Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1893-04-29
WHAT PUCILISTS CAN Do.
From Blacksmiths 10 Bank Clerks
to Earn a Living.
JIM CORBETi IS A GOOD BOOKKEEPER.
"Chawlcy" Mitchell Would Make
a First-Class Hotel Porter.

Cincinnsti Com. Gazette Special to JOURNAL.
NEW York, April 29.---Tbe story o.
the frugal ant, that toiled all summer
that he might he comfortable iu the
cherries winter, aud Of the butterfly
that cared not for the morrow, but
while he sun sboDe, 6uttered his eaudy
wings in the delight of u reckless pride.
with it's sequel of the ant suug in his
subtt rralean store house, the butterfly
faniisbed and frozen, tossed about with
the dean leaves by the winter winds, ia
the fable most often told by way Of
warning the thriftless. Among the
many that earn their bread by the
sweat of their brows, together with the
labor of their hands, the butterfly
would seem to typify the professional
pugilist.
The fighter may not be pretty, but
he is proverbially prodigal. Able to
earn fortune in an evening, he feels
himself competent to "blow 1t in" In
less than a seassD. With the notice
able exception of James J. Corbett. and
q very few others, the fighter plays
king among bis fellows while he can
pay for the fun. Out of funds, he must
fight again, or else work for living.
Unfortunately for the fighter, each
time he finds himself embarrassed
with empty pockets, ne does not meet
the opportunity of refilling them. The
pugiiist out of a '.job," though he may
be able to whip most of his fellows, is
as miserable as the most hungry tramp,
who, decrepit and heart-brokeD, begs
for meal, praying that he will not
have TO work for it.
To the fellows " ho take deep inter-
est in the doiugs of the fighters, to that
uneliminated element of savagery seen
in the sporting prOclivities of civilized
men. a story of the occupations of our
pu gilists. while out of job, will ap-
peal. The tendency of the fighters
who have been exceptionally fortunate
to turn to the drama for living is not
remarkable " hen one remembers that
they have no fear of stage fright, having
faced crowds when confronting greater
dangers than showers of carrots.
John Lawrence Sullivan has made
ten times more in hie dress suit than
ne has in the decollette costume of the
ring. Should the ex-champion find
that the public had grown weary of his
acting there would be still left to him
many ways of earning living. He
could enter into the muniffcent re-
wards of q South Boston politician,
though, owing to his nomadic life he
has never had the opportunity of as
serting his citizenship by his ballot.
He could command, in connection
with his political duties, the salary of
an "editor" of some popular weekly
journal. 1t would make no difference
in the value of bis literary efforts who
did the type-writing, SO long as the
matter ended with his characteristic
sig mature.
John l.. has number of other pos
sibilities. While training at Belfast
for his fight with Kilrain, Mike Cleary,
one of his seconds, taught him the use
full art of blacksmitbing. 1t was a
splendid sight to see the then cham
pion's broad back bent over the anvil,
his mighty right swinging the ham,
mer, while the red sparks flew from
the smitten iron In meteoric showers.
Sullivan never forgets what he learns,
and could, If compelled to. take his
place at the forge and be useful citi-
zen.
Whileat Belfast John L.spent many
hours in the cheese factory there. He
became as proficient In molding cheese
rs he had been In remodeling tue faces
of his foes. Those who visited him
there remember his saying that some
day he would start o cheese factory,
and manufacture a brand to be known
as 1.-THE John L. Sullivan cheese.n 1t
would be q great come-down for the
great ]. L., who has been the worlds
heavyweight fighter. actor.
and author of his own memoirs, to turn
10 cheese-making, yet 1t would be far
better than degeneratiDg from the first
Of the Hst-fiyers to q bouncer In some
dive. Sullivan today scorns the idea
that came to him at Belfast. He had
not then known defeat, and looked
upon possible hard labor In the poetical
light of the fantastically impossible.
Since his downfall he has made more
money than he ever did before, but, as
he puts 1t, he has "more friends" and
therefore no more money than he
needs. sullivan today scorns the
thought of blacksmithing or cheese
He says that his best chance,
In case he had to give up the stage,
would be in branching out as mana
ger. He knows the routes, the theatres
and the cost Of living on the road. He