The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-02-05
WHEN MCCOY WAS A KID"
INCIDENTS IN THE EARLY CAREER
OF THE INDIANA PUGILIsT.
His First Appearance i'm Pittsburg,
When He whipped the sDeaf
Mute, in -Four Rounds.
Pittshurg News.

Il
! Pittsburg News.
Except among the few who at that time
followed the game Of pugilism closely in
this divinity it is practically unknown in
| a wider sense that Norman Selby then
and since better known as kid Mccoy"
a few years ago used Pittsburg as one of
| the stepping-stones to the fame which has
come upon him in large chunks. Perhaps
| it would be nearer right to say that he
| used a barge in the Ohio river as one of
the stopping places in the pursuit Of his
| later celebrity as a pugilistic star. That
| may be one of the reasons, or the main rea-
| son. why the Kid has warm spot in an
| otherwise cool affection for Pittsburg. Nc
| Coy was a long, lanky youth of nineteen
at that time, and unknown to all save few
with whom he came in contact as rising
/ young star.
In the published records of Norman Selby
! appears this item: oct. s, 1898, Deaf Mute,
| Pittsburg, four rounds, won" That is a
digest of what happened the time the Kid
stopped in Pittsburg to win laurel sprig.
| Confidence in himself was just as marked in
the Kid at nineteen years of age as now at
| twenty-four safely at the top of his legiti-
mate division among the middleweights. A
record was the thing in those days, and
that was what Selby was after. He was
| willing to fight for it, for at that age he
| had not been rounded out into that theatre
| cal pugilistic form which secured a reputa-
ton as a fighter through the manipulations
| Of a press agent. Another trait that was
| strong in the budding pugilist at that time
was his pride in his work. He was never
without his little pocket scrapbook pasted
with clippings from newspapers giving an
| account of his contests With this little
| scrapbook he introduced himself to some
one interested in the lighting game with
that grace which was his by heredity, and
| followed up the introduction by a modest
| request to be put in the path of some one
| willing to fight in his class. Purses and
| side bets of magnitude were not then in eX
istence for him except as a vague dream of
| "some day" He took what was sent by in
| diligence and asked no faVors further than
! to be put into touch with the game in
| localities in which he was a stranger When
| there was no stake or purse or anything,
| in truth, but crowd of spectators willing
| to see a couple of third-raters go to a finish,
| the Kid passed around the hat and accepted
! what came without flinching. He had made
| his bed of prospective fame and he was con-
| tent to lie upon it.
WHEN HE LEFT HOME
In 1891, when about seventeen years of
age, Normal Selby had cut loose from good
| parents and a comfortable home, burning
| with zeal to become great boxer. At home
| such career would have been cut short,
| and the thought became so firmly fixed in
| his mind that he decided to follow it. If he
| got to the top he might reconcile his par
| ents to his position If he failed he was
| still boy and there were always plenty
| of fatted calves in Indiana. So, to his
mind, it was worth the trial. He fitted
| about the country on Royal Blue line sleep
| ers. never troubled about closely connecting
| trains, but always shifting from place to
| place. One object was to have his name
| placed in as many cities as possible, for in
| that way would the reputation of which
| he dreamed come the sooner. He kept in
| communication with his parents, who had
| not the remotest suspicion that the kid
Mccoy OF whom, perhaps, they read now
| hearts; To those who did read of kid Nc
| Coy" he was only one Of the numerous
| kids floating about the country in the
| same line of business.
Very few knew him and fewer still cared
1 to know him, for. budding pugilistS without
| q fixed habitation are not much cultivated
| In Pittsburg he was total stranger, ex-
| cept to Billy Corcoran, then prominent
| among the fast lightweights. On one of his
| tours across the States he stopped in Pitts
| purg ana through Corcoran's reputation
| q leading boxer went to Billy's gymnasium,
| where his scrapbook was put in evidence.
| Corcoran was nos prepossessed by the Kids
| appearance and tried to discourage him
but he soon learned that a boy who was
| loaded to the gunwhales with sturdy conf
| dence was not to be discourage bv mere
words at that stage The different Contests
We're pointed to throughout the scrapbook,
ana ne refused to be bluffed or disheart-
| ened Now when Mccoy comes to Pitts
| burg he never fails to recall these troublous
ZINES OF MS boyhood, and Corcoran wonders
| why ne could see nothing in the long, lank
| youth who has since become a marvel in
| the boxing art.
In those days ring fighting was under the
| pan, for it was not quite up to the standard
| OF to-day in it's aspects, and the patronage
was not drawn from the same wide range of
= 10 faxy crIO frrl,f
that were brought off were confined to OBJ
| scure spots about the hills outside the city,
| where outside the jurisdiction Of the city
| and county authorities. At the time the
| Kid fell off his train in Pittsburg in 1893
| Billy Corcoran was training Johnny LaVack
! for his fight with Jim Othello the colored
! boxer, which was scheduled for the barge
down the river far enough to take the party
! outside Of Allegheny county.
PASSED ROUND THE HAT
The Kid applied to Corcoran for permits
sion to spar with some Pittsburg man as a
| preliminary with the added privilege of pass
| ing around the hat for what would come in
| that way Corcoran was willing, and when
| the selection of an opponent was brought
| up named Dummy Brickley so called be-
| cause he is a deaf mute. Brickiey is a poul-
| try dresser in the Diamond market and at
that time was just as Jealous to become a
| great boxer as Mccoy. When the other end
! of the preliminary was offered to him he ac-
| cepted with a jump so che match" was
| made. That was the Kids first appearance
before a Pittsburg audience, and even then
| he created a favorable opinion. He won from
| Bricl1ley, but his best endeavors to knock
| out the mute were wasted. Brickley had a
| tremendous advantage in size, but Mccoy
! was very clever and fought hard to put out
| his man. The mute fought just as hard
| against the knockout, and one result was
| that the spectators who had come to see
| only LaVack and Othello were pleased with
the lively preliminary; The Kid passed
| around his hat and SIC fell into it. He di-
! vided it on the basis of $40 for himself and
! SIS for the mute. That fight rather took the
ambition out of Brickey, and he never en-
| gagged in another That was his first and
| only appearance as a fighter. He was salts
| fled, however with the showing he made
! against such clever boxer as Mccoy who
! tried so hard for a knockout without sue
| cess.
! Mccoy left Pittsburg and added to his
reputation elsewhere, and every time he won
| fight there was no one more pleased than
| the Deaf Mute" He was willing to be
| named the victim of a man who had gained
a high name as a boxer and fighter among
! the best in the United States. When Mccoy
took that trip around the world, winning