The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-02-09
PUGILIsrs' PURSES.
The Art Of Prize igh-ing Not Profit
able One.
From the P ailadelpaia Inquirer.


FroH the P Philadelphia Inquirer.
! NEW YORK, Feh. do boxers and
pugl SITS make fortunesi And if they do,
what usually lie ONES If their money!
l. vas a curious q lestlon and 1t aroused
i thought. The man who asked it wa HIM
I self ba tam in he pusilIs.ic ring, and be
sat viii 5 me older sporting characters dis
cIssing kindred questions in one of the 10
/ town hotels.
We'll" said Sam Collier, who was in the
/ group, III Is wort while to nSiier that
most pugllsts begin In a very humble ay
a have d good deal # hard w.'rk, as well
as any nulIbrr Of hard K ocks before they
bee me kl5wn to the Grid at large. When
a man has established a reputatiOa he may
possibly make some IN ney. uu- the ula -
o gers nowadays are the pc ole who ga er
4 the cash and keep it Piac Ical.y lugll-
IS "a IS LOS ma aged by US, AbJuJ
q I'm men It's country own the fighters
VINO are OF any account. TIE have tie
me- under contract a. strlcc ami iron bon d
as the law can maze II. and though as
general rule these n ana - act Ii orally
with the pug lists, thew nevertheless secure
FOR Iem selves Ions share of he profits
whenever there are any.
GOOD OLD DAYS GONE.
besides this Sam c. tiAued, "the good
CD da Of prize fighting have pas ed away.
lime was, AMI not so long az when tug
and couple OF big barges could be c ar
tered a u sail away in broad daylight II
| the lighting grounds. and there would he
couple If Thousand people on the barges at
. ID $40 head. The bars on boa were
worth a fortune, aud the pIglsts
ana IN II tTlenus made great profits
oIt Of the venture. E Try fight tn At came
| off bet men of any sort of rep ltati Ii
wa. largely attended AMI literally pat Oh
z3d, a yet, eve in tn Sc days, did any
one ever hear of a rich pre- figbterl II
was just the same as it is now; they were
Away poor and IA nee of mo ey. y hat
eve. tn -ir share IN the profits, it soon weat
back 10 tue chances OF trade in one way or
mother, and none of them ever made or
kept fortune. / know how his is myse f."
SAID the veteran lightweight fighter; "my
sorry would prove tue truth If what l say"
Standing listening t. the conversation
ere several we.l-kIown men about town,
among the n Capt. John Smelling of r CHI
Lnond, Va; George DobSol, the banker;
IL DIV, er, exec gresham John A.
WISE, aud Col. Tn mas p. Ochiltree, the
famous Texas states nan
81 quite agree W tn you Sam," said the
anburh-halre1 represe ltauve o . TIE RIO
Grande. There is no money in pugi,i'm
TOR plgiiist., though there is proiI for the
oa Aers and managers of real honest and
square fguts."
SULLIVAN, FOR INSTANCE.
THAT IS 80 said Capt. Smelling, break
ing nicely into tie converse ion, "but
neither did Billy Madden wuen firsJ
started out with SullVa /. They were OJ1n
poor enough, n whea Sullivan we t.
Philadelphia to do his rirst kn1c ing out act
not more than 100 people C uld be induced
TO go see him, although the admissiol fee
was only Sd GEMS. | was one Of those VINO
IVA in and az . Il . I
to- well paid for my expenditure The
bout was in Arthur Chambers place and
the victim was a big, raw-boned h glis8-
man anei eros ley. At that very ii ne
Sullivan and Maiden were Opping
tog ther in an attic room, for whicI Uney
D al 81 eek. and Sullivan was 50 hard
up that he had to sit one day in his ock-
ing feet in Arthu' Chan ers' bar DOM
whilst his shoes were being hali-soled and
heeled across the STREE"
SULLIvAN'S WINNINGS oVERESTIMATED.
How mucn mon V do you SUI pose Sulli-
van ever made, anyhow asked Col. Ochil
tree, and then George DobsoA took up tue
talking.
II don't believe half the stories ID
about Sullivan's big gains aid winnings.
nave heard the sum pu up high as
several hundred thousand dol as Yet
JOhn l.. Sullivan never made id received
for himself more than S40,000 to 90
since the day he began his career. There
was on seVe al OCCASIONS a possibility of
Immense profits in him for hi ss.f as well
as for others, and perhaps there Is even
yet, but he never made and handled any
such sums of money as his hackers would
have us believe How much of { 81, 900
or $4,000 that he gaiaed ia, sullivan now?
Why, not dime. He is as poor as a church
mouse, a 81 VIII be until he dies. Supp sing
l.. i n "A
negro jackson III San Fra lciscO, how m &c
of the money will go into SullivaA's own
rockets! How mucn of it will ever stay
| therei Yes, they are all po1r-fSht rs are
all poor" said tn. portly banker, as ne and
CUl. Ochiltree walked away.
DOMINICK IN A DINE MUSEUM.
Wa tue banker correct? Well, Doninick
NcCafrey, another noted fighter, cannot
havc put side much mo Fey out Of the pro-
| Gee is OF mis- pugism. o lily he other day
| N New York 1t was announced that ne ma /
been engaged by an East Side dime museum
as curiosity for exhibition. He is Ger
tainly not worth more than $50 week as
| drawing attraction, and i'll MT last ng
even at that figure. Yet Domi lex
has had a high place in the ring,
and has never had the reputation of spen :
/ ilg money lavishly. "a the ntrary.
| be has been noted for his saving and
|
| extra dollar to rub against another. After
| he had made somewhat of reputati IN a a
| iiguter he had a sal ION ii ted up for him in
| Philadelphia and for time did a rushing
business, but like all such pl cas-, after tne
| first few months his customers drop ed
away from him and he lost money. Thea
he went in o that famous mat h with Sulli-
van at Cincih att and made $4,000 or
$4,000 out of the venture. If he h d ten
part of sucn a sum in his pos esSlon now he
would consider himself a rich man.
ARTHUR CHAMBERS GOOD WIFE.
| When Ar hur Cha abs first came to this
country he had no hing with HIM but sort
of half reputation as a fighter. As for
money he had none. Fighting along for a
up.e of years, he fund himself fl an
cialll as b dly off as he nad been on the day
he reac ed Castle Garden. de hal wife,
however, wIo p ,ssessed some exec mt bust
"a SIS traits, and e drew ham away from
the inside of The ring, and started him in
bus ness II opened small pl zee in Phil =
delphia and has roSpered. tie is probably
worth in the neiglborhood of $50 900, and
is growing ricner daily. Blu none Of this
money WAS the result of his own prize
fighting
the English prize fighters are no better
off in regard to rtu e making than their
fellows in this country. Indeed, tue b ,asted
liberaiity of athletic clubs and love of