Omaha daily bee., 1909-10-31
DO BOYS EVER CONE BACK ?
That Question is Now Vexing Follow
ers Of Pugilistio Game.
JIM JEFFRIEs IS UNDER FIRE
Fans Are wOnderinE if He WIN Ever
BE NJ of Yore or ~ IL is Neees-
sRry That He he in Or
der 60 win.

NEW YORK, oct. @.-Do they ever
come back?
Think it over. Did you play tennis up
to five years age and then give it up?
Were you a pretty good shot with a
rifle five years ago and give it up7 Did
you play foot ball up to the time you
left school five years ago and then con-
fine your interest In the sport to watch
Ing a game from the grandstand once a
year? Did you wrestle a bit or box a
little OF do a little sprinting or a little
long-distance running some five years ago,
but pass them all up for business?
II you did any Of these things, do you
think any amount of training would make
you as good today as you were before
you qdit the particular sport in which
you were Interested
Hardly. Thousands Of men have tried il
and no one has ever come back into his
old-time form, whether his forte was ten
mis-, or rowing, or Swimming. or shoot
ing. or wrestling, or boxing, or riding, or
anything else.
All this, of course, leads up to the
question as to whether or not Jim JEFF
fries can ever be as good again as he
was five years ago. He may look as well
and feel as we'll, but will his eye work
db QUICKLY as IL uS6u 10. VIII MS lBeL
carry him around the ring as fast as
they did when he was the champion Of
the world? Will his arms shoot out with
the same force that they did five years
ago?
AS a matter Of fact, it has been six
years since Jim Jeffries had a real fight.
That was on August IA, 1903. when he put
Jim Corbett away in ten rounds in San
Francisco. One year and two months
later he had his little two-round bout
with Jack Munroe and he had spent very
little time actually training for that en-
counter. He didn't have to; the fight
was i'm before the men got into TIE ring,
and Jeff knew it. Still, at the last min
ute he wanted to ask for a postpone
ment in order to get into a little better
condition.
And so you see IL Jeffries fights the
negro at all 1t will be nearer seven years
than five since he has done any hard
work. Can a man stay out of the game
all that time and be as good as ever,
even though he has led a temperate life
during the six or seven years? Can he?
Hardly.
How Good Must He BET
OF course, there is this to be considered.
Jeff nay not have to be the Jeff of old
to whip Jack johnson, but close students
of the game figure that he mus be at
his very best to win from the giant col
ored man. who is a great fighter.
There is another thing to consider.
While Jeffries has led a temperate life
during the last six years, he has led an
easy one. Very few days have found him
out of bed before nearly noon. He grew
fat and lazy. Always good natured. he
would rather sit around and talk than get
into a pair Of trunks and work. Can a
man throw aside the habits developed in
six years Of idleness-chick from out of
the window all of a sudden and begin all
over again?
Well, let's see what others have done
along the same line.
Tod Sloan, after a long period of rest
from work in the saddle, was allowed TO
ride down at New Orleans. He got some
good mounts, but every etable boy at the
track put it on him when it came to rid
ing a race. His eye, his judgment and
his skill had all vanished.
Then there was the case of Amos Rusio.
Everybody remembers the Giants famous
pitcher who quit the game and, after a
long rest-he had shown no signs of not
being as good as he ever was-he tried
to get back into the diamond game. What
was the result? Every old batter who
couldn't hit the side of a barn took a
crack at Rusie's twirling, and the one
time king of them all went back to work
in a lumber yard at $3.50 a day.
Bernie Wefers was one of the greatest
sprinters the world ever saw-he ran 100
yards in 9 4-5 seconds no less than TWEEN
ty-seven times and was positively UNI