“Mr. Tom Allen, St. Louis.“Dear Sir: Noting in the ChicagoTimesof the 3d instant, in an account of the fights you have been engaged in, a reference to myself, which is both unprofessional and ungentlemanly, written by your trainer, and instigated, as I believe, by yourself, I hasten to put myself aright before the public.“I had retired, as I hoped, permanently from the ring, with loathing and disgust of the practice, but cannot permit so insulting an allusion to myself to pass unnoticed. I hereby challenge you to meet me in the ring at any point within fifty miles of Detroit, in Canada, for fun, simply to decide who is the better man. I will pay, on a week’s notice, your expenses to Detroit.“If you prefer not to fight for sport, but money, I will agree to fight you for one thousand dollars a side, within three months from this date, which is more than is at stake in your coming mill with Goss.“You promised to meet me in the winter of 1875, in a barn on Thirty-second street, New York, to fight for apurse of one thousand dollars. You excused yourself to go and change your clothes, and never came back. You published a card in a Pittsburg paper, boasting that you had driven me out of New York. I was in that city two months afterwards. You were then matched to fight Rourke, but the engagement never came off. In the summer of ’75 I challenged you to fight me near Pittsburg, when you claimed to have retired from the ring. Now that you have again entered the ring, I tender the above challenge, simply requesting that not more than twenty-five friends of either party shall witness the engagement.“Yours truly,“Ben Hogan.”
“Mr. Tom Allen, St. Louis.
“Dear Sir: Noting in the ChicagoTimesof the 3d instant, in an account of the fights you have been engaged in, a reference to myself, which is both unprofessional and ungentlemanly, written by your trainer, and instigated, as I believe, by yourself, I hasten to put myself aright before the public.
“I had retired, as I hoped, permanently from the ring, with loathing and disgust of the practice, but cannot permit so insulting an allusion to myself to pass unnoticed. I hereby challenge you to meet me in the ring at any point within fifty miles of Detroit, in Canada, for fun, simply to decide who is the better man. I will pay, on a week’s notice, your expenses to Detroit.
“If you prefer not to fight for sport, but money, I will agree to fight you for one thousand dollars a side, within three months from this date, which is more than is at stake in your coming mill with Goss.
“You promised to meet me in the winter of 1875, in a barn on Thirty-second street, New York, to fight for apurse of one thousand dollars. You excused yourself to go and change your clothes, and never came back. You published a card in a Pittsburg paper, boasting that you had driven me out of New York. I was in that city two months afterwards. You were then matched to fight Rourke, but the engagement never came off. In the summer of ’75 I challenged you to fight me near Pittsburg, when you claimed to have retired from the ring. Now that you have again entered the ring, I tender the above challenge, simply requesting that not more than twenty-five friends of either party shall witness the engagement.
“Yours truly,“Ben Hogan.”
This fair and manly offer, which certainly gave Allen an opportunity to prove his metal, had he cared to do so, was not accepted. Ben, tired of his attempts to bring the redoubtable pugilist to terms, made no further efforts to bring about a meeting.
Shortly afterward he left Grand Rapids, and returned East, striking his old home, Syracuse. There, in company with Charley McDonald, he filled a week’s engagement at Barton’s Opera House, giving highly successful sparring exhibitions.
The desire to return to the oil country took possession of him once again, and with two hundred dollars, which he borrowed of his mother, he set out, in company with McDonald, for his old haunts. In Buffalo he fell in with Joe Goss and Steve Taylor, and the four proceeded together as far as Erie, where they put up at the Reed House, spending a day or two in a jolly manner. At that point they separated, Ben and McDonald going on to Parker’s Landing.
The two pugilists made arrangements to give a series of sparring exhibitions through the oil towns, but the enterprise did not prove a success. Finally, having got rid of all his money, Hogan struck Elk City with just ten cents in his pocket. He saw that the place offered an excellent field for the sort of work to which he was most accustomed, and he therefore resolved to open a free-and-easy and variety theatre.
He endeavored to lease a lot adjoining the premises of a Mr. Spencer, but this gentleman objected to Ben as a neighbor, and the latter was therefore compelled to seek another location. He found a site directly opposite the one first proposed, and, with fifty dollars, borrowed from Mr. Lynch, he went to work to erect a building suitable for his purposes. The lumber, furniture, and other necessary articles he procured on credit, and in a short time had completed his building. This done, he made his way to Petrolia, and there once more made up with Miss Kitty. He promised her, if she would behave herself, to give her a home for life, and she professed to be glad to accept this offer.
With Kitty and music, and four women to do the honors, the Elk City House was thrown open to the public. So decided was its success, that from the very outset the profits averaged two hundred and fifty dollars a day. The chief revenue was the dance hall, where a full brass band—composed of a fiddle and an organ—made persistent, if not exquisite, music. From eighty to ninety sets occupied the floor during the twenty-four hours, each set yielding two dollars to the management.
With a view to increasing his business, Ben fitted out Kitty for a trip to Pittsburg, to secure additional people. Having perfect confidence in Miss Kitty, Ben, on this occasion, bought her a handsome outfit of costlyclothing, and gave her fifty dollars wherewith to defray her expenses.
Instead of going to Pittsburg, Kitty made her way to Petrolia, and there met and married one of her old admirers. This left Ben in some distress; but it was not altogether a new thing for him to be thus deceived in women whom he had trusted.
Upon Kitty’s unexpected exit, Ben himself went to Pittsburg and secured the services of six people, among whom was E. J., known familiarly as Jennie. This latter he soon after made his housekeeper, and to the present day she occupies that position. Not only is she attractive in personal appearance, but her bearing and manners are those of a lady, while her loyalty to Ben and his interests is beyond question. It is not to be wondered at that Hogan was at once attracted toward so pretty and lady-like a person as Jennie. These observations are made to refute in part the scandalous statements that have appeared in some of the oil country newspapers respecting Ben Hogan’s present consort.
