The record-union., 1897-03-07
PUnrI1LIISTS CORBETT
AND FITZSIMMONS.
Carson Not at Present a Very Pleasant
Place for Their Training.
Slush and Mud, With a Mixture of
Snow, the Outdoor Condition.
The Disagreeable Change in the
Weather Great Disappointment
for Both of the Pugilists, Who
VIII be Deprived of Road Work for
Some Days to Come.

CARSON, March 6-This place to-day
was one mixture of mud, snow, cold
slop and slush, of general unpleasant
ness and particular discomfort The
| streets were covered from curb to curb
| with Shiny conglomeration of black
snow and a trifle blacker mud, and the
country roads are one succession of
puddles and sinkholes, whose bottom is
in the neighborhood of China.
The disagreeable change in the wea-
ther was great disappointment to both
of the big fighters. 1t meant practic-
ally no road work for several days, and
as both Corbett and Fitzsimmons have
been counting on this of late as the best
method of improving the wind, both
We're diSgusted al the prospect
F1tz announced directly after break
fast 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 be-
fore they concluded that running was
out of the question; that it would take
all of their energy to jump from side to
side of the road to keep out of the pud-
piCS' iiCS liIdtlc the Trip " IONI HI
about thirty minutes over the usual
time. After a short stay in town the
two started on the return trip, making
it in just about the usual time. F'itz-
simmons, who had made a speciality of
jumping over as many mudholes as pos
sible, and his opportunities in that line
We're boundless, was in a decided per-
spiration. He quickly stripped for his
rundown, and while Roeber sprayed his
legs with water, Hickey went at the up
per portion Of his body with coarse
towels. While one covered the lower
part Of the body with water, the other
rubbed his neck, arms and chest into
glow. Then followed a rubbing down
from neck to heels, both Hickey and
Roeber working on him with great en-
ergy.
Fitz took a short rest, and then an
nounced that he proposed to fix himself
a 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, but as the wea-
ther promised to remain very bad for
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 a game in my opin-
ion,' he said, but it is the best thing to
be done if I can't run on the roads. Oh,
this is a good country, / don't think"
he concluded, with a look of disgust to-
ward the quagmire extending past his
house, that is dignified with the name
of road.
Even though Corbett should win over
Fitzsimmons in the ring-a contingency
that the redheaded Australian does not
recognize as among the things at all
likely to come to paSs-there is one thing
in which FitZ is far and away ahead of
him, and that is in the mechanical line.
| Fitzsimmons is a good blacksmith, and
he is a 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 help
ers can accomplish with the entire con-
tents of a hardware store He set to
work with a WILL and in a few minutes
had a pile of lumber jerked into the
gymnasium, marked off and sawed;
then remarking to StelZner 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 a song. which he
called Kitty Dear" and which he as
serted lis darn pretty thing, If it is
only sung a little better"
In a few intervals of rest which he
gave to kitty Dear" he expatiated on
his Chinese cook who, according to
Fitz. is the best cook of a Chinaman
that ever come down the pike, and
when it comes to jelly cake 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
coming fight in a sober and modest
way. Il know" he said, what / have
got ahead of me, and nobody knows it
better than / that Corbett is a very
clever and very strong man. l hon
eStly believe him TO be one of the clev-
| crest men that ever entered the ring,
! but | am absolutely sure of beating
| him. / know / can hit harder than he
! can, and / know | can stay with him
| when ii comes to speed and general
| ship | can beat him to a certainty
and just as sure as the sun rises on
March nth | will be the winner of that
| fight when the sun sets. There's an
other thing, | am not going to retire
from the ring, no matter how this thing
| comes out. | an in excellent condi-
| tion, and If | am not incapacitated by
some accident outside the ring | pro-
| pose, win or lose on March 18th, to
keep on fighting. / am good for sew
eral years of hot work in the business
| yet. and as long as l am good | am
| going to keep on fighting. There are
| lots of fellows who say that | am get
| ting along in years, and getting too old
| to put up strong fight and all that
sort of stuff. | am just as good to-day
as | ever was in all the essentials of a
| fighting man, and in speed and hitting
power l am better than / have ever
| been"
After allowing his dinner time for di-
| gestion, FitZ started for the handbail
| court once more. amusing himself by
climbing up on the woodshed. getting a
| handful of snowoalls with which he
peppered the newspaper men who came
! within range. He danced around the