The evening world., 1911-08-10
Australian Billy Murphy Was
Eccentric Like Other Noted
Fighters and Had Peculiar
Ideas About How a Champion
Should Dress at All Times.
No. 3~-AUSTRALLAN BILLY
MURPHY.

Copyright 1 12h.. S b r. ssrs rF w:r fIsSe'i'A'n' Co.
THE peculiarities Of Australian
Billy" Murphy have given rise to
a lot Of amusing stories about
him. Like many other notable pugilists.
he was very c nitric and ~erratic, es-
pecially In the matter OF dress. Being
a tailor. he felt 1t incumbent upon him
to be dressed In What he conceived
to be the height OF fashion. Soon after
his arrival In America, when he received
some good purses out OF his first few
fights. he proceeded to give free rein
to his desire for classy apparel. He
evinced a great liking for frock coats
n nearly always wore one.
A top hat appealed to him strongly.
"a did spats and patent-leather shoes.
Big collars and fashy neckties also
helped make up his mirror OF fashion.
But he balked at a billed shirt" lie
wore soft flarre' shirts for comfort and.
as a sop to the Goddess OF Fashion.
took to i "d!cky." Sometimes when the
weather was too warm for comfort Billy
would shed the telored frock coat. At
such times the white or fancifully col
ored 'dicky" stood out strikingly
to''F NV III blFI VI stay hdIlllt
shirt. especially whe.. companioned by
a noisy pair Of s~uspenders. This revela-
tion OF his sartoriP' secrets never trout
bled Billy. 1t also greatly amused his
companions. who Invented all sorts OF
pretexts to get Billy to la aside the
shiny frock coat and disclose the
'dicky' to the scornful gaze Of the
fashionably minded.
His Training Clothes.
Other fighters dressed in suitable
clothing for their training stunts and
their long runs. but Billy was ire
quently seen plodd!ng along the dusty
read on a long 1aunt. swinging along at
q dog trot. attred in a frock coat. high
hat, noisy neckt!e. loudly-striped trous-
ers and patent-leather shoes. begrimed
and dusty. with the perspiratlon stream
Ing down his face from beneath the
shiny tile. One day Billy was taken
from his training quarters around Oak.
land over to San Francisco to sign the
articles for an important match. He
was all dolled up as | have described.
Over his shoulder he carried a big shot
gun. Billy explained that as soon as
he had finished with the signing OF the
articles he was ding out duck hunt
Ing and he didn't want to lose the time
OF coming back to his quarters for his
gun. And when the match was duly
InNue OF ne went atter the DUCKS.
He was extremely fond of hunting
and was a very good shot. He was
happiest when he could go off alone on
a hunting trip. and the further no could
20 alone up into the mountains the
better satisfied he was. II is said that
when Billy arrived in San Francisco
he was taken around the city 20 see
the sights. One OF these was Seal Rock
out at the Golden Gate. When Billy
caught sight OF the seals there he i'm
mediately became very excited and ran
all around the place valnly trying TO
borrow a gun with which to take a
crack at them. Whenever he saw any
thing shootable he was Immediately
possessed with a desire TO shoot. and he
could not understand that to XIII the
seals was against the law. But he didn',
get the gun.
During the summer OF 1889 Murphy
ohalleng ed Ike Weir to n battle for the
featherweight championship of the
world. and Ike accepted, But II was
nearly six months before the fight took
place. 1t was held In san Francisco
before the California Athletic Club on
Jan. 10, 1890. Welr's expenses from
Boston were paid by the club and a
purse of $500 was offered. The weight
was 100 pounds, but Murphy weighed
lls i2 and Weir ia l-2. There was a
DIE tfOWu at the HEUt ana the Dtltlny
was heavy, large sums being wagered
on Weir. The spider" outclassed Muir
ply completely throughout the fight,
dancing In and out and around the rush
ing Australian as he pleased. doing all
sorts OF antics In the ring and keeping
the whole house in a roar OF laughter
One instant he would be In the centre
OF the ring fighting furiously. the next
one would fnd him over in a corner
doing a jig step.
This Is the fight where he pulled the
trick Of making his opponent dash at
him In a corner. then sldestepp!ng and
SLOWING the blow meant for his bony
fame to go crashing against a 'ost. He
did this so often TO Murphy that finally
the Australian boy refused to come near
Weir II the latter was within ten feet
of a post. But these very antics, This
display OF cleverness bv Weir, was the
means of his undolng. In the thirteenth
round Ike stepped side to escape one
Of Murphy's blows and then did a back
flip. AS he landed on his feet he either
lost his balance and plunged forw lrd
or else deliberately stuck out n. law,
as ne sometimes lid, At any rate, Muir
ply saw his chance, and before Ike
could dodge the famous MARY Ann
came swinging over with all OF Muir
phys weight and force behind It, The
Spider" went down like the proYerbiil
log and was unable to rise within the
ten-second limit.
Result a Bio Surprise.
Referee Hiram Cook then declared
Murphy the victor and winner of the
f~eatherweight championship of the
world. Welr's defeat was a great sur
prise to sporting fans and the Eastern
sports We're much depressed. inasmuch
as Il was the fourth notable defeat OF
Eaatern cracks In California; within q