The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-07-11
THEY ARE PLAY ACTORS AND
DANCERS.
ye1sran Of Five Hundred Risg Con-
tesfs Talks In His Old Age
& Of the Decadenee Of The
k&H Ring.

y Rimg.
Kansas City Star.
There are few true biz sporting
men in the United states who do not
4possess somewhere among their treas
pres portrait of Jem Mace, the great
est boxer the world ever saw. The
( portrait probably represents Mace In
fighting dress, with his right hand
held defiantiy in front OF the nose of
another boxer similarly unclad, and the
+ Inscription refers to one or another
OF the 400 battles In which Mace up
{ held the honor OF England In the prize
ring
Probably most of those who possess
such portraits think that the great
Fighter has been gathered to his
fathers. for II IL many years since he
WAS heard of in the prize ring. But
"Old Jem Mace" still Is alive and
hearty. and. 1t may be added. ready to
Tight any man of his weight and a
rood many fewer years. who Is willing
- take him on.
Old Jem, however. has fallen on
evil days. He celebrated his 18th
! birthday recently by applying to the
Z British Government for an old-age
pension of $3.50 q week. But the gov
ernment officials asked SO many Ques-
tions and wanted to know so many
intimate details of his life and re-
sources that Jem gave It up In disgust.
and declared that he would rub along
/ without the pension. His veteran
4 manager. ''old Bill'' Bayford. who is
+ his inssparabie companion. and who
& IL also In deep water financially, per-
sisted. however. and hopes to get
] pension for himself.
q It Is not Mace's fault that he 10 In
straitened circumstances. He never
drank to excess, and even after he
\ left the ring the most he ever allowed
& himself was q glass of port once or
) twice q week. He smokes sparingly,
{ and he has always lived frugafiy. He
+ ID now practically penniless, although
y 1t one time he could have drawn his
! check for 1850 900. Most of the money
went in unfortunate speculations and
on the turf, for IN HIS prime Jem was
s 4 keen lover Of the horse and he has
4 owned some famous racers He was
without any business training or ex-
perience. and II is probable that some
\ OF his advisers feathered their own
nests at his expense.
Let the old warrior IL far from being
\ absolutely destitute for he has many
friends. His brother-in-law has urged
2 him again and again to make his home
I with him, but the old man insists on
being Independent and continues to
X live alone in little room In Islington
( He spends few hours every day In
E old -fashioned Isiington inn that was a
Il famous resort Of sporting men In the
days cones by. Almost any afternoon
he may be found sitting there sur
4 rcuded by an admiring crowd OF
u youngsters who are eager to hear the
Z great battles of the past
A visitor found him there the other
s day and was surprised to see, instead
Of q decrepit old man, q straight, up
right figure that did not look day
over fifty. This was at first sight. One
realized his age when one looked in
to the dim old eyes and saw the wrink-
les about their corners Jem Mace,
\ however, Is as strong and as active
on his feet as many a man Of half the
age, and he Is ready today for q
friendly bout with any one who comes
along.
Is The old fighter is great dandy.
Ills silk hat Is Of the shape and style
Of twenty years ago, but II Is az
glossy as the day II came out of the
hatter's bandbox. and his frock coat
OF the same vintage Is without spot
Or speck. and is carefully pressed and
huttoned round his athletic ola figure
His gray mustache Is as carefully wax
cd az q cavalry oficer's and any ono
who met the veteran strolling along
Piccadiily on sunny afternoon would
put him down for some bygone dandy
revfsiting the scenes OF the past
triumphs.
.oniy, two of those 500 men fought
ever beat me. They beat me fair en-
cugh, but Il was my own fault and
beat them both afterwards. Tom ,Kins
and Bob Brettle beat me. was q
4 bit careless the day I fought Bob
,Brettle. took him too cheap and he
sAhit me one that smashed my jaw and
Knocked me clean out, but the mex
time I beat him. I was careless, too
when I fought Tom King the FRS
N time and let him get in a punch tina
should never have reached me. But
beat him. and beat him fairly, the
next time.
vThey never gave me no thick ears
none of 'em. suffered more In m,
hands from punching them than fol
them punching me. / Knew more thar
they did. i had a better headpiece