Los Angeles herald., 1906-11-19
BOXERS LOVERS
OF SIMPLE LIFE
NOT RI0T0US PERSONS AS
OFTEN PICTURED
msiority Of Successful Ring Men Are
Quiet, Well Behaved Citizens
Who Save Their Money
for Rainy Day


For many years the belief prevailed,
In certain circles, that the professional
boxer was uncouth, intemperate. i'm
provldent and more or less of a. sbruIser.
One often read of how they spent their
earnings in riotous living, engaged in
street brawls, wore raiment of glad
some dyes and a lot OF other tommy
rot.
TO one who was at all familiar with
the facts and who had given the matter
the least bit of study, this is not with
out its humorous side. Had these
know-it-alls taken the trouble to find
out the facts, 1t Is probable they would
have experienced a reversal of many
of their own pet theories, and the
novelty of the sensation produced can
be easily Imagined.
Take the heavyweight boxer of to-
day, for instance. He is as different
from the picture painted as day is from
night. AS rule, he is a mortal of
intelligence, has bathed at wisdom's s
fount and knows how to behave In any
company He does not dress fiashily,
but patronizes the best tailors.
The cases where he has engaged in
street fights are few and far between.
A striking attestation of this is the
fact that one could count on the fingers
Of ones left hand, the thumb excluded,
the different times in the last dozen
years where a representative heavy
weight has engaged in a brawl.
Try to count them just for the fun of
it. AS regards their being spendthrifts,
nothing could be farther from the
truth. They are careful financiers, and
the best evidence is that many of them
own property, stocks, mercantile estab-
lishments and have healthy bank ac-
counts.
AS far as inebriety goes. most of them
are temperate, some total abstainers.
Off-hand, it is impossible to name one
OF them who drinks to excess Take
the leader, Jeffries, and go down the
line, andsyou will see what you will see.
The champion drinks moderately. 1t is
not known, or at least it is not on rec
ord, where he has ever fought rough
and tumble. He has been fairly care
full with his money, not parsimonious,
but long way from being a spend
thrift.
Joe ChoynsM is a lover of the SIM
pie life, has afnassed a competency, is
mild-mannered, well-behaved and de-
tests a street fight as fiercely as a
barber does a bald-headed man with a
full beard. Jim Corbett is anything but
vicious; is we'll dressed, has histrionic
ambitions, is we'll off financially and
outside of an escapade or two has been
averse to showing his fighting ability
except within the precincts bounded by
the ropes and posts.
Philadelphia Jack O'Brien is wealthy,
does not drink dresses well, is in NO
way a rowdy, and hopes to shine as a
legal light some day. Fitzsimmons
f,,I cfnfa aatc tbrfN
from the beach, drinks only moder-
ately, has some little money, is max
ing good salary on the stage, buys ex-
pensive clothes and Is a home man.
in all the name implies.
Kid Mccoy is probably the most
fashionably dressed of all the heavieS,
scarcely drinks anything, except with
his meals, own a diamond emporium,
and has shown his ability to conduct
1t successfully. Tom Sharkey, who
never was accused of prodigality in the
spending line, is probably the richest
Of all
He OWLS store on Fourteenth street.
New York city, is making money rapid
ly, was recently happily married; goes
to the best tailors; has never engaged
in an out-of-the-ri fight, so far as
the writer knows, and is a good eX-
ample of the successful business man.
Gus Rubin is temperate, quiet, owns
thirty building lots not far from New
York, in addition to other properties;
has never been mixed up in brawls,
seldom talks of pugilism, and to con-
Verse with him one would never take
him for a boxer.
Jack Root is mild of speech and man
ner; has liberal STARE of this world S
goods; is temperate, and comes as far
from being plug-ugly as one could
well imagine. Marvin Hart is never
so happy as when he is on his farm
is anything but bombastic, and re-
minds one of a big, good-natured boy,
His record is free from rowdyism, and
he is well thought of by the best people
wherever he is known.
Jack Monroe is a big, broad-shoul-
dered fellow, who scarcely ever drinks
and has a mild, pleasant personality
that is continually making friends fol
him. Peter Maher, George Gardner and
Jack Bonner are all quiet and we'll
behaved. and one never hears of them
being engaged in alterations.
1T is easy to claim that the profes-
sional boxers are rough and tough, but
when one takes them singly and looks
them over it would be hard to sub
tantiate the claim. 1t is true that II
pugilism, the same as in other vocations
of life, there are members who have
not done exactly as they should have
done, but to the unprejudiced mind it i;