St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-01-12
GILT-EOCEn SPORTS.
The California Athletic Cluu
the Richest in the
World.
1t Is Fully Up to the Great
Pelican Club Of Lon
don.
Lawyers, Capitalists, Preach
erS and Public Officials
Are Members.
The Sheriff and Chief of Po-
lice Spectators at Con-
tests.


club, of San Francisco, and the Pelican
club, of London. Everybody familiar
with the great events in the re-
cent history of pugilism on the
. American continent has heard of
the California Athletic club, of San
Francisco, deservedly described as 'the
richest club in the world" and of the
enormous sums it has paid out in prizes
to the successful fighters in its "cOn-
tests" writes San Francisco CORE
SpOndent of the New York Herald. If
pugilism has an abiding place at pres
ent in the land of Sullivan, Ryan, Ed
wards, Goss and Chambers, that place
must be in the famaus San Francisco
organization, which has membership
of LOO, of whom it is said the average
wealth is from 100000 to S25O, 900.
The club house of the California
Athletics, in which So, 5000 in purses
have been paid over in the last fourteen
months to crack nst fighters, is on New
Montgomery street, in the center of the
city, ana within three blocks of the
Palace hotel. The new club house will
not be far away from the old building,
which was formerly an armory. 1t is
three stories high, the ground floor be-
ing occupied entirely by stores. Going
up the main stairway to the second floor
the visitor sees before him great
gvmnaSium-One of the most complete
III the world-and equipped with the
best apparatus of all kinds that money
can buy or skill suggest. In the vast
hall for physical exercise 1.500 people
may at one time stretch their muscles,
put new glow into their circulation,
row, run, swing from rings. and ply the
bar, trapeZe, foils and gloves. At the
further extremity, and on either side of
the apartments are billiard rooms, pri-
vate sleeping and sitting rooms, bath
rooms and clothes lockers. Ascending
to the third floor. one enters
and open to the sea breezes
from over the bay. Here at various
hours of the day may be found the
leaders of the San Francisco bar, pull
pit, clinic, exchange and counting room.
TO get in, too, they must belong regu-
larly to the club. So rigid are the rules
about the Introduction of strangers for
any purpose whatever that the nights
of "contests''-the delicate club
euphemsm for fights-the president
and four of the directors stand on the
stairway and scrutiniZe the face of
ever well provided he may be
with tickets. The Mob Hill ways
say that half the members don't know
each other, and that President Fulda
speaks TO 'em all on general principles.
trusting to luck that they are members.
But the stern sense of duty to them
selves and to their club which animateS
these five censorS can only be appreci-
ated when one remembers that judges
of the supreme court have to be little
particular about the company they keep
since a San Franciscan shot at Justice
Field and for a supreme court judge to
miss a real ''conteSt'-the judges, par
ticularly. always call 'em "contests''-
at the California club would be, in the
best circles of San Francisco, almost
equivalent to self-impeachment.
II have seen at the meeting of the
| club" said Maj. Mclaughlin, George
Hearst, Senator Fair, John W. Mackay,
Gov. George G. Perkins, Banker Brown,
of the Bank of California, and all the
big Judges, lawyers and doctors you
would care to count"
"HOw about the chief of police,
MAORI" l asked. having in mind how
an inspector of police walked up the
Pelican stairs in London the night of
the Peter JacksOn-Jem Smith fight.
"Of course" said the major, ''he was
there: he never misses One-that is,
contest. There is a tradition that the
chief of police of San Francisco is eX-
Officio member of the California club,
and the sheriff is real member, when
ever he is good fellow and don't get
black balled.
"No contest at the club has ever been
in any way interfered with by the law,''
the mayor continued, and a thought of
what would happen to the rash police
officer who broke in on prize fight at
which his chief was an interesting wit
ness, brought smile to the cheek of his
listner. while some of the best fl
contests ever seen have been fought in
the clubs presence no fl contestant
has ever been seriously injured"
"HOw do you manage to avoid the
penalties of the Law against prize fight
ing?"
swell, we are licensed by the city
authorities, to whom we pay $1,000
year, and the board of supervisors eX-
preSsly authorizes US to have private
contests to finish"
''There are no pay tickets of admis-
sion under any circumstances to any
body" said Major Mclaughlin, "and if
necessary President Fulda and his four
| directors call the club secretary himself
| to help them identify as a club member
every candidate for admission who pre-.
sentS himself on contest nights. For
| $1,000, for any sum, no outsider could
| gain admission on such night. The
| members of the club come in by right.
The leading representatives of the press
come in by courtesy, which is rigidly
| guarded against imposition; the chief
| of police and sheriff come in by tacit
right--as members, however. and not
by official right-and that is the end OF
| it. When the chief of police presents
| himself at the door, he submits men,
ber's ticket which has been issued to
| him, and is admitted by right of that
| ticket. There has never been any in
| terference: under the circumstances,
| how could there be?
"The prime object of the club is to
| promote athletic sports in general, and
| particularly in so far as they are bene-
! fetal to the health of the members. Of
| course, as boxing is the athletic sport
par excellence, the club trends in that
| direction. Our boxing masters are Peter
| jackson, whom we consider the marvel
of the day; Jack Dempsey, the Nom
| pareiI, and Prof. Mccarthy, who beat
| Denny Kelleher in twenty rounds not
| long ago. -
al. r. Fulda, as l mentioned, is pres
! ident and the guiding spirit of the or
ganiZation. The other officers are r. B.
Mitchell, vice president: f. Vernon,
secretary; j. d. Gibbs, treasurer: A.
Wyman, superintendent, and Will Rob
inson, assistant secretary. The direct
ors are William r. Vice, George Ross,
John Ferguson, Edward Fay, Frank
Mclaughlin. G. l.. Fish and J. F. Daily.
'.How do we raise such enormous
purses? Simply enough; by The initia-
ton fees and the monthly dues. The
former is S25 and the latter are $3.50
| month. although on rare occasions-l
remember one instance-they are
swelled to So month, when it is desired
to raise specially large purse for fine
contest"
1t should be borne in mind that Phil
istines say there is bylaw of the club
heavily filming any member who speaks
Of fight otherwise than contest