Birmingham state herald., 1896-12-10
FHz VAS UP AGAINST II Billy Smith Gives the Whole E. Snap Away. CASE OF DO" FOR BOB If Was Simply "Heads Win, Tails You Lose,
 and Ftzsimmons Had No Show What
 eyer-A Sensation in Court.

San Francisco, Dec. 9.-A large assem-
 blaze of ring followers and men-about- town crowded Judge SandersGns court room this morning in expectation of hear ing sensational developments regarding the manner in which the Fitzsimmons- Sharkey prize fight was fixed" and they were not disappointed If credenee is to be placed in the story told on the witness stand by Australian" Billy Smith,
 Sharlsey's trainer, Fitzsimmons was defeated man before he left New York. According to Smiths testimony, J. J. Groom, J. H. Gibbs, Danny Lynch, Shar- keys manager, and Sharkey himself were the men who composed the National Athletic club, before which organization the now notorious contest was fought These four men, Smith SWears, engaged Wyatt Earp as referee, with the under standing that he was to award Sharkey the fight directly Fitzslmmons landed body blow or stomach punch which | might be stretched into a foul. Earp was to receive S2, ,500 for his services. {, Smiths story in substance is as fol- | lows:
 Five weeks ago he was employed to train Sharkey at the Ocean Beach hotel. George Allen and Danny Needham as- slsting. He had frequent conversations
  test with Fitzsimmons. Three weeks prior to the fight Sharkey requested Smith to suggest a good referee. smith named Hiram Cook, and Lynch promised
 to call on that gentleman A few days | later Lynch Informed smith that Cook l was not suitable referee Smith was
 then advised by Sharkey of the fact that
 he (Sharkey) and Lynch had an interest | in the National club. Sharkey stated l that Lynch, Groom and Gibbs were all | hrolxp a m that hp hipo-pIf ObliOe6 1 to put up $2.500 to guarantee his appear l ance in the ring, leaving him almost
 brokes Lynch and he were each to re- 1 ceive 20 per cent. of the gate receipts after l the expenses and purse money had been | deduced. Ten days before the fight Shar- | key mentioned to Smith that Lynch had I succeed in engaging one Wyatt Earp,. | horse owner to act as referee. Earp l had agreed to give the fight to Sharkey I on foul if FitZsimmons hit him a body | blow at close quarters, and in conside.a- | tion of his decision the referee was to | be paid $2,500. On the morning before | the fight Sharkey again assured Smith | that everything was fixed" for Sharkey | to win. After describing his movements l in the ring before the call of time, Smith l continued:
 "Sharkey was dazed at the end of the second round, and was practically de- l feated then. I did not see the knock
 out blow. After Sharkey fell, Lynch whispered to him to pretend to be In 1 great pain and 1t will be right. We car- ried Sharkey to his dressing room and 1 put him on cot. Lynch refused to al- 1 low anybody In the room Sharkey kept | holding his hands to his head and com | plaining of his sore ear and jaw. but said | nothing about his groin I started to | remove his trunks but Lynch stopped l me We then carried Sharkey to a hack | and removed him to his hotel. Allen, l Lynch, Needham and myself laid him 1 out on q bed I took off his shoes and | trousers and Allen removed his trunks. 1 He made no complaint except regard l ing his head and ear. and 1 saw no evi-
 dence of discoloration about the groin. | A few moments later we heard Sharkey | screaming and Allen remarked: I don't i like the looks of this; I am going away
 After waiting fifteen minutes Lynch let l me into Sharkey'S room again and I 1 found Tom all bandaged up. A bottle of l iodine of potassium stood on the wash 1 stand. I do not know what it was used | for. but it could hardly have been ap- piled to his sore ear. Lynch then told me l could go for the night, as he had l engaged a man to sit up with Snarkey. l The following evening I called on Shar- | key and found the swelling on his groin l very apparent, but he did not complain
 of suffering any pain in that region His l ear troubled him, however He asked l me what kind of fight he put up and I | told him pretty good He said that Fitz- l simmons could whip Corbett in two rounds. He hits like mule. continued | Sharkey, and Corbett would not last | any time with him.
 'Sharkey told me I could sleep with him that night. I offered to put hot bandages on him. but he told me they were not necessary. Before going to sleep he jumped out of bed, lit cigar and walked around the room He as- sured me that he was all right excepting | his sore ear"
 On cross examination Smith stuck to l his story and could not be shaken He also disclosed the fact that Dr. Lee l was not summoned to Sharkey's bedside l until two hours and half after the fight l was over.
 Lynch, Groom and Gibbs denounced | Smiths testimony as rank perjury. They l claim that Smith demanded $1 ,000 for his | services as trainer and declined to ac- l cept the $d00 rendered him.
 | Allen, who promises to corroborale l Smiths testimony tomorrow, was offered | $200 but attempted to blackmail Sharkey 1 and Lynch into paying him double that 1 amount. Lynch asserts that Allen and l Smith, finding that their attempt at ex- | tortion would be futile, went to Ftzslm- 1 mons attorneys and offered to make cer- l tain disclosures concerning alleged job l bery which can easily be disproved. l Col. Kotwalski, Fitzsimmons' counsel l ayers that he has enough testimony to convict the entire Sharkey following of | gross conspiracy and fraud
 Smiths testimony has created tre- l mendous sensation among the sporting l fraternity.