Evening journal., 1914-01-29
BY HAL SHERIDAN
Written for the United Press

Written Tor the United ffes-
NEW YORK, Jan. 20.-Without VIC |
lating amy condolences or seeming TO as
sumo too much, it might be stated that
the opinion prevails that the business OF
fighter is To fight But as the fighting !
must be done by the fighters and not by
those having the opinions. there is "a
wide gulf between theory and practice
insofar as few young gentlemen now
basking in the limelight as champions
are concerned.
Willie Ritchie has had everything but
Group and whoopiug cough since he was
matched to fight Harlem Tommy Muir
ply. Finally the match was called OIL
1 entirely. lie has had just one 20-round
fight since he took the title from A..
! Wolgast. That was with Joe Rivers
and Ritchic won. He took the meas
ure OF Leach Cross in a ten-round bout
I'M New York. but for the most part
/ Willie has been conspicuous, so far as
The ring was concerned, by his absence
Some time ago something was said
about the existing crop Of cheese eham-
pions" Every day the odOr gets worse.
Somebody will have to invent new
I kind of smelly cheese so that a credit
able comparison can be drawn. Johnny
Kilbane has stalled around so long that
people have forgotten who the feather
weight champion is. He is apparently
as careful about his selection of matches
as an old lady picking out eggs under
suspicion.
Gunboat smith. who disposed of Ar
thur Pclky recently. has been 0ong CON
siderable lighting. but who ever thought
of Smith as champion. outside ol
smith or h, manager without more OF
less OF a gggle.
Poor old Tommy Murphy has been
chasing the title Of light-we'gh
championship for years. Ritchie
could probably whip him. but whal
with sprained ankles and other it'll.
conveniences he is not taking ans
chances He probably figures tha
Murphy is an uncertain proposition
especially in a long fight, and that 1
he licked the Harlem boy he would
MT get a lot of credit, while at tho
i same time he would look eXtremel'
:, foolish if Tommy slipped one owe
on him At all events Ritchie ism
breaking his neck to get into fish
thus digging out a place for himsel
among the recent champions witt
e have developed the vaudeville habi
t and an adversion to donning tn
It gloves for real encoYnter.
n Fred Clarke, manager of the Pitts
{ burgh Pirates. has new one q
e spring when the season opens. Il
q has ordered a war club for his team
Everybody probably has noticed tina
= before a batter goes TO the plate h
picks up two or three bats an
40 pl,fnpf
I get his muscles accustomed TO th
= weight so that when he drops al
y but one, il seems lighter and easie
Il to swing. That is where Clarke
u new stunt comes in.
s. He has ordered a special bat abou
three times as thick and as heavy n
the ordinary instrument of swat. II
figures that it will be easier to swim
y than a flock of bats, such as tn
o, players now use, but will give tn
e same results.
Re Oh woe is the day Of winter, tha
Ie slips with stealthy tread,
And wallops me on the beezer wit
my annual cold in the head.
= / mind not the heat;
n care not for the rain,
u But, oh. the thing that ] dread
Is the wintry day, the red nos'
gay.
r And my annual col in the 'ea'
All We golfers who pine away an
wither up during the winter becaus
the elements are so inconsiderate a
to freeze up things and general
el make play out OF the question. ma
N take hope. The problem is being sol'
ur ed in New York with an indoor go
- link. Jerry Travers is keeping
shape for his matches next summs
~ on one of these courses" and pr'
gn fcssionals are doing lard Office bus
lie ness breaking in buffers
ne The indoor courses are so arrange
%" here that a man can swat the ball jus
IL as hard as he would out in the opel
N. The same sort of clubs are use
at regulation balls and all that sort
q thing. The only difference is that net
he are put in place to catch and stop ti
r. balls. so that the building and I'll
~ general neighhorhood may be save
aii from being badly punctured.
There are four driving tees on on