At the time Ben found Jennie, his advertisement in the Pittsburg papers was answered by scores of young girls, who were innocent of the sort of work which would be required of them in a free-and-easy. To all these Ben gave a bit of wholesome advice. He not only refused to accept of their services, but he told them in every instance to go back to their homes and to continue in a virtuous career. Not a few of these young girls were accompanied by their fathers, and had Ben been so disposed, he might have secured many innocent victims. That he did not do so, shows that even the business that he followed had not wholly blunted his ideas of honor.
Among the people whom he did take back with him were two who passed under the names of Maryand Maud. These young women, at the expiration of their first week’s service, claimed that they had been deceived in regard to the character of the house, and threatened to bring a suit against the proprietor for alleged damages.
Women who would voluntarily accept of a position in a dance-house are not the ones to whom the world is accustomed to look to for the strictest morals. The probabilities are that Mary and Maud were not so astonishingly innocent nor so amazingly ignorant as not to know the character of the place to which they went. Be that as it may, the injury to their reputation was not of such a serious nature but that it could be made good by the application of a soothing plaster in the shape of a greenback. A ten-dollar note paid to each sufficed to heal their wounded honor, and prevent them from appealing to the law for vindication. Let it be added, however, that the women hailed from Pittsburg, which may explain for their natural tendency toward blackmailing.
During the history of the Elk City house it was not an infrequent occurrence for farmers from the neighboring country to drive up to Ben’s place with lumber or produce, which they offered for sale. Although Hogan rarely had any use for these articles, he would invariably offer to take them at the farmer’s own terms. Once inside the house, and with the prospect of a good bargain before him, the rural visitor would avail himself of the opportunity to see, at least, a part of the elephant. The animal usually proved so interesting that it was hard to turn away from the sight.
Ben would post the girls, who in turn would one and all profess to be smitten by the farmer. This would tickle his vanity, and besides indulging in every dance that wascalled, he would order the wine with the utmost liberality. The more he danced, the more he drank; and the more he drank, the more firmly he became convinced that every woman in the place was desperately in love with him. This was pleasant while it lasted, but it was also expensive. Before he had finished seeing the elephant, the farmer would invariably find that he had run up a bill considerably in excess of the amount due him for his produce. If farmers had only been plenty enough, Ben would never have been called upon to expend a cent for eggs, butter, or vegetables.
“JENNIE.”
While still managing the house in Elk City, Hogan went to Bullion, where he bought Frank Nesbit’s hotel, paying him therefor four thousand dollars. He did not really want this property, but was forced to take it because he failed in his efforts to get a lease of any more suitable premises. Mr. Sincox, who refused to grant the lease in question, was particularly anxious to prevent Ben from locating in Bullion. When he found that the latter had secured the hotel, he drew up a petition to have him ejected from the town; but, to his surprise, he found that the very men whom he had counted on to sign this petition were ready to sign one in favor of Hogan’s right to remain. Nesbit, who knew Ben to be a thorough man in his line of business, readily disposed of his property to him.
While Ben devoted his time to Bullion, Jennie managed the place at Elk City. Ben’s energy found a new field in Bullion, in the way of erecting an opera house, which was a neat and creditable building for the neighborhood. This house was opened by Wildman’s company, the very appropriate play of “Ten Nights in a Barroom” being chosen for the initiatory performance. Whatever else may be said ofBen’s appearance in this town, it is at least certain that he infused into it a good deal of life.
The success of the Elk City and Bullion enterprises were such as to warrant Ben in taking a somewhat protracted pleasure trip, which, in company with Jennie, he did.
THE HOUSE IN TARPORT.
Saratoga Trip—Bullion Again—Arrival in Tarport—Opens Dance House—A Groundless Scandal—The Truth About the Girl Carrie.
The summer of 1877 found our hero and his friend at Saratoga, where they spent a couple of weeks, and then journeyed to New York. There they made the Sinclair House their headquarters, and in that very excellent hostelry lived in a most sumptuous manner. The choice viands and superior wines for which the Sinclair is famous were ordered in most lavish style. Meantime the usual round of pleasures—the theatres, drives, and promenades were indulged in to their fullest extent. This was Jennie’s first visit to the metropolis, and, indeed, the trip was undertaken with a view to showing her the sights of the Eastern cities. The couple proceeded next to Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, making the tour one of continuous pleasure. From the last-named city they returned to Pittsburg, and while Jennie made her way back to Bullion, Ben attended the races at Petersburg. These he followed up to Edinburg; and after this season of sport he also returned to Bullion.
For the purpose of re-opening the house, Jennie was dispatched to Pittsburg, where she procured twenty new women. Returning with these, the house was again thrown open, and the former lively business was resumed.
Among the girls who had accompanied Jennie fromPittsburg was one who made such a deep impression upon a highly respectable young man of Bullion that the latter asked her to become his wife. The offer was accepted, and the twain were married. The girl, who was not altogether guileless in some matters, was refreshingly innocent so far as wedlock was concerned. She was gravely informed by some of the inmates of the house that before she could legally be married she must have a cross painted upon her back as a symbol of her regeneration. To this and other equally absurd tricks she submitted without a murmur, and her body was tattooed so that she might have rivalled the famous Greek in the museum. In spite of this doubtful treatment, however, she got her husband, and so ought to have been satisfied.
It was Ben’s policy while in the oil country to be constantly on the lookout for new fields of operation. This was due to the fact that while a sporting-house or free-and-easy was a novelty in any place, it did an overwhelming business, but when the novelty wore off, the profits dwindled. Ben was ready by the time the cream was skimmed in one place to open up in another. He did not wait for others to make a beginning, but pushed ahead and built a business wherever the chance offered.
Leaving Jennie in charge of the Bullion house, he visited Tarport, which he believed to be a promising point for operations. He landed in the town with just fifteen dollars. This sum he speedily increased to two hundred dollars by means of a friendly game of draw poker with Captain Moner and Pete Holmes. Thus supplied with a little ready money, he bought a house from Mr. Keefe, paying four hundred dollars for the property, and afterward enlarging and remodeling it at a cost of one thousand dollars.
