New Britain herald. [microfilm reel] (New Britain, Conn.) 1890-1976, 1915-06-05
ROMANCES OF THE
SQUARED Circle
Jim Cofey Has Had Rapid Rise to
Fame


doesn't loom very large on the map Of
Ireland. Yet If you set out some fine |
morning from Castlera, you could visit |
before night many spots or historic In |
terest. You could see the cottage
which was once the home of the |
parents Of James J. Corbett, the con-
aueror of Sullivan. You could feast
your eyes by gazing on, the ancestral
homes of Mike Gibbons and Johnny
Kilbane and Packey Mcfarland and
other celebrities who have won fame
and fortune in the New World Go
on a little farther, and you could
visit the early residence of the illus
trious Peter Maher and the birthplace
CT the great Tom Sharkey. Here and
there you could stop to wet your
whistle at wayside taverns,. and shake
the hands of those VINO claim rela-
ttonship to these and other heroes of
the past end present, and hear quaint
tales of the early life of men whose
names are now household words on
both sides of the Atlantic.
In Castlerea, if you let it be known
that you hail from overseas, you will
be Intercepted extensively and inten-
sively regarding one James Joseph
Coffey, whom Castlerea now regards
as it's most distinguished native son.
70 admit that you do not know Coffey
will be to argue yourself unknown.
And if you so much as mint that this
same Coffey person Is not the pre-
destined successor of Jess Willard,
only pair of good legs will have you
from a painful demonstration of the
rugilistic prowess of Roscommon's
browny sons. .."
Left Ireland Five Years Ago.
It was about five years ago that
James Joseph Coffey shook the dust
OF County Roscommon from his man
sized pedal extremities and, with his
worldly belongings packed in a. small
and battered trunk, set out to win
fortune in the paradise Of Irishmen,
america. The steamship which car
ried Jimmy to his goal set him
ashore in Boston. The labor market
Of the New England metropolis
seemed fully supplied at that time,
and, after wearing out much valuable
shoe leather in quest of the elusive
Job, Coffey left Boston to it's fate and
proceeded to Providence.
In the Rhode island city our hero
la nded a job as a teamster He de-
ve1oped his already brawny muscles
BY loading and unloading trucks.
After a time the atmosphere of
Providence palled on James, and he
took a steamboat to New York.
There he got a job as mo.orman. To
| guide a tram through busy streets
vas at that time the height of Coffey' S
| ambition. It seemed to him lordly
| Job, and the pay Of eighteen dollars
| per week was a most munificent sum.
| Coffey might still be the chauffeur
OF. trolley car, unhonored and un-
sung, except for one of those incl
| dents which We like to refer to- as &C
81, c.dents. 1t was a bitterly cold night
| over three years ago. The wind
| shrieked and howled through the
| canons Of upper Manhattan. The
| seet cut the faces of belated pedes-
| trians like a knife, and all that sort
of bally rot. In short, it was a bad
night to be out
| Jim Coffey, muffled to his ears, was
| 1iloting his almost empty car rattlety.
| hang along the street, with nc
thought in his mind but to get to the
end Of his line and turn around anC
get back again when his progress was
stopped by line of hose stretched
across the track. The streets in the
vicinity were filled with fire appara
tus, and the firemen, engaged in fight
ing a three-alarm blaze in big apart
ment house, were oblfVlous of the
! rights of trolley cars. .....z..
i Coffey hoped off the platform ant
began chasing up and down the stree
to keep warm. While thus engaged
t he bumped into a big policeman OF
stationary post who was also runnin,
about so as to keep his blood circu
lating. They grinned at each other il
friendly fashion, and the cop sug
gested that they do a bit of wrestling
| as being productive of warmth.
Wrestling With Thomas Shaw.
;. The officer. Thomas Shaw by name
vas a. wrestler Of wide fame anon
l | the police, and he expected to have a
. easy time with the giant motormar
I The cop brought all his science t
y bear on the problem of stretchin
l sim out in the street, but there wa
= nothing doing in that line. After
U few minutes Coffey just picked Sha'
UP and dropped him on his back.
About that time the conducto
SUNNI oned Jim back to the car bu
before he left the defeated officer h
> had promised to meet him again tn
, following day at a gymnasium. Sha
NOW an instructor of wrestling an
| boxing at New York police headqua1
tiers, was far from being discomfite
by the easy style in which Coffey ha
g laid him low. instead, he we
jubilant, for he believed ne mad foun
ii q successor to Frank Gotch as chan
pion heavyweight grappler of tt
t. world.
Coffey visited the gym" accordir
to promise, and, when he told h
friend that he had never wrestled
r his life, Shaw was all the more el
couraged If "greeny'' could {