The Washington times., 1914-03-17


Of chivalry in his boyhood
made Jack Dempsey 'hc Don
QuiNote of the prize ring and one
uC the StranScst and most beautiful
naracters that ever trod its resincd
anvas.
Mentally Dempsey was an dtavism,
a throw-back to the days when
kuiShthOod was in flower. He did
not fight for the money that was in
T. nor because he WAS Il natural
TEhtinc man and could not i.elp
lighting. He fought because is code
oC honor demanded that lie fight
every man who challenged him. And
1t WAS all because in his plastic, boy
hood days he was thrown in con-
tact with 4 dozen romance-flllcd
volumes that appealed irresistibly to
his naturally high-spiritcd, romantic
disposition
Ee careful what YOU read and
cause others TO read. Particularly
consider well the books you give or
mention to boys. No man knows the
influence a book may have upon
some other man. and boys are much
more SUSftDllbit
influenced than men oy what they
see fu print. Untold thousands of
ads have run away from home be-
ausc il is the fashion among a GER
ain school of romanticiSts 10 have
their heroes do the like, and swarms
Of imnocents still start West every
car TO dig gold and shoot Indians
after the manner of the miner or
scout in their favorite novel, only to
meet with trouble and disallusion-
ment and disappointment.
In Dempsey'S case the heritage of
ronrances made a chivalric pugilist
out of one who would probably 9TH
erwise have been a prosaic truck
driver. Whether this was n better
or a worse destiny is open to arSu-
ment.
When Dempsey was a little Lao an
uncle died and left among his ef-
fects dozen dinSy, dusty volumes.
For long time these lay unregard-
ID. Then one day the boz picked
one up and glanced through it.
The pictures attracted him and he
started to read it. He did not put
- hoNll ullll ldl liilO lilc
when he had finished il. Then little
Dempsey devoted himself to the re-
manning volumes. Among them were
Scott's "Ivanhoe' and Count Rob-
ert of Paris" Tennysons "Idylls of
the King" and half a dozen works
based on the chronicles of the
Round Table, the legends of the
Paladins OF Charlemagne and other
OF the romances of chivalry.
Dempsey lived between the covers
Of tho romances. He became in
thought and action a knight. His
heroes were Roland and Launcelot
and Amadis de GaLl, and he strove
10 acquire their Sraces and initiate
their virtues. Naturally of kindly,
generous disposition. he became ex-
travaGantly open-handed. notably
considerate of others, and gentle.
Courteous, chivalrous end brave. q
model of kniGhtly perfection CEN
turtles after knighthood had passed,
One of chivalry's injunctions to
It's deVotees IS that they seek honor
through battle. Dempsey vas
brought up in a turbulent Irish
reighbOrhood. He did not have to
90 much seeking. He was not a nan
:" extraordinary physique, but he
vas hShtnIag East of hand and foot.
snc had a Photographic eye and an
Fe-coId' quick-acting intellect. He
came TO analyze and understand the
ioslc and ring attack and defense az
probably no other man has under
stood II. Soon he was more thar \
"la'ch Tor any OF the fistic terrors of
rs helShbCrhood, and knigit-errapt-
Nhe sought new worlds to cona,er
Ills boxing skill and his extraor-
clnary character took the snoring
world 10y storm. Columns ware
written about the knight-err.n- ~
the ring. For years no ,nid5,.-
weight could stand before him E,a,,
Inc great Mike Donovan. the unde-
feated former middleweight cham
pion. who was brought from his re-
iircment to fight the new wonds-
was lucky TO get a draw Then no
invaded the heavyweight fields and
beat man after man, finally offering
1" fight John l. Sullivan four rounds
with blackened gloves. and ne, =
ing sum that he would not only stay
The four, but would outpoint tho
giant They called him the Nonpar
ell. the Peerless One.
Then he fought George La Blanche
and La Blanche knocked him ou,
with hls famous pivot punch. That
almost broke Dempsey's heart. for
his fighting reputation WAS as the
breath to his nostrils buI La
Blanche refused TO fight him again.
and admitted the Knockout was an
accident, and he felt better Then
he was matched with i;oU F'itzsim-
mons.
In the carly rounds of the fight
lis speed and clcverness made Fitz
look foolish. but his blows made no
impression on the iron ply siuue Of
the freCkIed wonder. and as the
fight. progressed he weakened under
the terrible blows OF the thick red
arms. Through the last four rounds
only his indomita bic heart kept him
ou his feet. In the thirteenth round
I' MAS knocked out.
There WAS no doubt about that
defeat. dempsey never recovered
from il. lie died within a few years,
and the ring lost forever one of its
most picturesque and beautiful char
a"t"rs.
Copyright. 1914 by p = Walker
Tomorrow article. Don't Let
Opportunity Knock In Vain
Fame in Sight.