This was the first dance-house ever opened in that section of the oil region. It created an immediate and decided sensation. The fame of Hogan had preceded him, and the good people of Tarport thought it a terrible calamity that such an infamous character should take up his abode in their midst. Their indignation, however, did not prevent them from calling around to satisfy themselves as to the nature of the house. And Ben satisfied them all at fifty cents admission.
The place opened with six women, and employed, after it was fairly under way, from fifteen to eighteen. Rhodes’ full string-band furnished the music, and the redoubtable Nibbs acted as doorkeeper. This man Nibbs, who has previously been mentioned in these pages, under the alias of Scotty, in Tidioute, proved himself treacherous to the interests of his employer. Knowing that Ben was accustomed to carry large sums of money about his person, Nibbs conceived the idea of entering into a conspiracy with Jennie to rob Hogan. The proposition was that Jennie should take Ben’s clothes, while the latter was asleep, and throw them out of a window where Nibbs would be in waiting. With the three or four thousand dollars which this venture would yield, the doorkeeper suggested that he and Jennie could set out for California, and enjoy themselves to their heart’s content. Or, if it was more to her liking, they could strike out thirty or forty miles and open a house similar to the one in Tarport.
“I ain’t afraid of Ben,” added the intrepid doorkeeper; “and if we once got a place started, I wouldn’t care for anything he might do!”
Jennie so far professed to fall in with this plan as to draw out Nibbs’ plot, the proposition having been made during Ben’s absence from Tarport. Immediately uponhis return she laid before him the whole story, which, of course, knocked the doorkeeper’s schemes out of time. He not only failed to get the money, but he lost his position, Ben discharging him at once upon the discovery of his treachery. He was succeeded by Jack McCormack, who proved a perfectly trustworthy and honest man.
While Ben was in Tarport, an indictment was found against him at Franklin for having sold liquor in the Bullion house without a license. The fact that he had lent the Attorney thirty dollars while at Bullion, and also paid for a night’s carousal for that official, did not save him from having the case pressed to its utmost. Hogan was convicted of the alleged offense, and fined three hundred and fifty dollars, which he paid. It was the first money which he ever parted with in a case of that kind.
KILLING TIME IN TARPORT.
New Resolves and New Hopes.
And now, dear reader, after having given you some insight into my turbulent and, for so far, misspent life, I stand before you and before Heaven with uplifted hands and tearful eyes, imploring the forgiveness of society and the great and good Being I have so long and so persistently offended. Surely, I can say of a truth that “the way of the transgressor is hard;” for now I most solemnly aver that never during my wild and reckless career had I experienced a moment of true peace or happiness. Under the promptings of the Evil One and of my own fallen nature, all was confusion and crime; and were it not for a benign and forgiving Providence I should long ere this have been beyond all hope.
When even rolling in wealth, no tongue can tell the torments I suffered both in soul and body. The excesses of the maddening bowl and of the gaming table had nearly done their work, when a whisper came to my conscience that I must alter my ways or be lost to all eternity. I had, somehow, become impressed with the necessity of a change of life, and I, therefore, made an effort to redeem my terrible past. Under Heaven I have succeeded to some extent, for I am no longer a slave to either of the vices just named. And, oh! if I could but impress upon the youth of this country the vital importance of temperance, and of a good and pure life, how happy I should be. If I could but depict to them the horror of my feelings when after a hard night’s drinkingand gambling I found myself in the morning all but a beggar on the streets, without a penny in my pocket or a friend in the world, staggering seedy and blear-eyed into a pawnbroker’s shop to pledge my overcoat for the price of my breakfast—could I describe this as graphically as my heart would prompt me to do, I should be, indeed, grateful for the gift. For, let it be understood, that through the instrumentality of the glass and of the gambling table more souls are sent to perdition than through any other means. Look at all your murders throughout the length and breadth of the land, and take a peep into your prisons. Who perpetrates the one or fills the other?—the gambler or the drunkard. Who is your suicide and wife deserter from Maine to California?—the gambler or the drunkard. Who brings ruin upon his family and reduces the partner of his bosom and his little ones to state of beggary?—the gambler or the drunkard. And who lives without God in the world and dies without hope?—the gambler or the drunkard.
I have been broad and specific in my statement regarding my life, so that there might be no misinterpreting my faults, and so that thereby they might loom up before the youth of this and every land in their true and repulsive colors. God knows it cost me many a pang to say all I have said of myself, but this was one feature of the palliation of my various crimes and offences. I must confess all! I must hide nothing, else my repentance should not be complete or sincere.
I hope and trust that there may yet be some space left to me to do good in the world; and, in view of the fact that I am not in the sear and yellow leaf, I think I can discern a bright gleam in the future. Still, I have done so much evil that I scarcely dare mention what little good I had allowed to fall to my lot. I shall,therefore, permit this drop to fall unobserved into the bucket and begin life anew. Often my heart and tongue struggle to say that which is embarassed by a restricted education, but which lies burning or smouldering far down in the depths of my being. When I see the youth about me wasting the precious moments of their lives as I have wasted mine, and think of the possible fate that awaits them, I sometimes shudder at the contemplation of their future. When I see a young man in business hours, or after or before them, wending his way to the tavern or liquor saloon, to which every vice gravitates, I feel as if I could spring forward and arrest him on the threshold of the dangerous spot.
There is something so infectious in the atmosphere of such places, that it is next to impossible to shake oneself free from it once it has touched the blood. Its fascination is that of the deadly serpent, which holds you in thrall until escape is impossible, and the poisonous fangs are buried deep in your soul. To learn the terrible power of such places has cost me dear, and I now turn from them with a loathing so deeply seated as never to be brought to tolerate them again. They are the destroyers of time, of the purse, of the health and of character; and they brand a business man so effectually and so fatally, that even his friends and the sharers of his orgies shake their heads portentously in relation to his ultimate fate. No drunkard has ever succeeded in life, or taken up an exalted position in society; and when we all know that the constant use of alcoholic stimulants not only destroys the physical body but ruins the mind, what infatuation must it be to ever permit a drop of such stuff to cross our lips.
