Page:History of Oregon Newspapers.pdf/512

Rh Here's the start of several hundred words on a 32-mile horse-race in Kansas, taken from the Leavenworth Dispatch:

"We mentioned some weeks ago that a race had been agreed upon by Messrs. William Tholen and Jep. Rice, of this city, between horses owned by each, to be run from here to Lawrence, a distance of thirty-two miles. The stakes between these gentlemen were the horses, but outsiders backed their opinions with a bet of $200. . .."

and so on until it is brought out, finally, far down in the item, that the Rice horse was the winner.

Pugilism was not in high favor with sports writers of the 70's. A good bit of the time the news of the prize ring appears to have been handled by the police reporter, since the ring sport was outlawed in most states and the fighters dodged about from place to place in search of some remote spot where they might evade the law. Naturally, the purses were small, and the ring was not yet attracting the "gentleman" boxers of a few years later. Note the assault-and-battery tone of the New York Times on the Mace-O' Baldwin fiasco of 1872, in the issue of August 15:

Baltimore, August 14.— As stated yesterday both Mace and O'Baldwin were arrested, and gave bail not to violate the laws of the State of Maryland as principals or seconds in a prizefight within the limits of the State for twelve months. Late yesterday afternoon Mace was again arrested on a bench-warrant from the Criminal Court, as was also Joe Coburn, at the instigation of Mr. Pinkney, Deputy State's Attorney, charging Mace and Coburn with entering into a fight and thus violating the peace and the laws of the adjoining State of Virginia. Upon this charge, which seemed to take the pugilists by surprise, the accused were held in $2,000 bail each, to await the action of the Grand Jury. A similar warrant was also issued for O'Baldwin and his trainer, who were arrested this morning and gave the required bail.

A large number of roughs, from New York, Philadelphia, and other cities, are here, and a number are now going down the street to the wharves of the steamers which leave for the fighting ground this afternoon. The tug Ella, with several press reporters and amateurs of the prize ring, leaves at 3