The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 87, July 1983 - April, 1984 Page: 54
468 p. : ill. (some col.), maps (some col.), ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
of Galveston could decide whether or not to enforce the statute against
prizefighting, but the governor's actions spoke otherwise. He em-
ployed a forceful attorney, John Lovejoy, to prosecute the case and
made sure that the bench was sympathetic to the state's position
Prominent Galvestonians, however, were determined to protect
their many enjoyments. Alderman Robert Webber said the $5,000
bond under which Johnson and Choynski were held was higher than
that required in a murder case. Is it "a greater crime against the great
State of Texas to engage in a friendly boxing contest than to shoot
your neighbor down without notice?" Webber demanded. He knew
boxing was criticized as brutal, degrading, and demoralizing; he knew
the argument that it attracted the rowdier sorts of people. But in Gal-
veston the sport was good clean fun that was followed by the "best
citizens" of the community. Charles L. Davis, president of the Galves-
ton Athletic Club, agreed. Neither the fighters nor the promoters were
guilty of anything more than staging a wholesome "scientific exhibi-
tion" of self-defense, one whose purpose was moral uplift and physical
improvement."
In jail Johnson and Choynski were told that their bond would be
reduced and that they would be released as soon as the court heard
the charges. One week after the fight, Judge Allen was presented with
the writ. His reaction was not what the fighters expected. In presenting
the case to the grand jury, he emphasized that Texas had abolished
prizefighting for salutary reasons. The sport, he said, was a "species of
brutality" before which most Americans blanched. Prizefights "ac-
custom people to cruelty and beget a taste for brutal pastimes"; they
"dull men's ordinarily sympathetic natures." Addressing the grand
jury, he added, "But with the reason of the law you have nothing to
do; it is sufficient that the law is on the statute book and your sworn
duty is to act under it. And it seems the law of Texas has been de-
liberately and openly violated and defied." As Allen spoke, Johnson
and Choynski's faces registered their concern. They expected to leave
the courtroom free men, or at least free on bond. Instead they were re-
turned to jail."8
In jail both were well treated. They were celebrities of sorts, and
36Ibid., Feb. 27, 1901; Rupert Richardson, Ernest Wallace, and Adrian Anderson,
Texas: The Lone Star State (Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1981), 346-350.
37Galveston Daily News, Mar. 1 (1st and 2nd quotations), Mar. 3 (3rd quotation), 19go.
38Ibid., Feb. 28, Mar. 1, 3, 5 (quotations), 1901o.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 87, July 1983 - April, 1984, periodical, 1983/1984; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117150/m1/74/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.