In my day I have seen wealth melt like the snow and sink into this vortex where it was lost forever to himwho had possessed it. I have seen families that were once the very embodiment of prosperity and happiness scattered to the winds by this monster curse. I have seen pride tumble into the gutter from a pedestal upon which it once stood admired and respected; and oh, I have seen manly and female beauty fall beneath its infernal spell. Could I this moment, with one sweep of my pen, rid the land of this mighty demon, I should account myself the happiest of mortals in performing the act. There is no sacrifice too great that tends to its utter destruction, and no mission more holy than that which struggles toward its annihilation. Every effort that has been put forth in the cause of temperance and morality by those good men and true who are working in this field toward elevation of society, and to save the natural man from himself, is approved by Heaven so palpably that a blessing follows close upon its heels. Hence our ministers and temperance lecturers should be sustained to the fullest by the head, the heart and the pocket of a nation. What we want are good and faithful citizens—men who are true to themselves and humanity, and these are not to be fostered in a gambling or a liquor saloon. In this relation parents and perceptors must constantly keep stretching out their hands and plucking the young brands from the burning. Nor is it necessary to effect this that the regime to which we would submit them should be severe or uncongenial. Youth is the time of sunshine, and we must not cloud it with rules or precepts antagonistic to its joyous essence. We must give it judicious scope, and surround it with healthy and innocent enjoyments and amusements. And while we should, as it is our duty, inculcate morality and religion, we must remember that a healthy mind and body are indispensable to the true growth and development of both.
Again, it is so difficult to retrace one’s steps once that vice has got a firm hold, that the danger of the first cup becomes apparent at a glance. Hence we must see how necessary that we should neither touch, taste nor handle the inebriating cup. The steps toward final and complete ruin are in the first instance at times so imperceptible that we scarcely know we are transgressing and pursuing a downward track until we may be almost past redemption. Often we see the fond mother and the fond father tempting their children to taste some sweetened beverage that is simply alcohol in disguise. Such kindness is fraught with the utmost danger, for the tastes and habits of the young are easily formed. Youth has a tendency to reckless indulgences, which in this relation, as well as in others, should be narrowly watched; and, as for the most part these tastes are engendered in the first case beneath the eye of the parent, surely the greatest prudence and caution should prevail. Man is an imitative animal in every sense of the word. Consequently, how all-important it is that in the respect now under consideration we should set a pure example before the younger members of our families by both word and act. If the child perceives the father or the mother indulging to any extent whatever in those mixtures falsely called wines or pure spirits—that is, if they should be given to their wine-glass of punch after dinner, or at any period during the day—the child, whether boy or girl, is, of course, tempted to follow the example; and so on the very hearthstone which should have fostered the germs of sobriety and purity we sometimes find this viper warmed into life whose fangs are so pregnant with poison that the first touch often proves fatal.
And now for the cautious, the moderate and sober drinker—the man who never exceeds, although he dailyindulges in the intoxicating glass. He, let it be clearly understood, is an infinitely more dangerous person, and does more veritable mischief than the absolute and confirmed drunkard that we find rolling about the streets. In the one case we find a man of a certain temperament and constitution, who has prudence and self-control, tempting others, who are differently constituted, into the indulgence of habits that they are utterly unable to keep in check. The moderate drinker is in this respect a decoy-duck of the devil. He says, “look at me, I never exceed; a man can take a glass in reason, and fill all the duties pertaining to him at the same time.” This is dangerous logic, but it is what he is hourly preaching by his example. Does he not know that for one individual who can drink, or that has the power to drink in moderation, there are thousands, aye, millions, who in this respect have no control of themselves whatever. Step into any of your bar-rooms or liquor saloons, and show me if you can the number who frequent such places and who drink moderately. There is no such thing as moderation connected with such people. One glass begets another, until the brain is dulled or maddened, and the young or the old life blasted for the time being, while at the same moment time and money flows away unnoted and unimproved. Nay, more, and I have experience to back the assertion, there is not under the sun one place that tends to demoralize a youth so rapidly and irrevocably as one of those dens where bad liquor, bad cigars, and bad everything else are rife. The gambling table is a horror also, but, as a general thing, it beggars its victim so swiftly as to paralyze him for some time at least, and prevent him from indulging in its excesses, because of his want of means. But in the liquor saloon, for a very trifle, you can indulge in low habits of intemperance, andso lay the foundation of your destruction as to place your case in a very short period beyond all hope.
And yet, let it be understood that I do not place all liquor dealers in the category of bad men. Very far from it. I have known many of them to be good and generous; yes, and opposed to intemperance. I have known many of them to refuse to supply further with drink persons who had already had “enough,” as the term goes, and even refuse money under the circumstances. These are simply good and honest men, who have got into the wrong groove, and who are utterly exalted above the less scrupulous dealers of their class; and had they chosen any other vocation, where their goodness of heart would have had full scope, they would have become ensamples in it worthy of imitation and all praise. But the groove, and the circumstances that surround it, bear a stigma which the honesty or kind-heartedness of one good man, or a thousand, cannot wipe away—cannot obliterate. The wine cup has done such damage—has broken so many hearts, ruined so many fortunes, and destroyed so many lives that no light can fall on it but what is the most fearful, lurid and repulsive to any well-ordered mind.
But some one will say, “Ben Hogan, this is all very well, but what remedy do you propose—how are you going to help us out of the mire?” In answer I reply, “If society is at present so constituted that liquor saloons cannot be done away with, I propose that not one saloon throughout the length or breadth of the land shall be permitted to sell a single glass of liquor that is not as pure and as sound as liquor can be. I propose that, in this respect, there shall be such vigilance used and adequate legislation, that adulterated liquors shall become impossible, and that none but respectable personsshould be licensed to sell. In addition, I should make it the law of the land that every bar-room from Maine to California should be closed at ten o’clock at night, and not opened until eight o’clock in the morning, and that any violation of this rule should be punished with a heavy fine. Let this system be once adopted, and we shall have less midnight brawls, and less stay-out-at-night husbands, squandering the means that should be devoted to the well-being and happiness of their families, and destroying their own health, prospects and reputation; while, in addition, they will have no incentive to leave their houses at daybreak in the morning to quench their burning thirst at the same accursed fountain. Curtail the confirmed inebriate at night and in the morning by keeping the liquor saloons closed against him, and hopeless as his case may be, all hope is not lost. Let one have no incentive to be absent from his home after ten o’clock at night, or to leave it before eight in the morning, and you leave him time to take a glance at his condition at least. As the case now stands, the man who is addicted to the use of ardent spirits has scarcely time to recover from one debauch until he becomes embarked in another. He gets home at midnight, and for the purpose of stimulating his sinking spirits, or easing his fiery head, he is up and out at daylight, and, although intending to take but one glass, begins the day as he had begun the misspent yesterday. Had he been home at ten o’clock on the night before, and were he presented with no bar-room inducement to leave his house before eight o’clock in the morning, he would have had ten hours sleep or rest, instead of four, and a respite of the same length from the fatal glass; for, I contend, that most drinkers do their destructive work outside their own dwellings, and among boon companions.”
