The Pugilistic Excursion to the Sound
A staged prize fight on a remote island ends in a farce, leaving the crowd with nothing but a boat ride and a band concert.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
About 300 people took the opportunity to witness the prizefight yesterday between 'Spider' Kelly, of San Francisco, and Jack Stewart, of Wisconsin. The party left Colman's dock at noon on a steamer, picking up reinforcements at Everett. The boat proceeded down the Sound where a landing was made on one of the islands. By means of a scythe, a space was cleared of ferns, and a ring constructed for the pugilists. The event was preceded by two preliminary contests, but the main event—a finish fight between Kelly and Stewart—proved to be a fizzle. After two brief rounds, Stewart turned and lay down until he was counted out. The purse amounted to $100. While the fight was a disappointment, everyone felt they had their money's worth in the preliminary contests and the excursion. The Italian band accompanied the party and provided music on the boat, which arrived home about 9 o'clock in the evening.
“The fight of the day was preceded by two rattling preliminary contests... the main event proved to be a fizzle.”
Boxing in 1893 was often an illicit, mobile affair, held on islands or remote shores to evade law enforcement—a sharp contrast to today's regulated, televised combat sports held in major downtown arenas. The 'fizzles' and scandals described in these papers suggest that the fight game was as much about the spectacle and the day-trip as it was about the actual athleticism.
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