Evening journal., 1915-04-05
BY BARRY FARIS,
United Press Stan Correspondent.

Only about 10000 spectators assem-
bled 10 watch the battle Of the Masto-
dons-Jess Willard. Kansas cowboy,
and white hope. si5 pounds Of Cau-
casian Drawn. against John Arthur
Johnson, title-holder. with 'ssO
pounds of ebonized muscle, and the
advance sale of 100000 claimed by
the promoters looked mythical.
The crowd, save for that In the
cheaper priced seats, was slow In
assembling. The gates had been
opened for the general admission
seats at a. m. These were filed
with 5000 fans at II o'clock, an hour
and half before the big battle OF
giants was scheduled to start. The
reserve seats we're slower In filling,
only few hundred fans being seat
ed at 11.3O. The big arena showed a
yarI-cOlOred mass, struggling in each
entrance. An hour before the fight
few wOrkmen still worked fever
lshIy putting the finishing touches
ON the temporary seats.
Directly in front Of the judges
etand on the track stood the twenty
foot squared circle A tarpaulin was
ready TO be spread instantly If trop-
ical shower came.
At noon mutuel betting machines
showed Johnson 10 TO 6 fav0rite.
rhe betting was very light at that
time.
No championship battle OF the hands
has ever been staged amid such pic
turesque surroundings. over the top
of the fence enclosing the race track
was the dense green of tropical verd-
ure. The air was close with the scent
of foliage The race track grandstand
formed the main grandstand for the
fight. Four thousand spectators were
massed here-the only ones In the
, 10000 protected by a roof from the
threatening skies. Five thousand
seats filled the race track on both
sides from the ring. The cheaper
seats were massed in the center OF the
4 circular track.
q Half a mile away royal palm tree
. auiyered in the faint breeze.
= At l2.O5 there We're at least 20
!, women in the gandstand, All WEI
: eaily dressed. Their strikingly colore
n dresses formed "a background to Nh
:, duck suited dandies of Havana. or III
black suits of the American spectators
Armed soldiers OF the Republic ,
Cuba, picturesque in their uniforms, pa
!, trolled every section of the enclosure
keeping splendid order.
At 1910, it was apparent that Oh
~ fight would be late. All officials wcf
J. at the ringside, but the principals ha
not shown. At that time nearly all m
seats were taken, but there was a never
u ending stream of humanity still pressin
I, forward from the entrances
u The movie men and the ncwspap5
photographers at 1926 began setting u
their machines 10 prepare for the en-
trancc of Willard and johnson.
Johnon got his $4,000 share Of th
money an hour before the fight wa
\ scheduled TO start, IN accordance wit
y the agreement by which he accepted n
challenge of White Hope Willard.
Mrs. Johnson. the white wife of In
. negro champion. was shown a seat a
the ringside by Tom Flanagan John
n sons chief second. at 1890 o'clock.
- President Monocal of the Cubal
y Republic. entered box in the grand
= stand about 1890 o'clock. He was aC
y, companied by a party Of Cuban off
- cials.
80 The Cuban fight fans gave Pres
dent Monocal a noisy welcome
Il was announced that Johnson r,
coi'ed $4,000 for his services in cui
Y rency in his dressing room. He ha
- previously received $1,000. making II
$4,000 guaranteed the champio
ne when he accepted Wizards challeng
~, The officials were introduced 10 III
Ia crowd during the wait for the fighter
ro to put in an appearance. The NOV
men put their machines into actio
and clicked off several feet of Ali
&c while the officials bowed
- Promoter Curley had a row wit
Mace. the official announcer. an
le' dragged him out Of the ring. Curls
II then put in a substitute The crow
en- was growing weary al the failure
re the fighters TO appear and hugely el
re ioyed this preliminary" not on q
d. afternoons card.
IN The sun came out at about 1856
aw the clouds began TO drift away an
n there was little likelihood that RAJ
he would interfere with the spectator
comfort A wave Of handclappir
greeted "Old SOL" the Cuban col
tingent bursting forth into a volun
Of "Bravosl" The Cubans mostly o
cupied unprotected seats.
N AT 1888. twenty-three minutes aft
~ the time scheduled for the bout 10 b
gin, neither OF the fighters had ma,
his appearance in the ring. III
American fans were becoming in
IS patient and showing their anger
ok stamping and yelling Bring the
ng out"
ms The Cubans showed their displea
ION ure at the delay by waving sombrer
he and shouting Spanish expletiyes. o
section of the Cuban stands chant
yht "Musica, Musica." as at a bull-igl
ow but there was no "Musica."
ro- Tom Jones. Tex ORourke. Jim 81
the age and Walter Monahan were in I
be white mans corner. Tom Flannigi
the Colin Bell, George Munroe. Bob AT
ard strong and Sam McVey were in Jol
lily son corner.
johnson Enters Ring.
ing Johnson entered the ring al
low o'clock
to A ripple Of cheers that gave "
ley TO a real outburst Of applause gree
ian the champion. He acknowledged
ugh cheers on the way to the ring W
the the famous ivCrv tcothed gold
aez- smile. The champion chamber
the through tho ropes. stretched hims'
of bowed To tho crowd claborately a
.1....s...- ,I..t.t g.. ta-f thr 10.