The Washington herald., 1910-07-05
TIME ONLY MASTER
OF NEGRO JOHNSON
Continued from Page 10.

ing swiftly, arose fiyefold greater roar
rs from the opposite Quarter came JEFF
fries. The first blood cry Of the thou
sands echoed as the men climbed into
the ring II was the race note sounding,
and l watched the black champion for
sign when the volume OF these voices
dinned upon his ear. But he grinned and
clapped his hands like boy. Jeffries'
entrance savored Of an emperor's COM
ing, and the likeness was heightened by
the presence at his heels Of fan bearer
who held aloft a great circular fiye-foot
paper shade, or was It crown? / could
not tell.
johnson First Ia Strip.
The black man was the first TO strip.
and when he stepped forth for the lenses
to register his image he was thing of
SURPRISING beauty, from the anatomist
point of view. He had none Of that giant
plan of Drawn and muscle that Jeffries
displayed a moment later, but instead
rounded symmetry more IN line with the
ideals of the ancient Greek artists.
His head, though slightly larger than
an ostrich egg, was Of the same shape
and shaved TO an equal smoothness.
From crown TO sole he was a living, life
size bronze. ehiseled by the cunning
hand of a master. lie sat where
could have touched him with my hand
and through ii all I watched him care
fully. hoping that BY some power OF
divination denied TO my fellows I might
read a hint as 10 the one great question
we had asked of him. But he showed
no sign, his assurance was as rock-bound
as before, his smile as cheerful and
| confident as when first I saw him toy
ing with his trainers
No Time for Courtesy.
There was no waste Of courtesy. The
gong sounded, seconds. handlers. and
rubbers flung themselves from their cor
ners and the gladiators stepped toward
each other across an empty ring and
| through an empty silence. At last we
| saw them face 10 face, and the contrast
| was amazing For three minutes they
watched each other waTily, feeling each
others muscles, testing each others met
tie. and the gong sent them 10 their
! seats again with no damage done. Sixty
| seconds and they were up again, still
moving as if the fate Of a nation hung
upon their faintest error,
| For the first three rounds the spectacle
was repeated, and then we awoke gradu-
ally to the realization that the march OF
/
| he locks arms and trips swiftly down the
path, with others he idles By the way
/ side ike some love shy maiden, bat his
! feet are ever turned IN the same direc-
/ ton; his progress may be slow but, it is
sure. There is little more TO tell. II
made US sad TO see a man cheated.
Pockets have been picked in Reno, little
I fortunes lost upon the tables in her gid
! ed palaces that front the railroad tracks,
| but OF all the thousands who have awak-
ened to sudden loss no awakening could
have been like that Of Jeffries when he
| called upon his youth and found that It
had slipped away. It lasted fifteen rounds
and then We trudged home through the
dist But il was sport, and the best
man won
Blood Measured by Cup.
AS TO the brutality Of the scene. I saw
none Of it. OF blood there was less than
a teacupfui spent Just now an autorno-
bile paused below my window. and Jack
Johnson. heavyweight champion Of the
world. was in H. He had no mark upon
his person as he bowed his thanks 10 the
beloved greeting the street offered him.
The last picture I have is Of a giant
black man shaking the hand OF a news
boy as he runs beside The champion S
motor car. with a surging mass Of hu-
mainly behind.
To cheer Jim Jefries in his hour Of
| bitterness there is a sweet-faced, gra-
ci0us woman, who waited with clenched
hands and cheeks whitened by a growing
fear as the metal wires brought her the
| tidings Of her husbands defeat. To her
victory could mean but little. To him
wifes sympathy viii be sweet balm
! To every full-bIoOded man. ] believe he
sounded a note of gameneSs that Is a 1T
ting epitaph even for blasted hopes as
great as his, when he said as he was
helped TO his corner: Il couldn't come
back. boys, I couldn't come back. Ash
Johnson 10 give me his glove"