Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1907-01-06

Threei -Four! why. you curt Get up and
fight like a man! F1vel Ski I'm going to
count you out. sure! Seven, Eight! You
coward can lick you myself Ninel'
Just then Mccoy jumped up and Hurst
with look of relief. shouted In his ear:
Now take the beating that is coming
and don't depend on me to help you escape
IT," Sharkey knocked the kid out in the
tenth round.
"HOneSt" John Kelly.
Honest John Kelly was another well
known referee but he was always I'm hot
water Kelly, once a National league base
ball umpire and good one, too, went
down to Jacksonville to referee the Corbett-
Mitchell fight. When John got into the ring
he saw in the crowd some of the toughest
customers in the world. They had guns in
their hip pockets and were well supplied
with whisky and money which they bet
on Corbett. Kelly was introduced to the
mob and looked nervous. Corbett, trained
to the hour, had personal grudge against
Mitchell and was ready to fly off at a
tangent. Mitchell knew this and was also
fully aware that he was in for a good
beating. as the Englishman at that time
had entered the back number class. So
as soon as the fight was under way, Mitch
ell began to apply all sorts of vile epithets
to COrbett, which soon made the latter
fairly crazy with rage. In a sharp mixup
in the second round Mitchell fell to the
floor Corbett, a perfect wild man. landed
punch on the Englishmans head while
the latter was still down, committing u
clean cut foul.
Foul! Foul" yelled the men in Mitchell's
corner and the crowd leaped up in an up
roar. All eyes were on Kelly. He saw
whisky bottles and guns brandished on all
sides and he lost no time in arriving at
the conclusion that no foul had been com
mltted. This ruling saved Corbett and
also the money that had been wagered on
him. Kelly told some friends afterward
that he was lucky to get out of Jackson
Vile alive.
1t was the Corbett- Sharkey fight at the
Lenox Athletic club. several years later
thst gave Kelly black eye in the estlma-
ton of ring followers. When Corbett.
beaten to a standstill, had his second Con
McVey, jump into the ring in the tenth
round to save him, Kelly should have de-
cided Sharkey the winner then and there
on foul under the strict wording of tho
rules. Kelly, however, became ratified and
surprised the crowd by stating that al
though Corbett had lost all bets were de-
clared off. There was something queer
about this fight and direct charges were
made that It was a fake. But nothing was
proved, even after an investigation by Big
Tim Sullivan had been held. Kelly was
accused of having had bet for himself
on COrbett, but this was believed to be
idle gossip. The decision caused no end
of discussion and resulted in Kelly's finish
as referee
Con DuRy's Career.
When Corbett beat poor old Sullivan at
New Orleans, nearly fifteen years ago.
John Duffy was the referee. Duffy at that
time was the best ring judge in the pro-
fession. He knew the rules, was eminently
fair and unquestlonably honest. He was
the referee when McAuliffe whipped Myer,
the Streator Cyclone; when Dixon beat
Shelly; when Fitzsimmons, then winning
his early spurs, put 1t all over Dempsey
Hall and Maher in the Crescent City
When Sullivan was reeling around the
ring in front of the storm of jabs and
punches that Corbett rained upon him, he
turned to Duffy with a fierce glare.
II can't see him at ALL" growled Sulli-
van. Hes too young and too fast for me-"
Duffy, who had always admired Sulli-
van, nodded his head and said:
That's right. John; shall stop it?'
stop nothingl" replied the fading
champion. I'm here to. get my medicine
from a better man. so you live up to the
rules" When Duffy counted Sullivan out
in the twenty first round he-was crying
like a schoolboy.
Some Lesser Lights.
other notable referees who did much to
help boxing in the old days were Johnny
White, well known to patrons of the old
Broadway Athletic club; John p. Eckhardt.
who ruled over the ring of the old Coney
Island Athletic club in the days of John Y.
McKane; p. Jay Donohue, an authority on
boxing and a newspaper writer; Captain
Bill DAILY of Boston, brother Of the late
Dan DAILY; Malachi Hogan of Chicago, Sam
Austen of New York and AL Smith, the vet
eran stakeholder and sporting man. All Of
these men were efficient and honest.
Probably the rawest judge of a ring con-
test that ever rendered a decision was
Wyatt Barp. who was known as gun
fighter and a bad man generally on the
coast carp refereed the Fitzsimmons-
Sharkey fight in San Francisco when Fitz
lost on an alleged foul, which was pro-
nounced highway robbery by close observ-
ers. carp got into the ring with a cannon
In his hip pocket. He had received instruc-
lions to give the fight to Sharkey on a
foul and he was there with the goods when
the proper time arrived. When Sharkey
fell to the floor in agony carp declared him
the winner and jumped out of the ring
amid a wild scene. But nobody had the
nerve to intercept him. Little has been
heard of carp since.
Jack Welch, who refereed the Gans-Her-
man night, is comparatively unknow n in the
east. Eddie Graney. who presided over
some of the fights in which McGovern,
Young Corbett, Britt. Nelson, Hanlon
Cans Herman, Herrera and Attell took
part on the coast, is native son." who
has confined himself to San Francisco
Billy Roche. another Frisco referee, is a
former New Yorker, who once managed
George McFadden, the local lightweight
Jeffries and Tommy Burns are the latest
additions to the California bunch OF fight
judges, but they have not as yet set the
world on fire with their work as middle
men. 1t is no easy matter to referee a
fight and those who undertake the Job soon
realize that. barring the money there may
be In it, there is very little gratitude COM
ing from the fighters or the public.
JOE CANTILLONs TWO CARDINALS
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