The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-03-28
LOST NERVE AND A FORTUNE.
Story of the HalI-FItzsfmmons St
Paul FiascO.

I take a personal and peculiar pleasure
IN repeating the following startling story,
writes Hyder Ali Dick Carey) in Chicago
paper 1t illustrates the supreme confidence
Fltzsimmons always had in his ability as a
lighter; it shows too, how near little
chque Of sports four Of whom were Chi
then missed doing SC because of a lack of
nerve" The story has never been told. 1t
first leaked out through Frank Shaw, but
the man who tells it to me is Paddy Carroll,
whose money went glimmering when Cor
bett went down at Carson City:
At the time that Shaw attempted to bring
Hall and Fftzsimmons together at st. Paul
he lost a barrel of money! said Carroll.
That fact is we'll known as is also the fact
that from that time on Shaw has had the
most implicit confidence in 'Lanky Bob, as
ms wager OF $1,000 to $4,000 on the recent
tight goes to prove. aro
''One night, while the proceedings at St.
Paul were still hanging fire, and this, mind
you" says the Narrator was long before
..Pompadour Jimss met Sullivan at News orr
leans, a little group of sports were sitting
around table at a lake resort just outside
Of st. Paul In the group were Hughey
Maher of Chicago, now dead and gone; 'BiIi'
Riley, of the same city, wA9se s0priuuet OF
Silver Bill will stick to 80 so long as he
lives; Frank Shaw and two other we'll known
sports whose names are not given for GER
tain reasons and Bob Fitzsimmons.
" Gentlemen said Lanky Bob, If this
fight comes off l will lick Hall, sure If it
does not I will lick him some time in the
future, but what I want to say is this: |
can lick your great John L. Sullivan as sure
as l sit in this chair, and if you will back
me we can all get rich in hurry
For moment there was silence The lit
tie group that surrounded Bob looked at one
another and then at Fitz
DO you mean that, Fitz?' asked Shaw.
1 certainly do, was the answer, and
then the champion of all the champions ex-
planned the reason for his belief
The reason advanced surprised the little
group strongly, and after Bob had finished
Nah oil
Boys, / believe him. Here is a chance
TO win a fortune with a shoestring. Let us
back &C Xii him to whip sully for $4,000 a side.'
Count me in for $1,000 said Shaw
" The same here, Clipped in Silver Bill
THE two other sports present said me,
too and Makers $1,000 made up the required
amount u ~
The challenge was written. The little
group dispersed, but the night brought its
changes. PER-
when they came together next morning
Maher had weakened. He had slept on the
proposition, and the mountains that subse-
quently proved to be mole hills had grown
again to mountains in the moonlight
" Boys said he in his Impressive way
we have all gone crozy and lock us I'D in
a madhouse. | believe have as much nerve
as anybody, but to back a middlewe ght
against Sullivan requires more nerve than l
have Iia
SHAW and Silver BIZ argued the question,
but to no avail. The other two sports stuck
VIII MdlISI anu uHdlly,- TO- Jle disgust or
Shaw and Riley, the deal was declared off.
Had the challenge been issued at that
time and had Lancky Bob gone against Sulli-
van, the betting would have been 10 TO 1
on the big fellow, and Silver Bill and Shaw
would not have done thing! They both
had money then and they thought so well
of F'itz that they would have cleaned up the
biggest prize ring winnings in the annals
Of sport The five between them could have
wagered 100000 and still have had more to
bet. There are four men that have lived to
regret that the match was not made, and
two OF them are Riley and Frank Shaw
subsequent events have proved that Lanky
Bob could have whipped Sullivan and have
taken less time to do the trick in than Pom
padour Jim did. What fortune those five
men could have made!
From that time to this however the
confidence that Riley and Shaw have had in
Fltzsimmons has amazed everybody who las
talked with them. They have never weak
ened at any stage Of the proceedings. They
have been, in the estimation Of their friends,
just as big fools as lots of people thought
you were-myself included-before FitZ took
the conceit out Of Jim Corbett. Had they
both been fixed as they were few years
ago, the odds this time would have been on
Fitzstmmons instead of Pompadour Jim, but
as 1t was, they both won money, but l
didn't, and Carroll sighed refectively as he
turned away murInuring:
The saddest words Of tongue or pen
Are only these: 1t might have been "