Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-06-18
FIGHT SITUATION IN
FRISCO IS CRITICAL
Governor Holds Up His Order Call
ing Out the
Troops.
PROMOTER BLOT IS NOW
IN OPEN REBELLION
Claims That Langford-Kaufman
Bout Will Be Held Today in
Face Of an Army.

SAN FRANCISCO, June 1s.-'I still
have an ace in the hole When Langford
and Kaufman appear today in the ring,
sitting in the same box with District At
torney Fickert and Chief Of Police Mar
tin will be Adjt. Gen. j. B. Lauck,
commander of the state militia Of Cali
fornia. l have the positive assurance
that they (Fickert and Martin) will not
permit single round to be fought. Their
promises were given to me personally. l
believe and expect they will be kept. The
doom Of prize fighting in California has
been sounded"
! The foregoing statement, made last
night by Gov. James N. Gillett, epitomizes
the latest situation Of the prize fight con-
troversy that has plunged San Francisco
into a condition bearing all the aspects of
a miniature civil war.
Louis Blot. the promoter of the fight. is
in open insurrection against California S
chief executive. Defying the governor,
who has ordered out two companies OF
militia to prevent the ring contest" II
city officers refused to act, Blot declared
he would hold the kaufman and Lang
| ford fight today, even though IAN army
were called on to block proceedings.
| Stands Alone.
| OStenSibly Blot STANDS alone, but until
late last night he had at least the passive
support of the district attorney and the
courts, as Superior Judge Van NOstrand
at 3:35 pm. declined to grant temporary
injunction against the Langford- K aufman
| fight, refusing the petition Of Attorney
| General Webb.
| At the eleventh hour. however, District
| Attorney Fickert and Chief of Police
| a ri in MI hoi yx-Or ~
| General Webb that they would prevent
| the fight. Acting on their assurance, Gov.
Gillett held up his order calling out the
| state troops.
Still obdurate. Blot persisted in his dec
| laratiOn that the fight would be held as
| scheduled, and unless he retracts from
| his position the outcome of his rebellion
will not be determined until this after
noon at o'clock. Pacific time, when the
! fighters are scheduled to come together.
| District Attorney Turns.
| For a time yesterday it appeared as
though San Francisco would openly rebel
against California. District Attorney
Fickert persisted in his contention that
there was nothing in the laws of Cali
fornia that could be construed as inhibit-
| ing either the Langford- Kaufman or the
Jefries-Johnson bouts.
But the pressure brought to bear on
/ city officers induced Mr.. Fickert to re-
tract from his position. and positive as
surance was given by the chief of police
that the principals would not be per-
mitted to enter the ring today.
| Blot, every one else says, cannot carry
| out his determination to override the
! governor authority, and to all intents
| and purposes the war is at an end.
In refusing to grant injunction
Judge Van Nostrand said that he denied
! the petition on the ground that sufficient
| time had not been given the defendants
| to present their case, but stipulated that
! his action should not be construed an
| adjudication of the controversy involved
Just before the governor left for Sac
ramenta, late yesterday, Chief OF Police
Martin asked him if he should permit the
I "preliminaries' of the Kaufman and
Langford contest to be held.
Prelims All Right.
II am not concerned with your pre-
| liminares,' replied the governor. Let
| them go on" He hestated a moment
| as il debating the matter. but dismissed
| 1t with a smile.
What do you mean by 'preliminaries',
anyway" he laughed. as he turned away.
The question of what preliminary"
| is and wherein curtain raiser to
big fight differs from the fight itself will
| probably be determined tomorrow, per-
haps by Adjt. Gen. Lauck.
San francisco was amazed at the days
| startling. rapid developments. 1t would
| be difficult to analyze the conflicting SEN
| timents of the citizens. Apparently the
issue is between Blot and the governor.
! but no one regards that as more than
manifestation of the real elements Id con-
| flict.
| Ever since the startling announcement
| from the governor that the Jefries-John-
son fight and the kaufman-LangfOrd
! fights must not be held in California, hos
Jti Iotu thn chi nf( "a IL
| fornia and the district attorney Of San
Francisco has been evident. Then came
| from Chicago the declaration made by
Mayor P. H. Mccarthy that he was run
ming his town and that the battle Of
| the century would certainly be held in
| San Francisco.
Bidding for Fight.
Despite the fact that TEX" Richard
| positively stated early yesterday that the
(, Johnson-Jeffries fight would be held in
Goldfeld, New, the sporting world is UNI
convinced. There Is lingering suspi-
cion that Reno will be the battle-ground.
Richards announcement was made on
| receipt Of a telegram from Maurice Sulli-
van. merchant Of Goldfeld. 1t con-
tanned an offer of $4,000 for the fight
and Richard without moments hesita-
ton declared for Goldfield. The pro-
moter howsSer j., Immediately qualified his
| bid is received from Nevada town"
No sooner had word of Richards &C
| ton reached Nevada than the wires were
| burdened with messages of protest and
entreaty from Reno and Ely. Richards
Office was swamped with messages. and
while few Of these have been made pub
| lie. 1t is certain that strong guarantees
back the requests that the fight be taken
| to Reno or Ely.
Will Be an Auction.
SO determined was the opposition to
| Goldfield by the other Nevada towns
| that the promoter partly surrendered in
the afternoon. He informed urgent petit
| TONERS In Reno and Ely that he would
listen to what they had to say Sunday
night in Reno. This notice also was
conveyed to Goldfield. Committees from
each Of the three Nevada towns will be