El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-10-01
WHITE HOPES THAT
C0MEELEPHAHT5
Ordinarily White Hopes Are
Impossible, But They
Are Sought Now
CBv W. W. NaaghtOnl


San Francisco. Cal, Sept 30.-It IS a
terrible thing to be nailed as a white
hope" one day and pronounced a white
elephant the next Such was the sad
fate Of poor Carl Norris, and 1t has been
The fate of many who were dragged
out Of obscuriUy and exploited as
men likely to restore the flower Of fistic
supremacy to the white race
"Why is a white hope?" is question
For answer it may be said that there
is only one condition Of affairs under
which a white hope viii take root ana
flourish for a brief space. And that IS
such a condition as existed when Jet-
fries was defeated by Jack Johnson
Dearth OF Good Timber.
Prior to the fight referred TO there
was q dearth OF capable heavy lSIts-
If there had been promising man OF
two in sight, the bOilermaker would
have been permitted to remain IN re-
tirement.
he came forth and was TanqUished
and the situation was more heartrend-
ing than ever General gloom perVaded
sportdOm at the thought that negro
ruled the roOst in the boxing line, and
that the prospect OF tumbnng MIN from
his eminence was discOuragingly sInalA
The time was ripe for a white hope
movement and at the first Whisper mat
q ready made demOlisher of champions
had been unearthed the public clutcheG
at the idea as a drowning man grasps
at a floating plank
In ordinary times a white hope is i'm
possible Fighting, like other things,
has TO be learned And in fighting, as
In everything else, 1t is experience lhaI
counts.
But no enc stopped to think Of that
seemingly Any big man who had
reached physical pToporuons-Wn no
looked the part i might say-eNclueQ
interest EnterDrising managers, with
n the in chance. located them
here there and everywhere At one
time the crop Of hopes was ridtculously
large. but now the only one LETT un-
earthed is Jack Lester who was IlrsT
discovered by Tommy Burns.
Jack is doing the best he can for him
self in far off Australia. He is full Of
zip and ginger but like a young bear,
his troubles are all before him
Come TO think of II, IL is foolish to
expect a white hope to equip hlmseh
credftably with a seasoned heavyweight
Philadelphia Jack O'Brien once said
that he could defeat any man who
lacked at least a couple OF years eXpe-
rience in the professional ring ana
Jack knew what he was talking about
An experienced fighter. though he may
fall far short Of championship ca1bers I
knows all the angles Of the roped plat
form He has met all kinds Of oppc- [
nents and he knows how to change his Z
style to meet the eXigencies Of the oc-
casion. A white hope, as rule, knows
one way of boxing and one only. When .
that fails him, he is as helpless as a |
rudderless boat in q heavy sea-
Well EKemplffied.
This IS eXemplified in the Jim Flynn I
Carl Morris disaster. Flynn has been I
against short men and long men, close I
slugEers and fleet footed Ourfighters. I
He DIAGNOSED the Norris case after the 1
first clash. He saw that Norris stood I
erect as files on parade and relied on 4
q right hook OF uppercut He saw that 4
the correct ching to do was to lay his 4
face against MOrris's breast and club I
Horris's face to Jelly with overland /
clOuts.
against Jack Johnson" I heard some I
one say sneeringly at Madison Square /
that awful night
1t Is now clear how Morris could I
have Jared worse. however. He would 4
have been beaten by Johnson, of course, (
but the contest might have been less \
sanguinary- Johnson is a workman, ]
while Flynn is a DOtch and Johnson /
might have ended it all with a few 4
cleancut blows. Then it would not have I
been han so bad II Norris had even the 4
Johnson" He would have stood out as 4
the one white hope who worked himself /
into tiptoD ring company, whereas Il /
looks now as though that distinction is 1
to be enjoyed by Bombardier Wells, /
late Of king Georges army.
was Not a Hoax.
The one thing satisfactory about the 4
Flynn-MOrris affair is that it did not
TURN uAL "a 4lIdAs a1 sumo vi LlLE Nro-E-- u
fight critics warned their readers TO
expect Tt was told during the after
noon of the fight day that Flynn had
been hired to take trOuncing in or
der that 1Iorris's reputation might prof
it. The story went that Morris was
then to join Frank GOtch in tour Of
the world after dispOsing Of Flynn
In some ways il looks as If the fight
promoters of New York have not
changed much since the days of the
Horton law The old spirit which found
expression in the slogan IF 1 can't you