Omaha daily bee., 1909-09-26

their artillery. Just ninety guns we're
handed up and there were 100 delegates
In the haiL. Nelson helped the sheriff to
carry the shooting irons over to the lat
ter's office. after which the convention
got down to business. with nothing more
serious than a few fist fights.
THE boys viii be after their guns to-
night said the sheriff to the Batter.
"Of course III have to give them all
back!"
WIN they carry them when they come
to see me fight next week7'' queried the
Dane, who was clearly nervous.
Sure thing! And ] won't be able to con-
troll them, either! Likely to be more fights
than the one In the ringi'
Nelson said something about feeling giddy
In the head and guessed he'd go up to
his training quarters for a rest How Mel
son got out OF the town nobody knows,
but lbs a fact that he quickly disappeared
and never went back.
1t was all a joke" explained the sheriff
afterward. We wouldn't have hurt Bat
at all. Just wanted to throw a scare into
him to see If he was camel"
The funniest fights l ever had" says
John l.. Sullivan, were during my Gig
tour In 1883. When we struck Victoria, Il.
C., the first man we met was the mayor.
He wanted to know II the 1900 1 hung
up for anybody who could stay four rounds
was a genuine thousand dollar Aote.
There's only one real way Of convincing
YOU" 1 answered. Here's the money.
Hold II yourselfl" That pleased the mayor
and gave US an official standing in the
town. But the mayor got on my nerves
] and / didn't like him q ltfIa hff H. NO.
a sawed-of 1rishman, so small l could
have tucked him away in one Of my
pockets.
"A Frenchman accepted my challenge
and he had a pretty fair reputation in town
as a boxer. He was fairly crazy to win
the thousand, and when he was about to
enter the ring 1 discovered that his body
and arms had been bathed in oil SO that
my punches would slip off and he would
not be injured.
The Frenchman had a crowd Of friends
on hand who expected to see him stay the
limit. During the day they had bought a
lot Of hard stuff for me with the idea that
| wouldn't be in any kind or form when /
faced their fighter. But 1 was there with
the punch and knocked Frenchy down three
times in the first round. The third knock
dowS kept him on the floor a half hour,
uSdu u the NOElO. men ne came 10 he
asked to see me, and while we were talk
ing l asked him how it felt to 20 to sleep
SO suddenly. He replied:
when you hit me one time / think l
see one French soldier! When you hit
me three times / think / see one whole
French armyr Then wiplng the oil out
Of his eyes he looked at my mawleys and
exclaimed:
oh, oh! I can break re wood fences
with my feests, but you. Monsieur Sullivan,
can break re stone walls with yours!'
Next night a banquet was given to Ned
Hanlan, the oarsman, who was on his way
to Australia, where he was matched to row
for the worlds championship. When the
mayor handed back my $1,000 note he in
vited Mike Gillespie and me to attend. The
affair went along smoothly until the mayor
proposed that everybody stand and drink
the health of Queen Victoria.
Il hadn't been brought up to see Irish
men toasting English monarchs, and, any
way. the mayor got on my nerves. Giles
pie was polite enough to get on his feet.
but 1 grabbed him by the collar and jerked
him back into his chair.
"-You must stick to Uncle SAM Mike!
1 said to him in a loud voice. Then the
mayor, who wanted to put me in bad, 1
SNohN SAS" y ia AC law aNA PlBCus
lis it possible that any of our guests re-
fuse to respond to the toast?'
well, / won't drink that wayI' I yelled
and grabbed Gillespie so that l dragged
him out before they murdered us!"
Ketchel is always full OF good humor
In or out OF the ring and likes practical
Jokes whether he is the victim or not. He
is always the funmaker at his training
camp. When Ketchel was training up on
Jerome avenue last spring all automobile
party stopped at the roadhouse one day
and insisted on having some stewed tripe
with onions. Tho German waiter told
them that there was no tripe in the kitchen,
but they still insisted on having some.
even II 1t took an hour to get 1t. They
soon became boisterous and we're trying
to bulldoze the German when Ketchel took
in the situation at a glance. Quickly dom
ming a walters attire, the middleweight
champion hurried to the table and said:
Gentlemen, you can have the tripe in
ten minutes! It's on the fire now!'
"Ahl' exclaimed one of the guests.
We've at last struck a waiter who knows
his business! He's up to snuff"
Ketchel ran into the kitchen and cut
up a small white rubber hose In chunks
Then he poured some hot melted butter
mixed with flour over the rubber, with a
few boiled onions, got the mixture red hot
on the stove and served 1t in a handsome
covered dish, after which he disappeared
behind a screen and awaited developments.
When the hungry men got the hot rubber
in their mouths there was a great outcry.
waiter! Landlord! What in the world
is this stuff? Why. it's the toughest tripe
we ever tasted" they yelled. Then the
proprietor explained matters and the
guests, laughing over the joke. hunted up
Ketchel and offered to treat. But II the
joke hadn't been played by a great pugilist
II wouldn't have been so funny, perhaps.
FIGHTING THE WHITE PLAGUE