Arizona weekly citizen., 1893-01-14
How Dick Burge Over-Reached
 Himself.
Forming a New Athletic Club on a
 Grand Scale.


 offer was made in good faith and had
 Burge been as honest in his intentions
 and as anxious to fight as McAuliffe the
 Coney Island Athletic Club would never
 have backed down from their offer. De-
 lays, however, are dangerous, ard by holding off for better terms Burge killed
 the goose that laid the golden egg. He first tried the scheme of holding Me-
 Aulitfe down to 133 pounds, the light
 weight limit, but when he found that
 Jack was willing to come down to that
 weight, he wanted sthe weight fixed at l36 or 13S pounds. Another Objectiona-
 ble feature that stuck in the craw of the Englishman was the division of the purse. McAuliffe wanted it to be all or nothing, but Burge dId not see it in that light. He thought it just barely possible that there might be a loser and as the purse was so very large it might be just as we'll to divide It up so the loser would get from S1O,OOO to S20OOO, which would leave the winner from S25, 900 to S35,0O0. He thought that Me Auliffe was entirely too greedy in want ing the winner to take all and that it would be advisable for them to come together and talk the matter over.
 It is now claimed that there was very large nlgger in the woodpile and that there was great deal back of the match which did not appear on the surface. It was originally agreed to go into a little crooked work in the interest of gamblers and that he had signed articles to the effect that he would "lie down" at given signal, so that they could safely bet on the number of rounds it would last. The plot, it is claimed, came to light through the quarrel between Burge and Mcdonald, and on that ac- count McAuliffe insisted on all or noth- ing and that side bet of SIOOOO be made. Burge strenuously objected to the side bet and insisted upon the loser receiving a goodly portion of the S45,- 900. Judge Newton, it is claimed, was tipped on the plans of the Englishman, which led to his declaring the match of. Whether this ,be true or not, public faith has been shaken ia the match and a battle now between these two men will not prove very profitable invest ment. So far as McAuliffe is concerned everything is all right as he Is one of the kind who will fight to win at every stage of the game and will have nothing to do with anything off color. If Jim Carney IS desirous of again meeting Jack Me Auliffe, he will doubtless be given a chance by the Couey Island Athletic Club, as Carney is very popular with the sporting fraternity on this side of the Atlantic, as his long "A round draw with McAuliffe at Revere beach is still fresh in their minds.
 If Burge wants to enter into fake fight be had better get right back into bis own country as quick as bis heels can carry him, as he is among the wrong class of people to try any of that kind of business. The American public, l though great admirers of sport, are plumb on the level and have the utmost contempt of any man guilty of decep- tion and cowerdice. It may be many years before MT. Bnrge gets an oppor- | tunlty to fight for such tempting purse l again, as it was just S40,000 too much | for any club in America to offer him, | and S44, ,00u more than he could get for | a finish fight in his own country. When | Judge Newton offered that S45000 he | was competing with the New Orleans l people, and 1t was more of question of | rivalry between these two fstic organi- | cations of America than the value the i fight was to the club as financial in- vestment. They could easily have come | out ahead Ou the purse, however, as | they could count on from the 5000 to | 5000 people at from S15 to S25 per head | It was through no fear of financial em- barassment that the purse was with | drawn, but solely through the runners which are circulated regarding the | English lads intentions to "quit" The judge wisely concluded that if there was | anything of that sort liable to occur it | had better be nipped in the bud on the | start, as it would never do to have a lot | of good people go down to the Island and pay heavily for a first-class fight | and have a farce dished out to them. | Had such a thing occurred it would | have ruined the reputation of the Coney l Island Athletic Club and Judge New | ton deserves great credit for his prompt | action.
 When it comes to pinch Mir. Burge is not the only man who is of the opin- | ion that Jack McAuliffe IS the boss of l of the two. By good authority it IS claImed that some few of the slick bet- | ting men of this city were just clever | enough to try Burge out, since hls arri- | val. in a spirited bout in private with | Austin Gibbons, and they drew the5line on him then that satisfied them that he was no match for McAuliffe. If the two men ever fight there will be barrel of New York money go upon McAuliffe, even if they have to give odds of two to one. When McAuliffe wanted to make it all or nothing he showed very conclu- sively just the kind Of stuff he was made of and how little he cared for the Eng fish champion.
 The large profits the Coney Island Athletic Club have made out of their puEIlistics events have turned the heads of few of the capitalists of this city and they are now making active prepar- ations toward forming an athletic club in New York iCity, second to none on the face of the earth, which will com pete with such organizations as are now running off the leading fis.ic contests of the world. James J. Coogan, the big furniture man, who once ran for mayor of this city, is ona of the prime movers. The new club house is to be built on the Lynch estate in the neighborhood of the Polo ground, The club is com posed largely of the wealthiest and