El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-02-25
HOPES ARE JOKES
To CHANP| ION
Jack Johnson Thinks That
Fighters Are Born and
Not Made.
Ry w. w. Naughton

San Francisco, Cal, Feb. 25.-There
is no telling. of course. what a year,
or even a few months, may bring
forth. but for the present the pugil-
! istic situation, so far as IT effects the
heavyweights, has been completely
hattened out by one Jack Johnson
On the part of the public there is
neither interest nor speculation in the
doings Of the big fellows The notion
has crystalized, apparently. that John
son is unbeatable, and until something
crops up to create doubt on this point,
the question of the worlds champion
ship may be regarded as something
that has been laid away in lavender.
For proof OF this. bark back TO the
way Johnson's coming to San Fran
cisco was handled by the San van
cisco papers. There were compare
lively meager reports Of the cham
pion's arrival the morning after. Since
then there has been no mention of him.
unless maybe a brief reference to an
arrest for speeding. Johnson himself
seems quite content to have il that
way. Fighting is the thing furthest
from his mind, and, strange though 1t
may seem, he is not counting pub
lefty
Is Arrested Often.
He has bungalow out by the sad
point for automobile trips. It IS very
seldom that he is to be found there.
For Jack Johnson now, the world is
one big boulevard and he has dis
carded his boxing gloves for goggles.
He is arrested so frequently that some
one has advised him to inquire into
the feasibility of securing a season
ticket or a book of fine coupons 1t
has been pointed out to him that he
could hand a coupon to each park po-
hceman who stops him for fast driving.
and thus do away with the necessity of
getting up early in the morning to at
tend court.
Johnson Is the dullest subject an in
terviewer ever tackled. That is. if the
interviewer is after fight talk" In
order to get the big negro to
discuss with briskness and intelligence
any question relating to pugilism, one
has to lay a foundation for each dis
cussion by posting him as to what is
in progress. Without such stimulus
his mind is a blank, or at any rate. his
lackadaisical manner would lead you
to such a conclusion.
The writer contrived to get Johnson
to discuss the subject day or two
ago. by quizzing him about the large
number of practically untried heavy
weights that were being so extensively
advertised. Johnson had not spoken
dozen words before it became apparent
that he considers the 'hope" industry
a huge joke. He warmed up slightly
to his subject after a while and pratt
tied along without further questioning.
All Of Them Jokes.
This fellow Carl Morris. who has
been taken in hand by an Oklahoma
millionaire. is the biggest joke of the
lot, said Jack. when he was first
spoken Of was slightly interested and
made up my mind to watch his career.
but I see he is not to have any career
for awhile. They are going to coddle
him and try and bring him along I'M
der cover. They won't allow him to
meet even third rate man, if my in
formation is correct, but they're go
ing TO employ trainers and cOachers
and give him a private ring educa-
ton. That settles Norris, in my opin-
ion, because you can't make a fighter
that way. Experience is the most val
liable part of a fighters stock in trade,
and the only way you can gain expert
knocks in real fights
ABILITY, Of course is the first essen
tial with a fighter. but all the ability
in the world is useless unless you have
learned by experience how to employ
it. There is very little difference be-
tween pugilists and horses. I have to
do with horses. You can take the
classiest 2yearold that was ever bred
and schoOled and he will be beaten