Sporting notions of present days and past

34 SPORTING NOTIONS
constitute serious warfare. The old gladiators,
as they were called, worked three times as fast in
the number of strokes placed per minute and
were ten times better worth watching.
Now at last to my respected friends the
A.B.A., whose honoured secretary has so fine a
balance-sheet to show, I put forward a very old
proposition in asking whether, if the A.B.A. is
constituted to promote the art and science of
boxing, it cannot see its way clear to be a little
more national in its operations and look beyond
its annual championships with London for fixed
centre. Far be it from me to suggest making
the championship meeting a feast movable from
the metropolis. But centralisation can be carried
too far. All roads lead to Rome and London,
and, as we are aware, the A.B.A. policy in
compelling competitors to take one or other
thither does invest the annual festival with extra
importance. I am aware, moreover, that com-
petitors think more of showing at the head-
quarters than at others. All the same, let me
put a case asking whether if the A.B.A. would
institute departmental depots, say, for county
championships, the said roads with finger-posts
" To London " might not have more well-
qualified travellers to their big meeting ganging
along ?
In February igo3 died Mr Henry Woods,
more widely known as Woodstock. Harry
Woodstock, a man with a remarkable inner
history, was one of the survivors of the
Bell's
Life
connection engaged in sporting reporting
and other writing before
Bell
began to go fast
downhill towards what was at last an altogether
unnecessary end. He was a very useful utility
M