The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-01-06
BILLY A WILL
TRAIN jim JEFFRIES.
Champion Is Hog Fat and 1t Will Take a
Lot of Hard Work to Get Him in Shape
for RuhIin---Gossip of the Ring.

~ az HiHfTI'H. Dut Win lS huI1lTfIS 70
barred the pleasure OF witnessing II In most
or the great cities Of the land. This f. due
10 several causes. Of which the principal are
the opposition Of a large portion OF the re-
lgious element OF the community. and the
fact that the promotion Of the fport is
mainly In the hands OF men Of poor char
actcr.
have a friend who Is a. true blue an
American as ever lived. He has very orig
mai Ideas on many subjects. and, though
ne IL anti-British almost TO a preJudiced
degree. he f. almost a monomaniac on the
sub1ect OF personal liberty" Says he:
The American people talk volumiEously
or being the freest people In the world. but
IL IL an actual fact that they don't possess
one-half a. much personal liberty as do the
English.
Let me Illustrate my contention. Take
the National Sporting Gu Of London. IL
Is composed of a large number OF gentlemen
who are fond OF physical sport. They have
fstic contests from time to time. and the
English police officials never think Of inter
rering with them. In England the mans
club IL his house and an Enslishman's
nouse. no matter how humble Il may be. r.
ms castle. II. may be - dilapidated that
and the rains may beat through its roof as
through a sieve. but the Queen of England
may not cross the threshold Of its door
WITHOUT PERMISSION. except armed with a
The New York Athletic Club has n mag
hInceLt home. but IL cannot have a boxing
Dont ior the entertainment Of its members
ana thrir friends within its walls. The po-
nee would raid the club. Just as they would
rad the parlors OF a private residence. If
its owner was to hire a couple OF scrappers
70 Dox for the pleasure Of his friends. We
In America. and especially here in New
cratic as thai exercised in Russia There Is
OILY one way TO evade this tyranny, and
tina; is by bribing the police to permit you
men who care not how they get money so
,hey DO get II do this In every city in the
land. and that IS why vice nourfshes as IT
does In all our big cities. II the good
Ioiks. who make such an outcry about the
existence OF vice. were TO give the people
liberal laws which could be easily enforced.
instead OF enactments which open the way
Tor bribery and evasion, the community at
large would be benefited more in one week
will help them in a hundred years"
nv i ieonScI hnsIs f e q good deal Of truth in
II boxing Ii tn command the respect az
Wen as the patronage of the public IL must
De taken out OF the hands of many CT the
men VINO now figure as its promoters. There
are among them many men who. though
OF ordinary means. are honest and square.
put II Is a fact that a large majority Of
and fighters are men who, TO use their own
language. are "out for the stuff" and care
not how IL is obtained These are the men
a. IhEy h4Nt III
their train a horde OF sure-thing tln-horn
gamblers who find Il safer to rob the public
by "put,up jobs. than It is by actual force
ana violence. These gentry are the scum
OF the earth. They haven't half the honor |
Of a petty-larceny thief. ! know It Is a !
herculean task TO purify the body pugi-
free II from the probation Of these hum.n
lice, but It must be purified II 1t is to again |
does not find such favor II Will die the death |
just as certain as that night follows the |
day. IL Is because Of this that I hail with
Joy the fact that in Cincinnati and in Men,
phis. and many other places. men Of char |
acter like Mayor F1eischmann are lending J
their sanction to boxing contests. These I
wrorged. and It is to their support and In |
nuence that I look to see n genuine re-
formation brought about in pugilistic mat
about is my earnest prayer.
The coming championship contest between J
those giants of the rtng-Jim Jefries and
Gus Ruhlin-is exciting universal attention
not only In the sporting world. but lar be-
ySnd ITS confines; Jenries yill have 70 take
FOR the ring. Some claim that he will have
TO take of fully fifty pounds. but 1 DOUBT II
Billy Delaney. and 1 think that that sstute !
handler Of athletes will be content IL ne
lands his man In the ring weighing from Us
20 I'd pounds. II I mistake not, this will
be the heaviest weight that a genuine cham |
pion ever fought at. |
/ think that Rubin will hardly scale more |
than $50 pounds when he strips for the fray. 4,
One hundred years ago Jim Belcher was :
champion OF England. He was 1--WE feet
eleven inches high and fought at about
possession of all his faculties he was rever
beaten. but he lost the use Of one of lis
eyes by its being hit by a racquet ball IN
a game played with a friend. and after that /
Belcher was never himself again.
Tom Criob. whom many regarded as Eng
lsnd's greatest champion. was Belchers al !
r-oa In thu rnlf u
ship. He was a short. stockily built man. |
and a slugger par excellence. When he /
fought his last battle for the championship
he trained down from go to 1876 pour1s. but |
he took nearly four months to do IT. Jen-
ries Will have TO- DO 2 tremendous men amount
test. I have reason TO believe that he was a
partial cripple when he fought. Sharkey
while training for sharkey: is now said to ,
be perfectly well again. II he Is wise IN
preparing for his coming contest he will
n were training a man wouldn't allow
a medicine ball to be touched by my nan.
and / wouldn't allow him TO bestride a bike
needs is plenty Of head work and lots of
heavy bag exercise. He should have a big
bag made and stun II until 1t weighed about
1876 pounds This should be suspended 80
that II would swing freely. Let him
punch this for an hour or two. very DAY
and 1t will do him more good than an tire
Ddifs lii DikcS III III.
am not opposed TO bicycling In Its proper
place. but that place is not In the curri-u-
lum OF q fighter.
Bob FitZsimmons has given a column OF
to Rubin and TO Jenries. He follows
lead In admonishing Ruhlin 10 abstain
from the use of tobacco. Unless the Aaron
Giant takes this advice, Ia my opinion. u"
won't. barring accident. have a one 10 Iour
Of winning with Jefriss. Bob al
vises the big boilermaker to cultivate speed
II seems to me ne was speedy enough ior
Robin when they met. He landed a punch !
on Fftz in the second round that knocked
him silly. and during the next nine rounds
he was. with Fits all the time. and in the
last three rounds he gave him such a lick
Ing as he had never before received.
think myself that JEFF would be all the bet
ter for a little more speed. but even as ne
Is he was speedy enough for Robin.
Dan Stuart. who has been alternating. as
were. for a year or more. now shows sIgns
of pugtlistic activity. and some OF his friends
say that he intends pulling on a number OF
lights In Carson City between now and
summer time. Stewart Is a warm friend OF