The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1899-06-12
SAYS IT WAS AFAKE.
tftZsimmons Denies Authorship of
l4 tho Shilly Letter.

" tho Shilly Letter.
/ NEW YORK. June r.-Bob Fitzsim-
mons, ex-champion heavyweight pu-
.Silist, In company with his wife and
his manager. Martin Julian. attended
q ball game at West End Field, Jer-
sey CITY. this afternoon. Fitzslmmons
acted as one Of the umpires, and after
the game he and Julian found time to
deny the assertion. mado by Leonard
Shtiiy, who is credited with being an
attache of the sheriffs office in Gin
clnnati. Shllly claims to be a personal
friend Of Fitzsmmons but Bob says
he does not know such u man, and
Julian Is equally positive that ne never
met such n person. The letter In st.
self purports that Fltzsimmons feared
defeat, and advised his friends not to
risk any money In their belief that he
would retain the championship.
Il never wrote such q letter." said
Fitzslmmons. don't know Shilly.
Who Is. he, anyhow? You say he is
connected with the sheriff's office at
Cincinnati. Well. IL he Is I know moth
Ing about the sheriff or him. I never
wrote such letter. I'm not n letter
writer. This letter In question Is dat
ed New York, May 81. Since went
Into training some weeks ago, l only
wrote one letter, and that WIS to DIR.
Kelley, q dentist Of Peoria, Ill.,, but
made no mention Of my chances OF VIC
tory or defeat In 1t.
III tell you what I'll do" continued
Fltzsimmons.. ''In order to show tho
public that never wrote such letter
70 Leonard Shiiiy or any other person,
III give 1880 to the person who pro-
duces such document, and further
more, II any one believes he has such
a letter, l will pay his expenses from
where he resides to this city, and
make him n present Of $3.50 providing
that such communication can be pro-
duced. OF course, the letter may be
a forgery, II such n Letter exists, but
l want to be satisfied us to Its exist.
ence, and also want the publ. to be
satisfied TINT never wrote 1t, or had It
written for me. :
Il am ut a loss to know why any per-
son could make such q statement, be-
cause see no reason why any one
should try to in1ure me In this under.
hand manner"
Martin Julina, Fitzsimmons mana
ger. was equally emphatic In his de-
nunciation OF the report. and said:
"fltzsimmons and are close friends,
and l know that he never wrote such
n letter. It is u lie on the face OF It,
fltZsimmons Is not making any idle
boast when he says that he will give
1880 for the production of the letter,
II 1t can be proved to be authentic,
This we can easily afford to do, see
Ing that we know II such d letter ex-
lists 1t must be forgery. Now let
these people come to time. and II there
IS negro in the wood pile we will soon
dig him out. II the letter can be placed
In evidence we will gladly pay $3.50 to
the person presenting it. as we'll as all
other expenses In addition to the $500
promised by Fitzsimmons."
Mrs. FltZslmmons, who was present
said that she was positive That her hus-
band had never written such letter,
Bob was never more confident of
success. and all those who saw the fight
must certainly agree with me in say
Ing that he did his best to retain the
championship. He had no doubts as
to his ability to defeat Jefrrics. and al
though he was beaten, am not quite
satisfied that he can not reverse the
order of things"
Several rumors are In circulation that
Jenrles had offered to spar with Fltz-
simmons at benefit for the latter, but
Manager Julian snid Tonight that JEFF
rles and his manager. instead OF CIV
Ing n benefit. the proceeds of which
would go to Fitzsimmons. had made n
provision that they should receive ffty
per cent OF the gate receipts. When
this proposition was made to FltzsIm-
mons he and his manager declined TO
have anything to do with 1t.