Omaha daily bee., 1883-04-17

United States than the president, and
his movements more lsvishly ohron-
icled than the latter's, After he had
defeated his antagonists, and had be-
come champion Of this country, he
went to England TO meet Tom Ssyerh.
Tnat heretofore unvsnquished cham
pion and the Benecia boy shook
hands one bright morning In 1860 In q
ring surrounded by . crowd Of noble.
men and gentlemen, representatives Of
the best blood of Great Britain. The
battle that followed was never equaled
before or since. Nearly o hundred
and twenty rounda--I forget exactly
the number--were called. Almost
any one Of the hundreds Of heavy
blows exchanged between the two
champions would have been sufficient
to kill an ordinary man. But the
limit Ia Heenan's, and, In fact, Sayers'
capacity for taking punishment was
known. Early In the fight,
SAyers' arm was broken. After that,
81 he stepped to the scratch he would
lift the dangling member to his chest,
and, supporting it 40 best he could,
use 1t a. . guard. Round after round
In succession ended with Sayers being
knocked clean off his feet by Heenan's
catapult fist. But 30 marvellous
was his endurance that scarcely Q
sign Of suffering WAS visible. He
went for Heenan's wind, and the lat
ter aimed for his contestants. When
the cry of police VA raised Sayers ran
up . slight hill . short distance and
stopped, totally blind. 1t was q long
time be fore his sight was finally re.
stored This great battle for the In.
ternational championship wa declared
Q draw. The interest It created oov-
cred every other great event In the
world out of sight temporarily, and
the money depending on It would have
bought Q good sized railroad. Amer
leans were the heaviest betters. They
backed their oountryman with odds.
James Gordon Bennett, the elder, had
I think, $50. 600 up. After they re-.
covered from the ordeal Ueenan and
Sayes became great friends. They
travelled and gave sparring exhibitions
before great audiences"
"Heensn visited all the principal
countries Of Europe, and was every.
where made q lion Of. The highest In
the land bid with each other to secure
him for dinners and entertainments. K"
John Morrissey, what kind of q
pugilist was he2"
"Morrissey always got the money.
He had great staying power. He
could be whipped at the beginning of
. mill, and, never knowing It, CON.
tinue receiving fearful punishment
until he had got his second wind.
Then his opponent had to look out.
Morrlssey fought Heenan In Canada q
few miles from Buffalo. EARLY in the
game Heenan mashed his right fist to
q jell by striking q post in the ring.
He continued, Notwithstanding, exert
Ing its fearful power, breaking Nor
rissey's nos and apparently beating
him. But he later developed hi
singular stamina. He found his sec
ond wind. Then Heenan for the frs
time found q foeman worthy Of hi
hands,"
"It wa on this occasion that re
porter for the New York Herald dis.
tinguished himself and his paper
With q number of other journalist
present, after the fight was ended, h
raced for the nearest telegraph office
which was In Buffalo. The Heralt
man distAnced the crowd, but reached
the office without Q single line writ
ten. To secure possession of the onl,
wire to New York, he picked up q
old bible lying In the ofice and ed
dressed II to James Gordon Bennett
and bis dispatch began with Genesis
As fast 10 he wrote = page OF descrip
tion he would sand wioh 1t In and thel
continue telegraphing the aoriptur,
until he had more copy ready. Tn
whole dispatch cost Bennett nearl,
81, 900, but he paid It without muir
muring, for he cut Of the other Ne,
York papers from all account Of tn
BATTLE"
"Coming down to Q later date" tn,
speaker went on, "there were Me-
O'Baldwin and Joe Ooburn. Ooburl
was the quickest man I ever saw. Il
could hit like . fash and dodge like
shadow. I have seen him Jump back
wards over q bar four feet high an
land two PAGES to the clear. NIL
McCool had no science. He was
mere slugger, but he could strike
tremendous blow. In his fight wit
Coburn he was beaten to be sure. 4
l Q only get In one lick he sale
each time he toed the scratch. If h
could have got In that 'one like I bs
lieve he would have cut Coburn or an
other man In two.
"They were great mon In thoa
days. Their contests were not mat
|, tiers Of a few moments, feints an
evasions. They were struggles {
/. hours. Like the Csstii of ancien
Greece, broken bones and blood an
pain to them were nothing. The
were q species of human race that
3 see nc more.
1 at is q angular fact" said the yer
t cradle historian of a manner of life 9
4. anomalous with his staid appearance,
40 he rose to 60, shat nearly all {
!. these pugilist died prematurely {
9 passed into obsourity early. Poo
!. was shot and lived two week. with
b bullet In his heart. Ten thousan
men followed his remains, wrappe
In the stars and stripes, I
= their grave. Heenan In Ii
flower Of his manhood was out dow
by consumption. Ssyres died viii
yet young. Morrissey and Flyer bot
q suooumbed at an age when men o,
! not called old. With strength [
! Withstand suoh trials a. they Dor,
one would think they might del
disaasa Not an Thav had rso.loc,