies shockingly bruised, while each had an arm and several ribs broken." And all this m the name of the " noble art of self-defence 1" We have no patience with those who uphold such proceedings. They are, to our mind, irredeemably disgraceful and utterly disgusting, and we verily believe that those who patronise them are brutal enough to patronise any sort of exhibition, however cruel and degrading. The only item m connection with the whole affair which is m the least satisfactory is the news that both men were arrested at the close of the fight by the gendarmes, and it is to be hoped that French law will admit of their being punished^ m a way which will deter others from visiting French soil for a like purpose. It is a pity that the artistocratic sportsman who went over to patronise the shameful affair were not liable to arrest also and made to suffer the penalities of the law. What better is the pugilist who smashes a Man's ribs for money than the criminal who inflicts bodily injury from any other motive? Not a bit that we can perceive, and we think it is high time that there was no difference made m their treatment at the hands of the law. Everyone who engages m a prize fight should be liable to indictment for the felony of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, and every aider and abettor should share the pains and panalties which the law prescribes for such an offence. If they were dealt with m that way, without fear and without favor, an end would quickly be put to such discreditable and disgraceful spectacles.—

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AG18880315.2.4

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1790, 15 March 1888, Page 2

Word count
Tapeke kupu
645

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. THURSDAY, MARCH 15, 1888. THE REVIVAL OF THE P.R. Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1790, 15 March 1888, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. THURSDAY, MARCH 15, 1888. THE REVIVAL OF THE P.R. Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1790, 15 March 1888, Page 2

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