The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1911-02-07
BY JAY LEWIS.

MT. j. AntnOuy 0EeASl Diuuic ID "a
society man of Philadelphia with a
mania for boxing. Perhaps "of Phil
adelphia" is Unnecessary, Pathological
and other long words for the name
Biddle{ lis synonymous with Philadef-
phia, society and likewise money.
1t was these three facts that COM
mended him to one Joseph F. Hagan,
who In boxing circles is known as
philadelphia Jack O'Brien.'
philadelphia Jack" is considered
the shrewdest man who ever donned
a boxing glove. that is, in regard to
bringing home the money. He never
engaged in a losing contest from a
money point of view. He has faxed.
double-crossed and boxed on the
level, as it seemed best to him. He
was double-crossed by Tommy Burns
and lost any claim he may have had
| to a championship title. He has
boxed with blacks and In every class
from lightweight to heavyweight.
philadelphia Jack" after the Tom
my Burns bout. wrote a book ac-
knowledging few of the fake bouts
In which he had been engaged. He
also confessed to few in which he
had not faxed. AS he was confessing
he no doubt threw the extras In for
4 go0u measure.
| sConfcssor Jack" Hailed.
| Being a confessed fakir he was
hailed as .Confessor Jack" instead OF
the title Professor, which he loved.
| A shrswd man. Philadelphia Jack
invested his savings in real estate in
Philadelphia under his real name of
Hagan. He longed to be respectable,
and the zenith of his ambition was
to have a social standing: to be able
to enter the home Of Philadelphia
Biddle and not be mistaken for a
Philadelphia Jack has a severely
broken nose. he could look the latter
role most realistically.
Philadelphia Jack engaged a tutor,
a tailor he had already. The latter
was a marvel. His choice In waist
coats was superb and would have
driven Tim Woodruff to despair ana
Dug Gordon to writing paeans Of sar-
torial praise In satirieai style.
Finally O'Brien heard that J. AM
thony Drexei Biddle was, in the clas-
sic language of the ring. bugs on
boxing" He obtained an introduce
ton. He brought Biddle around to
the national club and introduced him
to Jack Michigan and "Yi-yi' Erne,
the idol OF the Philadelphia fans. at
ter Jack O'Brien had abdicated. a
tGEk1 CONFESSED IAklr.
| O'Brien Teaches Biddfle.
He undertook to teach Biddie to
box in the most approved Jacko-brfe
lstyle-which means lot of monkey
tricks. After one lesson he assured
Biddle he was q wonder. He told the
society man that he could make him
a worlds champion II Biddle really
cared to take up the game for sports
sake. Which nattery was as mamma.
L. ~ a.
Biddle. He trained on fiattery and
grew great In his own estimation.
OBrien ~actually induced Biddle to
box him In public and naturally It
was easy to get 4 club TO stage bout
between the society man and the star
boxer. The way o'Brien showed
Biddle up" as a boxer. made the
oldr timers at the ring-side weep. But
O'Brien was careful not TO hurt his
feelings, even IL he did abuse him
physically. He told Biddie with .
little more experience he would sure
ly be a world heater, and the fiat-
tered, II battered, son of revofu-
tionary patriot. hitched his wagon TO
the O'Brien star.
Then O'Brien had a grand idea. He
would make boxing fashionable in
Philadelphia through Biddlc. He
would organize club on the Ma
where peers OF the realm attend bouts
in fais evening aress. boats that roy
atty has conntenAnced.
/ Biddie fell" for the scheme, and
4 o,Brfen, To hold him firmfy, told him
4 he would appoint him referee. Here
was glory for Biddle. He would be
las important q person in boxing as
Eugene CORR, that pal OF peers loved
iof lords.
| The opening Of the O'Brien club
waa an cccasion that long will be
remembered In the Quaker City. go
,lciety men attended. They wore their
dinner clothes, too. Reyburn was
there and made q speech. and the
Iawe-struck hoi pciloi looked down on
q sea OF shirt fronts from the bal
cony bieachers amazed. daxed, DAG
xled. They got their moneys worth
on that spectacle alone.
LIT was news to Jim Corbett when he
arrived In Richmond
Can you beat it," was his com-
ment That fellow ID q wonder"
And now to crown II al J. Anthony
iDrexel Biddle has come out with q
set of rules on behavior at boxing
bouts. with q dissertation on the de-
cline and rise Of the game. 1t y
given herewith. II should be read.
40lkS8ltu anu ROHoCA Gu ~ 40 SoAAA-
lmended to Richmond's smart set. es-
pecially to youths Of the J. Anthony
Drexel Biddle type. IL there be any.
which the writer trows not. But
there II Ia.
/ ny J. A. d. Bidd1c.
/ Boxing has been looked down
upon In this country for years. 1t IL
now coming into its own once again.
Take the average night IAN Of the
oiden days. He felt that he had to
make some excuse and always falsi-
ned to his family. II least. about his
destination.
"Pugilism was scorned then. too,
and mans wife was never told that
he was going to SEQ boxing match.
In fact, that Eas just exactly what
he would not say,
I'm addition. everybody who went
to q night thought that he was en-
Titled to he ~ tough 10 possible. He
wore his roughest clothes and his
!roughest manner ~ we'll.
The spirit OF pugnacity was In
4 the air. and the average fight de-
lvotea thought that he had to battle
4 with his neighbors, and fighting be-
came promlscuons without - we'll ~
/ within the rtng. ssz,'5as''ss''7 r.
"Now. our country was the one ma
tion that was behind IN this respect.
There was too wide gulf between
the professional and the amateur
/ boxer. I gulf which va ara now try