1884-12-01 Hamilton Fencing and Boxing Club Fire

When it came time to write up the events which happened during the evening of November 29, 1884, the Spectator reporter on duty had a lot to detail for the readers of the Great Family Journal.

The blockage of the main line supplying gas to customers throughout Hamilton was handled in one story, in which the reporter described the scene in store, billiard rooms, barber shops and the Opera House.

There was another story which appeared on Monday December 1, 1884 in which the reporter led off with the impact of the loss of light in one building, followed by what happened in that location subsequently.

In 1884, on the west side of James street south, just north of the Main street intersection, there was a building which had served a variety of functions since its construction. It had been the location of a wholesale grocery business, later the Hamilton Spectator had rented it as its downtown location for a few years, then it had been used as an office of the Great Western Life Assurance Company.

On the second floor of that building, in late November, 1884, a large open room had been rented by the Hamilton Fencing and Boxing Club. The room was sufficiently large to accommodate a ring for boxing and fencing matches as well as room for well over 1000 spectators around the ring.

There was a boxing match in progress when the gas supply ended and that second floor location, as happened throughout the city, was plunged into darkness :

“Two gentlemen were boxing at the time, and as the light disappeared one had just made at the face of the other. The unfortunate opponent could not see to dodge the blow and caught it full on the nose. He was sent sprawling on his back, and for a time wore a decorated face which, however, was put in its natural shape and color by prompt application of the usual remedies.”¹

¹ “Fencing and Boxing : Saturday’s Entertainment Cut Short and Future Entertainments Stopped”

          Hamilton Spectator. December 1, 1884.

          Besides the boxers, there were about 150 people attending the match in the Hamilton Fencing and Boxing Club rooms.

          Given the lack of light, the crowd dispersed and the building was vacant overnight. At 6 a.m., on the following Sunday morning, November 30, 1884, smoke was noticed pouring out of windows on the second floor where the boxing and fencing club was located.

          An alarm was sent into the Hamilton Fire department, and as the central fire station was just a few blocks away, the fire was quickly brought under control.

However, the Hamilton Fencing and Boxing Club did suffer significant losses in the fire. A list of what was destroyed by the flames included – foils, boxing gloves, single sticks, broad swords, dumb and bar bells, etc. as well as many sporting pictures.

An investigation quickly found the cause of the blaze : (It had) originated in a wooden spittoon – as smoking was prohibited wooden ones were used, and someone must have violated the rules and thrown a cigar stub or match into one of them.”²

² “The Devouring Flames : Destroyed the Equipment of the Fencing and Boxing Club”

Hamilton Spectator.  December 1, 1884.

The Spectator reporter and others who visited the burned out rooms after the fire was out made an interesting discovery in the empty space above the second floor room where the boxing match had been taking place hours earlier. They found evidence of a cock-fighting ring.

Among the variety of uses that the building had served, parts of it had been rented by the British military for officers’ quarters. During the American Civil War, a large number of British regular troops had been stationed in Hamilton to be prepared to fend off any attacks that might happen from one, or both, of the large armies that had been raised.

The space  where the cockfighting ring was referred to by the Man from the Spectator as a “dingy, gloomy attic” where  “game birds have fought, bled and died.”¹

¹ “A Cockpit : Where English Officers or Canadian Sports Amused Themselves”

Hamilton Spectator.  December 1, 1884.

While it seemed at first glance that the cockpit had been put in place by the British officers twenty years earlier, the reporter discovered a clue that perhaps the ring had been used more recently as well:

“Dust and cobwebs now abound in the attic, and at first glance it would appear that it has not been used since the building was occupied as officers’ quarters, when the regular regiments were stationed here; but in the pit are some surprisingly fresh boards which would seem to indicate that it has been repaired for recent use.”²