The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-08-27

Jim Corbett in CarstN City. Anyway
you look at it, it means about as much
to me as anything could mean. u 1
jump in and tell the real tale s. that
little business, it ought to give pref
tY fair notion of what the old man
teens like when he climbs through the
ropes and looks the outfit over.
I'll start off right here by saying I
never had nerve in my life. l don't
know anything about such things and
L don't want to. When I was putting
in good hard ticks on the anvil back
in New Zealand the only thing I knew
about nerves was when I collided with
a bit of hot iron, and that didn't last
long. l didn't know what it meant
much, except that it was a good thing
to keep away from. I've walked into
the ring something over 300 times in
my life, and 1 can't remember that I
ever had a-tremor or a shake. except
what 1 got from the other fellow when
/ got careless. Nerves may be all
right for some folks, but I've managed
to get along without them, and Ia like
to bet that some of the doctor boys
would lose a bunch of good hard money
II the rest Of humanity was ike me.
No healthy man ought TO know
whether he has nerves or not, any
way, and If he has then he isn't
healthy, and you can't go back on that.
But what l wanted to talk about was
IkAlN 1t6Hl dl 0dISOH lily
Pleased With Match.
When that match was made 1 think I
was about as we'll satisfied as If Ia
been left a million, for I'd been wait
ing for q chance at C0rbett "A good
long while. if you remember. Jim
didn't think much Of me those DAYS.
for some reason or other, and he never
took any particular pains to hide it,
either; but then he was a young fellow
and he's learned a lot of things since
then. I've trained for many a fight,
but never as 1 trained for that one,
and il was good hard work ali the time
Because l didn't fettle myself up the
way the others had been doing a lot of
foolish stuff found it way into the
papers, and then the report got out
that 1 was only bluffing, and had it
fixed up with a gang back east to lay
down. That made me sore. for I'll say
honestly that I'd have gone into the
ring with Corbett If there hadn't been
a dollar In it for me anywhere in sight
and 1 think he knew il Just as well as
l did. However, ] just kept on work.
ing and saying nothing much and 1
went through a pretty stiff grind all
around before the day came along. 1t
was pretty hard work waiting, too, but
L put the time in, for 1 knew that il /
was going to whip Jim I'd have 10 be
there when the last gong tapped.
It's not swelling things a little bit to
say that over thousand men have
asked me how L felt just then when 1
climbed through the ropes. I've never
really talked much about it. because
it never seemed worth while, but I'm
going to tell the facts now I didn't
feel much of anything except that I'd
made up my mind that / was going to
whip the man If l had TO stick there for
twenty-four hours. I walked around
that ring in my bath-robe and / looked
the crowd over pretty well remen-
Der there was one man IN soft gray
felt hat who sat in my corner, and
when / hooked over at him at leaned
over TO chap next to him and said:
Billy Soaked Kangaroo. q
"Corbett II knock his bianked head
off. Look at what he calls legs"
That made me sore for a minute, and
leaned over the ropes and said to
kim;
You billy-soaked Kangaroo, I'll give
you a hundred If you'N say that again
at my camp after the fight" And then
felt foolish and went over to the
most of the time about Corbetts feet.
They'd always said he won most of his
fights with them, and I was figuring
out way to put ON him with mine.
If you ever saw the pictures they took
on that fight youli remember I was
walking about with my head down
most OF theIime before Corbett showed
UP in the ring. md VAS just figuring