Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1910-07-07
JEFFRIEs IS NO LONGER a MAG
NET THAT DRAWS GAZE or
PAssERseY.
EXCUSES FOR DEFEAT
ea'''ornIan Says, When johnson N,
run IN Right Eye, He Saw Three
Coons Coming At
Him

l w.
from an intense mental etrain matar'
ca IN from his quarters At Mosn.
Springs this evening ana tonir ~.
Train for Oakland, Cal. az e.8o We
was accompanied BY his wife HE
brother Jack and the latter,s VII.
And, alas! there was no r,1sh - ~.
Thomas cafe to see him snchl or ths 80
was just three days ago. The hoId.
ove =, CROWDS no longer see in him hero
- Tue nope OF the white race. He
was JUST plain, ordinary, everyday
ueieated pugilist, with not & kindly
noa or consoling phrase from any
Douy put those who saw the pathos-
II patnos there can be-in the licking
q hgnter. Across the street "Bi1
I'M sullivan was converting with 3
ances '''-A>'
There's Jeffl" said small boy who
was selling souvenirs OF the flasco
hight. who cares?" said Ed Condor
OF Denver. II can't see him today.
couldn't see him yesterday"
Passed UP in q Day.
| AND mats the story In a line Of a
pig, human punching machine, who
rallied to pommel when the time was
ripe and who is today the most
scofed at fighter who ever left q
prize ring contest.
Curiously the lack or sympathv for
defeated man in fair contest that
1s openly shown In the case. Of Jef.
fries has hardly a parallel In the his.
tory Of the ring. 1t is the custom Of
hight fans to give the under dog the
penent Of every doubt, but in the pre-.
sent situation there is hardly q kind
word heard on any side for Jeffries or
the showing he made in the contest
with johnson.
Jefrtes himself seems to be at a loss.
to explain how he failed to give the
public semblance of run. for its
money. He is still a nervous, grouchy
man, sore at heart and gloomy be-.
You'd all description. He fldgets and
fumes and says things that Indicate
the rancor that is within him, and
doesn't seem to be able to quiet re.
alize the position he is in. When he
does allow himself to talk he has no
coherent or plausible explanation Of
what happened to him in the ring.
Il just went to pieces when I went
into my corner" he says. II don't
know what caused it, but Couldn't
pull myself together. tried to shake
myself up, but 1t was no use During
the fight said to myself several
times, This is the chance, Jim and I
would try to.land a crusher, but there
was nothing back OF the blow.
couldn't get snap or steam to it.
| had lost the muscle, although a few
days ago felt was At for the fight
OF my life.
Bad Eye Bothered Jeff.
When johnson hit me- on the right
eye was In bad. saw three coons
coming at me instead Of one. nv
nerves all seemed to have stopped
working and felt that it was all
over"
This is all very well as far as it
goes, but the main fact remains that
Johnson showed he was master from
the start and that Jeffries never could
have beaten him whether or not his
nerves were in order or whether his
muscles worked overtime.
jim CaEbet tried to explain Il as
stage fright. Sam Berger doped It to
his Frisco friends as bad stomach and
dysentery. Joe Choynsd. who had
been favoring Jehr4es, agreed that
there had not been enough massaging.
Farmer Burns said Jim had not done
sufficient road work. But Armstrong,
the old reliable. seemeh to have the
proper key to It when he said in his
inimitable way:
tits no use a-talking. sab; when q
race horse hasn't race In him he
can't win race"
And that's what was the matter.
Jeffries did not have a fight In him
when he went into the ring yesterday.