The Saint Paul globe., 1899-11-26
BOXING ON THE WANE
JEFFRIES HIDES BEHIND BRADY'S
FRIEND, CORBETT, FOR NEAR
LY ONE YEAR
MATCH LOOKS A sUBTERFUGE

Few Real Ring Fighters Who Are
Ready and Willing to Meet All
COmers-Sharkey Hammered JEFF
rtes Into a Desire for q Long Rest
Pictures Tell the Story of the
Awful Beating He Received.
The burnt child breads the fire. The
well trounced prize fighter is never again
as good as before he met a master, or
a man who could administer punishment
that convinced him Of the ability of
some one to beat him. 1t is a matter
of record in ring encounters that no mat
ter how great gladiator may have been,
once he suffers defeat he Is practically
out of 1t. Especially is this true of second
meetings between victor and vanquished.
1t is the animal instinct in man. Play
a trick upon a beast and the animal
will be wary of a second attempt. JEFF
fries has developed the animal instinct
to marked degree. That he received
the decision over Tom Sharkey in the
famous meeting between those ring
giants at ConeY Island was piece Of
unexpected good fortune. He was as
nearly whipped as he ever wants to be,
and not lose. Now he wants rest, and
plenty of it. He knows he cannot get
it without being tied up in a match.
Hence his engagement with Corbett 1t
is likely a subterfuge. 1t is not reason
able that he should agree to fight next
September, and pass up all the big money
there is in sight for a world-beater, If
he had confidence in his ability as a
boxer. Ergo: Jeffries is not world
beater. He is an accidental champion.
He could not have fallen into better hands
than those of Billy Brady in order to
carry out his programme Of posing as a
fighter who will not fight. Brady has
had experience In that line.
CORBETTS CIRCUS PLAY.
After James ]. Corbett won the cham
pionship from John L. Sullivan he pub
licly announced that he would not sleep
comfortably until he had met and de-
feated Peter Jackson, the man who had
gone to draw with him while in a Grip
pied condition. A match was promptly
offered by "Parson'' Davies, manager of
the big black. At first Corbett stipulated
that the fight must occur in New Or
leans, where q negro would not be per-
mitted to whip white man. This ave-
nue. of escape from a battle with Jack
son was so grotesquely ridiculous that
Corbett yielded a point as to location
for the battle-announcing that he would
fight Jackson to a finish in Sioux City,
Io.-noWhere else save Sioux City-and at
that time the good people Of Iowa would
have taken any two fighters who attempt
ed to go to a finish within the borders
Of that state and strung them up to
telegraph pole without the ceremony of
f,,io1 4 HTy criIo
the smooth work. He formed an
athletic club in Sioux City and together
with theatrical friends he offered a
purse" for battle to a finish between
Corbett and Jackson. Billy will smile
to this day when one twits him about
that occurrence.
RIGHT DOWN THE LINE.
Then came Joe Goddard, the Barrier
Champion" with a money def to Cor
bett. The champion told Goddard to
go and fight some one and make for
himself a reputation, and then he would
consider his proposition. But he did
not take Goddard's money away from
him, as he would have done had he been
the real world-beater Brady said he was
And then all the big men in the ring
went after Corbett, and he lodged them
all and took on middleweight-Ch Charley
Mitchell, OF England. All this time Bob
FitZsimmons was after Corbett, and
finally the public demanded that the
champion meet the Australian, and
match was arranged for Hot Springs The
writer was there at the time, and writes
from personal knowledge, not hearsay.
FitzSimmons was not responsible for the
falling through of that engagement, as
the CorbettBrad people made it appear
The men could not have met under any
conditions. The governor Of Arkansas
had every avenue leading to Hot Springs
guarded, and he did not permit the men
to both get there. When they did
finally meet, Fitzsimmons won. And he
would have won quicker at Hot Springs,
for Corbett was in bad shape there.
NOT ANXIOUS FOR BATTLE.
At that, Corbett need not have pined for
battle Neither need he nor his manager
have disappointed the crowd of ring fol-
lowers at Hot Springs to see a battle.
Peter Maher was on hand to engage
in a. contest with Steve O'Donnell. Cor
bett and Brady decided upon a circus
play." The ring in which Corbett and
Fitzsimmons were to have met was
pitched in the Hot Springs base ball park.
upon putting 1t into shape. Then, on the
morning fixed for the battle with Fitz-
simmons, the Australian being then in
custody at Little Rock, Corbett was to
enter the ring in Wilmington park and
proclaim his willingness to there and
. then meet Fitzsimmons or any man in
the world for the championship title
Mahers managers got wind of the affair
They bundled Maher into a carriage, and