1895 - Grand Athletic Tournament

 

When the advertisements for the April 26^th, 1895 event to be held at the Grand Opera House first appeared in the Hamilton newspapers, it was clearly advertised as a “Grand Athletic Tournament.” It would not just be another boxing presentation. To make it more respectable, the bill would include an exhibition of bag punching and a “Tug-of-War between crack teams of the Hamilton and Toronto Police.”

However, a representative of the Hamilton Police Department’s Tug-of-War was quick to contact the press to say that the team would definitely not participate in the Grand Athletic Tournament. The claim was made that the police were not even informed that such a contest had been arranged and that the men would need some time to prepare for such a contest and should have been informed much earlier.

Besides the advertisements in their newspapers, the Times, the Spectator and the Herald strongly promoted the event elsewhere in their editions. An example of that appeared in the April 24, 1895 edition of the Times:

“The big athletic tournament which takes place Friday evening, 26^th at the Grand Opera House, promises to be the sporting event of the season.

“Every detail has been carefully looked after by the committee, and complete arrangements have been made for seating the crowd expected. A few good seats can still be reserved at Nordheimer’s.

“The contestants, who have been in training for the past two or three weeks, are almost down to the required weight and will be in the best of shape for their scientific encounters”

When Friday evening, April 26^th arrived, the Grand Opera House was the destination for many Hamiltonians, exclusively male, ready to take in the event. Despite the lack of the tug-of-war, those who attended the Grand Athletic Tournament were thoroughly entertained.

All three Hamilton newspapers covered the event extensively, with each sports writer having a slightly different approach.

The Herald began its article as follows:

“So seldom is it that an entertainment of the character of that given in the Grand Opera House last evening is held in this city, that the announcement of the athletic tournament taxed its capacity. Every seat was occupied, and standing room was at a premium in the gods. All the boxes were occupied, and that there was such a liberal patronage is evidence of the sporting tendencies of this city. From start to finish, the affair was interesting and exciting, and the vigorous and repeated applause indicated approval and enjoyment by all present. It was a series of fistic encounters, interspersed with a couple of exhibitions of bag punching and it was just as interesting as such encounters usually are, and compared favorably with many of the tournaments given by old, established clubs of American cities.”

The Spectator was also enthusiastic about the tournament :

“Barring the fact that the programme announced was not carried out, the so-called athletic tournament held at the Grand Opera House last night was a success. It consisted entirely of sparring bouts with a little bag-punching thrown in. There was a misunderstanding about the tug-of-war between teams of the Toronto and Hamilton police forces. The Toronto bluecoats were willing to pull but some of Hamilton team declined to compete as they were not consulted when the arrangements were being made.

The Times account began with this description:

“The largest gathering of men and boys ever present in the grand Opera House was there last night at the athletic tournament given for Arthur Scramm’s benefit. About 100 sporting men were present from Toronto, Niagara Falls and Buffalo.

“ A twenty-foot ring was roped off on the stage and all the prerequisites, sponges, rubbers, towels, bottles timekeeper and referee made the scene a truly pugilistic one.

There was concern that the so-called athletic tournament was really just an evening of boxing, boxing that often turned bloody. To monitor the bouts, Hamilton Police Chief Smith a squad of uniformed officers were in attendance, ready to intervene if things got out of hand.

That is what happened, as described in the Times, in one of the first bouts that evening:

 “Smith fell and when helped to the corner, his second threw up the sponge. Schramm followed him and tried to hit him again, but the referee interfered. To say that the spectators went wild would be putting it mildly. The shouting, stamping and hissing lasted several minutes

“Chief Smith called the referee over and again spoke of the battles being too hot, but Mayor Stewart said the next contest would be alright, as the contestants were more evenly matched, and Chief Smith refrained from interfering.”

The Hamilton correspondent of the Buffalo Examiner noted the incident in the following way:

“Sharam rushed at him and was tackled by referee Daly before he struck him. Smith as then led away amid thunderous applause, hoots and yells. The spectators went almost wild. The chief of police and four officers stepped to the ring side and the chief announced that no similar exhibition would be tolerated. With the understanding that the next go would be purely friendly, it was called, the crowds in the gallery hooting the police and demanding that the fight proceed.”

The top of the bill was reserved for two Hamilton boxers who had faced each other into the ring previously. Once they had boxed for thirty-nine rounds before one was declared the victor.

Their names were Enoch Taylor and Charlie Robbins and their bout was intense right from the opening bell. They boxed eight rounds and Robbins had got the worst of it. Covered in blood and dazed, Robbins refused to give up and was prepared to box some more.

However Hamilton Mayor A. D. Stewart had a different view than the one he had expressed about an earlier bout. This time, he left the box where he was seated so he could deliver his message clearly to all those assembled:

“The crowd wanted the men to go another round and they were willing to do so, but Mayor Stewart who was in one of the boxes, jumped on the stage. ‘You know,’ he said ‘I enjoy a good boxing contest and have enjoyed this entertainment. This bout was announced to be eight rounds. You have seen a good exhibition. If the men are allowed to go another round, it will be said that they do so in anger. I take it upon myself of the responsibility to stop the bout.’

The bout was duly stopped and the referee declared that it was a draw, neither man could be declared to be the winner. This was a disappointing result to the ‘sports’ in the crowd who had bet huge sums of money on the bout, assuming that the would be a victor. As noted in the Herald, “the ‘gods’ made a kick but the Mayor’s order was approved of by the respectable element and the spectators filed out. The city is all aroused tonight and the barrooms are crowded with excited men discussing the results.

Police Chief Smith was not shy in giving his opinion about the event in an interview in the Times “Chief of Police Smith is not very well-pleased over last night’s sparring exhibition in the Grand Opera House, and in speaking of it today said that sparring exhibitions should be prohibited in public halls.