The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-01-04
Kinq vs. ParIiament-a Dramatic Day in the
 History of, England

Many old-tine fight fans of Ca nada and the United States can re- call the strong and athletic figure of Joe Wormwa1d, once champion of England, for he spent his latter days
 on this side of the Atlantic and died in Quebec Today is the serni-ce tennia1 of the battle by which Worm aid became champion, as he defeat ed Andrew Marsden in a battle for the big title, the belt, and $2,0oO, at Horley, England, on Jan. 4, 1865. At that period lem Mace had temporari- 1y retired from the ring and had re- linquished all claims to thef cham
 pionship, although it was not long before the gypsy again felt the call of. the fighting game and made sue cessfuI sscome back in the sport which he did so much to save.
 Joe Wormald. the victor in that battle Of half a century ago, made his ring debut in England in 1883, when
 he was matched with Jack Smith. a protege of Jem Mace and popularly called .eMace's Wolf, The latter lived up to his name on that occasion for he fought WormaId 113 rounds. lasting four hours and half, until
 darkness interyened and resulted in
 draw. And this ferocious contest was for $125 a side
 WormaId then fought George Hes a famous fighter of that day, and. beat him in two hours and eight min
 utes. When Mace retired, Wormald
 and Marsden were the logical con tenders for the title. Andrew Mars den was six feet two inches in height, and game and powerful
 fighter. In 1883 he had defeated Ned OsBaldwin, the Irish giant-asf- terward a familiar figure in Ameri- can sporting circles-in little over three minutes. In a later bout the l Irishman had the best of it. but the interference of Marsden's friends, | who pelted O'Baldwin with stones and drove him from the ring, so in tintdated the referee that he called it a draw.
 Then came the. worma1d-Marsden battle, in which Joe knocked his op- | ponent out in the eighteenth round and became the acknowledged cham
 pion of England. That aroused the
 waflike spirit of lem Mace, and he 1 emerged from his retirement to challenge the new champion The
 match was made, but a few days be- fore the date set the promoters re- 1 ceived a statement from a hospital
 surgeon in which it was stated that
 periostitis of the right humerus. It
 seems that he had strained the
 muscles of his right arm in training but the trouble apparently spread to
 his feet, rendering them gend, and
 making necessary change of I
 America, and Jem again claimed the big title.
 lN When Worma1d arrived on these 1 hospitab1e shores he found Ned 1 O'Ba1dWin, the gigantic Irishman,
 waiting for him at the dock with a 1 challenge. O'BaIdwin had been matched with Worma1d in England l but was not in condition, and had l forfeited $1,00O. The Hibernian was i anxious to get back at Worma1d, and ] Joe was willing, so they were match 1 ed to fight at Lynnfield, Mass The l site chosen was the village green, l facing a church, and many of the i fans settled themselves on tomb l stones to watch the milling. The cops fnterfered in the first round,
 and O'BaIdwin had to spend over a l year in jail Wormald settled in Montreal, where he had a sparring 1 saloon and sporting resort. Later he went to Quebec, where he was strfck- en with brain fever, which made
 him a raving 1unatic in his last mo- ments. He injured several attend bed, and his end was a pitifuI one His last ring antagonist, O'Baldwin,
 also had 8 tragic finish at about the
 same time, which was some forty 1 years ago, as he was shot and killed by Michael Finnell, his partner in i the liquor business
 TnEFNJ DECEz Q r0A.