The San Francisco call., 1910-06-28
JOHNSON and TEX
Hold CONFERENCE
Jack Chugs Up to Headquarters
of Promoter, Then Goes to
Bank-a Touch?
Continued From Page 10, Coils. 1 and 2

to 6, with Jeffries the favorite as usual.
Poolrooms and commission stands are
spr1nging up all along the line like the
mushrooms We read so much about If
half of them get by somebody surely is
going to get the worst of it. There is
not question that most of the bet
ting money will have to come from San
Francisco. The Reno people have plenty
of gambling advanta ges of their own.
They were gambling long before they
/ ever heard of Jeffries and Johnson. and
they will be gambling for long time
after the fight is forgotten.
BETTING GAME DWINDLES
| The truth is that the battle is not
going to be the gigantic betting propo-
! sition which the layers of odds looked
for several months ago. All those Won
| derful $4,000 bank rolls have faded
away to mere nothings, and the men
who We're going to bet them have
save their money to buy fight tickets
and pay living expenses.
| Reports from New York and Chicago
| say that they are going strong back
| there. but we who are 1000 miles away
do not know whether this is press agent
CUFF or the real straight from the shoul-
der talk. At all events they are not
betting their money in Reno, and Reno
| is the seat of action at the present
1 time and will be till July 5.
Commissioner Tom Corbett wired up
| from San Francisco this morning that
he has decided to change his stand to
! Jim Mays gambling house where all
his business will be conducted on and
after his arrival on Friday night. They
are all looking to see what Corbett is
going to do and what he brings up
with him. 1t is believed that things
| Will begin to soup up bit when Tom
puts in an appearance.
| Kid North has opened the johnson
! club" right next to the fight headquar-
| ters. The kid is not such an ardent
! rooter for the champion as he was for
| other great colored fighters of the past.
but he says that he is going to handle
| all the big commissions from the col
ored delegation from Chicago.
| Johnson was chugged into town this
morning in big automobile and imme
| diately. he mixed up with Rickard in
| some sort of a very mysterious con-
| ference. Nobody in Reno seemed to be
| able to get close to the line of business
| that was being transacted, though
| everybody was looking for the low
down. Both the champion and the pro-
moter said that everything was lovely.
However, it is believed that Jack is
figuring on selling his pictures over
again and he wants to have another un-
derstanding with Tex.
VAN. COURT CHIEF SECOND
Those who claim to be close to JEFF
fries declare positively that De Witt
Van Court, the veteran Olympic club
trainer and instructor and one Of the
very best handlers of fighters in the
world, will be Jeffries chief second
Jeff must have brought Van up here
with him for something and he has not
pulled off his many private talks with
the veteran for nothing. Jeff has not
said who will be the boss second and
Van Court has not been talking about
it either, though the theory looks rea
sonable.
A wild story came over the wires
from New York this afternoon telling
about an offer of $15O.000 for the Ca
madam rights for the moving pictures.
This offer is supposed to come from one
J. w Nash, representing a New York
vaudeville syndicate, and was sent to
Tom Flanagan, Johnson's manager
But the more conservative moving
picture men were not slow in declaring
that Nash is looking to get little
bit of notoriety for himself for the cost
of a night letter over the telegraph
wires.
But if Canada gives $150,00O for the
films, then there is no doubt that
Rickard and Jeffries have thrown their
interests away. AS for Johnson, he still
has chance for he has sold his share
but twice already. 1t is expected that
he will sell at at least seven or eight
times before the final deal is completed
and the real owner is named.
Jim Coffroth mana ged to make his
getaway this evening, but he had a
hard time tearing himself loose at that. /
Coffroth proved to be one of the great
est Reno boosters who ever showed
here. It was his first long stay in the
town, but he knew everybody here
before he was on the job more than
six hours. Coffroth gave Rickard a
few lines on his arena, all of which
were thankfully accepted Coffroth
expressed the opinion that the arena
surely will be the greatest of its kind
ever erected in any city in the world, |
and he does not even bar his own
layout at Colma.
CROWDS STILL COMING
The crowds are coming in on every
train and it is expected that by Satur
day night there will be at least 10000
people in Reno. Where they are going
to sleep nobody knows, for the hotels
are crowded to the suffocaton point
already and even the private homes
with spare rooms are going to be
played the limit. 1t looks as though |
there will be many a boy carrying the
banner for few nights before and
after the fight.
Judging from the way they talk, |
every woman in Reno who has the
price of a ticket will be there at the |
ringside. Rickard is encouraging the
fair sex. He says that he will welcome |
every one of them save those who want |
to get in for nothing. 1t is understood |
that one prominent divorcee here this
afternoon ordered half a dozen $50 |
seats.
They say that she and five of her |
friends will occupy a ringside box and |