Waterbury evening Democrat., 1905-09-13
THE PUGILIsTS.
STRAIGHT FROM
 THE SHOULDER
Eat nasterson Talks a Little on That Referee Question -NcCsvern Wants a Try at Nelson.

Many are still talking about the Nelson and Britt battle and the decis- ion of the referee. Bat Masterson, who bails from the west and who knows the sporting game in all its details, speaks in part as follows about that match:
 If there was ever at any time any arrangement whereby some one was to deliver the goods in favor of Britt, Eddie Graney knocked it all in the head when he declared all bets off be- fore the battle started.
 "Graney's action in this case was without precedent and wholly unau, thoriZed, unless he knew that there was scheme on foot which Jeffries had agreed to put through, but for which he (Graney) would not stand for, that there would be no misunderstand- ing in the matter, proceeded to gall all bets off. By declaring all bets Off be- fore the fight and right on the heels 0. the allegations made by Nolan against Jeffries, 1t would seem that MT Graney sent mighty ugly looking proposition straight up to the retired heavyweight champion.
 If Graney was aware that there was really something doing in the fight when he accepted the position of referee, and for that reason called all bets of, he should come out now and say so. In fact, Jeff should require him to explain his conduct in order to set him right before the people and thereby relieve him of a most embar- rassing situation in which he was placed by the all bets off ruling.
 Anyone familiar with refereeing knows that the referee can give cor testant decidedly the worst of it in all encounter. and especially a man of the size and with the strength of Jim lief fries.
 Had the retired heavyweight cham pion ofticiated as referee and been dis posed to have caused Nelson's defeat 1t would have been the easiest thing in the world for him to have brought about such result, and no one sitting at the ringside would have been any the wiser.
 Tn breaking the men apart all Jeff disable Nelson so that he could not raise his arms would be to lay his hands on Nelson's arms and push him back. Britt could have kept continu- ally clinching and Jeff could have showed the fighters apart without caus- ing the least suspicion of unfairness and at the same time been busily en- gagged in tiring Nelson's arms so that after fighting ten rounds he would scarcely have been able to hold them up. All Jeff had to do, with his strength and weight, would be to press down a little hard on the 'Battler's' arms every time he showed him back and that would have cooked his goose in time. If Britt and Jeffries under stood each other the fighter could have fought right into the referees hands by clinching and holding and keeping the referee busy, and the crowd at the ringside would never have suspected that there was anything wrong. Nel- son would have known 1t, but if he at- tempted to register a protest he would have been greeted with jeers and &C., cused of wanting to quit. My only reason for presenting this feature of the refereeing part of the game Is to show what could have been done by Jeffries if he had been so inclined. It may have been the suspicion that something of this kind was on foot that caused the kick to go up against him from the Nelson camp. Referee Graney's declaration of all bets of caused a great deal of trouble all over the country, but that very likely does not concern him in the least
 "If he had any interest at all In the matter it was to see that his pals and friends at home, who had probably got down on Britt, thinking that they could not lose. got their money of safely without any regard as to what effect his decision would have in other parts of the country"