The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1907-11-03

Philadelphia. Nov. MANY Of the box
ers who take part In contests in the local
clubs have a weakness for the attention
of a bunch Of seconds in their corners
who are more often a handicap than a
help TO them as the contest progresses.
Il is general thing for them to have
-FOUR handlers; some have five and as
high as seven men or boys have been
counted attempting to be Of service to a
boxer, who would have been much better
OF If half of them had been driven from
his presence.
Oid-ume trainers and handlers of box
ers' Ike Tom O'Rourke, Billy Delaney.
and Harry Tuthin. will not stand for
me small army OF men in a corner when
they are looking after a boxers interest.
As a general thing, they do all the ad-
Vising themselves and have two men TO
ran the boxer, sponge him of. or give
hlfl-any little attention he may need.
they do not take great quantities of
water and douse the heated boxer with
H. neither do they throw water over every
one within twenty or thirty feet of their
corner Oftentimes for several rounds
at time they do not put any water at
all on man they are handling. They
VIII ask him how he feels, and If he
wants anything he viii be given enough
TO satisfy him and TO more.
Give Good Advice.
The careful seconds have been noting
the weak points OF the mans opponent.
and when he comes back to his corner.
they, in a cool. quiet tone, tell him what
they think is the best way to overcome
the strong points of the other fellow
They allow no one 10 do any talking 10
the boxer but themselves. and try TO get
him TO pay strict attention to what they
are saying II they notice a draft any
where near them they are careful TO keen
the shoulders and chest Of their man
covered till it is time to start boxing. and
they are careful also that the cold shower
bath is kept till after the bout is ended
When the contest is over they>see that
the boxer has a careful cooling off, and
ne IS not allowed to go into the street or
IN the open air till after he has been
gwen very thorough rubbing down and
a good rest If he has had a hard COR
test he Is taken TO a Turkish hath and
allowed 10 have a rest and sleep Of sew
eral hours, and the next day ne Is free
from stiffness and in good shape.
But the man who will watch the usual
performance Of bunch OF amateur sec
onds working on a boxer can get as much
amusement from the spectacle as ne can
from the antics of the boxers themselves.
W men the average novice IN the boxing
line climbs into the ring he is followed bv
corps Of young fellows carrying towels.
and bucket and as big a sponge as they
can secure. While the boxer Is having
his gloves adjusted by one OF the men the
other four or i've are looking around TO
see who they know in the audience. and a
general exchange Of greetings follows.
and its Hello, up there. Mixer "Ah
there, Skinny" and the seconds lose no
opportunity TO let everybody IN the house
see that they are on the Job
BewiIder the Fighter.
As a general thing Just as the boxer
leaves his corner to shake hands with the
other man a chill is sent down his back
by the squeezing OF a big spongeful Of
water over him by one Of the handlers.
The latter climb all over the newspaper
men and spectators as they leave the ring.
eRttu NsANii ia hNBAll W 1lAUlL CCL4UllS "
their principal One VIII yell. Swing
your right" another, "jab him with your
left" and shouts Of follow him up." "go
after him. be careful" tgo for his
stomach" will be fired at the boxer in
such rapid succession that it would be-
wilder the coolest-headed man who ever
donned a glove, and the novice in boxing
IS usually anything but cool.
When the bell rings for ending the round
the squad Of seconds climb all over every
body, and some one. grabbing the arms
and the others the legs of the scrapper,
they pull and maui him 10 their hearts
content. Then one man souses him with
cold water and another forces a big bottle
of water down his throat. On several oc-
CasiOns in this city the bottle contained
ammonia, but a little thing Ike that
would not bother the usual rattle-headed
second. Again as he leaves the corner
the boxer is given on his back the con
tents Of big sponge flied with water
After a couple OF rounds he looks like
half-drOwned rat and his corner is COW
cred for many feet with a big pool of
water.