The San Francisco call. [volume], May 18, 1913, Image 22

About The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913

Image provided by: University of California, Riverside; Riverside, CA

                
San Francisco Sunday Call.
BOXING THAT CAN'T HURT
— ►+_
Protective Armor That Opens the Game
to All, Girls and Those With Defec
tive Eyesight as Well —All the Excite
ment and None of the Objections—A
Safe and Sane Method of Learning
the Art of Self-Defense.
Dr. Guy Otis Brewster
I HAVE discovered how to make box
ing as safe as tennis. ' This most
healthful and exhilarating sport is now j
•■open to all, because by my method .
FORTUNE SMILES ON A STREET SINGER
•9 '" ■■'■■-■'"■■.
& Three Months Ago Theo
dore Kittay, Poor and Un
known, Was Picked Up
Outside a New York Hotel
I* and Started on His Career.
LESS than four montr % ago a hun
gry, wistful boy with an artistic
soul yearning for seemingly Impossible
operatic goals stood outside the St. |
*'Regds Hotel. He was singing. Pres
ently a reporter for one of the big
metropolitan newspapers heard * the
tones and their lovely quality touched j
him.
''Salut Demeure" sang the boy, and
the phrase died away into a thread of
tone that spun on and on. Music crit
ics would have pronounced it a per
fectly executed diminuendo.
/At that moment an automobile
■whirled to the curb line. A smartly
garbed woman alighted, but she did!
not proceed toward the hotel entrance. I
She turned toward the two standing
figures. v ;
The boy stood sinking outside
a hotel.
Dr. Guy Otis
Brewster in his
protective "
armor. '
■ ■ .■:. ■" - ; ■■' -' ,' "J- , ' •-,-• -
.1 L V ; -' : ■:■,"- ,:: -'■'- ■;■ -'.'■■■.■-■•,
defective vision is no longer a bar to
indulging ■in the splendid exercise,
And. above all, it Is impossible for con
testants to suffer any injuries. Black
eyes- cut lips, puffed ears or bruised
"Who was that who was singing?" i
demanded the newcomer. ; "Bring him
to my apartment/. please!"
The feminine inquirer, Mrs. Edward
N. Breitung, did hear the young man
under fair conditions in the ' interpre
j tation of the same aria from. "Faust"
he - had partly given in the street be
low. And she then and there , offered
Ito defray the expense ; sufficient for
the support" of Kittay. as well as his
father and , mother and brother, until
his chances for a career could be de
termined.-
I Theodore Kittay was , happy on that
eventful night, but he is happier now.
>, The reason? ■'■;.• \ * ■ ,
. Well, on May 14 this gifted youth,
with a tenor voice v not unlike the
quality of the : matchless instrument
belonging, to the famed Enrico Caruso,
will step aboard a steamer bound for
Italy. He will - accompany Pasquale
Amato, first baritone of the Metropoli
j tan Opera ; Company, ■ New York i City,
I who is not only to make Kittay a
member of his V household at his villa
lin . Cesenatice this : summer but will
continue the instruction he has been
giving the boy for the -past three •
months. • -
The plans are concluded and •if the
twenty-two-year-old Russian progresses
as it is hoped he will Ami to, is to
carry on his work with the young
tenor during 1 the approaching winter.
Then [ experts can set the] date for his
Italian debut. !
> r Amato has been Theodore Kittay's
friend r from the moment : the distin
guished baritone . heard " him ; sihg "in
the auditorium of the Metropolitan
Opera House, where he was taken for
a private audience the day -following
his discovery. , ' -.v ■ / \-\ y ;"■, ■ :- :
"The boy has a beautiful voice!" as
serted : Amato. "I do not usually teach?
but I will gladly, make ■• an exception
in this instance without payment.
