The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-08-12
bore the significant legend in large black
POSITIVELY NO BOXERS ADJ
MITTED, TO THIS ROOMt.ss :.

-. -
A great many fake fights have been
pulled off throughout the country, some
deceptive enough to convince the public
of the sincerity of the contestants, but
more of them SO raw that the Spectators
have not hesitated to pronounced them
hippodromes. One Of the most success
full schemes for quilting the public. was
that worked by Jim Ashton and Billy
Lambert throughout. the Northwest.
Ashton was an oily sort Of a fellow, very
Wed blessed with a. gift of the ''gab. ;"
His plan was to visit some town in the
territory chosen. hire hall and an
nounce free lecture on physical cultu e.
On the night Of the lecture Lambert
would arrive in town and visit the pro
fessor entertainment. In the midst
of the lecture Lambert takes exception
TO the professor" as a fraud and a liar
In a moment the crowd is in an uproar,
and the lecture comes to an end
A short time after the two meet 'tac-
cidentally' in a corner saloon or drug
store. and the argument is renewed,
growing more heated as it progresses
the bystandeIS rush In and separate
them. Challenges follow and match
Is made. After spirited go. which IS
witnessed with opened-mouthed astonish-
ment by the natives one or the other
contestant Is knocked out, the receipts
are divided and the pair go to the next
town, there to work the same scheme.
Things went smoothly for a time and
Ashton and Lambert lived on the fat of
the land. But unfortunately, in one
town they visited the bystanders were
not OF the usually sympathetic sort, and
when the corner store argument was
reached and the fight began to be fast
and furious. instead of separating them
the spectators formed ring and urged
the fighters on. Both had been blufing
hard, and making such dire threats Of
what they were going to do, that in or
der to carry out their play they were
obliged to fight, and fight In earnest,
100. Both were badly punished and con-
siderably chagrined at being obliged to
fight a real contest
Lambert weakened and said the game
was was played out. So long as the fight
right, but this thing of fighting on the
level was something different and he
would not stand for any more of It,
Ihey split up, and now the short time
they We're lighting their fixed matches
IS only a happy memory, and they stiH
talk Of the swell lunches they ate and
the cold bottles they split while working
t t!1e rake night racket; As Ashton put it:
because of lot of rubbernecks who en-
Ioyeu rough and tumble more than
they would scientific glove contest"
The following letter was received from
! plains itself: '''io
n. July q, 1 1900 doubt you will be sur
when fought Joe Butler, of Phiiadel-
phia here in March Well, whoever pot
! to Butler and was doing business with
MIN made such a rotten Job of II that
the club accused me of completely when
l was innocent of the whole thing Had
known how things were going womb
not have gone on. Butler was a two to
| one favorite over me for two DAYS before
the night, and when we went in the ring
was a ten to four favorite Quite .
change in the betting. The fellows who
! got TO Butler made such bungling tob
| OF IT, and were so hoggish to get their
money up on me that in half an hour
! Butier went from ten to five on the long
end to four to ten on the short end.
Wen, me getting into this thing when
was innocent knocked me out of two
! good matches I had on at the time. One
was guarantee of $1.400 for ten rounds.
Another $500 purse and expenses
told the officials of the club to take
their time and investigate the charges
against me. and If they found l was to
| blame l did not want cent, but If they
J found was innocent to pay me. So a
! short time ago they gave me letter OF
generation and paid me my share OF
the receipts in full
Now, what I would like you to do II
| 1T is not too much trouble, publish the
| inclosed facsimile, which is an exact
copy of the letter of exoreration I got
from the club. Jack Steiner
Intended to mali this to you a couple
/ of weeks ago, but Harting, who had
my steel engraving and all the fac.
/ SMILES, did not give them to me unit