Omaha daily bee., 1898-12-11
BLATHER OF THE PUGILIsTs
Kid Mccoy and Tom O'ROurke Bury
the Hatchet and Baptise . New
Friendship In Wine.

Turtle doves one day and Kilkenny cats
the next; today It's a jolly and tomorrow it's
a hammer. This characteristic Of the stuffed
glove men finds a comic illustration In the
case Of Kid Mccoy and one Thomas
O'Rourke. These two prominent figures Of
the roped arena are doing the turtle dove act
In New York and are as merry q pair of
pals as ever shared a shilling and a shirt.
A brief two weeks ago they encountered
each other with the frigid eye and the heart
Of adamant. O'Rourke referred to Mccoy
as a shell worker, a fakir and all around
four-lush and fired him out of the Lenox
on the night Of the Corbett- Sharkey fasco.
The compliments extended to O'Rourke by
Mccoy were equally savory and were topped
by the Kids declaration that he would never
put up his dukes in O'Rourke's club. But
here the other day Mccoy and O'Rourke met
in a New York liquor dispensary and bap-
tized a newborn friendship In a basket Of
wine. Mccoy declared his willingness to
meet the an-of-w ar'sman in the Lenox,
while O'Rourke agreed to put up q sc, 900
purse. It's all fixed by this time and the
scrap Is scheduled to occur on January 10.
1t will be interesting to see, II the fight
really takes place, whether the New York
sporting public will nibbre again after the
dose that was so Sticky administered to
them a short time ago.
Corbett's def to so against the sailor again
for $4,000 a side in private or for charity
in public has been called. Sharkey's promp-
titude In accepting either proposition seems
to have been something OF a phaser for the
Pompadour, for nothing additional has been
heard from him. The whole thing looks like
a grand-stand play from Actor Corbett to
get back into the favor of the sporting pub
lie. which seems to have labeled him not
only a faker but a has been.
Talk Of a fight between Tom Sharkey and
Charley Mitchell. the blarsted Hinglishman
who was dispatched to dreamland SO easily
by Corbett several years ago, Is favored with
a goodly dash Of comedy. According to re-
port of the last two years Mitchell has cul-
tivated G corporosity that would I'LL the
driver OF a brewery wagon with envy, weigh
ing in the neighborhood of 24O pounds. This
additional burden Of too solid, unreliable
flesh has been the joint result Of the pro-
prietorship Of a public house and the fact
that Mitchell drinks nothing but wine. Even
with six months training he could not break
away from more than forty pounds. in which
event he would still be Of rather elephantine
proportions, when 1t Is remembered that his
former fighting trim did not exceed 1876. AZ
the beef-eater is about Sharkey's height
and as the latter in fine fettle tips the scales
at ITS. there can be little doubt that Mitch
ellis extra poundage would be an Utmost in
surmountable object In his run for victory
and he would probably be licked in a punch.
Mitchell, however. would probably be willing
to take a ten-second lodging on the resined
floor Of the arena in order to pick up 10. 200
simoleons in American money, for he would
doubtless be a big drawing card. That prob
ably explains his def to the ex-nsvy lad.
II that lusty ~farrier, Red Robert Fits-
simmons. answers the slogan of the man
of-war's-man. Tom Sharkey. the heavy
weight division will have FIVE contenders for
championship la~urels-Sharkey. Ftz. Kid
Mccoy. Jeffries and Pete Mahev. Sharkey's
questionable victory over Corbett under the
foul ruling doesn't give him a clear title to
| the championship. even II Fits did re-