The San Francisco call., 1899-06-10
Mrs. Fitzsimmons Consoles
With the Defeated
Champion,
SHEDS A FEW TEARS
you Fought Splendidly," Her Com
ment to Her Bruised and
Bleeding Husband.
Special Dispatch to The cau.

NEW YORK, June 9.-Mrs. Fitzsim-
mons with Mrs. Julian, watched the
downfall of her husband from an aisle
ON the ocean side Of the building. She
was almost heartbroken when she saw
Jeffries give her husband the blow
which forever settled his claim to the
title of champion.
Ii was entirely unexpected TO her
She had thought her husband was
having all the better of the contest
and was quite joyful up to the time
Bob received the terrible left-hand
swing that started him going and the
terrific right which placed him on the
list Of former champion pugilists.
There were tears in her eyes when
triumphant Jeffres, followed by a
crowd Of enthusiastic admirers. passed
her The new champion recognized
her Immediately and offered her his
hand, which she accepted silently.
When d little later FitzsimmOns ap-
peared, bruised and bleeding, his wife
threw her arms Historically around his
neck and hugged him.
Keep UP your spirits, Bob" she said
TO him. You fought spIendidly, and
although You were beaten you are still
the prince of fighters"
When asked if Fitz had any plans
for the future, she said:
NO. none that I know of"
When asked whether he would fight
again, she said she hoped not. The
prizering never did appeal to her. she
said, and she had hoped her husband
would retire long ago. but he pleaded
with her to let him fight once more,
and she unwillingly consented.
Fitz' occupation Of the lucky corner as
a good omen.
Johnnie Eckhardt. who refereed
fights when the old Coney Island Club
had possession Of the arena, comment
ed favorably on Fitzsimmons selection
Of the corner. He said that during the
existence Of the old club, which extend
ed over period of two years, he could
only remember two or three occasions
on which fighters occupying the south
west corner figured as losers. When
Tommy Ryan fought his great battle
with Billy Smith he sat in the same
corner Fitz occupied. 1t proved very
lucky for Tommy. and as it will be re-
membered in that contest Smith
had Ryan almost defeated when police
interference saved him from knock
out. The police, few minutes later,
thought better Of their action in stop
ping the contest, gave the boys orders
to go on again, and the present
welter-weight champion had Smith in
state Of collapse when the police
finally interfered in the fifteenth round
The corner is also notable for the fact
that Billy Plimmer, former bantam
weight champion of the world. sat
there when he won the championship
from Spider Kelly. 1t was the first
fight held in the arena, Plimmer's first
fight in America, and Kelly's first de-
feat.
fight was the absence of betting, but
few bets being placed. and they were
all small-sized affairs. Fitz opened a
10 TO favorite, with no takers. The
odds finally heightened to to l, at
which figure several hundreds We're bet.
OF the noted betting men very few
We're in evidence, so far as wagers
were concerned. Jeffries' admirers,
while believing in many respects he
had an advantage, hesitated about
placing their money owing to his lin
tied ring experience as compared with
Fitzsimmons, and doubling in their
minds as to whether he would have
stage fright or not when he put up his
hands against the "lanky fellow"
There were fewer bets made than on
any heavy weight championship battle
ever fought in this country.
The New York admirers of Fitz hest
tated about placing their money, ow-
ing to feeling of apprehension on ac-
count of Chief Devery's known attitude
toward fighters. 1t was remarkable to
see such Well-knoWn plungers as "Al"
Smith, Mike DWyer Honest John
Kelly, Jimmy Kelly, Joe Ullman Abe
Levy and Pittsburg Phil, who usually
bet large sums of money on prize-r ring
contests, look on and not bet a dollar
Prior to the appearance of the men
in the ring a conference took place be-
tween George Siler. the referee: Fitz,
his manager, Martin Julian, and JEFF
fries and his manager, Billy Brady
There was a long wrangle over certain
clauses in the articles of agreement as
to the probable action of the referee in
the event of certain contingencies aris-
ing. The conference lasted for twenty
minutes. At its conclusion the referee
announced that in the event of one
man holding with both hands, the 9TH
er would have the right to thump
away until he freed himself from the
others hold. Should both men resort
to holding tactics and become clinched,
the referee agreed to separate them.
1t was announced that in the event
Of knockdown the official timekeep-
er would count off the seconds loud
enough TO be heard by both principals,
thus giving the man knocked down
ample time to rise If he could do so
before the prescribed limit had
elapsed.
After the conference Brady met Mrs.
FitZsimmOns, who was standing out
side Of FitZ's dressingroom, and they
shook hands Brady then joined JEFF
fries in his dressingroom.
1t was eight minutes past 10 when
Fitz, clothed in a bathrobe and carry
ing a floral horseshoe. on the top of
which was an American flag appeared
in the ring On the floral piece was
worked Good luck to the champion. "
Deafening applause greeted the
champions appearance. Fitz acknowI-
edged the reception by smiling and
nodding to the crowd. After being
seated he pulled a piece of ice out Of
the bucket in his corner and began to
chew on it, His seconds immediately
began to sprinkle resin in front of his
corner. The champion. after rubbing
his shoes in the resin for several mo-
ments, sat down, awaiting develop
ments.
Jeffries entered a few moments later
and he was also loudly cheered. He
wore dark trousers and a red sweater.
On entering the ring he walked to the