River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1906-04-19
way, it's a good bet and worth little

way, it's good bet and worth little
playing.
/ never heard Of fighter yet that
came from any one of those other
countries-the Italys, the Germanys
and the Russias, you know-that ever
amounted to anything with his hands.
Maybe it's because they don't use their
fists. but reach for a knife or a club
or gun, or something, or come up be-
hind a man and wallop him on tbs
back of the head with brick. Any
way, you never hear of any of them
sending over man to meet the cham
pion of the world, do you?
No, gentlemen, there's no race IN the
world to-day that can get the best of
the AngloSaxons in rough-and-tum-
bic, catch-as-catch-can or go as you
please scrap, and think that's been
proved few times What happened
to the Spaniards? What happened to
the French? How many times has
Italy been trimmed? What did the
Japs do to Russia? Go back into his
tory and you'll get the answer. All
those countries and races can send
their people over here. though and
this big country will look them over
and say:
''CSn! Well, you don't look up to
much right now, but in about two gen.
erations I'll be able to make some
thing worth while out of you. Go on
and get digested"
The championship is always going
to be right here. Any time you should
wake up and find a new champion
fighter of the world, you don't need to
ask where he lives. The address on
the bottom of his visiting card will be
just ~. S. A." and it will be SO for
good many hundred years to come.
I'm not disloyal to the country that
started me out with pair of good
hands and knapsack full of hopes,
but I'm just telling you the truth. It's
fact and will be a fact. America 8
bound to furnish the fighting men for
the world. Why, any chap that reads
the papers can see that for himself.
Who are building the big bridges all
over the world? Americans. Who are
digging the. canal? Americans. We're
furnishing the big fighting men for
everywhere, and they're making good,
too. 1t isn't only pugilism. It's every
thing. But you can tuck this away in
your hat band and tell it to your
friends who hold up their hands and
whine about pugilism being brutal
fol- oh ioI1t
man to stand up in ring with moth
ing but his hands and give and take
GO minutes of bruising and battling,
and no lad with weak lungs or a hec-
tic flush and spectacles is going to
stand the gaff for minute
Any time you see lad with good
pair of hands you can bet he's not
losing much time sitting up nights in
the back room of gin mill or smok-
ing cigarettes. If he is he won't be
handy with those fists very long.
Fighters are to be found everywhere,
and they don't all get into the ring.
One of the fastest little men, and the
gamest, too, that ever saw isn't in
the game now. He's the treasurer of
one of the finest, biggest and best
theaters in this country, and he's as
nice and quiet little gentleman as
you ever saw. I'd like to bet that any
thing he goes after he'll land. That's
getting away from the subject, though.
America is going to breed champions
right along, and the championship of
the world is going to stay right here.
1t can't be any other way There's a
lot of good material right here now,
and it's coming along fast. Now that
Jeffries has retired, or says he Las it
looks as if there was going to be an
other fight pretty soon, and for the
championship, too. I think I've got
the best right to the title just at this
minute, now that Jim has passed it
up, and if young Mr.. Hart of Louisville
thinks he can put crimp into yours
truly, he's welcome to the chance
He's a nice ambitious young fellow,
and I'm going to do what I can for
him. I've lived pretty clean, and for
a 43-year-old, I claim to be pretty
speedy yet and able to go a bit.