The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-03-03

as tall as Fitz. he looked much stronger and
full OF vim and stamina. He has black
hair, low hrow, firm broad jaws, a square
chin and short brown m9us.ache above a
pleasant mouth and fine set Of teeth. His
chest and shoulders, especially the latter,
were Of truly heavy weigh proportions and
driving power was impressed all over them
his arms, although long. were heavy mus
cled and big and broad Of bone, the kind
that could be depended upon for hard work.
MAHER CONFIDENT AND VICIOUS.
From the way the Irishman spoke and
acted he was very confident, but not In a
happy mood. There is good deal of vicious
ness in his dlsDosition, and it cropped out
continually. He thought that Slavin and
Mitchell and all the big pugillsts were anxi-
Gus to have him whipped despite their sweet
words TO the contrary; but he said he would
win anyhow. He seemed eager for the
hour of the fight, and his talk
denoted that he intended 10 make
short work of the New Zealauder il
be could He refused several kind invita-
tions to supper after the show, intimating
that he intended to keep to himself, but hs
had private arrangement with Mr.. Hol-
land to open bottle of wine at $50 O'Clock,
provided the fight started at o O'Clock. Mr..
Holland was imbued with all of Maher's
confidence and got away from him long
enough before night to place 81, 900 upon
the result being in favor of Msher.
DIDN'T WANT TO FIGHT ON ASH WEDNESDAY.
There was one thing that cast gloom upon
the Irish champion, and it was a good deal
in the nature of superstition. He objected
strenuously to fighting on Ash Wednesday,
and had used every effort to secure some
other date, but without success The
fact weighed on him a little, and
his chagrin was deepened because he had
forgotten to go TO church in the morning.
Superstition increased his viciousness and
boded i'll for his rival if the fierce giant
could get his battering ram near the middle
weights body.
THE RUSH TO THE CLUB HOUSE.
The preliminary bouts were arranged TO
take place at o'clock, but the crowd COM
menced gathering as early as 6 O'Clock.
Carriages, cabs, cars and every conceivable
conveyance were filled with people and
stream. The place was brilliantly il
Illuminated. Several kinds of light
made darkness impossible. The
mammoth arena was a sea Of heads and the
sight before the fight was almost as ex-
ceptional and exciting as the fight itself
The Olympic Club house is three miles
below Canal street. In the neighborhood
hundreds of women and children were col-
lected aud shouted at passing vehicles.
ALL FOR FITz.
Il was Fitzsimmons crowd through
out.
Every mention of the middle weight
champions name was received with cheers,
and men stood on corners shaking money in
their hands and offering to bet on the
chance of winning; not only were the
men interested, but the women
and children as well. There
were several entrances to the club
and there was tremendous crush at each
of them. A great force of policemen and
ticket~takers were on hand, however, and
they handled the thousands who applied for
admission with rapidity aud ease.
A RESPONSIBLE CROWD.
Inside the arena at 7:30 o'clock nearly
every seat was taken and the crowd was
not only the greatest that has ever been
seen at fight in New Orleans, but it was
likewise the most responsible. Outside OF
the club a throng awaited the arrival Of
the pugilists. Maher was tine first to show
up. He had been kept in concealment AL
day in private house on Canal street, de-
nying himself to all comers and seeing only
his manager and his Immediate friends.