The Washington herald., 1909-06-27
WIN HONORS IN RING
Many q. s. Sailors Have Made
Good with MittS.
TOM sHARKEY BEST OF ALL
Has Made n wonderful Showing
Against the Champion, James JET
fries, and Proved Superiority over
the Best Boxers in the Navy-GIOve
Contests Held on Battle ships.

The Yankee sailors are noted AL over
the world for their game fighting quail
ity.~ said an old sporting man 20 his
friends the other night during a tanning
bee about incidents Of the prize ring. Il
remember away. back. .forty-two years ago
when I shipped aboard the United States
steamship Pawnee as a bOatswain and
sailed for South America
I wanted 70 see the world. and GER
tainly did see it. TOO. with a great deal OF
satisfaction from the deck OF a man-o'-
war. When we got 10 AIontevideo IN Sep
tember. 1867. we had the United States
steamship Guerrero with US
~On board both vessels there was a
bunch OF lads willing and ANXIOUS for a
little sport. Finally Jack Mitchell and
Billy Turner. two sturdy young tars.
agreed 10 fight It out under the old Lon
don prize ring rules
They both belonged 10 the Pawnee and
put up a slashing battle Of twenty-five
rounds, each taking severe punishment
for more than an hour, when we decided
that they had gone far enough. and the
fight was called a draw
q
hard mills, the first being between Pete
Keeland and Joe AcAvoy, OF the Pawnes
They fought AZ Rio and McAvoy had
enough in i've rounds, lasting just four
teen minutes.
In the same ring John O'ConnelI. atlas
Blunt, met Jimmy Ross, the champion Of
tSe navy az thar time. After good bat
tie for nine rounds Ross was declared the
winner, and proceeded 10 issue a chal-
lenge 10 any man-o'-warsnan IN the
world.
Ross was only mlddle-weight, but he
had a terrible wailop and was also as
game as a pebble. One evening a lot OF
the boys went ashore at Rio Tor lark.
/ They ran up against crowd OF greasers.
who were very insulting and swore that
they could clean up the Yankees with
ease.
There were five greasers who were
| particularly offensive in their TRADE
against Uncle Sam. After some hot chaI-
lenges Ross stepped forward and declared
he would fight each OF the gTeasers. one
at time. with ten minutes rest between
/ battles. They laughed at the offer at
/ first but finally agreed 70 have one fight.
and selected the biggest greaser as Ross
! opponent
The men stripped quietly and the Rio
/ gang thought they had q cinch II was a
/ gO-as-you-please scrap. a regular rough
and-tumble affair The big greaser made
! a desperate grab at Ross throat. but the
sailor ducked and responded with an up
percut that put his antagonist on the
/ floor. In a second Ross was on top OF the
greaser. buttfng HIS face into q pulp.
Amazes HIS Gang.
The Rio gang We're amazed at Ross
| Quickness and the fierce punishment he
/ handed out. and soon agreed 10 buy
/ drinks for the crOwd in order &c save
/ their man from further harm. Ross
/ three-minute victory settled the whole
| shooting match. and after that the Yam
kee tars commanded much more respect
in Rio.
IN the early part OF 1853 Harry Bet
Il ford. Of the Pawnee, and Mike Traynor.
/ OF New York, met IN the ring at Monte
videO. and fought one OF the hardest bat
1 ties ever saw. II lasted FOR thirty-seven
rounds. one hour and ten minutes, Tray
nor winning after receiving a terrible
punehiEg.
"On the big dock at Rio. not long after,
I saw the fercest rough-and-tumbleb bat
tie Of my life between Tom AIcGratb and
! Barney Farrell. Of the Guerrero. After a
| terrible struggle. which lasted more than
/ two hours. the men fell from exhaustion
and the min was declared a draw. They
were so fearfully punished that they were
| kept IN d hospital for nearly a month
| Farrell, by the way. said he was a cousin
OF the noted Joe Coburn. then the heavy
weight champion Of America
Along about lSS3 there loOIned Up IN
the navy a freak fighter called sailor
Brown. He was a game fellow and. could
/ hght. too, but was very erratic One
/ night he went aboard an English man
o'-war at sydney. Australia. and offered