The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-05-21

Tered out:
Hold on. there, Captain: let's eat
him.
And maybe you think didn't mean
II, said Sharkey, and his face was as
serious as missionarys.
M Dainty Methods.
I thought of this story when saw
him glaring at big Faust on the mat
last Wednesday night. He looked as
II ne were about to eat the German.
AND l really began to think he did
mean it. But. of course, that was
only Sharkeys winning way.
Sharkey's transition, with one foot
IN the prize ring and the Nther on the
mat, Is remarkable in some respects.
1t is one thing to be a fighter and an
other to be, wrestler. Tom Sharkey
mas shown himself to be an expert in
both. But, after all. it is no more to
be wondered at than are other things
that have happened in his life. One
OF them is that he was raised before
the mast and never took a drink OF
whisky.
Il have drunk a little wine now and
then,' said he, but red 1iquor-not for
me-
Wrestling VS.. Fighting.
Just to learn how he blossomed out
so quickly as a full-fiedged wrestler,
/ called on Sharkey the other after
noon.
What put it in your head to become
a wrestler" l asked him.
He smiled after the manner of the
man the photographers calls rto look
pleasant
Il wanted the exercise" said Shar-
key. you see, was getting stiff
for the need of a scrap. 1 think
wrestling will make a better fighter of
me-"
You still have your eye to the prize
ring, then?" n
You may put that down"
Then he added
Say, l might just as we'll tell you
right now that would rather have a
good fight than play any athletic game
that l have ever run up against"
And the hight of your ambition in
that line is-what?"
81 want just one more chance at
Jeffries"
Can you beat him?'
Sharkey was silent for a moment.
Then he said, deliberately:
I'D like one chance at him. But
want to say this: If 1 were as big a
man as Jeffries I'd fight Rubin, Fitz-
simmons and Corbett-all on the same
night-one after another And maybe
you think / don't mean it."
But the wrestling gamer"
ooh Tom jenkins got me into it.
He said it would be fine for me and
started in to train me. . wrestled with
Jenkins in some exhibition bouts and
then I tried the Turk. l don't want
any more goes at the Turk. A man
might as we'll try to turn over stone
wall. He's bigger than an elephant"
Before Faust met Sharkey on the
mat friend told him to look out for
the sailor, as he had quick temper
and might in the heat of anger forget
that he was wrestling and adopt some
of his well-known smuggling methods.
l called Sharkeys attention to this.
81 have heard other people say that
1 had quick temper said Sharkey,
"but that isn't so. AS matter of fact,
l am cool, even when I am fighting the
hardest. When the spectators see me
in a fight they think l am mad because
1 rush on my man so quickly. Why,
that is only my method. l believe the
only way to win fight in the ring is
to go at your man. Don't give him a
chance to think and arrange his battle.
Jump right in on top of him and begin
to slug right and left The quickness
of an attack sometimes wins a battle.
But with wrestling, of course, that is
different. That is a matter of science,
too, but not such science as is required
in a prize fight. Wrestling, after you
know the tricks and how to handle
yourself, is. more a question of mere
physical endurance A man to wrestle
must depend upon. brute strength"
Danger on the Mat.
Elm which is there more danger phys
ically-wrestling or fighting?''
Wrestling" was the prompt reply.
"Unless a man has a good neck and
shoulders he had better not wrestle.
Talk about the brutality of fighting.
Say, 1t doesn't compare with that of
wrestling. But there is this difference
In the prize ring when a man gets
good punch and the blood flows from
his mouth or nose everybody sees 1t at
once; but on the mat husky wrestler
may be bending the wrist, or the ankle
bones of his opponent to the breaking
point, and the suffering may be terri
Bile, but the spectators won't know any
thing about it. You see, the strain on
a. man on the mat is almost unbearable
sometimes. In fighting you have
chance to pick up a little between
rounds, but in wrestling you frequently
have every muscle at the full tension
for an hour or more.
zone of the tricks l learned in wrest-
ling is to lie on my stomach and cross
my legs. In this position l can gener-
ally rest for a moment or two"
But the rest he obtained from Faust
in this position was not worth speak
ing about, for the moment he attempt
ed it the powerful German giant lifted
him bodily from the mat, and, using
him for a battering ram, bumped his
head up and down on the floor. But
Sharkey didn't care for that Any
man who can stand the awful punish
ment Jim Jeffries gave him for twen-
ty-five rounds doesn't mind a few bats
on the head.
YES" continued Sharkey, "a man
has to take punishment in wrestling
match as we'll as in prize fight; but
that's all right. I'm used to it. You
see. l like this wrestling game pretty
well-but, understand. / don't like it
so we'll as the fighting game; don't
make any mistake on that. like
wrestling because 1t reminds me Of the
tough time had while before the mast
A sailor who couldn't fight, you know
we'll he'd better stay at home behind
a dry goods counter measuring off tape.
But the wrestling and the fighting to-
pether make me think of those days.