The San Francisco call., 1910-06-29


bring his body back to hardness, to
make ii again a lighting machine, able
to bear the fatigue of driving many
blows, able to endure the shock of tax
ing many blows. Men look at his mus
cles and scan the mans thick skin. and
say that he is. ft.
And these three champions of yes
terday. who. could not come back. viii
keenly watch-in spite of their be-
liefs and hopes-to see whether after
all he has escaped that inexorabIe
thing which overlook each one of them.
In all the thousands about the ring
there VIII be none who will watch so
anxiousiy as they. e.. ~
The lure of the game is strong.
Reno is full of men with aattened
noses and swollen ears, men who used
10 night for living and have quit
Here walks an instructor in a Cana
dlan athletic club; there passes a for
mer middle weight champion. Any one
of the hotel lobbies has in the middle
OF It's crowd a sprtnkling of faces that.
In their day were portrayed on sporting
pages "reminiscences are overheard
on every corner
What with these old time lighters. a
big array of former trainers and a lot
or amateurs who are able TO box scien-
tifically. it looks as though this cham
pionship fight were going 80 have an
audience which Will include a large
element of intelligent critics. The fns
and outs, the little things Illnesses
movements behind movements, all OF +
the sciences intricacies are going 10
get their share Of close observation. T.
while the crowds bulk. howls itself
hoarse for blows and blood
The battle of the century is what fhev
named this fourth of July fight so long
ago that the expression has already
become trite. And. in times to come.
when long perspective has given his
torians the right to chronicle the doings
of this people, they will use the same
term. They win do that whether the
tight goes 40 rounds OF ends after the
first punch. For it is the great gladi%
torial event of this 100 years; greatest
of all in the hold it has on a race.
That is what makes an event, the
real interest. which it arOuses. And
If this fight shows nothing more. it does
at least demonstrate that the world
wants TO watch pugilism. In this in
dustrial age we are as anxious to see
men combat with their fists under fatI.
play rules, .as the old Romans were in
their day to watch armed Sladiators
kill one another.
In Reno today the sidewalks were
writings tonight burden the telegraph .
wires from one end of the country To-
the other and leap along the snaky
cable underneath the seas-st0ries OF
what Jeffries and Johnson aye doing .
how they look and how they act, opfh--
ions on the ability they possess. nara =
tives of their smallest movements dur
ing the day. The fight is still six days
away; and vet the fighters have as big
a flock of correspondents clustered
about them as the Japanese army dur
ing its advance upon Port Arthur.
Nor is that all. The sidewalk crowds
get their bulk from those whom the
love of ring fighting has Iured from
far away; there are hundreds of men
in town. in whom love for this game has
endured for years-for1ner fighters.
fighters, promoters and enthusiasts.
They ares here for the sole purpose of
watching the two men prepare. because
they can't stay away--the vanguard Of
the crowds who will come to see the
fight itself. the devotees.
1t is a big throng today and is but
an indication OF the thousands who
are still at home. an assemblage of ex-
perts that makes similar old time gath
erings look small They give the town
a crammed appearance by day; they
make its night life like the old time
night life when Nevada had a name
for reckless spending and gambling,
where there was no limit.
SECTIONAL LINES ERASED
There are elbowing one another in
barrooms, on eurbs and speeding about
in dusty automobiles millionaires,
actors. miners, section hands and pro-
fessional men.
They have come from every corner
of the country Canada and Mexico
are represented. the Philippines and
Eurone And thev are here apparently
for the sole purpose Of spending hours
leaning over a fence waiting for JEFF
fries TO show his face, or standing in
the broiling sun watching Johnson
spar, or eagerly discussing such small
things as they have heard by word OF
mouth.
Thev come on every train. And as
they come they tell OF others still tc
come. A Southern Pacific train on it's
wav to Reno is filled with passengers
who talk fight. The one on which we
travelled last night was a fair sample.
Battling Nelson was among the pas
sengers. Until the hour OF midnight
he was the center OF an audience that
packed the Pullman smoking room and
jammed the aisle outside. While he
talked the audience was tensely silent.
AS soon as he ceased there was some
one ready to start him again. This
morning the crowd was there agaiPa
awaiting his appearance He match
rialized at a late hour. half clad. andN
half clad he was kept, too much piled
with questions to get chance to put
on his shirt. Whether he talked OF
John L. Sullivan or Cans. of James j.
Jeffries or some fight that old Peter
Jackson fought in years gone by.
whether it was of something he had
seen or heard, they did not care-juSt
so he talked and talked of fight.