Los Angeles herald., 1907-08-09

The Britt-Gans fight was called of
last night. Manager McCarey, while
not making the announcement Offi-
his way clear to staging the event after
what transpired last night, and he will
notify the contestants to this effect to-
day. No discussion as to the disposal
of the forfeit money has been had yet,
and when this comes off n lively time Is
in prospect for all hands.
As the situation now stands it ap-
pears that some one tampered with
Jimmy Burns and caused him to sNyal-
low a drug of some sort, the effect of
which was that he became sick.
The fine Italian hand of the San Fran
cisco fight trust, or what still remains
of It, attached to the wrist of Willis
Britt. appears In the doings of the local
ring, and the fight which was scheduled
between Jimmy Burns and Joe Cans Will
provide dirty linen for the pugilistic wash
for some time to come.
Last night, after being put through a
sweating process for one and three-quar-
ters hours Joe Cans came through with
the truth and volunteered the information
that he had been approached by Britt 1T
Arcadia last Sunday and offered $1,000 II
he would find some way of getting out
of the fight with Burns.
Now, who is the fall guy? Frank
Lewis who was in charge of Burns
training, says that he knows nothing
about it, that he has not seen Britt or
any of his agents, and that Jimmy Burns
illness was bona fide and not caused by
anything out of regular physical condl-
tions.
Jimmy Burns, awakened from his sleep
at 1 o'clock this morning, declares that
he has seen nothing of Britt, that he
was feeling fine on Saturday, and that
on Sunday he felt all run down, finally
deciding not to work on Tuesday.
Cans story has been told above.
Manager McCarey of the Pacific
Athletic club is al .olved of any COM
plicity whatever with the fasco, as he
had everything to lose and nothing to
gain by such course of action
The present and latest scandal in local
ffstiana has more queer twists and turns
to it than the Burns-O Brien affair which
occupied the limelight last May. Certain
it is that Willis Britt tampered with some
one and who that some one is will be
hard matter to determine.
Britt came into town last Sunday,
sneaking in quietly and failing to regis
ter at the Alexandria hotel, where he
STAYED during his brief stop in Los An
geles. He was with a friend, whose
name on the hotel sregister appears as
Capt. Baker
Britt came in ont the Owl Sunday, and
Immediately upon reaching the AleXan-
dria retired to the room engaged by Capt.
Baker. About dark he called for an
automobile and, as developed last night,
proceeded to Arcadia, where he cornered
Joe Cans and offered him the bribe.
Cans Refuses Offer
Cans refused the offer and Britt i'm
mediately raised the price. He promised
Joe the thousand dollars and in addition
agreed to pay half his forfeit money, the
whole of which amounted to S2OvJ, if Joe
would find some way to get out OF his
engagement for the 18th of this month.
Britt left Cans about $3.50 or 8 o'clock,
and the next seen of him, so far as care
full inquiry can discover, was when he
rushed into the Alexandria at IL ;25 and
asked the clerk how much time he had
to catch the II 80 train back to San
Francisco. Upon being informed that he
had but five minutes Britt tore out and
jumped into a waiting machine, being
driven to River station in time Tor the
northbound train.
Being in such rush to get out of Los
Angeles before he was recognized Britt
forgot to give his friend, Captain Baker
his ticket and the latter telegraphed the
station agent al Bakersfield to awaken
Willis and secure it. This was done and
the ticket was returned to Los Angeles
by mail.
With the exception of Tom McCarey
and Tommy Burns the stone of suspic-
ion can be thrown in almost any direc-
tion, and somebody's head is sure to
come in contact with 1T. Joe Cans con-
fessed to his share in it, Jimmy Burns,
and with a brave show of truth, too,
denies any knowledge, and Frank
Lewis, who had more chance than any
one to do the trick, declares emphati-
cally that he knew nothing of 1t.
In the above list might be included
Ben Selig Cans manager, who may
have had as big a hand in it as Willis
Britt. Selig blew into town Wednes-
day morning, but instead of letting
any one know that he was here, pro-
ceeded Immediately to Arcadia. He
might have gone away again and none
been the wiser. had not Manager Nc
Carey telephoned to Cans at the Oak
wood inn and told him that the fight
with Burns was probably off.
''Oh, If that's the case Selig will be
right in to see you" said Cans, and
that was the first that McCarey or any
of the sporting men about town knew
Oh SellS WISH.
/ When questioned last night Cans stat
ed that Selig was here for the purpose
of fixing up the forfeit money for the
Gans-Britt fight, which was finally ar
ranged in San Francisco last night. When
asked if the business could not have been
conducted by mail just as we'll Joe re-
piled ''Well we did have a little other
stuff to discuss" but he would not say
what the nature of the ''other stuff"
was.
Long Line of Questions
Before he would admit that Britt had
approached him and shook hands with
$1,000 certified check in his right mitt,
Cans withstood the fire of cross-ques-
tioning for nearly two hours. He was
taken to a room at the Nadeau hotel
shortly before o'clock and at a quarter
to 10 he finally related the story in re-
gard to Willis.
In the conference with Cans were Man
ager McCarey and others. There was lots
of beating around the bush on the part
of the negro, and although questions
were fired at him with rapidity and pre-
cision he always managed to hedge and
evade direct reply.
Finally he was forced to succumb. The
x.yas too eyraaf and before he knew