The Bourbon news., 1899-11-07
JEFFRIEs-sHARKEY FIGHT.
The Former Given the Decision in the
Twenty Fifth Round, Thereby Re-
tanning the Champions ship.


Referee George Siler giving him the
decision at the end of the twenty-ffth
round over Sailor Tom Sharkey at the
COney Island Sporting club Friday
night. 1t was one of tae most marvel
Gus battles that has taken pla e, and
the greatest crowd that ever gathered
in the Coney Island club house wit
messed the desperate struggle for SUI
premacy.
In the fifth round Jeffries had the
better of the fight, in the first two and
the last three. During the other 20
Sharkey forced the issue, and like
pull terrier, was at his man with both
hands increasingly. In these 20 rounds
Jeffries' great weight and Drawn help
ed him to hold off the sailor, and in
the 22d round swung in a couple of
vicious uppercuts that made Shar6ey
grOggy. Tom came back again in the
oath and 25th, but was weakened great
ly by Jeffries' vicious blows.
One minute before the gong sounded
| to end the fight Jefries left glove came
off and practically the contest was
| over. The refree mOtioned to Jeffries
corner; an American flag was flung
around the champions shoulders and
the crowd on that side and end of the
arena cheered wildly. The crowd on
the opposite side and end, in Sharkey's
corner, yelled for Sharkey and the
| cd hoa 70
] rooms.
The thousands of spectators were
| banked 40 feet high in the building.
; the. place being packed from ringside
to rafters and the aisles around the
ring were lined. The tremendous
crowd sweated under the glare of 400
arc lights Is feet or less from the can
vass of the squared circle. The heat
most exhausted and the spectators
shrieked themselves hoarse.
| Itseemed at first as though it would
be a short fight. for in the second
], fries put the sailor to the ropes with
a left on the jaw, and the referee be-
gan to call off the seconds as Sharkey
kneeled on the floor.
But from the third round on,
Sharley, with his vicious swings to
the ribs and the jaw. kept the crowd
on its feet waiting for knockout.
Jeffries stood the terrific punishment
and with his eye, nose and ear split,
came back just as vicously in the last
| three rounds and almost retrieved
| himself. Then came the unfortunate
and unsatisfactory ending, Jeffries
| glove flying off, bringing the fight to
an end, although the crowd urged
/ Sharkey to rush in and end it. This he
tried to do but Jeffries fought him
back and Referee Siler rushed
to the rescue. 1t was noticeable that
Jeffries used his weight to its best ad-
vantage, throwing himself all over the
sailor, but the latter did his share of
the hugging and both were warned re-
peatedly.
Ten thousand spectators gathered
around the ring,id Though Coney
island was swept by a gale. the cars
came down crowded to the guards in
swiftly moving line and the sports
waded to the narrow entrances leading
to the arena.
When seen in his dressing room after
the contest Jeffries said: "Sharkey is
the hardest and oest man 1 ever met,
and hardly expect to meet a better
in the future. Within six months /
have met and defeated the best two men
in the world and will now take long
rest, probably nine months or Il
year. Never aga will L fight under
! the same conditions. The heat from
the lights overhead tended to take
away a great deal of my steam and the
glare from the floor weakened my
eyes. My left arm, the one that was
injured while training, gave out in the
fourth round and 1 could not use it
properly for the rest of the battle. or
the result would have been different,
for think that 1 could have knocked
him out"
Sharkey was inconsolable and cried
like child when he went to his quar-
ters and refused to talk, but Tom
O'Rourke, his manager, expressed the
opinion that the sailor should hav> re-
ceived the decision. He said that two
of Sharkey's ribs were broken, and
lett hand was useless, having been
broken on Jeffries' head.
An Order to Postmasters
| WASHINGTON, Nov. 4.-The pOStmas-