New Britain herald., 1915-01-09
CALL OF FAME AND
 RICHES IS STRONG
This Is Underlying Motive for Boys
 Entering Box ng Cam5.

! why he adopted fighting a prOfes- sion, and hell give you a wide vari- ety of answers, but they all simmer down to ambition to achieve money and fame. And the primary influence is that he was personally acquainted, or possibly a relative, of some chap who had succeeded in the fistic pro- fession. That's why you find so many brothers engaged in the practice of the manly art" and why so many boxers hail from certain parts of great cities, or from the same small com munities.
 Away back Tn the beginning of the game in England certain towns were afflicted with the boxing bug, with the result that they supplied a large proportion of all the professional bruisers. At one time nearly half of the good fighting men of England hailed from Bristol, and at other pe- riods other com paratively small com munities were the producing ccnters of pugilism.
 Many families in those days, as now. turned out several fighting brothers, and the BrOOmes, the Wards, the Robnsons, the Turrc:s, the Burns and others have gained a permanent place in ring history. Jem Ward, the famous champion, and his brothers Nick and John, were a. dis ; tinguished fighting trio. They inher tied their pugilistic talent from their mother, woman of Amazonian pro- portions, who was feared by all the women in the neighborho ood because of her ability with her fists. Jem Ward ranks among the great cham pions of all time, and Nick, thirteen ,'c ojnV b,I oil fID pugilistic qualities, plus an unfortu- nate yellow streak which prevented him from achieving the championship Nick defeated Ben Caunt the cham pion, on a foul, but a little later he fought Caunt again, and after receiv- ing a little punishment, went down without blow.
 The influence of association in the production of pugilists was never better illustrated than in the famous case of Palmer's Cooperage in Brook lyn, where Jack Dempsey, Jack Me- Auliffe, Jack Skelly and Brooklyn Jimmy Carroll were employed as ap- prentices. That coopers shop was turned into a pugilistic college, from which Dempsey graduated into the lightweight and afterward the middle weight championship; Jack McAuliffe
 
 the world and retired undefeated; Jack Skelly attained to a high place among the featherweights, but was defeated by George Dixon in a battle for the title at New Orleans, and Brooklyn Jimmy Carroll became one of the best of the middeweights, and might have become champion except that he refused to fight his friend Dempsey for that honor
 The Wallach family in New York affords another example of how scrap ping runs in the blood. Although Leach Cross is the most distinguished of this pugnacious clan, no less than four of his brothers have tried their hands at the game. The fifth of the fighting Wallachs recently made his ring debut under the name of Marty Cross.
 The White family of Chicago is an other famous fighting clan, and. be- sides the Whites, includes Billy Wag- ner. who chose that name instead of White when he entered upon his ring career. Charley, Jack, Al and Billy are of Hebrew descent and all were born in Liverpool, England, their real family name being Anchowitz.
 Willie Ritchie, the American light weight champion, was reared in a section of San Francisco which has produced moro prominent boxers than any other similar area on the worlds map. The fighting bug is certainly some prevalent in that neighborhood, and every kid there entertains pugilis- tic ambitions.
 Frankie Burns, the Jersey City ban tam, has been responsible for start 1 ing lot of youngsters in that city in l ,1yio | his training in a basement beneath a | liquor store on Second street. and all the kids in the neghborhood got the boxing bee from watching Frankie l perform. One of those kids was Joe | Shugrue, who recently defeated Fred | die Welsh. the lightweight champion l of the world. in a bout at Madison Square Garden. Joe probably would never have thought of taking up boxing except for the craze started in his neighborhood by the proximity of ! Frankie Burns.
 Many little villages have turned out l many boxers, following the success of one native son in the ring. The little town of Spring Valley. H., is an ex- ample. Billy Papke was started on 1 his ring career in that village and since then several other lads born in Spring Valley have en- tered the ring, among them Fob Nc | Mahon, the "Pittsburg Bearcat' and | Goats Dog.
 Many years ago the great Jcm Mace | Viisted New Zealand with a company of transforming boxers. and as a d- l rect result the New Zealandcrs were | imhued with an enthusiasm for the | game which resulted in two worlds champions and several others who