El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-03-09
johnny Knbane's Mascot Is
His Daughter-Fighters
and Their Hobbies.
(BY MONTY

TEW YORK. n. Y. March s.-As
champions come and go. so do
the mascots BIZ which they
swear or rather the departure Of the
mascot usually briefly precedes that Of
the champion. such is, Of course, not
the fault of the mascot: it is nothing
more nor less than a coincidence. but
yet the fact remains that, in nine
cases out or ten. the champion has
fallen shortly after discarding his mas
cot
Baseball players are notoriously SUI
perstitiOus but they cant hold a can
die TO the box-fighters- There is hard
" a fighter OF note who has not some
charm or talisman to which he pins
his faith There are Of course eXcep-
tons to the rule, but johnny Kubane.
the new featherWeight king, is not
enc OF them
Kilbane's mascot is none other than
Mary kilbane- This mascot has bright
blue eyes, a r0guish little mouth. dim
pies in her cheeks and brOwnish hair
on the top OF her head. For Miss Mary
is Just 10 months old
In his earliest ring battles in his
home town, Cleveland. Kilbane entered
the ring with the remembrance fresh
in his mind Of q parting. kiss on the
cheek OF little Mary. Later. when XII
bane became more important person
age, II was not always possible to take
Mary around the country with him.
but he never let an opportunity pass
TO send some word to the yOungster
just before he entered the ring On
the eve of his fight with Abe Atteu
in Los Angeles, kubane wired the
yOungster in the arms Of her mother
in Cleveland. Papa is going to win
for little Mary and viii be champion
tomorrow" Every reader of sport
knows now whether that prediction
Some Other Tallsmen.
Notable instances Of boxers with
mascots in both past and present are
Bob Fitzsimmons. Stanley ketchel.
Knockout Brown, Terry NcGOvern,
Pedlar Palmer, Bill Lang and Freddy
Welsh.
One OF the most peculiar maseots a
boxer ever had was the kangaroo's foot
which was the asset of Fitzsimmons
In the usual course OF events '-Lanky
Bob was man Of iron nerves. but il
IS q SAFE bet tEat If he had happened
10 lose his kangarOo's foot on the day
OF contest he would have refused to
enter the ring He would tuck liz into
the sllken scarf which he wore around
his waist and then enter the ring WITH
out qualm or quake
Needless to say he attributed all his
success within the hempeu square to
this peculiar mascot. The fiery Cor
nishman also possessed a live bear,
which used TO be his faithful compan-
ion I'm his early DAYS during his long
walks which are part and parcel Of
practically every boxers training.
The Old-time English featherweight
star. Pedlar Palmer. had a mascot Of
a more useful kind. Ii was nothing
less than the green trunks he wore
The marvellous little battling machine
used to regard these trunks with an
air of awe. and many were the COM
ments that would be passed upon
their shabby appearance when he en-
tered the ring. But Pedlar was like
Eva Tanguay and he didn't care; ne
had never heard the referee give a de-
cisi0n in his opponents favor while he
wore them; consequently where Ped
lar went. those trunks went, too
But at last there came the fatal day
in 1893. when Palmer was knocked out
in the first round by Terrible Terry
McGovern 1t was the last time the
old green trunks were worn. after
having CARRIED their owner in eight
years Of championship fights.
Palmer's conqueror also had a mas
cot 1t was a shea beautiful stage
dancer. and surrounding the tale OF
Terry McGOvern and his mascot is
quite q romance The Terrible" one
was indeed q terror and his victories
came with monotonOus regularity He
cleared out all the bantam weights,