The daily morning journal and courier., 1904-03-24
WHEN FIGHTERS SUFFER.
"DRFING oUTv PROCESS MOST
 TRYING FOR THE PUGILISF.

In Order to Get to Weight He muss
 Abstain Frem Liquids for the Las
 Few Dayf Of TTatninE-BsDny TaR-
 ger aud Young corbett Notable Ex-
 ampies.
 One of the hardships of a pugilist's life, and there are many. is the drying out" process. To the uninitiated this term may have no particular signifi- canoe, but to the scrapper it is worse than a scourge or the heaviest and most effective blow ever delivered in a prize ring. Drying out is making the required weight for fight In order to do this successfully almost total ab- stinence from liquids is essential Any person. who has even trained for bat tie can readily realize what this means. especially those who have cultivated the habit of drinking with their meals.
 Hardly a boxer of prominence aside from those in the simon pure heavy weight class, has escaped this. It is part of the business and inevitable, un- less a fighter is lucky enough to ar range a match at catchweights which permits him to scale at any weight he cares to.
 The drying out process is usually put in operation during the final two days training for a contest. If the pugilist. has to get to, say 122 pounds, and he is above that limit, he has to be F..Y rNras Liquids of any kind increase weight, and the trainer, if he understands his business, will be prudent to see that his charge does not take on any more flesh, especially if it happens that @ large for felt has been posted for proper weight.
 There are several instances where pugilists have baked at the prograinm me laid down by their trainers. There have been stories told where fighters in the later stages of their preparation ahve smuggled bottles of ale and water to bed, while the rest of the camp slept and drank to their hearts content. But such a procedure was mere folly, as it added all the more to the torments in keeping within the prescribed limit.
 Thirst is painful thing at any time NAllC III llttAAAAAlE II to sftto s~s Ste~N> because all the moisture in the system is absorbed by exercising. In order to alleviate this somewhat, trainers often give food to their charges that will keep the body moistened and at the same time prevent the increase of weight. Yet this does not always help and some fighters are almost harrassed to madness from sheer thirst
 One of the most prominent examples of strenuosity in making weight has been Benny Yanger, the "Tipton Slash err, Yanger, who used to be feather weight, had to keep on training year in and year out to stay at the weight demanded by his competitors. To do this one must be possessed of Spartan courage and grit. When Yanger was matched to fight Harry Padden of Brooklyn, at Detroit last year he had to get to a certain weight. He had of ten fought at the scale, but he was growing older and heavier all the time.
 His mentor could not account for the increase of avoirdupois and one day questioned Yanger,
 You drink lot with your meals, don't you, Benny?" inquired the trainer Yanger admitted that such was the case and then his trainer repliedi Well, Benny, if you wish to save the forfeit money and beat Padden you've got to cut out all kinds of liquids. uT- derstand?"
 Yanger laughed, but his handler con- vineed him that he meant 1t and that unless Yanger complied he would quit him on the spot. Yanger said that he could not do without a drink while training and 1t would be torture for him to abstain altogether. But he was told that he must and finally ac- quisced.
 For a whole week prior to the en- counter Yanger did not touch any li- quid. He made the weight all right, but the long seige of thirst sapped his vitality and brought about his decline as fighter, in spite of the fact that he weighs more to-day than ever be- fore in his career
 Yanger's experience during his week of abstinence is still food for much comment in the West. He could not sleep for more than an hour at a time. Each night he tossed reverishiy on his pillow, drink being rigidly refused, although half dozen times each night his trainer would put the neck of bot tie to his lips and allow him to rinse his mouth without swallowing a drop.
 Kid Mccoy says that his decline as pugilist is due to the drying out" process and that it should be eliminat- ed from training altogether. He con- tends that better success can be ob- tained by allowing the boxer to take on men of heavier weight and fight at his best.
 Building up is just as bad as reduc- ing continued Mccoy. "At least it has been in my case. Whenever l take charge of man and train him for a contest I let him keep at his natural weight. In order to put on weight you have to do a lot of things that you would not think of doing otherwise. In the first place you have to indulge in exercise that will develop one muscle at the expense of the other. In this way you run the chance of becoming slow and slipshod Sometimes you un- consciously become mechanical, and in this way you cultivate defeat
 Root I was advised to take on weight.
 Now, in my last match with Jack I was told that against a pugilist of Roots calibre I ought to scale at least ten pounds above my regular limit, which is 165 pounds. I did so and as a result I was whipped. Somehow I was not as strong as would have been had I weighed 165 pounds. After the