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THE RING.
H inn bug forms a Tory largo portion of tho
dealings of mankind ; a litt lo of it, thcrofore,
may ho very reasonably allowed as a nocossary
conscqucnco of tho imperfections of human na
tnro ; hut " enough is as good as a feast," and
whon il appears dotermincd to get too much
n-hcad, it is high time to pull it up with a strung
blt. In none of tho off-shoots of Groat Britain
has so much been achieved in tho way of all
manly sports ns in Young Australia. Tho
Course, tho Ring, tho Cricket Ground, the Rifle
Plain, tho Yacht's Bluo Wntor Way,-have all
been patronisod in a manner worthy tho sons of
Anglo-Saxon sires ; and tho faintest symptoms
of decadence naturally call forth feelings of
sincero regret, and, at tho samo time, the most
strenuous preventivo energies. Tho latter aro
now particularly required to prop tho falling
P. R. of Australia.
Is it for.» moment to bo tolerated that tho
¿roon bits of Turf, upon which the Chnlkers.
poor Goorgo Bailoy, Hough, tho Sparkes', the
Ginger, Ilooton, Agnow, Cowderoy, Big Ike,
Aby. Davis, Bungafabbeo Jack,. Bill Davis,
Perry, Norris, and a »coro of others, hare con-
tended manfully and scientifically, shall be
uttorly withered ?-and that tho great art shall
bo made subservient to tho purposes of cross
coves, legs, and ruffians? Wo say! decidedly
not : and again declaro our often repeated pro-
test against such a perversion bf tho true pur-
poses of tho Ring, and, above all. against tho
unmistnkablo humbug which: ia now in forco to
crush it into nothingness.
Humbug, wo ropeat, is quito tho order of the
day. Lot any unprejudiced person attend tho
Sporting Houses, as they aro' called (though
Sport has long sinoo left thom)-let him listen
to tho many challenges offered botwoon men
lot him seo tho bouncing, till monoy is offered to
bo pat down' to bind a match-tho shifting when
it ls on tho tablo-tho cavilling and carping for
a pound or two in weight-tho quibbling for time
and distance, nnd tho hundred othor disgraceful
attendant scenes-lot him view,all those things
as wo have bcon compelled'to do, and then tell
us whether his opinions and ours aro not coin-
cident.
For esamplc-a Bristol man,an unknown,agrees
to fight tho Birmingham Slasher at I Ost. and a
fow lbs. Agreed it is ; but (mtrabile dietu), when
tho match is to ho put in train, tho Bristolian is
required to drop down 4lhs. Paddy Sinclair
and Gipsy Cooper nra then talked of; tho pur-
tles moot, bounce, bully, and blathor, and then
all ends in smoko. Llttlo Kenny, who ia rondy
to fight anything near tho mark, ls kept bacjj
from his warlike impulses, becanso thoro is a
chanoo of his not winning tho laurels from ano-
ther unknown, a man of nine stone, who never
chucked his hat up in a ring, and who is opon lo
fl;ht him'' for ,£'23 a-slde at twenty-four hours'
notice.
.Such a system of things 4s despicable in tho
extremo,'' and thia looking after " certainties"
by tho tackers of pugilists,-or pugilists them-
selves, will in the'end destroy, tho whole P. ll,;'
for no mau is able to calculate tho chances of
tho game when he is unaware of iiis antagonist
playing with loaded dice.
We call upon P. ll. Patrons nnd Boxers to
remedy this by adopting a square, straightfor-
ward «tyla of doing business. Then, and not'
till then, will . tho- Ring regain its prístino
vigour.
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