The herald., 1897-03-07
Except When Fitzsimmons Tries
to Sing 1t
MUD, SLUSH, COLD AND SNOW
Draw Left.Handed Compliments From
the Disguised Pugs
The Ex-dreat John L. Weighs . Ton, But Has
Concluded to Rc-Enter the
isr Prize Ring
Associated Press Special Wire

!
slush, general unpleasantness and par
! ticular discomfort. The streets were
| covered from curb to curb with Shiny
mixture of snow and mud and the coun-
| try roads are one succession of puddles
and sink holes whose bottom is in the
neighborhood of China. The disagree
| able change in the weather was great
| disappointment to both of the big fight
ers. 1t meant practically no road work
| for several days and as both Corbett and
| Fitzsimmons have been counting on this
| of late as the best method of improve
ment of wind, both were disguised at
the prospect. Ftzsimmons announced
| directly after breakfast that mud or
no mud. snow or no snow, he would take
his usual run to town and accompanied
by Dan Hickey he set out They had
not gone far before they concluded that
running was out of the question and that
| it would take all of their energy to jump
| from side to side of the road to keep out
| of the puddles. They made the trip to
| town in about thirty minutes over the
usual time. After a short stay in town
| the two started on their return trip,
making it in just about the usual time.
rltZsllIlIlOHS lldut d specially Ol jump
| ing over as many mudholes as possible,
and his opportunities in that line were
| boundless. He reached his quarters in
| a decided perspiration. He quickly
| stripped for his rub down and While
| Roeber sprayed his legs with water,
| Hickey went at the upper portion of the
| body with coarse towels. While one
covered the lower part of the body with
water the other rubbed his neck. arms
and chest 0lnyv Then followed
rubbing down from neck to heels, both
| Hickey and Roeber working on him with
| great energy. Fitzsimmons took short
| rest and then announced that he pro-
| posed to fix himself handball court in
| one end of his gymnasium. AS he could
| not do as much outdoor work as he
would like he declared that handball
was the next best thing to work at. and
as the wether promised to remain very
bad for a time, consequently barring
| him from any running on the roads, he
| proposed to beat the little ball up against
the side of the house.
1T is not much of game In my opin-
ion," he declared, but it is the best
| thing to be done if can't run on the
| roads. Oh, this is a good country-I
| don't think" he concluded with a look
of disgust toward the quagmire extend
| ing past his house, that is dignified with
| the name of road"
| There is one thing in which Fitzsim-
mons Is far and away ahead Of Corbett
and that is in the mechanical line. Fitz-
| simmons is a good blacksmith and he is
| good carpenter. He can get through
| more work in less time than any two
men he has with him and can do more
| without any tools than his helpers can
accomplish with the entire contents of
| hardware store. He set to work with
will, and in a few minutes had pile of
| lumber jerked into the gymnasium,
| marked off and sawed. Then remark
ing to Steiner and Roeber, Now, you
| fellows. nail those boards up against
| the wall" he proceeded to boss the job
| in the most energetic fashion.
| After dinner FitZsimmons sat around
! the parlor for half an hour making
| ghastly efforts to sing song which he
| called Kitty Dear" and which he as
| serted lis a darn pretty thing. if it is
| only sung a little better" In the few
| intervals of rest which he gave to Kitty
Dear" he expa tiated on his Chinese cook
| who, according to Fitzsimmons, "is the
| best cook for Chinaman that ever came
| down the pike and when 1t comes to
| jelly cakes and the likes of that, there is
no Chinaman on earth can touch him"
Coming down from kitty Dear" and
| jelly cake to the serious business ahead
of him, Fitzsimmons talked of the COM
II know" he said, what l have got
ahead of me and nobody knows it better
| than / that Corbett is a very clever and
very strong man. / honestly Believe
him to be one of the cleverest men that
| ever entered the ring, but am absolute
| ly sure of beating him. i know l can hit
| harder than he can and / know l can
stay with him when it comes to speed
and generalship. l can beat him to 4
certainty and just as sure as the sun
| rises on March 18th, will be the winner
| of that fight when the sun sets. There's
another thing, / am not going to retire
from the ring, no matter how this thing
comes out. / am in excellent condition
and if I am not incapacitated by some
accident outside of ther ing l propose,
| win or loose March 18th, to keep on fight
! ing. l am good for several years of
| hot work in the business yet and as long
as am good am good to keep on fight
| ing. There are lots of fellows who say
am getting along in years and getting
| too old to put up a strong fight and all
| that sort OF stuff. 1 am just as good to-
| day as l ever was in all the essentials of
| a fighting man and in speed and hitting
| power am better now than l ever have
| been"
| After allowing his dinner to digest,
FitZsimmons started on the handball
court once more, amusing himself on the
way by climbing on the woodshed with
| a handful of snowballs, with which he
peppered the newspaper men who came
| within range He danced around the
| roof of the shed in high glee. but great
| ly to the discomfort of Martin Julian,
who expressed a grandmotherly fear
| that Fitzsimmons would fall off the
| shed and break a bone or two, or get hit
| in the eye, or something. After the fin
| ishing of the handball court, Fitzsim-
| mons played a few games, just to see
how the thing went. Although not
such an expert as Corbett, he showed
| himself no mean antagonist at the
| game He followed up his hardball with
| lively work on the bag for thirty min
utes, and wrest1ed for twenty more with
Roeber. He then declared that his work
| for the day was over and hurried to the
house when Roeber and Hickey went all
over him with towels and massage.
AT CORBETT'S QUARTERS
/ "Well, this is hard luck" said Jim
Corbett, as ne drew back the blinds of
his bedroom this morning and gazed
upon the landscape lying six inches
un6er the snow. II thought yesterday
| l would be able to get in a lot of work
running over these roads and hills. but
| here l am tied up again. Well, there's
ore consolation and that's a big one;
I'VE got a good handball court, large
enough to take any amount of leg work
| in. I have an advantage over Fitzsim-
mons in that respect"
| Corbett sent his retinue OF trainers
in long bath robe and ran to the hand
morning with shovels and brooms TO
| n