The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1910-05-01

XESSRS. JAMES J. JEFFRlES and
i" Jack Johnson will be pleased, /
" am sure, to hear that spartacus
the Gladiator, is taking deep interest In
their coming battle for the worlds cham
pionship and 60 per cent of the gross on
the pictures Spartacus told me as much
when I called on him yesterday afternoon
on The Other Side. I found him living IN
a Roman villa belonging 10 his late man
ager. over the door of the villa in Latin
letters was the word "Salve, showing
] take II, that the managers of fighters
reddled the same line of stuff to the pub
lie in the first century B. c. that they are
still passing out. -
i've been reading a lot about the DIG
fight" said Spartacus. Tell me, what
the latest dope from the coast? DO you
think JEFF can get down TO eondillon III
time? The last | heard of him direct ne
had a back aspect like a penguin and
side view like somebody carrying a ron
top desk in his arms If he ran nun
tired yards he made a sound Ike the an
nual outing and games of nay IeNeI
alumni association. And is 1t true that
the big dark man has chunk OF yeiiow
in him like a crate of grapefruit.
Il was some battler myself back IN the
old B. C. days" went on Spartacus. TAX
ing off his helmet and feeling inside the
sweat band for cigar and a match.
was there with the punch at all unies'
even if | do say II myself
"And YOU made quite speech once
too. l interjected, meaning to be comph-
mentary. that address of yours to the
other gladiators, that time, you know?
Don't YOU believe it, said Spartacus,
with considerable warmth of manner !
never did it-never in this world. was
no impromptu stump speaker ! was a
plain rough-neck fighting guy with halr
on my chest and an arm like leg. FOR
n great many years | have been the VIC
tim of a false impression. Until here re-
gently every old-school romantic actor,
when he got too stout for Romeo anu
Claude Melnotte, was seized with a long
ing to be either Spartacus the Glaulator
or Ingomar the Barbarian III he lngo-
married he draped his bullying torso IN a
buffalo robe and ate scenery in deep
bass tone of voice; but If his fancy m
cljned him to do a little Spartacusslng
he mt on a tin breast plate and a pair
of cast iron knee pants that MADE a NOISE
like somebody slamming stove door eV-
erv time he tried to sit down, and, to an
nssemblage of four tired supes carrying
dish covers and wooden spears, he made
that famous Grafton which begins, 1 e
ca-hall me che-heaf and ye do we-hell TO
ca-hall me che-heaf. .
But | never said 1t or anything like H.
] never knew a finished Chautauqua talk
er yet from Goliath of Gath 10 Nliilam
Jennings Bryan that won decision
fight. Your gifted silver-tongue who has
his picture taken gazing into space with
n pensiye air and his face resting IN the
right hand with the forefinger fiat against
the cheek pointing to the SOLID IVORY
rarely ever makes a notable showing
when the body blows begin to go nome.
49, Eol,f
L. s. Grant and Brian Boro and me and
others were always too busy slamming
knock outs across to be wasting time
thinking up eloquent remarks for cam
paign and after-dnner purposes,
And that's one thing that seems
to fill me with vague uneasiness wheh
contemplate those two modern
discinles of the manly art of beating
off your block-both of them appear to
me to be a trifle too conversational
And they spend much valuable time
in preliminaries that | would have de-
voted to increasing the list of eligibles
for the Roman Widows and Orphans
asylum. You'd think they were draw
ing up a first and second mortgage
involving half the real estate on Man
haitian Island instead of a set of articles
for two large piano movers to push
up against each other with their stom-
achs in a 24-foot ring. With us II was
different. The master of the games
would drop around to my cell in the
training schoo at Capua and remark IN
an off, hand way Hey, old top, FEELING
fit? All right then, be ready at a
quarter past two this afternoon to
take on a few barbarions. Oh no,
there's nothing very classy among
them-they're mainly Teutons and you
know how slow Germans are on their
feet But the whole house is sold out
and I'd be much Obliged if you'd clean
up in record time. And that would be
about all there was to it,
AT the appointed hour I'd step forth
into the arena toting new set of
tools They'd release the opposition
from their retreat one at time. Above
the hoarse plaudits of the Roman null
titude you'd hear a succession of dull
chopping sounds like somebody hitting
a steer with a cleayer and I'd take
my curtain calls and stalk away to
remove the souvenirs of the late bar
barians from my accoutrements. All
out and over by 5 o'clock and per-
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