The evening world., 1911-02-25
PARSON DAVIES,
ILL AND FORGOTTEN.
TALKS OF OLD TIMES

I, NltH -t UAdItStu at ulIeTCns
periods such men as Charley Mitchell.
Jake Kilrain. Jim Hall. Jack Burke. the
Irish Lad, Joe Choynski. Tommy Ryan
and Peter Jackson. In those days the
PaTson was mixed up more or less in
the show business. lie toured the
Try with Mitchell and Jack Burke.
managed John l.. In the famous show
Honest Hearts and Willing Hands"
and had Peter jackson out In Uncls
Toms Cabin.
Davies broke into the sporting world
In Chicago forty-fve years ago. when
he handled John Ennis against Dan
y I.eary in a lO0-milc walk for $500 al
side. Iede%striau!sm then enjoyed itS
greatest popularity. and the Parson at
ttrNards became identified with several
OF the events OF that character whicn
used to jam old Madison Square Gar
den. Incidentally. 1t was at this time
that Davies acquired the s%ibriquet Of
the Parson In AN odd manner. Cornelius
Vanderbilt. the old Commodore, head
OF the present day family OF Million
aires, who used to promote walking
matches then. is responsible for thu
nickname.
One night. after having done . lot
of work. the Parson. always q good
dresser. Lad logged himself out In svs.
Mn clothes and with a silk hat on was
walking around the track with Dan
O'Leary.
who's that Clergyman inquired
Commodore Vanderbilt, as he noticed
Davies. lie looks like a person.
N-ewspapermen overheard the remarks
and the next day all the papers hai
tie story. II was Hello. Parsonl" on
all sides after that. The Parson aa:i
the name bothered him for a while. but
II stuck, and so Il is to-day wherever
old sports gather.
Likes to Talk Of Old Timers.
Davies, sick and all as he is. likes 10
talk about old timers, particularly fight.
erS.
Il don't know whether the fighters OF
to-day are better than the oid-timers."
lie said to-day. but there certainly are
more OF them. The present day crop
have more chances. get good money,
have lots OF training and men 10 wait
on them. They don't have to undergo
the troubles and anxiety as they did
years ago, wnen good purses we're
scarce. still where can you get better
men than Dixon. Cans and ackso
These are three old-t!mers; they're dead.
al honorable men. Think OF all the
years Dixon stood It and how quickly
his successor. McGoyern, dropped out.
John L.? Yes. he was II good man,
d bAN q At fAN "a 4AT a. NO-e 'o
wouldn't last long. lilo never fought as
good men as Jackson or Jeffries, and
look what a little fellow Ike Charley
Mitchell did 80 him In France"
Peter Jackson was Davies's IDEAL
fighter. He'll talk for hours about the
Bis Back aud MS fine qualities.
II managed Jackson for FIVE years. I
had him when he fought Corbett that
famous slxty-one round draw. What a
! A.. So, t.lAl d. kar GfsN~-F,t,- vatfndn
II looked then like II would last o week.
SO ! went ont TO go TO sleep. il ckson
should never have fought that ba&tls.
He was a cripple. He was thrown from
n buggy four weeks before the fight
was badly hurt. / tried 10 have one
night postponed. but they wouldn't nave
& and Peter said, IN go on with H.
and he did
Ibid you consider Jim Corbett aSHAat
nghter?' the Parson was asked.
The Parsons mouth twitched at ehis
question. "Corbett," ne said, 'liks . lot
OF other fighters, liked fattery. and
when / can't fatter a ma. / prefer to
saw nothing at all about him." This
seemed 10 dispose OF Gentleman jam
and the conversation drifted along ia
J~erfr!es.
They made a great fuss about Jet.
fries be!ng licked By Johnson, didn't
they?" he asked. "And why? JenrIea
always had everything and to-day has
plenty OF money. lie never did any
liking for anybody. The best man VOL
and he ought 10 get all the credit. Five
or six years ago the result might have
been different. but the men Jenriss
fought then wers all q lot smaller than
he. lie beat old Jackson when Peter
had one leg In the grave. Peter got
about 5000 or 500 out of that nght.
enough 10 bring him home to Australia,
the only home he ever had, where he
died in a couple Of months. No, I never
seen Johnson. l dom like his way OF
doing business. Hell probably suffer
in the end"
The Parson has seen little or nonA of
the local boxing shows. lie can't Ger
around without help and without Kid
Mccoy, OF. as the Parson calls him,
Dr.. Selby, he would lie in bed continu-
ously. Tho Kid manages 10 get around
daily to cheer the "old SPORT up He
dresses him at times and gets him down
to the hotels cafe. where the Person
can sit and talk with odd friends ana
see people passing by.
The Parson hopes some day TO Get
back TO County Antrim, to a epo,
twelve miles from Belfast. where hs
was born sixty years ago, He has a
sister Twins there now. and he wants
to see her before he dies.