Ben as a Reformer—His Opinions on the Temperance Question—Physical Culture—The Social Evil—Prisons and Penitentiaries—Gambling.
The reader who has followed these pages to the present point will, I think, admit that the life of Ben Hogan has been one of strange adventure and untiring activity. It would be singular, indeed, if such a career had not left strong impressions upon the mind of the man who has followed it. These impressions have given rise to convictions on many important questions, which, to my thinking, are sound and reasonable. I shall attempt to lay before the reader some of the opinions held by Ben Hogan touching the subjects of temperance and the social evil.
With respect to the first, it is Hogan’s belief that the principle of total abstinence will never effect the reform which its advocates claim. The first distinction to be drawn is that between temperance and total abstinence. The words have come to be used by many persons as synonymous; but their meaning is widely different. A man may drink wine, beer, or spirits all his life, and still be strictly temperate. If we apply this rule to anything excepting intoxicating drinks, its validity will at once be apparent. For example: Beef is an excellent article of diet, and yet a man may use it in such excessive quantities as to overstrain the digestive organs and bring about all manner of diseases. We are not to reason from thisthat men should give up beef altogether. Its abuse, and not use, alone, is to be condemned.
So with liquor. If pure wine or whiskey can be obtained, and if it is taken only in moderation, it is an established fact that the system is not injured. But, says the advocate of total abstinence, hundreds of men cannot take liquor in moderation. If they touch it at all, they go at once to the wildest excesses. This is a fact; but for the sake of sound argument we must go behind the fact. Why is it that a man cannot touch liquor without plunging into excess? Because his system has been broken down by the vile stuff which is sold in most of the bar-rooms of this country. He does not know what pure liquor is; and having once become accustomed to the destroying fluids, which are sold under all sorts of names, it is doubtful whether he would appreciate the genuine article, even if he got it.
For more than forty years the doctrines of total abstinence have been preached in this country. Young men have been told that whatever would intoxicate should be shunned as a poison; and with this terrible announcement ringing in their ears, they have stepped into the nearest saloon and tested the poison in the shape of a cocktail. The Neal Dows and Murphys and Oliver Cotters have given their theory a fair trial; and the result is—what? That, making due allowance for the increase in population, there is to-day three times the amount of drunkenness in the United States that there was forty years ago. This stubborn fact would seem to knock the bottom out of the total abstinence theory. Evidently we are on the wrong track to suppress drunkenness. In Germany, everybody drinks beer and Rhine wine; yet Germany is freer from the evil of intoxication than any country in the world. In France,claret flows as freely as water; and yet you rarely see a Frenchman drunk. In the United States, nobody is supposed to drink anything, and the rates of drunkenness are alarming.
Now it is Hogan’s theory that if light wines and lager beer were made the common beverages of the people, there would be a steady decrease in drunkenness. Instead of attempting to prove to men that a glass of wine is as bad as a dose of poison, show them that a glass of wine is infinitely better than a glass of whisky, and you will carry conviction with your argument. Let beer gardens and wine rooms be made respectable, as they are on the continent of Europe. Let a man be able to take his wife and family into these places, and not be obliged to stand behind a screen and guzzle down the adulterated stuff in company with sots and ruffians. It is fair to assume that men will go on drinking in the future as they have done in the past. Stimulus is a natural craving of the system, especially where life is run on the high-pressure principle which it is in this country. Let us not undertake the impossible task of shutting off this stimulus—of preventing men from drinking altogether—but rather let us seek to make the beverages comparatively harmless.
The facilities for producing light, pure wines in this country, at an expense which shall place them within reach of all, are unexampled. California and the Ohio Valley could and should furnish wine enough to supply the whole United States without importing a bottle. The manufacture of lager beer has already become a most important industry. To our mind, lager is destined to do more for the cause of true temperance than all the ranting and radical speeches that were ever delivered on the subject. Persuade a man to drink a glass of beerinstead of the manufactured stuff sold as whisky, and you put him out of the danger of delirium tremens. These views, it is to be remembered, are entertained by a man who has had abundant opportunities to study the evil effects of liquors. So thoroughly convinced did Hogan become of the impossibility of furnishing pure spirits to his patrons, that just before leaving the oil regions he refused to sell any more distilled liquors. He told his customers plainly that it was an impossibility to get good whisky. He gave them beer and wine if they wanted it, but refused to help on the traffic in adulterated liquors.
Briefly summarized, then, Ben Hogan’s views on temperance are these:
First, absolute purity in all liquors.
Second, the substitution of beer and light wines for whisky and other strong drinks.
Third, the regeneration of places where wine and beer may be obtained, so that they can be visited by anybody without the sacrifice of respectability.
Certainly these views are reasonable, and since the total abstinence doctrine has met with such signal failure, would it not be worth while to give them a fair trial?
Closely allied to this question of temperance in Hogan’s mind is that of physical culture. He is a thorough believer in the old Latin proverb, “A sound mind and a sound body.” His own opportunities for mental acquirements have been, as we have seen, limited. But if he has never delved much into books, he has picked up a large stock of useful information which the schools do not teach. Observation has taught him that all cultivation of the mind which is made at the expense of the body is to be counted in the end an unprofitable experiment. The Book of books has asked what it shall profita man to win the whole world and lose his own soul? It may also be asked, What shall it profit a man to get the wisdom of sages, and lose his health?