"He is worth it," commented Giulio
faces can now be avoided
! Boxing armor has solved the prob-
I. The high school •• lads of Dover have*
taken up the . sport with enthusiasm
and: immunity :from. hurts." ■ Evenvthe
schoolgirls have been clamoring I for
i immunity from hurts. Even the
Jlgirls have been clamoring for
mcc to learn how to box while
guarded, by the protectors 1 have in
vented. With consent of the parents
I have just started a girls' class. They
grasped the method, of hitting and
blocking from the first and danced
into the footwork as easily as the two
„■; Boxing embodies the - powerful com
petitive appeal of modern 1 , life with its
give and take at close range. Yet it
is not a game, but a mere primal effort
of two individuals *to overcome each
other with their hands. , - .. ' <
Several years ago while teaching
physical training in the DeWitt Clin
ton High School, Xew York City, I
was 4 impressed with the possibility of
making boxing an organized scoring
- With r this : end in view r organized I
after-school classes in cboxing and
taught them for two years, but could
not work out a game which permitted
free hitting without damage to the
participants. That difficulty caused
me to • devise the I simple mechanism
which has proved so effective. . -
My first conception was of a pro
tector of steel wire. Laying in a stock
from Centre street in New York I put
i- in some exceedingly trying evenings j
shaping my ideas into wire-meshed i
facts with obstinate, twisty wire go- ■
ing everywhere * but where i wanted !
it to. " '
.(I turned next to rubber and fibrous
material. Having overcome the diffi- j
culties of construction, ;I ; learned so I
to fasten; it on the head and body that!
no : blow from straight jab to uppercut j
could displace it. ; Then "\ I ; had to turn '
back to wire as the only material that >
would stand the force of blows, hav- '
ing the added quality of wear and'
cheapness of construction. \
The frame of my protector consists
of steel ; spring wire a littje ;': smaller?
than that used in baseball masks and j
about the same size. - .vi
i v:; The ■ shock is absorbed :by ' soft felt '
[ pads encircling two-thirds of the head '
j and offsetting the head portion • about ■
j two inches from the face. .' The lower
■ portion rests on the chest and a sim
! ilar felt pad offsets and absorbs shock
there. The body part is hinged to the
: head part * and the lower portion rests ;
Gatti-Casazza, general manager of the
greatest operatic institution yin ; the
world. ■ :- .'' ■'; ; - ■' ■ ~ "> '
So it happened that • Pasquale Amato
found time, in the midst of his exact
ing duties as leading baritone at the
on the chest and abdomen, being off
set by felt pads.
The fastenings have a lock ?j snap
which % prevents ;? slipping or any pos
sible loosening, as p you must bear in
mind i that .no •' other protection worn
Iby athletes is subject to so much
. strain as this one. The apparatus
' is in constant use and must withstand
j NwMewHeewH*? , - '",<"—" 1* '','•' * '■»"?¥*«<
! every shock and effort to loosen it by
blows which reach it with full * force
from every conceivable angle.
A special chin strap had to be de
vised to . hold the face in the centre
of the head portion and at the same
time give the boxer control of I himself
in ducking and twisting aside.
The protector when adjusted sets as
closely and firmly : - to» the body as
i though it were part of the wearer.
: And for ! the first time the individual
I with poor eyesight i who ; has been de
barred on that account > from major
games can get into one of first rank
games possible to mankind. For. of
course, - the wearing of
glasses behind such a protec-
tor is perfectly safe.
For the timorous there is
now an opportunity to culti
vate their skill and muscular
development to the fullest
capacity. ■'. ■ - -.; -
There are many possibili
ties of games with the box
■\ in gloves. ' Here -.;_ is ;1} one S
1 which we are at present
■"":, - ' ■ -j »' • • . ■ . I ... >~ - .j... • :..,-. ~ .-,^^^^^^^™^
liiacxcened eyes, cut lips, bruised ears may now be avoided— armor has done it.
using fin the Dover schools. - i
Rule 1. The ring shall be twenty-1
four feet square and there shall be j
'-~ .five men on a team and each man
' shall box twice with every one of
: the opposing team. v
Rule 2. The rounds ' shall consist of 1
one minute, with four minutes' rest, i
Rule 3. The game is continuous in
each half, the signal that closes
one round opens another and the op- j
ponents start the succeeding foundj
from opposite corners as ' the first!
—
Metropolitan, to work patiently with
his only pupil.; [ ■/[ .; ■,-. "■" ';; ;:- .γ-r.
t< Two months elapsed. On an after
noon momentous to the operatic as
pirant Otto •H. Kabn..oi l ,] fo . Gattl-Ca
sazza, Pasquale Amato, William J.
participants ; are leaving the ring. ;
Rule 4. The contestants shall be
judged on the following points: 1,
footwork; 2, leads; 3, parrying and
blocking; 4, ducking and avoiding;
j.6, correct sequence of ;: leads; '6,
strategy and • self control. s
Rule 5. The officials shall ... consist of
a referee- who judges points and a
scorer who records the score and
keeps time.
