The St. Louis Republic., 1902-12-21

was favotite exhibition Of McIlenna'S.
Jacks theory was To ill Mike with nOur
iShiuS food aud then To work il ua; of him
lie believed that by doing this h" woui'
give Tuths strength and at the same time
keep him dnwn 20 weight sweaters no
! being considered heavy enough for Mikes
costume in the gynna stun. he WAS clothed
IN thick flannel underwear and then hIt
twu heavy blankets wrapped around him
~ h'lr ~ WORK h@ had the appearance of j
man weighing 2lu pounds.
! McNenUa used to literally unwind Mike
| after N" latter got through work. unreeint
the blankets of him ana always finding hin
| lighter than when he started work. EN-
actly haT he escaped putting fuths out u!
! business altogether l. Il mystery which n
alone csn explain.
! james J. COrhrit'S penchant for handaal
! i well known. ANA i'm recent work on tn
leading lights # pusl!ism it is said that his
/: training camp could Dften be discovered bH
! the sIsteniHg structures of white pine h.
/ would cause 10 me erected as soon as he de-
! cidtd 10 settle in any locality. Overindul-
/ genCe in this game. by the way. WAS
! staleness when he fought Fitzsimmous.
| When terhett was preparing for one of
| his battles in New YoIk-that with JeffrieS
he had - pa':1ed post r!sSsd up as an aG-
| lunct 10 lis training equipment. The post
| was used 10 strengthen his arms At least
! he hammered it for awhile ON the theory
| that by hitting solid object OF the Sor; he
| would accustom his arms TO the jar or
| heavy blows. The idea was entirely I'M
! practicable. however. and the post only
| served as the means Of getting some para
graphs i'll the papers.
When he was at work in Asbury Park for
MS bout with Sullivan, in 1892, Curbett fire.
| quently rowed on the lagoon between that
| town and Ocean Grove. He found this ben
| efcial in many ways. and his broazed arms
! and shoulders bore evidence to his auIIatic
| performances by the time he WAS ready 10
! enter the ring. Other fighters took up row
| ing as an exercise later. Danny DIUgherty
| and Abe Attell being in the number.
Road work is the speciality of Hugh Me-
Padden. At least that is what he followed
| most faithfully while working here He
| stated that he considered this branch of
training the most valuable of all work, and
| every morning he took a run of al least FIVE
miles. He believed that light man needed
Iye miles We're plenty for feather weight.
Middle-weight Tommy Ryan also is devo-
tee of this branch of the work when he Is
seriously preparing for Il fight
1t is to Bob Eftzsimmons. however that
the seeker after curosities must go. Any
freak play seems to appeal to the former
be confessed that his choice Of odd training
| systems has always been made with con-
siderable shrewdness.
At Carson City. for instance. while pre-
pairing for his bout with COrbett. he had
several ideas of his OWN. Two of his stunts
We're saving wood and throwing heavy
hammer head around. He claimed that the
use of a saw strengthened all the muscles
of the back and shoulders and increased his
hitting powers without lessening his speed
1t certainly would appear rs if he was right
in his claims on this point.
The use of a heavy hammer head. which
he employed as college athletes employ a
shot. was also healthy work. although many
looked askance Ht this sort of exercise Not
content with '.pattins the head I'm ap-
proved college fashion. he would sling the
heavy weight backward. throw ii between
his legs and bring its weight on every mus
Gle of his arms.
When Bob got cold on that occasion he
went to cave in the neighborhood, where
In was hot spring, and there wrestled
with Ernest ROeber, the steam from the
CTnTif I.,+ l.,tl.
two or three days he worked the cold COM
pletely out He combined excessive road
work with his other training. and logged
over the snow-c0vered roads in heavy
sweaters.
His animal pets have often been the sub
ject of comment. and whenever he had an
, opportunity he pressed them into service as
assistant trainers. He had mountain lion
when preparing for his bout with Maher in
Texas: a huge mastiff when he was train
ing for his go with Corbett. and a pony
when he prepared for his fight with Jeffries
in the East
The mountain lion, Nero, furnished him
with exercise. inaSmuch he took long
runs with the animal each day. The brute
was afterwards electroCuted on the roof of
a hotel where Bob accidentally fastened its
chain to live wire. One of the features
of Bobs work around Langtry. Tex. was
his appearance on the road running al an
easy jog and leading the lion along with
rope.
The mastiff came near injuring him when
he was at Carson city. Bob used the dog
one morning just as tttZ was getting out of
bed
He made grab at Fitz and the pugilist
had to jump to one side to avoid the rush
made by the dog. Bcb landed right hand
swing on the brute's neck. however which
served to daZe it. and then picked up a port
able wrist machine and drove the animal
from the room.
His pony. also. came near causing him an
injury while he was working with the lit
tie brute on the seashore. He was accus-
TONED to throw the pony around after both
had gone into the surf and taken their bath,
kicked Fitz on the knee The blow was but
elancing. yet II served 10 lay Bob up for 1,
few days and gave him some concern.
In this connection 1t may be mentioned
that fitz's partiality to surf bathing and
swimming when he was preparing for jeff
ries gives him the title of the only pugilist
of importance who has practiced swimming
as training work. Every morning Bob
would take his swim and the work may or
may not have done him good. II is said
that FITS hardest work was due TO the ef-
forts Of Mrs FitZsimmons. who drove q
trap down the roads each morning, making
impressed with the idea that Jeffries was
easy that 1t is not believed he did himself
justice in his preparation.
Brooklyn Tommy Sullivan may be credited
with having introduced an innovation. That
is. training in an automobile. Sullivan was
taken out often by a wealthy business man
of this city when he was training for his go
with McCleland four weeks ago and In
each case the pair jCurneyed in 4 gasoline
carriage. Tommy became impressed with
this system Of training. and probably fig
ured that covering ten miles in an auto
mobile was equivalent to running the same
distance, go far as conditioning himself
went.
AT least he scented to go on this basis for
he was clearly not at his best when he
faced McClelland. The Tight-han1 punch on
TommN's jaw. which won first money for
McClelland. probably sounded the death
Enell Of the automobile as an adjunct L,
training so far as Sullivan is concerned.
Peter Maher was formerly a great ;dvo-
attribute much of his punching ability 10
his steady work on the leather ball. His
1ancy for this sort of work proved disa struus
when he met F'itz in Mexico just across
from Langtry. Peter had rugged Up trai.-
Ing quarters in an ol' abode structure and
had fastened his punching bag directly Ia
the ceiling. The result was a steady shower
of alka!i dust. which descend ad rs he
worked at the bah and which got into his
eyes. In twenty-four hours Peter was blIri
and helpless. and was the subject Of med
'cal treatment. His bout with FItz had TO
be postponed several days. and when he
finally entered the ring his eyes were in
had shape. Fitz is generally credited with
water and then landing a punch while Pc
ter was blinking
When Young Ccrbett was preparing here
for his bout with Dave Sullivan which
never took place. he used dumb bells stead
lily. He would dance on wrestling mat for
fighting and waving dumb bells around He
kent this up with more regularity than any
fighter that ever trained in this city.
Kid Parker of Denver. il will he remem-
that meat was unheaithful and that vegeta-
hles furnished all necessary nolIrishment
His ideas on this point underwent a sudden
and radical change: however, after he met