Norwich bulletin., 1917-11-24

stacle. He must be removed. They were not so sure that Hall was cap able of beating the lanky Cornishman. A match. however, was made, and Fitz began to train as he had never traineI before. At first or al least when the match was made, Hall was the fav- orite. His adherents said he possess ed the class and no slugger could reach Jim Hall. The rank and file, however, plunged heavily on Fitz. Many recalled his cleancut conquests while working at the forge. They had also seen him finish off his opponents In an artistic fashion. They believed F'itz could both outbox and. outpunch Hall and they back up their belief with sovereigns.s F'itz money flooded the bool<makers. It would never do for him to win They would all be broke. What was to be done? No until almost the hour of the fight that the problem was solved.
 A short, pudgy bookmaker blurted out that Fitz must not win. I'll fix him, he calculated. And he did. Be- fore going into the ring Fitz was told that if he won he would not get a cent. If he lost they would go fifty fifty on their winnings. In other words, he would be declared in on the cleanup Fitz was in a quandary. suffered so much mental torture be- fore in my life," said Fitz to the writ CT. T had spent every cent I pos sessed in training and paying my helpers and, tiguratively, I was flat broke. The temptation was too much and I yielded. The incident and the sequel made a black page in my his tory and how often have I yearned to go back and blot it out" That was FitZ's constant plaint. On February 10, 1890, was the date. While his feet seemed loggy and with a cobwebbed brain he was even able to hit Hall al- most at will. He feared to put any steam in his blows. A huge pIacard of poverty stared him in the face no matter to which side of the ring he moved. He could stand the mental distress no longer. In the fourth round he stepped in with a weak lead, his shoulder lowered. and Hall jolted him on the jaw and he Topped to the floor of the ring and was counted out. His limp body was half dragged to his corner by his alert seconds and in a few minutes he regained conscious ness. FItZ was a good actor so far as ring artifce and cunning was consid- cred and his feigned knockout took.
 The bookies collected their money and poor Fitz after all his mental suf- ferings and blackening his reputation amount. SqueaL and we will drive you from the. country Fitz did not want to be driven. He feared that his workmen friends would discover his peiHoy anu lldl Woulu predk HIS heart. He gathered together S2ougl money and set sail for America, land ing in San Francisco in the early spring of the same year.
 Barring the contest with Hall he left an illustrious record behind hirn in Kangaroo land. So enthusiastic were the real sportsmen of that cline over his achievement that he was sent out to the world as an Australian. The public was made to forget that he was a born Cornishman. Up to few years ago the blacksmith shop in Ti- mura. New Zealand, was still a land mark with Lanky Bob's name over the door. It was the pride of the village and it was a monument to his boyhood days.
 Fitz's arrival in America and how he set the puglistic world in a whirl by his freak physique will be treated in Closeup No. 4, which will appear on Saturday December 1