El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1918-02-02
TRICKS IN EVERY
TRADE BUT OURS
Jim Jeffries, Champion of Champions squarest of
Fighters, But Business Gets Very Dull After
All Commanders Are Put AWAY

i'm his prime Jim Jeffries was a
! whale. He had size; was hard as
L nails, hairy with strength; knew
the fine points Of the game. and was
nimble and shjfty beyond anything
that Jess Willard will ever conceive,
even when he gets to the Happy
Bunting grounds.
But what was the champion 10 do?
Now there are plenty who want a
crack at willard but there were none
who wanted any Of Jim Jeffries game
after he had put away Tom Sharkey.
Rubin and Jim Corbett. When he
knocked out Bob Fitzsimmons and
Ruby Robert wouldn't believe IL, JEFF
fries kindly proved il by putting him
away again. This put an absolute
end to Jetfries's bouts. There was
nobody left to fight. The public did
not want TO see him fight because it
was a certainty that there was no
body who could make il Interesting.
Mstchmakers made no offers. No
body haunted the champion FOR a
match as Fred Fulton is PLAYING the
Boyle man for Jess willard
Maybe somebody said to Jeff
Jim. why don't you get out of
condition. Then some OF these
guys would get bold nGain.-
Maybe that wasn't said. either-I
don't know. But the champion did
get out OF condition. He hunted and
fished and did other things and had
a bonnie good tire. He admitted TO
confidential friends-and most every
body he met those days was a con-
fidential friend-that he was not his
former self. He got rOly-poly fat and
soon some reckless newspaper man
came out flat footed and said that the
Of the world was hog fat,
was leading a riotious life and could
not whip first rate lightweight
Delaney Worried.
Billy Delaney looked serious when
anybody talked to him about the
champions condition and was accus- I
toned to shake his head sadly and /
shift the conversation to free coinage
Of silver al the ratio Of I6 to / or
some other useful knowledge. The
word Travelled from town TO town. +,
carried by commercial travellers and /
other wise guys, that the champion ]
was nothing but q she'll Friends who 4
had the exboilermaker's best interests
at heart implored him to put on the 4
brakes but he merely raised his 4
glass and said: 'Gesundheit" That I
was long before the war. remember I
Jim say, "A vous." nowadays.
jeff Was a Wreck.
So Il became generally known that /
the champion was wreck. Then /
Billy Delaney announced that Jeffries ]
would 60 into training again: and to I
see II he was IN his former shape.
would make q tour. meeting all 4
,cmers in short bouts. Delaney said /
that in his opinion the champion was
as good as ever. He said II so many |
times to everybody he met that It I
was a plain case he was talking to !
keep up his courage
When jeff again put on the
mittS In private. few dozen
eliminate" friends were allowed
70 see him meet a couple of fifth
rnters. The result was pltiful.
Jim puffed like the champion fat
man at n side show in August and
used what little wind he had left
in such earnest explanations as
to why he didn't show up better
that everybody knew IL was all
Off-the champions days were
numbered. Challenges came roll
ling In but Delaney had some
good reason for accepting none Of
them.
Monroe Was Born.
Several months before this It was
-nowu in the Jeffries camp that up
.bout Butte, Mont. there was
lusSv miner, towit: Jack Monroe.
yho knew how to fight some, as fifth
aters go, and looked like world
,eater as far as physique went JEFF
.omers, further advertising that he
vas on the verge of q physical col
apse. He was so fat that he looked