This word health means nothing more than a perfect operation of all the functions of the human system. To obtain so desirable an end, is certainly worth time and thought. Ninety-nine parents out of a hundred put their children into school, and are tenacious about their mental growth, while they leave the body to care for itself. Physical culture ought to begin as early as that of the mind. A boy should be taught the laws of health before he is taught the laws of arithmetic or grammar. Yet, while money is freely expended to train the intellect, it is only in rare instances that a child is put through a proper course of physical training.
It is a generally accepted fact that a perfectly healthy condition of the body begets a corresponding state of mind. The mind, in short, is that indefinable something—even the metaphysicians have not determined what—but which relates to the brain, and is largely dependent upon that organ for its operations. Now, the brain, as we know, is matter. It has substance, color, and weight. It is, in short, a part of the body. When the brain becomes disordered, reason loses its control, and the result is insanity. On the other hand, if the body is kept well and strong, the brain performs its work without difficulty, and a person is prepared to grapple with the problems of life successfully.
All this leads up to the argument which Hogan advances in favor of physical culture. Let a man devote a part of his time to the development of his muscles. He will be better and stronger in every way if he does. Proper and persistent exercise is the best medicine in the world. A pair of dumb-bells contain more virtuethan a dozen prescriptions. A sand-bag may be made far more efficacious than the biggest box of pills ever compounded. If your spirits are low, if you are subject to fits of despondency, and find yourself looking upon the world with jaundiced eyes; if the color goes out of your cheek, and your digestion is bad; if, in short, you are one of the innumerable stoop-shouldered, sunken-eyed, and sallow-faced army, throw physic to the dogs, and go into a gymnasium. Put up the bells—ten pounders, perhaps, at first, but if you keep at it perseveringly, you will raise a hundred in time. Learn to box, to fence, to swing Indian clubs, to turn on the bar, and to walk. This last accomplishment is really the most difficult of all. Not walking from your house to your office or your shop, but getting over the ground in the true pedestrian style, and counting the distance by miles, not rods. Hogan has frequently made his thirty or forty miles a day, simply for recreation. It is such walking as this that will put the blood into an active circulation, and improve the whole system.
To be of any lasting benefit to a man, physical exercise must be constant and continuous. It must not be practiced by fits and starts. Steady work is the only thing which will bring the desired result. Surely, a man would better devote an hour each day to the preservation of his health, than pay exorbitant doctors’ bills, or be forced to give up work altogether. The Americans, of all people in the world, need this relaxation. They live upon the constant strain. Mind and body alike are even worked. The rest afforded by proper gymnastic exercise would be as grateful as it would be beneficial. If we want to build up a strong and sturdy race of people, we must attend to physical training as one of the most important things in life.
Hogan is free from any hobby in this matter. He has no particular kind of exercise to recommend other than that which may be found in all gymnasiums. His argument simply is, that people shall develop their brawn as well as brain, leaving the method to be adopted to individual choice.
A third question, which from time immemorial has agitated the public mind, has received thorough and careful consideration by Ben Hogan. That question is the social evil.
Let nobody question the right of such a man as the hero of this book has been shown to be to pass judgment upon this all-important subject. It is to men who have gained a practical knowledge of such matters that we must turn for true reform. The theorizers who preach from the pulpits may be all well enough in their doctrines, but the practice of what they preach is impossible. As has been justly said, the wise legislator seeks to enact such laws as may be put in effect. It would be an excellent thing, no doubt, if murder and theft, and crime of every description, could be done away with altogether; but no laws can be enacted to compass this desirable end. The statute book can only throw about society a safeguard; it cannot exterminate the evils to which men are prone.
So, then, in dealing with this perplexing question, we must look the facts squarely in the face. It is a fact, to begin with, that women have prostituted themselves in all stages of the world’s history. It is a fact, from the very nature of society, that this evil will continue so long as the passions of men overmaster and control their reason. It is a fact, that in every city and town of any considerable size in the United States there are a greater or smaller number of houses devoted to the propagationof illicit intercourse. It is a fact that all the laws which thus far have been enacted with a view to suppressing this evil have ignominiously failed of their purpose. It is a fact that man is addicted to folly, and that woman is weak. Until society is reconstructed on a different basis from the present, these things will undoubtedly remain as they now are. How, then, shall the evil be met?
Ben Hogan holds the views of a man who has studied the question in all its bearings. His conclusions may not be in accord with religious teachings nor Sunday-school law makers; but I think they are strictly in accord with common sense.
He claims at the outset that the social evil cannot be exterminated. The one thing, therefore, left to do is to render it as harmless as possible, and to surround it by such legal safeguards as may be practicable. First, let the house of prostitution be regularly licensed. This is no new idea, nor is it untried even in this country. In St. Louis and some other Southern cities the plan has been adopted, certainly with better effects than the abortive attempts to suppress such places altogether. On the Continent of Europe it is the almost universal practice to grant such licenses. Let us consider briefly the advantages arising from such a course.
If a sporting house is regarded as a legal institution—which of course it is, in case of a license—then the law is able to take it in hand, and dictate such rules as it sees fit. This enables such places to become respectable in so far as it is possible for them to be so under any circumstances. A license necessarily carries with it certain conditions and restrictions. Let these be made so binding and severe that it will be impossible for any diseased woman to offer her body for prostitution. Let a board of examining physicians call at the houses at regularintervals, and make a thorough examination of the inmates.
Just here I fancy some over-righteous reader may be tempted to throw down this volume in disgust.
“What!” exclaims such a one, “would you make this miserable traffic more widespread than it already is?”
Common sense, and not morality, must dictate the answer. These places will exist in spite of preachers and police. The sensible, worldly plan should be to make them as productive of as little evil as possible. When a man holds illicit intercourse with a woman, it is assumed that he breaks the law of God; but, unfortunately, no means has ever yet been devised to prevent a man from sinning. He is a free moral agent, responsible for his acts, and accountable for the disposition which he makes of his days on this earth. But while the laws of society cannot prevent a man from breaking the laws of God, it can restrain him from rushing into those excesses which may injure others beside himself.
