The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-06-16
Chief Devery's Opinion of Fitzsim-
mons-Jeffries Affair.
LAW WAS NOT VIOLATED
HE DID NOT SEE ANY KNOCKOUT
BLOWS.
Some Neat Scientific Little Taps
Given Which Might Have Jared
Somewhat-Was Simply Glove
Contest, In Which He Had No
Right to Interfere.

New York, June 15.-The sittings oil
the Mazet investigating committee to-
day proved interesting. and in al
least one instance exciting and after
a squabble with the minority men,
bers over the matter of adjournment
the sessions were adjourned until
Aug. l.
Chief of Police Devery was called
upon by Mr.. Moss to explain why he
| first threatened to stop the Fitzsim-
inconsistencies prize fight and Their. went
to the ringside and allowed it to go on
to knockout finish. Chief Devery ad-
mitted that he took an interest in
prize fighting and upheld prize fighting
and the Horton law.
Devery said the recent fight COM
piled with the law and was in all
respects a clean-cut contest. He fenced
a great deal regarding whether Fitz-
simmons was knocked out, and ended
up by saying he thought the Cornish
man had had enough.
He did not know, he said. that money
was charged for admission to the
Jeffries-Fftzsommins exhibitions: he did
not see any money pass for tickets of
admission. (Under the Horton law
boxing exhibitions may be given only
before club members, the contestants
being also members, and no fee may
be charged). He explained the differ
ence between Marquis of QueenSbury
and London prize ring rules. He would
interfere in a fight under the London
prize ring rules but there was, he said,
no brutality in bouts according to the
Marquis of Queensbury rules.
He had wanted to prevent the Jeff
ries- bout but deferred to
the wishes of the people who took
the opposite view.
Saw No Heavy Blows.
did you see any heavy blows
struck" was asked Chief Devery.
They Jared a little. 1t was a clean.
scientific contest. Neither of the men
complained that he was struck heavily"
Was there knockout biow?''
THAT / can't say. The man went
down L can't say if he was knocked
out
You saw him knocked unconscious
and carried from the ring?"
L did not 1 saw him put in a chair,
recover Immediately and shake hands
with his antagonist"
Mr.. Moss quoted at length from
newspaper clippings regarding the
fight, but the chief stuck to his posi-
ton that under the law the police had
no TlSnt 10 interfere IN a glove contest
like that of Jeffries and FftZsimmOns.
Asked how Jeffries comes to be cham
pion if the contest was not a fight for
the championship of the world the
chief said:
Under the law he is the Horton
champion"
Fell From Little Tap.
The chief denied that he let the
Observation-Disclosures contest go on
because he was warned if he stopped
that fight he would have to stop all
others and might thereby hurt the bust
ness of his friend Senator Sullivan !
Was Fitz knocked down by Jeff
RESP
He fell. A little tap might have
dropped him while he was sidestep-
ping"
1T looked as If he fell as the result
of blow?'
He might have. My personal opinion |
was that the law was not violated
Mr.. Moss, still reading, referred to !
two blows in the face that were like |
the kick of a, mule"
Did you see these two biows?"
Il saw those two scientific taps"
Chief Devery and Mr.. Moss then got /
into a fierce wrangle regarding a /
friend of the chiefs and his connec- |
ton with poOlroOms and the chairman |
ordered the chief of police from the 1
committee room, threatening at the 1
same time to have him elected by the /
sergeant-at-arms Chief Devery left.