New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-04-06
Hockey Makes Strong Finish at the Nicholas Rink
Heard at the Sign
OF the Cauliflower

By w. o. MCCLELLAN

One Of these days there will be q
boxing fatality, due entirely 10 the
carelessness OF the fight promoters.
There came near being ono at the
Broadway Sporting Club on Tuesday
night. when the top rope Of the ring
gave way and Charlie Weinert and
Dan Flynn catapulted from the ring
platform 20 the floor. Weinert struck
on the back Of his head Had he not
been an athlete. and IN good condition.
he might have been seriously injured.
The only ring fatality we happened
70 see was when Harry Tennv was
killed in fight with Frankie Neil IN
san Francisco. Tenny was Knocked
down and, in falling, struck his head
against nm unpadded part Of the ring.
He died that same night from ce-
rebral fracture. Had the ring been
properly cared for he would not have
been hurt.
The rules of the Boxing Commission
provide for proper padding Of rings.
but promoters seem inclined 20 take
the rules of the Boxing Commission
humorously. Perhaps this the fault OF
the commissioners, who are fire.
quently though perhaps uninten-
tionally humorous. Naturally the
promoters are unable 20 tell when they
are TO be taken seriously.
The commission has twenty inspec-
tors count m twenty. Some Of these
might examine the rings once in a
while. But most Of the inspectors are
humorous characters, too.
A defective ring caused Us q lot of
personal Inconvenience once. We were
sitting at the ringside jotting down
some notes on fight between the late
Stanley Ketchel and one Billy Papke,
Of Kewanee. Just as We hit upon q
thought that pleased u. We were
greatly annoyed 20 find that ketchel
and Papke had tumbled out Of the ring
directly on top Of us. 1t spoiled our
hat. our story and our entire day. To
be hit on the head by 500 pounds of
well-trained pugilists would ruiile the
sweetest disposition in the world.
Al Lippe is another of those cute
little testers And he can spring his
little quips without even cracking a
smile. Here's his very note, this is
what he wrote:
Dear Sir: Al Reich, whom Jess Will
ldiQ pNslN4Ntlf lt4 uses ~ uttk III tAt
roped arena, despite the fact that he
was offered a $4,000 guarantee by s..
Paul promoters for ten-round ses-
sion on Decoration Day, has been
selected 10 give Fred Fulton. the Roch-
ester Minnesota Giant. his first local
workout. Reich and Fulton are sched-
uled TO swap punches in the main event
at the Stadium Athletic Club on the
2sth Of this month. and on that occas-
sion Al will prove 20 the most skep-
teal that he is the logical contender
for the heavyweight title. Immediate
j. after his run-in with Fred Fulton
the prizvring adonis will set sail for
Jim Cofey. Frank Moran and Jack
Dillon; after which he will force the
so-called invincible champion to give
him crack az the title"
There arc many humorous points in
this letter. First and most striking is
the insinustion that willard is afraid
10 meet Reich. Second is the an
nouncement that Reich will immediate
ly set sail for Jim Coffey. he nsvigat-
ed in that direction last year and in
mediately sailed right back again
when he recovered consciousness. As a