Los Angeles herald., 1906-04-01

not settle down and have a good time
in your own quiet way?
"I never liked prize fightin' and L
don't believe anyone else ever liked 1t.
But there's money in it so what's the
use of lookin' a good thing in the face
and throwin' mud at it.
Now you take that old guy, John d.
Rockefeller. He's a dead one. All he
does is to sit round and make his head
ache trying to get all the money IN
the world at once. Why, if | had all
his money, I'd go over to Catalina and
buy a launch and fish all year long.
The ground over there is fine for fishin'
and the fish are game ones, so what
could he want more?
But money is a good thing" con-
tinued the philosopher as he waved
his bludgeon in the air in emphasis.
ducked behind an alfalfa plant and
waited for the wind to quit moving.
"AND IT IS PRETTY GOOD TO
HAVE AROUND ALL THE TIME so
FOUND SOME DAY AND THE
MONEY WAS GOOD AND HIGH.
WHY NOT"
There was just a tiny shade of long
ing in the big mans voice and he
glanced down over the rolls of muscles
showing like chiseled marble through
his clothing.
But really 1 don't like the fightin'
game, and just remember that. 1 don't
mind fightin', of course, but it's that
trainin' stunt that makes me sick. If
1 could just get in the ring, you know,
and all of a sudden jump in and do
the wallopin' act, why it wouldn't be
bad at all, but there's too much trainin'
for me-"
You are not soft" 1 remarked, as
I watched the easy play of his muscles
and his quick light step as he moved
over the plowed field.
The big man grinned and instructive
ly he tightened his biceps and his shirt
sleeve tore apart with ripping sound:
What do 1 think of the fightin'
game? oh, 1 don't know. 1t hurt me
a lot to have old Fitz get his from
Jack O'Brien, and now it seems funny
that that fellow should be going around
laboring under the impression that he
is a top-notcher. He has been whipped
about forty times by just any old fell
low, and where he comes in for champ
honors is a mystery to me.
Fitz Defeat Hurt
But say, it really hurt me a lot to
think of old Fitz. But 1 knew it was
coming to him when he hooked up
with O'Brien. You see, O'Brien is
shifty man and as fast as a flash, but
he can't stand a wallop in the stom-
ach. 1 figured that if the old man
could get to his bowels in the first
five it would be all right with Fitz,
but then on the other hand there was
little figuring to do, because O'Brien is
too crafty to let anyone get at him
unless he cannot help himself along
in, LOFT nf o.
There will probably be something
doing in the fighting line with the
youngsters, as 1 see McCarey is tying
up everything in sight, but at pres
ent in the heavyweight class there is
nothing moving. 1t will probably be
long time before they find real
one, and in the meantime the bunch
get together and knock each other.
Every prize fighter seems to think that
as soon as he gets a fight with some
one he has got to go in and say things
about himself in the papers for week
or so before the fight. But they're out
for the money, so it's all right.
Let 'em talk all they want to, and
when they find a man, real one, why
then"
The champion stopped and said little
more of the fighting game.
Toads and Boxers
Everything has got a right to live"
said Jeff, and / make it rule not to
kill anything on the farm unless it's
bad dope"
The big man stopped down and picked
up a baby horned toad and made a
grimace at 1t.
The tableau was superb and it re-
called a picture in a fairy story book
/ once owned where Jack the Giant
Killer was being held between the
thumb and forefinger of a giant named
Blundergore.
The little toad seemed to be thinking
of the same thing and it wiggled
desperately and Jeff turned 1t loose.
"Thems cute guys" said Jeff. "They
move so fast and wiggle around just
like the kid boxers.
But, say, a fellow ought to get all
the money he can of course but the
purses in these kid fights are pretty
high. Twenty thousand for youngster
scrap is a lot of money.
"All alfalfa" came the next remark
from the champ as he pointed in every
direction. A dozen feet away was the
beginning of a well grown field of the
costly clover, and Jeff looked at it and
grinned.
"Whole farm in that stuff" he re-
marked. "About 100 acres, so you see
I have been working some for a While.
When I came out here nearly half the
land was covered with cactus scrub
and that took up lot of time.
Cleared Cactus Land
"I spent six months burning cactuses
and thi ngs with stickers on 'em until
I thought I was going to turn to a
cactus. I used 80 barrels of crude oil
II ,Ia am
right"
We walked over to Jeff's private gar
den. where young garden truck of every
siza kind and description was begin