Waterbury evening Democrat., 1908-06-11
THE PUGlLIST
YOU CAN'T FOOL
 THE OLD MAN
!" Bat" Masterson Pays His Re spscts to the Lewis Duo and
 Their Backers.

Fight fakers get but little show from Bat" Masterson, when he gets that pungent pencil of his in good working order. Just listen to this roast he gives the two Lewis chaps for their alleged battle the other night:
 The terrible revenge battle between the two Lewises-William and Harry which was so industriously boomed by certain local papers for ten days or more, finally came of according to schedule. The affair terminated pre- cisely as predicted in this column at the time the match was made.
 This grudge fight between the Lew, ises, as 1t was called by the press agents for the show, was pulled of at the Barnyard club Tuesday even ing, and all who saw it who did not happen to be interested in either of the principals or the B. Y. club de- clare it to have been one of the worst "Barneysn ever seen in a New York prize ring.
 That is doubtless what it was. How could 1t be anything else? Look at those behind the scheme! That ought to be enough to satisfy any unpreju- diced and intelligent person that the contest was never intended to be anything but a fake. Moreover, If anyone has any doubt about the af- fair being prearranged let him get the afternoon papers yesterday, read between the lines and see what those ha fnr thno1 no pers had to say about 1t. As mat ter of course, those reviewers could hardly be expected to come right out In plain English and call the contest by its proper name, for the reason that most of them had been loudly boosting the show before 1t came of, and, therefore, could not consistently come out next day and declare the whole thing a rank fake, but they came mighty near doing that very thing.
 The Idea that the coterie of shoe string sports who were engineering the scheme would pull on anything in the boxing line that was on the level is too absurd proposition to think about,
 There is not the least doubt that every feature of the bout was care fully rehearsed by the principals be- fore they entered the ring. Even then they made botch job according to the opinion of men who were there and know every angle of the game.
 Willie blocking and side-stepping out of harms way. while Harry step ped in, doing the feeding! How silly such performance appears to one who knows the angles.
 Jack Grace and Tommy Hogan worked that stunt in every prize ring in this country long before either of the Lewises were ever heard of in connection with a glove contest. Then that old whirlwind finish that never fails to bring the crowd to its feet was worked to good advantage in Tuesday nights show at the B. Y. club. This last stunt is 50 old that it has whiskers, and has been worked by every Jim Crow fighter from Maine to California and back again.
 It may be safely stated. though. that New York Is about the only place in the country where two fak- ing pugs would have the nerve to try 1t on a crowd. Tuesday night. how ever. it went great the crowd fairly eating it up. When Willie. in the last rOund. slammed Harry, and the latter rocked and reeled and acted as If he were about to collapse. the spec l tators climbed on the chairs and 1 cheered Justify for Willie
 The gallery was packed with Will He's Fourteenth street constituents. and what they did to the atmosphere l that waited in from the barnyard be- low was somRthing fierce. There l were a few there. however. who fail- ed to become enthused over the exhi- bitlon- They had seen the thing I worked before. and. zs one of them stated after the show. the slambang finish that wss pulled Of did more to I convince him that the bout vas a fake than anything connected with | the show
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