The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-01-16
SPORTING NOTES.

Bobbie Walthour, the crack South
ern champion bicyclist, was defeated
a day or two in a velodrome race in
Baltimore by Bob French. The velo-
drome is a new novelty in bicycling,
and consists of a series of three rollers
fitted with ball bearings, connected
with leather belts. The machine is
manipulated entirely by these belts.
The bicycle is placed upon the rollers,
and by fast peddling a momentum is
gained that keeps the machine in an
upright position, and the rider is able
to maintain his fastest gait without
any danger of falling or the wheel
slipping off the rollers. To a novice,
however, the sport requires consider
able nerve to undertake. A mile has
been made in 1908. An indicator at
tached to the rollers the same as a
cyclometer to bicycle wheel, tells the
distance.
The fight between Young Corbett and
Austin Rice Wednesday night in which
the latter lost on a foul after going
seventeen fast rounds with the cham
pion, will furnish new food for the dis
cussion of whether or not Corbett is
the man he is represented. 1t was pre-
dicted that Rice would not last ten
rounds, and the prolonged fight caused
many hundreds of dollars to change
hands. Many contend Corbett had q
lucky star with him when he defeated
McGovern and won his title of cham
pion, and it appears that such was
the case, as in later fights with in
ferior men he has never shown real
championship form.
Bobbie Walthour, the Atlanta bicy-
clist, won $4,000 last season following
pace. The season before he won ST., 900,
and is said to be the wealthiest pace
follower in the world. 1t pays to be a
crackerjack in any line of athletics.
Undaunted by many defeats, in fact
almost a regular occurrence, Jimmie
Handler, the once clever middleweight
boxer is still at the business and is
now matched to take a beating at the
hands of Charlie O'Rourke, in Bangor
on the night of Feb. 4.
Tommie Feltz and kid" Goodman
| old rivals ait the boxing game, have
been matched for another go before
the Lennox Athletic Club. of Boston or
the night of the %.
Joe Choyinski and Peter Maher, the
veteran bruisers, will come together
agian Monday night in Philadelphia in
ten round mill. In the last meeting
between them Maher delivered a
knock out in the sixth round after he
was groggy and all but out
Champion Jeffries cannot avoid CIV
ing Corbett another fight as the latter
by posting a forfeit, will force Jeffries
into a meeting or else forfeit the cham
pionship title. Jeffries wants none
of Corbetts game, though he won the
last time they met, but had the fight
been for twenty rounds instead of
twenty-five, Corbett would have won
out handsomely on points, as he had
all the best of the. argument up to the
% round when the end came.
ICY" VOORHEES,, who was one of the
Philadelphia pitchers last season, has
been stricken with paralysis, and will
probably never again be seen on the
ball field.
win" Mercer, the famous baseball
player who committed suicide in a
hotel in San Francisco, Tuesday night,
was one of the most popular men in
the business. His parents lived in East
Liverpool, o., and are heart broken
over their sons rash act of self-de-
struction. Besides his relatives Mer-
Ger leaves a grief stricken sweetheart
in the same city. She is Miss Martha
Porter, a society belle of that place.
In speaking of her lovers death. Miss
Porter says: winnie Mercer had no
cause to be disappointed in his love
for me. have been true to him and
will remain true to his memory. If he
had lived / would have become his
wife" Mercer had just been made
manager of next seasons Detroit
team when he took his life. Pulmonary
affection is supposed to have influence
ed fhe crime