Volume X Part 15 (1/2)
Always a-huntin' fer ”signs”; Says it's ”spirits” 'at's good, or mean, If the wind jest shakes the vines!
I always feel skeery w'en gran'ma's aroun'-- An' think 'at I see things, an' jump at each soun': ”Oh, dear! Oh, my!
I'm certain 'at somebody's goin' to die!”
Oh, she makes me cry-- She makes me cry!
_The Only True and Reliable Account of_
THE GREAT PRIZE FIGHT,
_For $100,000, at Seal Rock Point, on Sunday Last, Between His Excellency Gov. Stanford and Hon.
F. F. Low, Governor Elect of California._
REPORTED BY SAMUEL L. CLEMENS
For the past month the sporting world has been in a state of feverish excitement on account of the grand prize fight set for last Sunday between the two most distinguished citizens of California, for a purse of one hundred thousand dollars. The high social standing of the compet.i.tors, their exalted position in the arena of politics, together with the princely sum of money staked upon the issue of the combat, all conspired to render the proposed prize fight a subject of extraordinary importance, and to give it an eclat never before vouchsafed to such a circ.u.mstance since the world began. Additional l.u.s.tre was shed upon the coming contest by the lofty character of the seconds or bottle-holders chosen by the two champions, these being no other than Judge Field (on the part of Gov. Low), a.s.sociate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, and Hon. Wm. M. Stewart (commonly called ”Bill Stewart,”
or ”Bullyragging Bill Stewart”), of the city of Virginia, the most popular as well as the most distinguished lawyer in Nevada Territory, member of the Const.i.tutional Convention, and future U. S. Senator for the state of Washoe, as I hope and believe--on the part of Gov.
Stanford. Princ.i.p.als and seconds together, it is fair to presume that such an array of talent was never entered for a combat of this description upon any previous occasion.
Stewart and Field had their men in constant training at the Mission during the six weeks preceding the contest, and such was the interest taken in the matter that thousands visited that sacred locality daily to pick up such morsels of information as they might, concerning the physical and scientific improvement being made by the gubernatorial acrobats. The anxiety manifested by the populace was intense. When it was learned that Stanford had smashed a barrel of flour to atoms with a single blow of his fist, the voice of the people was at his side. But when the news came that Low had caved in the head of a tubular boiler with one stroke of his powerful ”mawley” (which term is in strict accordance with the language of the ring) the tide of opinion changed again. These changes were frequent, and they kept the minds of the public in such a state of continual vibration that I fear the habit thus acquired is confirmed, and that they will never more cease to oscillate.
The fight was to take place on last Sunday morning at ten o'clock. By nine every wheeled vehicle and every species of animal capable of bearing burthens, were in active service, and the avenues leading to the Seal Rock swarmed with them in mighty processions whose numbers no man might hope to estimate.
I determined to be upon the ground at an early hour. Now I dislike to be exploded, as it were, out of my balmy slumbers, by a sudden, stormy a.s.sault upon my door, and an imperative order to ”Get up!”--wherefore I requested one of the intelligent porters of the Lick House to call at my palatial apartments, and murmur gently through the key-hole the magic monosyllable ”Has.h.!.+” That ”fetched me.”
The urbane livery-stable keeper furnished me with a solemn, short-bodied, long-legged animal--a sort of animated counting-house stool, as it were--which he called a ”Morgan” horse. He told me who the brute was ”sired” by, and was proceeding to tell me who he was ”dammed”
by, but I gave him to understand that I was competent to d.a.m.n the horse myself, and should probably do it very effectually before I got to the battle-ground. I mentioned to him, however, that I was not proposing to attend a funeral; it was hardly necessary to furnish me an animal gifted with such oppressive solemnity of bearing as distinguished his ”Morgan.”
He said in reply, that Morgan was only pensive when in the stable, but that on the road I would find him one of the liveliest horses in the world.
He enunciated the truth.
The brute ”bucked” with me from the foot of Montgomery street to the Occidental Hotel. The laughter which he provoked from the crowds of citizens along the sidewalks he took for applause, and honestly made every effort in his power to deserve it, regardless of consequences.
He was very playful, but so suddenly were the creations of his fancy conceived and executed, and so much ground did he take up with them, that it was safest to behold them from a distance. In the self-same moment of time, he shot his heels through the side of a street-car, and then backed himself into Barry and Patten's and sat down on the free-lunch table.
Such was the length of this Morgan's legs.
Between the Occidental and the Lick House, having become thoroughly interested in his work, he planned and carried out a series of the most extraordinary maneuvres ever suggested by the brain of any horse. He arched his neck and went tripping daintily across the street sideways, ”rairing up” on his hind legs occasionally, in a very disagreeable way, and looking into the second-story windows. He finally waltzed into the large ice cream saloon opposite the Lick House, and--
But the memory of that perilous voyage hath caused me to digress from the proper subject of this paper, which is the great prize fight between Governors Low and Stanford. I will resume.
After an infinitude of fearful adventures, the history of which would fill many columns of this newspaper, I finally arrived at the Seal Rock Point at a quarter to ten--two hours and a half out from San Francisco, and not less gratified than surprised that I ever got there at all--and anch.o.r.ed my n.o.ble Morgan to a boulder on the hillside. I had to swathe his head in blankets also, because, while my back was turned for a single moment, he developed another atrocious trait of his most remarkable character. He tried to eat little Augustus Maltravers Jackson, the ”humble” but interesting offspring of Hon. J. Belvidere Jackson, a wealthy barber from San Jose. It would have been a comfort to me to leave the infant to his fate, but I did not feel able to pay for him.
When I reached the battle-ground, the great champions were already stripped and prepared for the ”mill.” Both were in splendid condition, and displayed a redundancy of muscle about the breast and arms which was delightful to the eye of the sportive connoisseur. They were well matched. Adepts said that Stanford's ”heft” and tall stature were fairly offset by Low's superior litheness and activity. From their heads to the Union colors around their waists, their costumes were similar to that of the Greek slave; from thence down they were clad in flesh-colored tights and grenadier boots.