Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1892-08-29
JONES WON THE FIGHT.
AWARDED TO "STRoNG BOY" BY
THE REFEREE.
Three Good Rounds Were Fought When
Landmesser Claimed a Foul-It Was
Not Allowed and He Refused to Con-
tinue the Battle.

to witness the fight between William
Jones, of Freeland, and Lewis Land
messer, of West Hazleton, at the opera
house on Saturday evening. The sport
ing fraternity of the coal regions was
well represented, Hazleton, Wilkes
Barre, Mt. Carmel and Shenandoah
sending large delegations. Early in the
evening the crowds began gathering in
large numbers, and by o'clock the
streets were filled. Everybody was un-
decided as to what the result would be,
and mauy believed the whole affair to
be "fake." Wilkes-Barre and Free
land sports favored Jones, while Upper
Lehigh and Hazleton backed Land
messer, and although each side had lots
of money there was not nearly as much
bet as was expected. At O'Clock the
opera house was opened, and for two
hours the people gathered slowly. The
majority of the spectators were strangers
here, as the people of town firmly be-
lieved there was "sell" and refused to
pay the dollar admission.
Promptly at II o'cock Billy Evans, of
Hazleton, appeared on the stage with
the principles, whom he introduced.
John Schaffer, of Hazleton, acted as se-
cond for Landmesser, and Conrad Saur,
of the same place, was bottle holder
Billy Herman, of Bethlehem, was second
for Jones, and John Houston, of Free
land, bottle holder. David E. Davis, of
Wilkes-Barre, was referee, and Ed,
Meehin, of Wilkes-Barre, was time-keep-
er. Four-ounce gloves were used and
Marquis of Queensbury rules governed
the contest. After the introduction both
men steppen to the centre of the ring on
the stage. Jones weighed 155 pounds,
and his opponent was four pounds heav-
ier. Both men seemed to be in the best
of condition, but the Freeland man, be-
ing four inches taller, made the finest
appearance. Time was called and the
first round opened rather tamely.
Neither wished to force the fighting un-
till they studied one another little bet
ter, few blows were given and return
ed, after which they clinched. Neither
seemed any the worse when the three
minutes were up. Jones, however, ap-
peared nervous, and cast several glances
toward the crowd, as if he expected an
attack from that quarter.
Thirty seconds of rest were given
and the second round began with more
vigor. In short time the audience was
satisfied that there was no fake in the
fight. The men came together several
times in quick succession, and while
breaking away Landmesser got one in
on Jones' ribs which sent Strong Boy
to the floor on his hips. He failed to
follow up the advantage, and seemed
weakened considerably from the exer-
ton, while Jones appeared as fresh as at
the start.
The third opened by Landmesser
going down, but he was up again in
moment. The shock, however, had daz-
ed him, and he spared short time for
wind. Seeing an opening he made for
Jones' neck, but missed, and was caught
on the return with Jones' left and imme-
diately after with back-handed blow
from the right. Landmesser dropped to
the floor and made slow effort to arise.
He had reached his feet, but the hands
still were on the floor, while the time
keeper was counting the ten seconds and
Jones was waiting over him. One hand
left the floor and as the other was COM
ing up Jones gave him two more. Time
was called, and Landmesser claimed
the fight on a foul, alleging that his
right hand was not off the floor when he
was struck.
The claim was not allowed, and when
time was called for the fourth round
the referee awarded the fight, including
the 5000 stakes and the gate money, to
"Strong Boy"
The audience clamored for more fight,
but the affair was over, and no more of
the principals was seen that night.
Refused to Sell.
When the battle was over story leak
ed out that some of Jones' hackers went
to him early in the evening and de-
manded that he throw the fight to Land
messer. The latter, however, had moth
ing to do with this bargain, and Jones
also refused to enter any such game. 1t
is said that those who wanted him to
sell had placed all their money on the
Hazleton man, after drawing Jones into
the fight. After Jones refusing repeat
ealy to make the contest a "fake" he
came on the stage, and this was the
cause of his nervousness in the first
round.
Before the fight took place he was de-
serted by his strongest hackers because
he refused to sell, and with the public
suspecting him of intending to do that
very thing, he felt as if he did not have
friend in the town. When the above
story got in circulation, and was con-
firmed by subsequent events, the sym
pathy of the public underwent change.
The Fighters Meet Again.
Lewis Landmesser felt sore at the re-
suit of the contest, and all day yesterday
was trying to meet Jones to arrange an
other match. At $50 o'clock the two
men met again on Centre street, between
South and Main. A short argument
brought on hot words, and before any
one could interfere Jones struck Land
messer a terrific blow on the mouth,
knocking him to the middle of the
street. Friends prevented any further
public exhibition of this kind, and both
were hurried off in different directions.
Jones swears Out Warrant.
At o'clock "Strong Boy" swore out a
warrant against James and William
Oliver, of Highland, charging them with
threatening to kill him on Saturday
night. The warrant was given to Officer
Mclaughlin, who brought them before
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