Another advantage—and this also, it is to be remembered, is of purely a worldly nature—arising from granting licenses to sporting houses would be the revenue returned to the municipal government. Here again the pious reader may take offense at the line of argument. And yet he thinks nothing of profiting by the tax which is laid upon liquor dealers. Nevertheless, rum is as certain an agent of the devil, according to the strict Puritanic view, as anything in the world. “Wine and women are equally destructive to the soul,” say the preachers.
But the question cannot be argued upon the basis of morality. It must be regarded, as has already been intimated, purely from a practical point of view. It is a factnot be disputed, that if houses of this character were compelled to pay a license, the money thus received would amount to a very considerable sum, especially in the larger cities. This revenue might, if desirable, be devoted to the erection of Magdalen houses, or even to the foundation of Young Men’s Christian Associations.
Then, again, if the houses were licensed, it would tend to make them more orderly. As it is at present, they are outlaws at best, and therefore there is no incentive to keep them within the bounds of decency. But if their existence depended upon their conduct—that is, if the license was to be revoked in case of any disorderly outbreak—then the proprietors would see to it that order was maintained.
To recapitulate, the license system would secure freedom from sexual diseases, a rich source of revenue to city governments, and comparative freedom from scenes of violence and disorder.
Such are Ben Hogan’s views with regard to the manner of conducting sporting houses. Another, and perhaps more interesting phase of the case, deals with the treatment of women who have gone astray.
In nine cases out of ten the fault lies not with the girl who follows the downward path, but with the world. Without indulging in any of the stale and sickly sentimentality respecting the guilt of the man who seduces a woman, it may be said that society makes prostitutes by its method of dealing with the erring. Take the example of a girl who has fallen from the strict paths of virtue. Her offence, we may say, is the result of thoughtlessness, of temptation, of passion. She finds herself robbed of that priceless jewel which she has been taught, or should have been taught, to regard as more sacred than anything else in life. Still she has not becomehardened or criminal by her one misstep. She might, at this stage in her career, easily be reclaimed. But what is the treatment which she receives? Her friends cast her off, her home is shut against her. Even those nearest and dearest to her steel their hearts and regard her as a stranger. What possible alternative is there left but to follow in the path which she has already entered?
Let us suppose that this girl is young, innocent, and ignorant of the ways of the world. She finds herself an outcast, wholly unfitted to fight the stern battle of life single-handed. She has been taught nothing that will avail her in this hour of extremity. Perhaps she is able to play on the piano, to crochet, and to speak a few words of doubtful French. These accomplishments afford but a sorry means for gaining an honest livelihood.
In sharp contrast to the misery and privation which present themselves on the side of virtue, is the luxurious ease of a life of vice. Is it any wonder that the weak girl chooses this latter path? It seems broad and smooth and tempting to the feet. The other is dark and narrow, with sharp thorns in the way and no sunshine ahead.
So the girl enters upon the course which a thousand have trod before her, only to bring up at the inevitable goal of wretchedness and despair. She cannot see the end at the beginning of her career. For a time she finds all rosy and delightful. She lives in a whirl of excitement. If, now and then, memories of the past—thoughts of home and friends thrust themselves before her mind, she resolutely crushes them out with the bitter reflection that those who should have been her protectors have cast her aside. She follows the gay life for a brief time, drinks in the intoxicating pleasures of the moment, and awakens, sooner or later, to find herselfstripped of her beauty, forsaken, and without a refuge except that offered by gracious death. This picture is no exaggeration. It finds its counterpart in nature every hour of every day of every year. Now, think for a moment how differently this girl’s life might have been shaped had her first offense been forgiven. Suppose the parents of the girl had said to her upon the discovery of her first wayward step:
“You have been tempted, and the temptation has proved greater than you can bear. But we will forgive and forget. Let the past be wiped out forever. Your life is still before you, and you may redeem yourself yet. Our love shall cover your sin, and you shall still be to us a beloved and loving child.”
Words like these would save many a woman from a life of shame, but words like these are too rarely spoken. Are those Christians who are so ready to hurl the first stone? Have they forgotten the words of Him who bade Magdalen of old to “Go, sin no more?”
The common error is to assume that when a woman once loses her virtue, she thereby forfeits all claims to respect. With men sin is smoothed over, and sometimes even admired. Stokes commits murder, and at the end of his term of imprisonment returns to New York, mingles in the gay society which knew him of old, and gazes critically through his opera-glasses from the box of the theatre. He has committed a crime, to be sure, he is an ex-convict, and all that; but society does not hesitate to receive him back with open arms.
The worst libertine that walks the earth may still hold his head erect in the charmed circles of aristocratic society. But the woman who once goes astray is lost forever. The taint of suspicion is about her, and, strive as she may, the doors of respectability, of decency, of an honest life, are barred against her.
Why should this distinction be made between the wrong-doing of man and the wrong-doing of woman? No other answer can be made to this question than that society has so willed it. Now, society, in this matter, as in many others, is at fault. The girl who has fallen from the upright course should be given a fair chance to reform. She should not be branded with the scarlet letter for a sin which, in many cases, is less her fault than that of another.
This question of reform leads me to speak of another matter, which has claimed much of Hogan’s attention. All over the country there are so-called asylums for fallen women, reform schools, and charitable institutions without number. Besides these, are the prisons and jails, which are supposed to be instrumental in making their inmates better. How much good do you suppose these institutions accomplish.
Take the reform school, for example, as it is found in almost every county in the more populous States. A boy who has been guilty of some minor offense, or who is found difficult to manage, is committed to one of these schools, professedly with a view to reformation. Instead of learning anything good, he falls in with a class of boys more hardened than himself, and from these he gets his first lesson in crime. Reference to this very point has been made in the preceding pages, where it was attempted to show that Hogan’s brief sojourn in the Rochester Reform School fell far short of reforming him.
