The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1907-01-18
STEWARDS INTERESTING
TALE OF CANS START
Explains How Lightweight Champion First Met
Good Man in Ring-An Early Fake
That Went Wrong
By THOMAS S. RICE.
wEB

Fred A. Stewart. the Canadian pool
champion who is 10 play Frank Sher-
man a 600-point game al the Metro
politan Hotel on Tuesday. Wednesday
and Thursday nights, Is no stranger in
t Washington and Baltimore, where he
once had a career as full of lively ex-
periences as female reformer is fun
OF words.
Stewart is the man who managed the
boxing exhibitions in the annex to her-
mans Monumental Theater in Baltimore,
and when the night game got 10 going
fast ne began holding fights in 1895. in
what is now kernan's Lyceum In Wash
.s- ngton. lie was successful while here,
but an agitation against boxing put
him out of business.
Cans Real Name Is Cant.
While running the Monumental bouts.
Stewart claims 10 have found and first
developed Joe Cans. Cans was a fsh
cleaner In the daytime. and at nights
he turned an additional honest penny
a-r boy setting up pins Ia the bowling alley
connected with the theater which enter
prise Stewart also managed.
Stewart says the lightweight cham
plOns original name was Cant, and ne
-s tells a funny story Of how ne hrst got
hold of the great negro fighter ana was
unintentionally responsible Tor the
change IN name.
The First Bout.
Il was running of the bouts in the
Monumental Annex said Stewart this
morning. "and one day matched Fred
SWeikert. who now referees many of
the fights in that city against youth
q from a town ia New Jersey. The after
noon before the night / was very busy
when il was learned that We needed "a
new set of gloves The handiest man
10 send after them was the jersey man.
/ gave him s. and told him 10 buy
set He went forth with the five. and
~ never did come back. He was the
greatest sure-Jhng artist L ever saw
We gave percentage 10 The winners
and nothing TO the losers In those brave
days and this cold calculating citizen
from Jersey preferred five ia the hand
10 Wallops and prospect OF getting
a. When / realized that the man from
Musquitolaud had faded I looked for "A
substitute, and Joe Cant plnhOy in
the bowling alleys, was recommended
the strength of number OF scraps
he had had around the fish market
Ess When Cant was produced ] turned him
FL % over 20 Paul Johnson, the coon hghter
Z r. known as the Kangaroo, who took him
/ -sI IN a dressing room and tried him out
n 1-=to see if there was any danger of
I'll SweikerU killing him. Johnson reported
III That the boy would do and away we
#f went.
( How Name Was Changed
III "sweikert not only did not kill Cans,
III 90 bIt was lucky 20 get "a draw. After
III the scrap Lee Clarke. the night writer
III az on the Baltimore sun asked me how
~ Joe's last name was spelled, 1 had not
caught it exactly myself. but took "a
chance and said 'G-a-n-s.' Lee liked
Ell r. Cans work and wrote quite a real nice
III o. piece about him. but the next day Cant
IN o. came around with a kick that his name
lf was spelled wrong. / told Lee about
ri IT. but he said IL would have 10 stay
sf Cams for whatever the sun said was
right. whether IL was or not, and
so the name has remained until this
day.
work In the ring. ana pu- INN In q num-
Der of matches, bat he had hardly he
gun 10 attract afLeltuu before ne be-
came mixed up IN "A FAKE Ia those
DAYS Sol English was the drawing
card around Baltimore, and many peO-
pie thought he was too bright and
clever for this coarse world. The truth
Is English was too good 10 be true.
They Had It Fixed Up
After much trouble / matched him
with Cans. In nay opinion Cans was
dead sure 10 he a winne~, and the best
Judges of boxing agreed with me, out
i was Jared 10 hnd that all the real
wise Henry had so much money To
bet ON English they had 10 hire por-
tiers 10 pile f. an in stacks II was all
right Tor "a good slice of money 10 go on
English. as he was the better-knOwn
man and great favorite. but il made
rub my chin when haWk-nosed
person who had never bet more than
a nickel anything that wasn't al
ready In came around 10 the show shop
and begged me with tears in his ewes
To bet SO on Cans, while he would take
the English end.