The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1897-03-18
AL SMITH, HOLDER OF THE
BIG PURSE, PUTS IN AN AP-
PEARANCE AT CARSON.
He VISITED CORBE1T md ADMIRED
The Champions Superb COndition-Says
1t is Little Short of Marvellous.
Fitzsimmons Gives Further Evil
dence of His Great Strength.

the two training camps, the happenings
of the day were mild in comparison. Al
Smith, the stakeholder of the fight, ar
rived on the morning train from San
Francisco. Smith had with him certiti-
Gates of deposit aggregatng S25,OOO,
which he will turn over to the winner of
the fight on Wednesday. After short
interview with Dan Stuart Smith drove
out to Shaw Springs to call on his
friend, the champion. He remained at
Corbett's camp for the better part of the
afternoon. After he had seen the pugi-
list, Smith said:
Never in my life have seen any
fighter in the condition in which Corbett
is in today. Not only have l never
seen fighter in such excellent shape, but
| have never seen man in training who
was in so perfect condition. l had Il
long talk with him this morning. He
assured me that he was in the pink of
condition, and when he came to his work
in the afternoon he would show it to me.
He showed me all he promised and a
good deal more, too.
For hours this afternoon | stood in
the hand ball court and saw him wrestle
and spar with his trainers, and his work
was nothing short of marvellous. Not
withstanding the altitude, which might
be supposed to tire man in violent eXer-
else more rapidly than if he was i'll the
lower country, he went through it all
without sign of trouble. / have not
seen FitzsmmOns as yet and l, OF
course. have no idea except the report OF
the condition in which he is, but wish
to say right now that he must be d
wonderful man, and, more than that, ht
| must be in wonderful condition, to stand
| out against Il fighter. who is in the condi
| ton in which Corbett is today. When
| say that | am in no manner nnderrat
ing Fitzsmmons, for | know he is q
beats Corbett next Wednesday mus
not only be wonderful fighter, but
| must also be in perfect condition. .
IF Corbett loses this fight he will have
| no excuse on account of lack of condi
| ton. A man may lose through an ac
| cident and through an intentional foul
and if Corbett loses it must be through
| one of these things or because Fitzsim
| mons is the better man, and | do not see
how it is possible for a man to be in bet
| ter shape than Jim is now.
Tomorrow | am going to ride over t.
| the camp where FitZsimmons is train
: ing, and then | will be able to form bet
! ter opinion as TO the shape of the two
| men.
"In all have said of Corbett, l wisl
| it distinctly understood that / am saying
! nothing against FitzsimmOns. | simply
| say that if he wins he is entitled to be
called the best man in the world. and il
! my opinion nobody will cOncede thai
more quickly than COrbett himself"
At both camps efforts are now being
| made to get the wire edge on the men
which is considered necessary for the
final efforts in the ring on st. Patrick's
| day. Corbett's work will gradually be
l6ssened, and no effort is being spared
by the men who are assisting him to get
him into the finest condition. 1t is diff
cult to see how COrbett could be in finer
physical condition than he is now. and
his endurance is phenomenal He is
naturally somewhat highstrung. and thi,
training work is beginning to show in his
talk at times. He is quite often nervous
and at times irritable, but such things
are common to man who has gone
prize fight. and his trainers are rather
pleased than otherwise at the little dis
plays of temper that he occasionally
makes. COrbett's nervousness is not Oh
account of the coming battle. He says
it can not come any too soon to suit
| him, and there is not the slightest doubt
that he is in earnest to the last degree
when he says so.
Fitzsimmons is not of a temperament to
become nervous. In his manner and
talk he shows no signs of the slightest
III ,. e IL. IL
ty to win the fight. He shows no out
ward signs of being worried, that is Ger.
tain. and his confidence is supreme. He
showed the strength in his arms today
by hitting his punching bag with such
violence that he broke the rope by which
the bag was swung. 1t was stiff cord
the thickness of mans forefinger. and
Fitzsimmons snapped it with all the
force he throws in his right arm.
Corbetts trainers decided today that
the champion should begin the tapering
off process tomorrow. The change will
be big relief to the big fighter and none
the less to Mcvey, Jefferies and Woods,
who have been punched and hammered
to the limit of endurance. The three big
boxers who have given Corbett the great
part of his glove practice have had a
decidedly interesting time to keep pace
with their employer, and none of them
were backward at expressing satisfaction
that the days of humping and bruising
are almost all over.
"The work beginning with tomorrow
will be lighter" said Trainer White to-
day. land the amount of it less. Jim's
work will be less. He will continue his
break-aways, but there will be fewer
rounds and more rest between them. The
handball games will be cut down. as also
will the wrist exercises and bag punch
ing. Corbett is in better shape than
when he whipped Sullivan, and better
than many of his enemies think. Fitz-
simmons thinks he is taking on dead
one but there are many surprises in
store for that gentleman. He will know
all about them in few days Jim will
whip him and he won't be a week doing
it, either. We are all confident and sat
isfed Jim's condition and work are all
that can be desired.
1.-THE public will be excluded from Cor
belts quarters hereafter" continued
White, "as we have new blows and tricks
we want to practice. On Monday Cor
bett will do very little work. except q
run. On Tuesday he will take a short
run before breakfast and little work in
the afternoon. His hard training was
over when Jim quit work tonight
The champion expressed himself as de-
lighted with the prospect of tightening
of the work at his quarters. .,.
"There is nothing particularly amusing
in this sort of training have been do
inc said Corhett "and II will ha a ra-