The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-02-26
s3 a39 45S 2SS 93S4 xxx 2S9S39sS Ks32sS KSz3 .l'iHls AUSTRALIAN ADONls

~~ WI NcA s~ st4AeE tOA
 of a century ago there steppedaf from the gangplank-of-a steamship at San Francesca tsfif, shanusornss man, half iuchaoUerssfx, feetsin height broad of shoulder but slender of waist and keen, intelIigent, Attractive. face such "a man, Tn short, as would de- light an artist and cause the heart of an IEHprsss@tonabla e @ tpaide to beat
 The fame Of the ifiiewcofrier** had. preceded him, and number of San Franciscans, including several news paper scr1bes, were on hand to vel c9rfte him Jim Hall was his snar11e. a native of Sydney Australia, and a
 niddfe% ght pifgiffst by trade. The. youth-he was then only twenty-two was without the cauliflower ear which is the oearFnarlks' of his pro- fessfon, and, although every inch an athlete in appearance, lie was far from bearing aIly resemblance to the popular eor1eeption Of a bruiser.
 The newspaper boys, cud gel1ing their brains for an spt descriptive phrase to apply to the newcomer. soon hit upor1.sss,fSfae Australian sAdon-i is',- The nickname was all the more striking because of the eomparison it suggested in connection with that other eminent Australian, RobeTt' FSitzsiTn hi0risS who had become nid-I QlGWSlRnC cnaQplOn or the WOTlQf By beating Jack Dempsey in New Or lealis only a. few weeks before Halls arrival, Bob, great fighter though he was, certainly could not claim to be
 Hall rece1ved ss an enthusiastic re- ceptfon from the American gF1t fans. for he came with the reputation of having beaten Fitzsimmons in Aus tralia. although even then it was whispered about that the affair was t<ss ee<,II- ingsssand when he was feHed by the Cornfshman from the Antipodes the adn1irers of~the Irish Noupareil thirst cd for tsrevanche.s They 1onged most earnestlx and fervently to ssees Fea0yi Robert heater. iptpE the dust of de- .feat%;ssnd theyE hobed that since no ArnefI6an was ae d1fals to 4hakfea1, Hall might be the man who could put it oSf5 SafklashadI Seen fiaBsSk aA Ais ma tive land for several years, and in 1sSe5 hezwons the Austr alian middle weight title, which alH s 5defended against Fitzsfmrnons early the fol- lowing year. Fitz was knocked out in the fourth round. but the freckied fighter after wards declared that he had laid down to HaH.7 The latter, on the contrary, always insisted that the fight was aof1 the squares2 In any event. Fitz sailed for America soon after his sdefeats and within the short SBetCc % ~cNA W s-S7 @-AS
 Tl1-erssA llstra4ian Adonis was. given 9 strytout efFnnediatelys upon his -sar-si riHHbD DinsF San FTancisos Alec 7Greg-l gafrs the trial horse of the Califo-- nia Athletic Club, and asrveteran of many hard glove and bare-fist battles was p6tted against Haal,c andz the lat ter won easily. Hall then went on5l toury with Alec as his sparrtng part
 The whole pugilistfc world was soon c1amoring for a battle between Hall and FItzsimmons. Clubs in California, New Orleans. Texas, and save1rr two Lon don. clubs began bid- ding for the match. but it was axard- ed to Minneapolis club which of fered SIP, ,OO0 for The fight. It was on. a July day in 1891s only a few months after Halls arrival in Amer | ica, that the big fight was to come off, and sports from far and near swarrned to the Minnesota metropo- lfcs . sThRre was great deal of op- position to the affair, and on the afternoon of the date set for the contest Governor William R. Merri- 1 am aff4io ounced that 1t was all off.a Iste sfnititia had to be called out, so great was the anger of the fightd fans.
 After that the months dragged by without any definite decision. all though the demand foreaa .f3a11-Fttz battle was &orId-wdde.g Hall became very popular with 1.-the American sportsy and, being of a. jovial dispos1-t txons he made multitude of friends. F,itz svvas~not so well Hked,s and the | Irish, sgTho azScoHIdnnts forgive the frs6kled fighter for having whipped Defnpsey, we're especially bitter in their danuntiatien of Fitz. After the
 Minnesota fiascoxs Hall went. soffz on another boxing exhibition tour He3 repeatedly chaIfenged Fitz, but the Ianlxy. gladiator paid no attention to Hall until after9he had whipped Pe-d ter rMaher, Joe Godfrey and Several
 About this tinae Hall formed a partnHrs ship with T CharIiessE Mitchell, the English heayyweigh boxer, and thas pair made a tour under the wing of Squire Abingdon Baird, Mitch | els wealthy baeker Squire Abing= | dens asg hea was generally called, Was al a3tgreatrspQTt and had piles. of thesgRsedfuls He took liking to Ha11,sand decided to back him against Fftzsinarnons The English sports man staTfed. several clubs to bidding for the bout. and it was ftnalfy a aNvard-l ed to the Crescent kEniettc club of New Orleans, which hung up $40. 900, the btggest sum ever offered for a | ring bout fri America up to that. time. The match was made for a day in March 1893, when HaH Mad sbeen fin America two years witfIout 2 having had an important contest. ss 1s
 Those who hoped HaTF would h uIn- | bIe- aFftz were bitterly disa ppointed3 Hall was the faVorfte in the betting, and when hes entered 8tE1e ring; isc- compa ahfed by Charlie Mitchell Squire Abfngdona an d. ack s6sAfcAufiffe, he was given a thunderouss aovati onSg all 1asndeds several biozVs1s in sStaesS early rounds, but they lacked steam zand by the fourth round Ji1a-Mas ducking and lodging all soye the ring. with Bob in hot pursuit A terrible ri eyflt 4s,rYx stlaes Eaoir1t; of-fF4alRg jaw in the fourth round ended the fight Squire Abingdon lost a small fortune on the { fight, and caught a cold which caus- ed his death 1id New Orleans a little 1afeTy s5sfxsaass rssz5sTes 9sse9 e-513@