Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1913-12-17
BILLY JORDAN,
RING VETERAN,
Will RETIRE
IBy Latest MALL

SAN FRANCISCO BILLY Jordan,
veteran announcer. with whose Both
men agree 10 break at the order of
1.-The referee, and may the best man
win-let 'er go!g every champion OF
more than q quarter century is IA
miliar. Is soon to let loose the reins
or actual business life.
On the first Of January, having com.
piefed 90 years OF faithful service as
q market inspect tor to which berth he
was appointed by Governor Budd,
Billy viii respectfully and regretfully
hand In his resignation. Perhaps q
month later he viii HE himself TO the
Soldiers Home af YountFille, where
he Will round out his years in peace
ind quiet.
And who has q better right Just q
week ago this grand old man Of the
ring, who can 90 back to 1S49 80 far
as witnessing fights is reckuned, cell
ebrafed his eightieth birthday, and
while he Is still hale and hearty. as
the term goes, his legs pins Jor-
dan calls them-haye given out on
ham, and he is forced to rest
This doesn't mean that Jordan is
entirely lost to the ring that his his
tofic figure viii no more be seen
climbing through the ropes.
Il can't quit the fighting game, and
il don't want to, he explains. Il will
be down here every now and then, but
only for the important fights. i can't
spend my time making that long trip
for the little bouts that don't count
But my voice is as good as It ever
was.
And who. having heard his an
nouncements Of the champions OF to-
day will gainsay him?
Billy Jordan might, IL he would, tell,
q wondrous story OF the days gone by,
There probably isn't another man liy-
ing who can 20 back with Jordan To-
that raw February day In 1S49 when
Tom Hyer defeated Yankee Sullivan.
And II there happens to be such q
man, the chances are that he hasn't
followed the sport as faithfully as this
sturdy oak, who has been as much a
part Of the pomp that goes with cham.
pionship fights as the fighters them.
selves.
But Billy isn't ready to tell HIS life's
history. He wants to take his time
in assembling his facts, to be sure Of
what he is telling, and then go ahead.
So perhaps in the peaceful days that
are TO come In the Napa valley he VIII
spend his days in recalling the past
And what a story it ought to be
when it Is finished! -..' III
Jordan, born in Boston in. 1888,
came to the California coast in 1856,
not as a seeker for gold,s but just q
wanderer Later, when the Civil War
came. Billy Jordan, with two Of his
brothers, entered the service Of the
North, the other two brothers being
supporters of the Confederacy. The
announcer of today was first 6 all in
the navy, but before the war had
closed he re-enlisted in the army.
So far as the boxing game is con.
cerned, Jordan was first a fighter Of
the old school, when bare knuckles
was the word Then he became ref
cree and finally rounded out his Ca
reer with more than 80 years of an.
nouncing.
He will not talk of the days when
he boxed, although he can exhibit a
couple OF broken knuckles, grim wit
nesses Of what fights then meant,
As q referee, be it said that he saw
duty likewise when bare-knuckle
scraps were in vogue.
And 1t required some nerve to be
referee in those days." he conclud-
ed. More than often you were out
in the country, with lot of rough and
determined men around you, who
were ready to shoot at the drop of the
hat. Still, the, rules permitted a ref
cree to reserve his decision for "a
hours. Once, things were so squally
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