Let me here offer another piece of advice. Do not buy cheap gloves. You may get them at a saving of half-a-crown or so, but you will soon wish that you had expended the money in obtaining a better pair. Gloves require the best horsehair, arranged after a peculiar fashion, in order to give them the mixed softness and elasticity which they require. Inferior gloves soon become hard and knotty, the stuffing gets thin in some places, especially just in those very parts where it is most required. The consequence is, that the gloves become practically useless, and the blows are nearly as severe as if struck with the bare hand.
Remember that, although we strongly approve of boxing, it is not to be understood that we want every one to be fighting. We very much approve of fencing and single-stick, but we certainly have no wish that every one who learns to use the foil or the single-stick in mimic combat should want to try his rapier or his broadsword in deadly fight.
As a mere exercise it stands supreme; but it is even something beyond an exercise. It shows that superior strength and height and weight are powerless before superior skill, and that a small boy who knows how to box will certainly conquer a big one who is ignorant of the art. We say again, we do not recommend fighting; but still it is good to know how to stand up in one’s own defence, and we heartily wish that when we went to school some kind friend had taught us the rudiments of the art.
The brutal bully of a school never holds his own when he meets with an antagonist who is skilful in the use of his hands, and is forced to confess that his brute strength and cruel nature are useless in such a contest. We once saw a school bully get his deserts in a charming manner. He had fallen upon (of course) a much smaller boy, and was chasing him down a passage between a double row of forms. Suddenly his victim turned round, and delivered a right-and-left blow on the chin of his tormentor, astonishing him in no slight degree. The bully pressed on, thinking to annihilate his impertinent antagonist, but could not do so on account of the narrowness of the passage. As he pressed forward the bold little fellow retreated backwards, step by step, popping in his blows sharp and quick, and stepping back just as those of his persecutor were delivered. The bully never guarded a single blow or succeeded in hitting one, and by the time that they had made their way through the defile he was obliged to confess himself beaten, and was deposed for ever from the despotic throne which he had so long disgraced.
CANOES AND CANOEING.
Despite the assertion of even so great an authority as Mr. Macgregor, whose name has now become a household word, canoeing is an amusement that must necessarily involve a considerable amount of danger, and ought to be indulged in by no one who has not, according to the Eton phrase, passed in swimming. Whether or not it is a very comfortable means of locomotion is purely a matter of personal feeling; but in face of the fact that the Canoe Club now numbers upwards of a hundred members, and that the boat-builders have had extensive orders for canoes, it is only fair to suppose that those who venture enjoy the new mode of locomotion. There is one circumstance that will, no doubt, obtain for canoes great favour, especially with young people, and that is, their cheapness. Messrs. Searle at Lambeth, Simmons at Putney, or Wheeler at Richmond, will build a good stout travelling canoe, after the fashion of the Rob Roy, for 15l.; which price includes mast, sails, apron, paddles, and all necessaries. Any respectable boatbuilder would no doubt do the same, when he is once provided with the necessary instructions, which, I need scarcely add, it is essential should be carried out to the letter, for the slightest deviation from the recognised standard might cause the most disagreeable results. The following points are the most important.