River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1906-03-08

| One of the hardest things any
pugilist has to battle against in
this world is public opinion. and
| I'm not shooting wide of the
mark when I say that I've, had a
| criticism. In fact, I've been up against
| it good and hard a lot of times, and
while I've tried to hold my temper in
| the face of unjust charges and still more
| bull-hcaded wrong opinion, sometimes
I've let go when couldn't hold out any
| longer-and I've been sorry for it.
Every man, woman and child has
been misunderstood at one time or an
other, so maybe what I'm going to tell
now may get me little sympathy,
though I'm not looking for it to any ex-
tent. because I've always found that
could take care of Bob ,Fitzsimmons
pretty well without any outside interfer-
ence. STILL man sort of looks around
the circle when he gets into mean cor
ner, and if there's friendly look in
the chaps eye in the corner, he feels
that much better
| What l started with in my mind this
week was that little affair that came
| off out in San Francisco about nine
years ago. | mean the go ! had with
Tom Sharkey out there, when bunch
of pikers and lot of sure-thing crooks
jobbed it to give me the worst of it any,
way it happened to go.
AS I said before, I'm not looking for
sympathy, but when a fellow has had
F! it handed to him in the rawest kind Of
a way, it salves the sore spot a whole
lot to get chance to tell just how it
happened. Maybe some of you folks
who read this can remember how you
felt when a sneak thief belted you on
the nose as you walked down the street
and took your weeks salary out of
your right-hand pocket just as you were
going home to hand it over to the WIFE
Perhaps you can remen Der how you felt
when some fellow you thought was all
the cards, handed you the double cross
and set you back hustling for the break
fast money and you never got chance
| to tell even the sergeant at the police
just the way feel about it, and the more
I think of it, the sorer l get. I'd been
working pretty hard to get on match
with Sharkey for some time, and it was
pretty hard shedding to get wallop like
| that for all my pains. 1t I'd been
| whipped, I'd never have said word, not
| peep from yours truly, but to be
sandbagged, and by gun fighter at that
was all the worse. OF course, it all hap
pened good while ago, but it's like
an old gun shot wound-it aches on
rainy days.
| But I've been gassing about my feel
| ings long enough. AS / say, hadn't
been over here so long, anyway. When
| first showed UP in this country the
Fitzsimmons stock was selling long
way below par, and guess good many
of the public had an idea 1t was watered
stock at that. That stacked me up
against the Black Pearl first as sort
of trial horse, and when put him away
in four rounds, it looked easy. Sharkey
was coming along then as the cham
| pion of the navy, and he had his eye out
| for Jim Corbett's scalp. | worked quite
while to get a line on Sharkey, but
then Abe Congle. After him they trotz
ted out Pete Maher, and he tossed up
his arms in IL rounds. Jim Farrell was
handed over, and he remained with me
just seven minutes, all told. thought
Sharkey was in line, but had to make
chopping block of Joe Godfrey for one
round. | argued with Jerry Slattery
for couple more, and they showed a
dead one named Millerd Gender over
the table at me and ate him in round.
So it went for four more years, and
then came the time when got Sharkey
into a corner, and he couldn't get away
There was neat little purse of SIC, 900
up for that mill, and thought it was
mighty useful money. Anyway,
counted it as good as mine, and the
wake-up was all the worse when it
came.
We drifted into the ring that night
out in Frisco, and the house looked
mighty good to me. | saw lot of men
| knew, and spme of them wagged the
finger at me to show they had bit on,
and counted it already spent That
made me feel little bit better, and l
commenced to wonder about this ref
cree they had selected. I never was
much of a stickler for referees. Any
man that looked right to me was plenty
good enough, and though I'd heard
something about this chap, Wyatt carp,
didn't take much account Of what they
said about him. One fellow leaned over
the ring az loafed in the corner, and
said:
There's job out to do you, Bob. il
they have to kill you to get away with
it. Watch out for the gun"
And then some one dragged him OF
the ropes, and 1 didn't get the rest.
didn't pay much attention to it, any,
way. because / never believed I was
going to be shaken down like come-on.
and the tip the chap handed me faded
away. When Sharkey came into the
ring and we walked over to this boz
carp, l took good look at him. He
didn't look crooked to me, though he
had a sort of aSset eye that read like
it wouldn't stand for any argument.
When he talked, he made it pretty plain
that what he said had to go, and | guess
both Sharkey and myself felt we'd be
as good as pair of Sunday school lads.
Well, nearly everyone knows how the
fight went. I had the sailor casing
about for seven rounds, and I was get
ting ready to hand him the wallop that
H.