The Lamar register., 1906-04-25

There was 4 gathering Of sports at
Q New York hotel the other night,
and the conversation drifted to old
time ring Affairs. In the course OF
discussion the first fight between
Bob F1tzsimmons and Peter Maher
was referred to, and one Of the party.
Q weil.known trainer OF pugilists. told
Q story, heretofore unpublished, OF
the Irish scrapper's failure to become
the middleweight champion OF the
world through the clever scheming
q Joe Choynsd. Choynski is known
q the prince Of seconds BY his con-
freres. and In that mill he was In
the Cornishman's corner.
THAT was one OF the longest mills
Naher ever engaged In" said the
trainer, and when / say that Peter
Aaher got . rough deal in that con-
test l am speaking the truth. Fitz
was q beaten man that night. and oe
Owed his success in that mill to no
other man than Choynski. II you Will
recall that encounter. Maher was
dropped in the second round with an
ugly left-hand 5ab. and for all the
world 1t seemed as II Peter would
never get to his feet again But he
I'D.
THE Irishman arose in 1iffy and
rushed FttI to make a quick win OF 1t
II he could. Maher was As green as
grass ut tho time. but, as all the pa
irons Of the ring know. he had the
Duneh. He realized that Fftz was
clever and had very long reach
and. besides, was seasoned and ex-
perienced. So Maher swung for the
Jaw with the left In wild fashion. and
tie blow caught Fftx on the side OF
the cheek. There was q lot OF force
behind the punch, and Bob was sent
sprawling to the ropes. where he hung
In a helpless condition. 1t appeared
to everybody in the crowd. even those
who had backed Fitx. that he could
all but out. and It looked as II an
other light punch would put him away
for good. Mahef did not know enough
70 follow up his advantage and lost
. few seconds in planning what he
should do next. Before he could
gather his thoughts together Choyn-
ski. realizing the situation. slid along
to the timekeeper and pulled the bell
for the end of the round. We all
thought it was legitimate. and Az
the seconds jumped into the ring.
Choynski carrying Bob to his corner.
Just At this stage Choynski's re-
sourcefulness got to work Fitz was
still dazed from the blow and Choyn-
ski, as . last resort, stuck PEN
knife into F1tx's arm. lightly. Of
course, but enough to give him =
shock. and In this way brought the
Cornishman to his senses. When he
toed the scratch for the third round
F1tx had somewhat recovered and In
the fourth was himself again. Maher
used bad judgment after that and was
eventually whipped. After the mill
someone recalled that second round
10 Maher and told him how Choynski
had ended the round. Upon investi-
ration Maher ascertained that the
round had still thirty seconds to go.
or course, Peter never forgave Choyn-
ski for the trick and determined upon
getting even. And he did. too. About
Sour years after the Fiusimmons con-
test Maher and Choynsh were
matched and the affair was decided
At the Broadway a. c.
I'm the first round of that fight Pc
ter appeared to be slow. Joe jabbed
him to his hearts content, but Maher
simply smiled. In the second he
started kidding choynski. invariably
winding up with: 'Yez used a PEN
knife on Fitz in New Orleans TO bring
him back. didn't ye? Begorra. whin
I get me kenknife workin' it'll be all
lay wild yez"
Every time that Maher landed q
hard punch he would yell at Joe:
"Thot's me penknife! How dyer
loike n!' Choynsd said nothing. but
kept on fighting. Finally, in the
sixty first round, Peter landed q
knockout punch that was a beauty.
choynsE went down like a log. and
n was some time before he came to.
Aaher WAS slated over his victory,
more from the fact that he got re-
venge than anything else. When
Choynsh revived. Maher naturally
went over to the defeated mans cor
aer to shake hands. As Choynaki
extended his hand to Maher the lat
Ter. with look Of triumph partly
mingled with pity, said to Choynski:
I'm sorry for yez. Joe. cause yer
IRE a good fellow. But the next time
Vez uses a penknife on a man remem-
Der that the other man carries wan