If this is true of the institution in which boys alone are confined, it is still more true of our prisons and penitentiaries. There the association with hardened criminals does more to foster crime than any other one thing in the world. A man may enter such a place comparatively innocent, but, after serving out an averagesentence, he will return to the world thoroughly posted in the ways of evil. The great mistake lies in huddling all classes of prisoners together like so many sheep, and treating them as if they were all equally guilty. The young man, for example, who may have been driven by necessity to commit his first theft, and who might, under proper circumstances, be made a useful member of society, finds himself sandwiched between a veteran cracksman and a life-long adventurer. From such companionship it is only natural that he draws a fund of information which fits him only for a career of crime. All the good that may have been in him when he entered the institution is eradicated before he leaves.
If this be true in the case of men and boys, it is even more so with respect to women. The latter find in the institutions, which are supposed to be reformatory in their nature, the vilest kind of associations. Indeed, it may be safely asserted that when a woman once enters a prison or penitentiary, her utter ruin is inevitable.
Still another subject which has claimed Hogan’s attention is that of gambling. Here, again, his personal experience is large enough to enable him to speak understandingly. A man who has himself lost and won thousands of dollars over the green cloth, is perhaps better fitted to express himself on the evil than one who has no practical knowledge of its operations.
To begin with, no man who voluntarily enters a gambling room has a right to grumble if he loses his money. He is tempting fortune, and fortune is too fickle to be trusted without bitter disappointment. Even supposing that a man is playing at a perfectly square game, his chances of winning are less than even. But, in modern times, and in this country especially, absolutelysquare games are rarely found. The general policy among all professional gamblers is to take unfair advantage of their victims. Let it be understood that Ben Hogan does not denounce all men who make a business of gambling. He has counted among his personal acquaintances many of this class who were naturally generous and noble-hearted men. But the very nature of their occupation tends to blunt the sense of honor, and to make them treacherous even to their best friends. Outside of the game they may be genial, open-handed and companionable; but the power of the cards is such that they lose these qualities as soon as they are engaged in play.
This dishonesty is, in short, but another form of the petty trickery resorted to in almost all branches of business. The grocer sells stale butter, if he can find a purchaser; the butcher cuts the bone so that it weighs more than the meat; the baker makes his bread an ounce lighter than the regulation weight, and the dry-goods dealer measures cloth so that thirty-five inches make a yard. All these things are counted a species of shrewdness by those who practice them. On precisely the same principle, the gambler deals from the bottom of the pack, or stacks the cards whenever he thinks he can do so without detection. In one case, the dishonesty is called sharp bargaining; in the other, it is called cheating. Both are equally disreputable, and, therefore, the gambler is not to be signaled out for especial denunciation.
But knowing that he will be swindled, if possible, the man who gambles has no claim for sympathy. When he enters a faro bank, for instance, he should reflect that the men who are running the place do so in the expectation of making money; if they cannot make it fairly, they will make it by questionable means; and they willnot be dainty in the selection of their victims. If, therefore, the man loses his money, he has nobody but himself to blame.
All these opinions are, it will be admitted, sound and reasonable. If Ben Hogan’s views could be infused into the public mind, the world would be the better for it.
Conclusion.
In bringing this volume to a close it will, perhaps, be both proper and appropriate to give a brief description of Ben Hogan’s personal appearance and mental characteristics.
A study of the illustration to be found in the beginning of the book will give a fair idea of our hero’s physiognomy. It will be observed that he has a pleasant and strongly-outlined face. The brow is broad, the eyes bright and piercing, giving the appearance that they are black, but being really of a deep blue; the nose is straight and shapely, and the chin well-turned. He wears a dark mustache, which hides a mouth indicative of great firmness.
Altogether, Ben Hogan’s face is one which attracts the beholder, and it is extremely doubtful whether anybody would select its owner for a prize fighter.
In hight, Ben stands five feet and eight inches. Ordinarily he weighs one hundred and eighty-five pounds, although he has reduced this to a much lower figure, when in training. He is exceedingly well built, straight as an arrow, and active in his movements. He has a chest which would do honor to Apollo, while his shoulders are broad enough for another Atlas. His muscles are like steel, and his limbs compact and trim. He dresses neatly, sometimes elaborately even, but never in flashy taste. Meeting him upon the street in his usualdark clothes, with the silk hat and cane which he invariably carries, one might take him to be a successful business man or a thriving lawyer or possibly a sensational preacher.
He is generally quiet and unobtrusive in his manner, although perfectly independent and self-reliant. His powers of conversation are really remarkable, and no one would suspect from his speech that he was a foreigner. He is always a hail fellow well met, and forms a pleasant companion for an hour’s chat. The secret of his success lies largely in his powers of observation, and his ability to read men’s characters. As the foregoing pages will abundantly show, he is possessed of great energy, indomitable pluck, and rare executive abilities.
In his domestic life he is regular and abstemious. He eats largely of meat, and is fond of raw beef, which he believes to be wholesome and strengthening. He is a very moderate drinker, rarely, if ever, touching strong liquors, and partaking of wine and beer in moderate quantities. The only excess of which he can be said to be guilty is that of smoking, as he is seldom seen without a cigar. Those who meet Hogan for the first time are invariably surprised at his intelligence and gentlemanly bearing.
It should be remembered that he is still in the prime of life. His exploits in the future may furnish material some time for another volume, although it is doubtful whether its hero can be styledThe Wickedest Man in the World.
AN ESSAYONPHYSICAL CULTUREANDTHE ART OF ARRESTING DISEASE,AND OF BUILDING UP A ROBUST AND HEALTHY MANHOOD.
ByBEN HOGAN,THE CELEBRATED ATHLETE AND TRAINER.
TO THE PUBLIC.
As several Physicians of eminence, and other noted personages, have done me the honor to ask, on more than one occasion, for my views on Physical Culture, and the best method of building up a Healthy and Robust Manhood, the confidence which these gentlemen have invariably expressed in my system of physical training induces me to present, most respectfully, the few succeeding pages to all who may be interested in this, the most vital of subjects.
BEN HOGAN.
Sinclair House, New York, May 1st, 1878.
RECEPTION OF BEN HOGAN AFTER HIS LECTURE ON PHYSICAL CULTURE.