Omaha daily bee., 1897-03-07

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he ever had was with Jack Dempsey, and
that was simply because the Nonpareii was
as good as laid on ice before the first round
was over. and he toyed with him, hoping
he would realize the hopelessness Of his case
and quit. But he wouldn't, and Fftzsim-
mons was finally compelled to jolt the modi-
cum Of sense that still remained in his nod
die out Of It. His most equal match was
supposed to have been with Peter Maher.
and he didn't do a thing to little Petite, es-
pecially the last time, when in Just forty-fve
seconds he made the doughty Hibernian
think somebody had pushed one Of those
big red Mexican mountains over on him.
Fitz is a regular devil for fun; he may not
DO so schoolboyish as Corbett Is reported to
be out at Carson, but milling Is soup and
nuts for him, and he has never been known
to shirk an invitation. He fights right
straight from the scratch without any wa
vering. There Is no violin playing on his
part. He wants meat and wants 1t quick.
I have seen him fight three times and expect
him to go at Corbett Just as he has gone
FOR everybody else. He never waits on the
corner for a car. but walks on down street
to meet It. SO you see why l expect to see
one or the other cash in pretty quick.
How about Corbett? l have seen him doing
business, too, and his mode and manner
bear no propinquity to that of Colonel
Kangaroo. The man who expects to see
him go after Fftz on the jump VIII be mis-
taken. He could no more stand up lair ana
square and give and take with the pulssant
blacksmith than he could reproduce one Oh
Morello's pictures with a whitewash brush.
He must resort to his Terpsichorean attain
ments, he must waltz and slip and duck
about, in and out, and around Robert, like
he does with one of his stage dummies,
jabbing him in the face and the wind OF and
on with that electric left Of his; worrying
and harasslng him until his steam begins to
eyaporate and he sees the time to let go
both hands as he did with old John l.. down
in New Orleans that night. Hully Gee! wnat
a shower of thumps the Californian did I'M
box at that juncture. defy the pest
educated kaleidoscope ever born to eaten on
its film all of Jim's blows, If such a scene
as that occures again. 1t may be depended
on that this will be Corbett's game. with
all due respect to Billy Delaney, VINO says
Jim is the hardest hitter the world has ever
known, / don't believe he could knock out a
good big chunk of meat and bone ana
freckIes like my friend from the land OF the
mongoose with a single blow, If you would
give him a rest. He must cook his victim up
to a somnolent condition by MS 1aos
and jolts. then go at him and chop MN
down with a cloudburst of blows from both
maulies. But how different with Fitz. His
Single out" blows are notorious the worla
| over. He never plays both ends and the
middle" He does not have to spread a
layer of mayonnaise over his tomato peiore
le DuSIS L All It NullNo lS ~ " 49, $500
through space to the point of a jaw. He
doesn't have to swing to get there. He has
a short-arm jolt that Is simply an article OF
vertu. He can deliver it with either the
right or left and whenever 1t lands somebody
| goes out. Can he get it in on Jim? Well, |
can't say, for l don't know just how good
| Jim is, nor does anybody else for that matter.
But 1 can tell you one thing for true, ana
that Is he has got 1t in on several other men
just as good as Jim and is liable to get it in
on him.
But the fight. My, what a cuckoo 1t ought
to be, and how many thousands of people
will enjoy 1t. What a thrilling moment that
will be when those two giants step to the
middle of the ring and put up their hands.
How many hearts will thump like trip
hammers. What a weight will lay on that
vast crowd until the first decisive blow
augurs which way the battle goes. 1t will
surely be the greatest fistic encounter Of the
age, and what fun it will be in the years to
come to relate to those who only know OF
the occurrence through history, what a match
less struggle 1t was. How each man squared
off; how he fiddled, tented, sidestepped and
got away; how this blow landed and that
missed fire; how the first knockdown came
and then the victory; the wild scene of yell
ing and applauding thousands; the limp and
dismantled victim; the proud and naughty
conqueror, surrounded by that seething
throng-the greatest of all gladiators from
the heroic days of Spartacus down to the
hour. Will it be worth the trip, in as muct
d~isfavor as the sport may be? Yes, l thinI
1t will.
Just what the extra fights at the Carson
carnival are going to amount l do not fee
justified in saying, but I will say that l think
the mysterious Billy Smith-George Greer
match a mighty poor one. Nobody wants
any of Smith and nobody would back him II
the referee allowed him to use an ak. He Is
a VIGOROUSLY foul fighter, and should no
have been given a look-in at an affair like
the coming one at Carson. Out of Smiths
last six fights he has lost five of them on
fouls, and he is not the kind of a pugilisr
the crowds who journey to Carson will care
to see. At himself Billy is a great fighter
and with the weight and height and reach
he will enjoy over Green he ought to put
him out In a canter, that is If he behaves
himself.
OF the other fight, Flaherty and Hawkins
there isn't much to say. They too are both
OF the lower strata of pugdom, and with Billy
Smith should be relegated to obscurity,
hawkins will have a slight advantage over
the Yankee Irishman, but that should not
enable him to land the coin. Flaherty can
stand as severe a beating as any man ]
ever saw, and keep on fighting all the time.
He Is a glutton for grueling, a good stiff,
fast puncher, and / expect to see him lower
the colors of the young Californian.
1t will be interesting to Nebraska breeders
to learn that there has just been completed
near Louisville the finest quarter-mile cinder
trotting track in the world. It is the
property of Mr.. L. SimOns, the well known
trotting horseman. The width of the track
is twenty-eight feet in the stretch and forty
feet at the turns. 1t is nicely banked like
a bicycle track and Is a model of engineer
ing skill. Mr.. Simons owns a number OF
fast trotting horses, and he was sorely
perplexed regarding their winter work, as the
tracks in that locality are usually muddy
during the winter. He owns Riverside park,
which is laid out in drives and walks built
of cinders. These. 1t was noticed, were
never muddy and always maintained a hard
but yielding surface. In this way the plan
occurred to the proprietor. The track
was laid out around the inside fence of the
park, 1t was plowed, then rolled, after
which eight inches of cinders were rolled
and packed hard until the track looked like
asphalt. When 1t was finished a number OF
horsemen were Invited to look at 1t. After
a careful inspection they declared it the
finest and best quarter-mi!e track in tha
world.
Interest In the four great intercollegiate
boat races that will be rowed on the Hud-
son at Poughkeepsie between June 90 and
July . is already qulckening the pulse OF
the amateur athletic world. 1t is safe Ia