The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-11-30
Heroes of the Prize Ring
 Have Followed Many Trades

While the great majority of the he roes of the prize ring, past and pres ent, have come from humble walks in life, not a few of them have been men of Iowbrows devoid of appreciation for the finer arts is baseless. A con spfcuous example to the contrary was lem Mace, the gypsy niddleweight, who held his own against the best of the big men of half a century ago. lem started his career as a fiddler at English fairs and he gave promise of developing into a talented vio1inist, to take up the fight game. It will be four years, come tomorrow, since Mace died, at the ripe old age of 80, and to the last he treasured his violin as his most priceless possession.
 Those who have seen James J. Cor bett, the former bank clerk, on the stage, will admit that, although not a genius, he at least displays considera- bIe talent as an actor. lem Mace was also fairly good on the stage, and Tom King, Charlie Mitchell. Dick |Burge, Jem Ward and several others made good as Thespians. iJem Ward, by the way, was an artist of no mean talent, and some of his seascapes won high praise from the best British painters of the period. Ward was also an excellent musician, and his talent in that direction was inherited and developed by his daughter, Eleanor Ward. who was rapidly winning place among the great pianists of the world when she married and retired from the profession. Ii
 It must be admitted, however, that
 most of the pugi1ists of renown have followed humble trades. John L. Sullivan, the, temperance orator, started his working career in a tin factory in South Boston. Jim Cor 11D H. .I- S~, CS-aNa TIvsuT1 T1,. cisco. Bob F'itzsimnons was a black smith. as every ione knows, and Jim Jeffries a boilernlaker. Tommy Burns played professional lacrosse before he took to the boxing game. Jack John son worked on the Galveston docks before he found an easier way Of bringing home the bacon. Jess Will lard was a cowboy, farmer and freighter. Tom Sharkey was sailor, Peter Jackson a. boatnnan, and Peter Maheri a brewer. Jake KilrAin was an oarsman and sculler- Charlie Mitchell worked in a medical college.
 Of the earlier American heavy weight champions, Tom flyer was a butcher, John Morrissey dock la borer and deckhand, and John C. Heenan a blacksmith. Paddy Ryan was an ironworker in Troy, where both Heenan and Morrissey started their careers.
 JaCk brOuSnCO1, alI10 Idth0E O1 IAAC ring was a dock 1aborer at Bristol before he became champion of Eng land. Jack Slack, his successor, was a butcher, and Bill Stevens, the next champion, a blacksmith George Meggs was a miner. Tom Johnson was a corn porter on the London docks. Ben Brain was a coal digger. Dan Mendoza, the great Jewish cham pion, was by turn an errand boy, tobacconist and biscuit baker. Jern Be1cher, was a butcher boy, and so was Pearce, ''the Game Chicken John Gully, who became a champion, a millionaire and a M. P, started as a butcher. Tom MoI1ineaux, who all
 most became the first American cham pion of the world, was a negro slave in Virginia. Tom Spring was butcher and farm boy. Jen Ward was a dock laborer. Jem Burke was a boatman in London. Bendigo, who afterward became an evangelist, was an iron worker. Ben Caunt was farm la borer. Tom Savers was a bricklayer.