The San Francisco call., 1910-07-01

horse They were slow in beginning
He was anxious to start. He showed
it by f1icking the horse lightly with his
whip. then holding him in. Now, when
you aren't accustomed to driving. or
don't know your horse well. you are
up against a proposition which demands
a thought or two. a quick thought or
two. Action then must be per brain.
Johnson's face was somber and even
with the somberness it had no deep
lines.
In that afternoon occasion there was
sudden ferocity; in a great big emer-
gency where the machine was sure to
get smooth going again. that ferocity
might become cruelty. But in an emer-
gency OF greater size-what then?
only know that look of worry over the
restive black horse. And 1 only know
what I got from seeing Johnson as he
worked / don't believe that he would
run amuck. this F'rankenstein. For
this is the brain; and there is the i'm
aginatiOn. And there is a good brain
and lively imagination, no doubt. And
the brain did not seem to me to be run
ming that machine. 1t was just the
senses.
And if the machine were to be stalled
on heavy grade if it met an obstacle
such as 220 pound giant taking pun
ishment without a tremor, If the mech
anism could not go on unhampered. it
seemed to me as though the brain
would only act through the imagina-
tion; would make the machine follow
the lines of least resistance, make it
run away.
The ferocity was so quick to come.
Boxing Kid Cotton. there it leaped into
that lneless face; 1t cleaned from
those dark eyes. 1t was the ferocity of
muscles and nerves and bones for the
instant beyond control A hash-that
was all-but so suddent A different
sort of ferOcity from the dogged, stub
born rage which we northern races
brag of as our characteristic: different
from the thing which make many men
fight their way through odds. A flicker.
replaced at once by smile that was
not good natured but self-possessed.
Self-satisfaetion in things running
smoothly, knowledge that the parts are
acting well and piled on ball bearings.
That smile has shown in several rings.
and in those rings this black fighting
machine was handling a poorer man
than he. That is the way Johnson i'm
pressed me while he was working.
LACK Of PERSONALITY
never saw more beautiful array
of muscles ripping underneath a skin.
l never saw hands and arms and feet
and torso flashing back and forth,
lWlSllHS III anu Out, SLEdlkQL-
ening. shooting into blows, as John
sons did in this bit of play for the
moving picture machines. 1t was worth
coming to Reno TO see. And vet there
was that uncanniness-that suggestion
OF a machine-that lack of personality
There are some men who make you
forget their bodies. I have seen one
or two whose weight did not go be-
yond 130 pounds whose very backs pro-
claimed determination. Men with little
bodies. whose faced spelled indomitabil-
ity. Such men get a vast respect.
Their personalities fight for them.
In the ring Johnson's personality did
nothing 1t was not there He was too
fine to suggest the animal too strong
and quick and perfect to make one
think of a boy. He was wonderful
and a beautifully constructed black
Frankenstein; all that. at his work. At
play he was like a boy. He chased
chickens to amuse the people and to NIL
the films for the picture machines, and
he smiled happily and laughed.
Again this morning. when he had
occasion TO ask a personal enemy to
leave his camp, he showed another side.
He did the thing with dignity. He car
ried it OF with a degree of repression
worthy of any man. And when moving
about the grounds he talked with his
training camp crew and showed seri-
strangers, he came through with emil
nently proper bearing. He bore his
position well. He did not presume, did
not act as though it were too much for
him. That was Johnson. the man with
the Johnson brain at work. Johnson at
rest, the real individual with all his
faculties there.
When that same Johnson climbed into
the boxing ring, clad in a black bath
robe he still retained that fine bearing.
Tall, sombre. champion, he looked IL,
every inch of him. You were glad to
see this man who had bested many. He
shed the bathrobe, walked into the CEN
ter of the ring and shook hands with AL
Kaufman. His arm flew forth like a
thick, black python striking at It's prey.
He smiled The indicator was on; it
showed the machine was working
smoothly. An uncanny feeling crept UP
my spine.