The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-12-17
If 1T HAPPENS IT'S HERE.
SILER pus 2E
OF A REFEREE
BY GEORGE sILER.

Followers Of bush fights in the mid
die west undoubtedly remember Henry
Baker. he with the awful swinging
right hand knockout wallop and the
wheeling case Of asthma. Now, Henry,
although a hard and willing fighter,
who could go some despite his wheeze,
never aspired for championship hon.
ors. generally being content with a
now and then scrap, to net him the
wbereWithal 10 keep bis system thor
oughly saturated for several weeks at
least. with the stun that made Mil
Waukee famous.
IL must not be presumed that be-
cause of his ambition 10 be the cham
pion schooner holster that he did not
have an exalted opinion Of his tistlc
prowess as he really thought, when
standing behind and within easy reach
ing distance Of "a schooner of sudsl that
he could hold his own with the best
OF them. lie went his thoughts sew
eral points better. when thoroughly
soaked. by boasting that he could beat
any man that ever pulled off a shirt,
ana II must be said for him that he
tried 10 make good his boasts when
ever il became necessary TO assert his
nickels from his pennies.
When in these financial straits lie
barred no man. With him It was a
case OF hrst come first served, provided
the monetary Inducements were there.
Henry bumped his way through pugi-
lism for several years, receiving moth
ing but hard knocks. little money. but
plenty of beer. The latter was dished
out TO him by his friends whenever he
had a match on, and ne invariably
managed 10 get enough OF the long
green" out of a fight to keep himself
saturated for a week or two.
one day in the fall in the early '9Os
Henry was all III, or rather all out,
when Dick Moore, a really scientific
fighter with aspirations for middle
weight championship honors, hap
poned along. and as the price of d
shave looked as big to him as it did TO
Baker. he quickly hooked up TO fight
Henry for subscribed purse. and
without dickering as TO the division
of It.
The mill was arranged TO take place
within two weeks after signing arti-
Giles, and on the date selected they met
in the open TO have il out with two
ounce gloves. Betting on the result
but-the bulk Of the coin was placed on
Dick, because Of his known abilities as
Il fighter and because the spectators did
not care to chance their money on
Bakers wheeze.
Dick worked like a master mechanic
in the first two rounds, but in the
third the rough condition OF the ground
tnteTfered with his sidestepping, with
the result Henry hung one Of his hay
makers on his jaw which put him down
for the count OF nine. Moore arose
with his steps directed towards
Queer" street and staggered out OF
reach OF waliop which. had It landed.
would have ended the fight. II looked
bad for Richard about this time, and
thinking discretion the better part of
Valor. he turned tail and tried TO crawl
under the ropes aud out of the ring.
Fortunately for his hackers, and for
himself, as was later proved. he tried
10 run out near his corner, and his ad-
herents, disguised at his show of cow
ardice, blocked his way. which COM
PEELED him 10 fight or quit cold. Fac
ing Baker again he stood sponsor for q
Few more punches one OF which upset
him, but corners We're called for before
he could be counted out The minutes
sailed into Henry like a new man.
showed remarkable Cleverness, and
Won out in the eighth round.
The losers end of the purse hardly
paid for Bakers training. so after Dor
rowing enough of the root OF an eviI'
20 keep him loaded for a week, he sent
his manager. or rather the man that
took half of his earnings, to seek a re-
turn match with Moore. The latter
naturally jumped at the chance Of Civ
ing Henry another trimming, and i'm
mediately signed articles for a twenty
round tGht TO take place in private in
the stocllyards district. The ring,
erected on a platform, was Just to
Moore's liking, as it gave him an OPP
portuntty 10 show his clever footwork
He was in the pink Of condition, while
Henry was Fat enough to kill.
They lost no time in getting TO work,
and before the end OF the first round
II was apparent TO the crowd that Dick
was Henry's master, and barring an
accident would surely win. They bat
tied away for nine rounds, with Moore
doing much the better work In the
tenth session Baker telephoned one of
his long swings. which Just grazed
Dick s jaw. The blow did not land. but