El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-12-02
LINK IN CHAIN OF
FIGHT broken
Looks as IF Jack johnson
Has Decided to Sidestep
All Future Fights.
- ~ ~ Naughton.l

san 77rancfsco. cal Dec when
Jack johnson first talked retiring
many thought It was merely one OF ne
champions whims. and that ne Woliu
be back in the game with both Ieet the
first time proper Inducements were
made TO him
Now corroborative testimony IS
forthcoming that Jack is through with
the frivolities Of the ring and that ne
is plagued with ennui to the extent
that he does not care contlnenlal
who succeeds to the title.
He valves all right to a voice In the
bestoWal Of the laurels and says ne
has no suggestions to make as 70 the
heavVWei ghLs best fitted TO wear LneIn
This is bad. 1t means there will be
a cloud on the heavyweight champion
ship for years-that the man who as
sumes the prerogative without licking
johnson viii be regarded as a pretender
"a jaclal masquerading In a lion
skin.
There must be continuity IN a thing
Of this kind. Each succeeding champion
IS merely link in a chain Of destruc-
ton. The newest manor the latest
model, one might say-licked a cham
piOn who licked another champion ana
so, link by link, we trace our latest
prize ring here back to some dim and
distant champ" just as race horse
traces to the Byerley Turk, or the
barley Arabian.
When broken link appears, there Is
q blot on the escutcheOn Of the man
whose -reputational pedigree We are
investigating. and so it viii be If john
son escapes from the game unlocked
and some one grabs his title
Argument Proved Sound.
This line OF argument is easily
proved sound. John L. Sullivan de-
feated Paddy Ryan, who defeated Joe
Lewis, Jim C0rbett defeated Sullivan;
Bob FitzsimmOns defeated jim Corbett;
Jim Jeffries defeated Bob FitZsin-
mons and JOCK Johnson didn't do
thing to Jeffries-
Just think of the mental suffering Of
n thu fr1ffTrn while
trying to explain to "Old Subscriber
and Constant Reader" that the old line
of champions ended with Johnson and
that the new breed is only kind Of
Something must be done to stan off
the confusion that threatens the fistic
historians of the coming year. We
must drag Johnson back at any price
and this goes both ways as the
slangsters say-and have him trOunced
20 the queens taste
II should be done 20 keep the rec
ord straight. and come to think Of il,
twill be merely what some call poetic
retribution."
merely the husk Of the Jeffries that
used to be, and Johnson has as much
right. 70 hearken TO the comeback"
cry as Jeffries had. especially If the
Another Angle to Question.
There's another angle to the question
which is bound TO engender bitterness
Of spirit I refer to the racial angle.
If Johnson is allowed to rest in peace
there viii come a time-and then sue
ceeding times-in which the men with
the dark pigment beneath the cutiele
aThe first negro that was given
chance became the champion OF the
world They couldn't defeat MN ana
so as not to block the wheels OF
progress. he stepped aside and allowed
them TO arrange a fresh deal me
chain Of destruction which began with
TaH nnHr
Joe Jeanette. through his manager.
Dan McKettrick is the first TO lay
claim TO the crown left on the bureau
Of lack Johnson. WcKettrick says that
his man has shown himself superior
TO Sam Langford on various occasions,
and that wasn't so much Australian
gold as desire 70 eNade JeanneI 80
that sent I.angfOrd scurrying 10 the
land Of the kangaroo.
This is the first shot in the new
campafgn and Jeanette probably has
as much right to fire it as any other
But how are things to be brought to
q ferr1s2 With Johnson on the retiring
list astute Hugh Mcintosh is sure to
bin the impending sam Langford-San
McVea fight as q worlds champion
ship struggle, and who is to gainsay
Maybe the best thing for Jeanette
to do is to begin wedding out at this
end. Let him hook up with Jim tlynn,
the white heavies, and let the winner
Of that affair journey to Australia or
coax the winner Of the McVea-Lang-
ford bout back to this city. Then he
will begin to get line on the situa-
ton.
Tom O'Rourke. or some one back in
New York, has expressed the opinion
that a white man would be champion
Of the world again before long. Tt is
not easv to see how the conclusion is
arrived at. II there is white man
in the lists at present who IS capable
Of defea ting Jeanette LangfOrd and
McVea- he is being kept under cover.
No, sir! So far as the palefaces are
concerned. there is little hope IN the
outlook right now. And the shadow Of
Johnson is liable to fail athwart the
prospect any time during the next few
years. Jeffries on the occasion Of his
first retirement said he would hop
back into the game If a foreigner ever
won the championship from America
and Jack Johnson viii make up his
mind to don his war paint again, If the
supremacy Of the black race is threat
WOLGAsT RECOVERING.
Los Angeles, Cal, Dec Reports
from the hospital are to the effect that
Ad WOlgast, champion lightweight
pugiiist OF the world was improving
steadily, and he virtually passed the
crisis resulting from the operation. HIS
complete recovery was forecasted.
TO WREsTLE DEC. IA.
Minneapolis Mimi, Dec Henry
Ordemann, Of Minneapolis, and Jesse
Refmer, Of Des Moines, Ia. have been
matched for finish wrestling go here
the night Of December IA. For a year
attempts have been made to arrange a
match between the two men.