Rule 6. The contestant in each round
, with the highest number of points
Guard e and a dozen other ;■ attaches of
the Metropolitan assembled in the big!
auditorium to hear the test. Mrs. Brei
tung was also present.
When young Kittay walked out on
the stage and took a place alongside
the piano, where Assistant Conductor
Willy , Tyroler sat ready to play his
accompaniments he was trembling. '
Mr. Tyroler struck the opening
chords of a great aria and • Kittay be
gan to sing. One aria, then another,
and finally a third were given. There
were defects noticeable in both the
- ------.-.--".vs.. ■--}....• - ._..,.•, -.;.- .»- *■-:,.,,.t. ~.:,,,,; .
technic f and , style .-; of the young mu
sician, but the warm, velvety • quality
of a rare tenor voice and an inherent
musical feeling were there—undimmed.
This photograph was taken especially
for \ this magazine' in the • New
York apartment of Pasquale Amato,
showing Kittay (at the left) being
coached by Amato at the piano.
; Kittay is to t spend the summer in
Europe as Amato's pupil.
wins the round and scores one point
for his team, which is called aloud ;
and "U recorded In -; plain view on a
blackboard by the scorer. In case
iof draw —no ■■- score.
Rule ;7. ; A five minute intermission
v is given between halves. -\
The * following ? plan ;is ■; used to keep
the boxing opponents shifting. ' The
number of each boxer is called aloud
to the players by the scorer. They
take their corners just before the sig
nal for those in the ring to leave.
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jlt was a teat so successful that ; Mrs..
' Breitung \ pledged \ her efforts to secure
; the co-operation of others :in making
up !- a ; fund to ; educate Kittay, r and "'- Otto
jH. Kahn likewise \ volunteered person
ally to contribute. - . r
Kittay has had a hard time of it
through most of his twenty-two years.
Born in a email ; . village near St. Peters
burg, Theodore was one of a family
of seven children. '
When Kittay was fifteen the family
moved -to : St. Petersburg, s where the
father :. obtained ' employment as a
tailor.
■v -, At eighteen "he discovered that 'he
had a ; voice, not by accident, because
a distinguished professor of . * singing
Round One Round Two.: •'" J
1. Ames 6. Fan* 1. Ames 6. Gans
2. Brown 7. Cans 2. Brown 7. Horr
3. Carter 8. Horr 3. Carter 8. Ilk
4. Dunn 9. Ilk '' 4. Dunn j9. James
6.: Ennis. 10, James 5. Ennls 10. Farr
;It will thus be seen that one team
(presumably = the home team) keeps ■■
the same ; order or position throughout
The other team shifts from the top of
the - list 'to ■ the ' bottom, and with each
I round comes back ; one number ; nearer
their original place. '
in the ■St Petersburg Imperial Con
servatory heard him " eing - and pro
nounced the instrument exceptional.
, .Then—a year ago—he came with": his
father and mother and the other small
Kittays to the land \. of opportunity.
Kittay senior could > not find employ
ment and t when Theodore was . discov
ered the little surplus of funds was
very, very low. ■■'--■. ' " ;. ..'; '- .'•
"Why is Amato doing all this for a
poor boy?" asked . a prominent citizen.
.; This is the answer: ; : ?
When the baritone who is now at
the head of ' his h profession t first began
to sing vhe , was forced to Vstruggle
for years.'.,: Often he and his wife had
only a glass ,of milk and . a single roll
for their day's * food. ; They -. denied
themselves that their baby might be
nourished.
r 5 On one occasion Amato arrived at a
theatre in one of the Italian cities pre
pared to make a debut only to find that
he had fallen ill of bronchitis. tHe had
no money to pay a . physician's".': fee, so
he sold his , scarfpin ' for twenty-five
lire. Fifteen lire went to the doctor.
', These experiences have caused lAm a
to's •. heart to warm ; toward •; any * gifted
young singer who has no money or
friends. The Metropolitan ' baritone is
a man. ■ That is one of the best reasons
why Theodore Kittay is to get his
chance. . . v■ -• ■'. \,,■ ■■ ■
He will ride first class.