The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1873-11-07
Il GRIZZLY PRIZE FIGHT.
THE WONDERFUL MAN OF STEEL OF Pixies
PEAK-PRoDIGIoUs FEATs OF ROCKY
MOUNTAIN sAAIPsON-THE TOUGH
EST FIGHT ON RECORD.

| IhE WONDERFUL MAN OF STEEL OF PIKE 5
PEAK-PRoDIGIoUs FEATs OF A ROCKY
MOUNTAIN sAMPsON-THE TOUGH
EST FIGHT ON RECORD.
! Gen. James S. Brisbin gives the follow
! ing sketch of the exploits of noted froh-
/ tiersman. The incidents were related to
the General by Mr.. Belden, the famous
hunter, trapper, and guide of the Plains
was one of the first men In 1868 to ar
/ rive at Pixies Peak. | came up from the
Missouri with friend of my fathers. and
we stopped at Denver, or rather, I should
/ say, where Denver now is, for the citx was
/ then composed OF a few grog shops and
shRnties. In one of the mining camps /
became acquaintedwith fellow they called
Bruiser Sam. He was a powerful man;
| and sometimes drank great deal, but was
| always good tempered and kind hearted
The miners were rough set in those DAYS,
| and delighted in the most brutal of sports.
| Prize lighting was one of their past;mes,
| and at this Bruiser Sam exeelled-no man
in all the camps being able to stand up
| long before him. His feats OF strength
/ were prodigious. Often would he take a
barrel Of liquor by the chimes, and knock
! ing out the bung, lift it up and drink from
the holes as easily as if it was a small keg
| Then he would stand on a box twelve inch
es high and lift $50 pounds with his teeth.
He could pick up three-bushel bag of
flour with his mouth, and carry it a rod
One day saloon keeper offended Sam, and
to have revenge he went out into the street,
and, shouldering large work horse, car
ried 1T into the saloon, leaving the enraged
barkeeper to get it out and down the steps
as best he could. At another time he car
ried q rock into the store and drCpped IL
through the floor.
HERCULES.
Sans skin was as white and smooth as
girls; but all over his arms, shoulders,
and broad chest were punches of knotty
muscles as large as ones fist. He was a
we'll built and fine looking man, his waist
being remarkably small, his hips broad,
the legs well set, and feet small. Once his
face was handsome, but whisky had bleared
the eyes, and the nose was pimpled and
red still, Sam was a good-iOoking man,
and, when dressed up in a new buCkskin
suit with yellow fringe, and his long, brown
hair Combed out in Curls about his neck,
he was a picture of an athletic frontiers
man.
However, Sam was fast degenerating
into loafer he had left off work and
gone to living by his strength, just as thou
sands of men live by their wits in great
cities. Any one would pay Sans liquor
| to see him lift barrel b. the ends and
drink from the bung hole and occasion
! q horse or a mule for glass of rum.
Dissipation told rapidly on ''The Man of
! Steel" as he was called, and when saw
| him in the spring he had delirium tremens,
and it took five men TO hold him. His
| frame was wasted away, the knots of sinews
! were gone, his chest drawn in, and the
skin of his body soft.
4 BOUT WITH PRIZE FIGHTER
1t was about this time an old English
man named Jones arrived at the mines,
| and hearing of Sam, expressed desire to
! SEE him. Old Jones was a well-knoJsn
| prize fighter, but of late years had given
! up the ring himself and turned trainer
Sans fame excited the envy of old Jones,
! and he no sooner saw him than he offered
to fight Sam. The miners were astonished
and tried to dissuade Jones from his pur-
pose, but nothing would do but he must
| have bout with Sam. So the day was
set. Sam was sick on the morning OF the
! fight and looked badly enough, but bets
ran two to one on ''The Man of Steel, -
| against The Englishman. Time was called
and the Englishman bounded into the
ring, while Sam came up slowly, and looked
languid and feeble but at the very first
pass he hit John Bull between the eyes,
and no amotint of spohging and bathing
Gould induce him to stand upon his legs
| again that day. It was feared Sam had
| about in day or two, and soon afterward
both he and Sam disappeared from the ga
| looms. The barkeepers were astonished.
Sam did not come around any moro for his
grog, and no one could imagine where he
had gone or what he wassat. Foul play was
| beginning to be suspected, when it leaked
out that Sam was in training, and that the
| Englishman was his trainer. After old
| Jones got that awful lick from Sam s
brawny fist, he gave him no peace until he
agreed to go into training and accompany
! the Englishman to England, there to fight
! the giants of the prize ring. Jones had
! not much money, but at his instigation a
man named Durham came over with plcn-
| ty of cash, and as soon as Dunham came
! Jones quit, and the new Englishman be-
came his trainer.
A NICE MAN TO TRktN.
I saw Sam once while he was in train
! ing, and he looked well the knots were
on his arms again, and the great chest
round and firm. He had been at his gum
balls, sand bags and dumb bells about six
weeks when, one morning. he got mad
about something, knocked both Dunham
and old Jones down, and made his escape
| from his keepers into the street Stopping
! at the saloons and taking several drinks,
he did not forget it was his hour for train
ing, and amused himself by knocking down
every stout looking fellow he met. Final
ly, after the Sheriff and half the town had
been whipped, Sam was captured and put
into jail; but here a new difficulty pre-
sented ITSELF for the Jail was not strong
one, and Sam swore that he would instant
ly tear it down if they did not let him out.
On promising that he would go straight tC
his lodgings, the door was opened, and
Sam kept his word, for ho went directly
home and retired to bed. This outbreak
was so unlike SANS natural disposition
that every ohe was at loss to account fol
it; and, soon afterward. another ebullitior
OF passion occurring, The Man of Steel's
trainers abandoned him in disgust, and