The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-07-05
NEGRO DOESN'T
LACK COURAGE
continued from Page Nine

Continued from Page Nine
his strength superb. In the fifth. JEFF
tried half-heartediy To parry the biack's
nonsense with his own words ''Break
lree. he called In Johnsons car in the
SSitu,ches, cru, then leaned his weight upon
MN. and tried striking down with that
,nass,ve shoulder. the shoulder that Ind
SaFea In dozen OF the best heavy
weights that ever donned glove. Moth
Johnson. When we saw that that one
Ihihg. on which We had counted from
Jehries,, his marvellous strength. was Of
NO NO hs, hhonlis we threw up our hands. Yet
VIC noped on and on. remembering those
other fights, looking for the rallyl nrny
irg for tho miracle
In the sixth. JEFF began backing away
Sr,, rooa' niorci.ul powers. Jim Jeffries back
snG away: No man had ever seen II be-
Tore; What one of us ever wanted TO
see it9 w
Jeff's Eye Closed.
was in that round that Johnson
closed Jeff's right eye II began swelling
IN the fourth: in the fifth 1t was badly
puffed. In the Ska Johnson landed six
or seven chopplne lefJs oil II, and before
they went to their corners Jeff was feel
ing around for his tormentor like blind
In the seventh the negro forced Jefr
over to our corner where Sharkcv, Ed
gren and myself sworn believers in and
oNAAiA SAo Va tilc WHite man. were IOOklnE
on with set unhappy faces. He saw
Edgren poised with his camera He
watched whore the light would be best,
nc pulled around so as TO make q good
out, cheerily: Get that. Bob?" Then he
winked broadly at Sharlcy and me
About this time, so easily was tho ne
gro performing, I would have been ready
10 believe some Of the stories OF fake
light had 1t gone the other way. AS
II is no one Will ever believe tho fight
was faxed,
In the eighth johnson shot In a left
uppercut to tho other eye, the only one
soft drawl:
That's all it takes. Mister Jeffries."
Then ho pulled his arm out OF the hug
Jeffrtes held him In and stabbed again
to the same place. jeff rushed hard
tried for swing. missed and bobbed
around gruffly behind tho black body.
JEFF Game in Ninth.
Jeffries came out running for the ninth
Come along" he cried. with an attempt
at grinnlng. his face torn and bleeding
his eye swollen shut. In that round he
landed a. good right punch under the
backed up. This was the only round
that could be given TO jeff We looked
for him to rally in the tenth. He ought
to have come through strongly about
that time. after half hour of fighting
But the old stamina was gone. He had
passed the pitcher to the well once too
often. Each round was slower than the
To the eye he looked all right. The
bulging. sleek, beautiful muscles were
there all right. The same earnestness.
the same willingness. the same fearless,
ness was in that pose. just as II had
ever been, but down deep inside OF him
something was gone, the indefinable, the
inescapable something, the flame OF
youth. the unconquerablc spark that
neither will nor energy, nor dctermina-
ton. nor the loving wishes OF hearty
friends, nor the active preparation Of a
years conscientious training could call
back from the ashes OF yesterday.
In the tenth and the eleventh the blac
man toyed with him. jeff was willing:
but he could not respond. He stood
gamely up and took his punishment. but
when Il came 70 boxing he was In the
infant class OF the school from which
Johnson is graduated past-master. In
shadow OF a doubt, that the battle could
end in only one way. And yet, each
and all OF us hoped, and almost expected
that the slumbering. smodering latent
fierceness we had been led TO expect
from the white man would finally blaze
out.
Wanted Some Fighting.
II the white race must go down We
wanted ii TO go down in blaze OF glory;
We wanted some fighting; we wanted JEFF
TO rise from the terrible disaster as he
had risen before, as he now was cAIied
on as he had never been. We wanted
Tor a dozen. We longed, we hoped, We
prayed for that last plunge from the
dying gladiator.
| II was not there. II had been sapped
| from him through twelve. fourteen
rounds of vicious. grinding, maullng. de-
| lusive fighting.
In the twelfth the black landed as ne
pleased. In the thirteenth We thought
| our pride was gone. The fatal thirteenth
was survived and again we breathed Just
little easily, stu not believing that
| h.,I :
In the fourteenth round Johnson must
| have been perfectly positive that the fight
was his when he wished TO take II. stu
he was cautious He fought the same
| fight he had fought from the beginning
not giving an opening for the white man
slipping over an uppercut whenever no
where no other man would have dared
My belly has gone to pieces, en- ne
| called into Jeff's ear in clinch. Ther
| he turned TO Corbett and cried, so those
| twenty feet away could hear. I thought
he was clever. like you. Jim From
the seventh round on Corbett had evap-
grated from Jeffs corner. He was stu
there in person but he was not saying d
| word He was looking. goa,-faced, long
| iowled At what he knew was catas'
| trophe. He was realizing that Jcit never
should have been matched for this Inn
possible fight.
Like the Others.
| The fifteenth. This was like all th'
others. only more so. and IT was IN
last, Jeff stood up 10 the pecklnS, th'
hammerlng. the slashing, gliding. maui
ing. tearing uppercuts that twisted. Gu
and tore into him now from almost evcfl
angle. .,. o,a
he toppled The final blow was righ
unporcut under the jaw. but IL was no
one that did the business II was tn,
fiftieth or the hundrcdth there ~hlci
turned the trick They were within rev
feet OF Jeffries' corner when the oil oil
chnmpion fell His knees went from un
der him, he sank 10 his thigh, ne tioppt'
IN the floor like a tired child TO ~
And And what no man had eyer seen be b.,
fore had come to pass. He lay therc
; between the widest. not unconscious
merely half stunned, and they 5ega'
counting Cornell and Farmer Burn
leepcd TO help him up. Technicaiy tn
IIpht should have been stopped rlgh
there. but Tex Richard. the referee Wn
had not said word or lifted nan
until that moment. PAID no attehtloii
johnson stood off in the center OF IN
, ring his hands down, surveying ms laue
victim sobcrIy, with curious, olahk 100