The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-03-20
Chatter Among the Bugs Over the Circuit

(Note: This is the thirty-first chapeer of a series of articles which Mir. Cos- bett is writing on John l.. As I Knew Him It relates many heretofore un- published incidents in the life of the great warrior. The next installment will appear tomorrow.)
 At the time that the articles were signed for my match with John l.. Sulii- van, my theatrical engagement still had several weeks to so. So I remained on tour in the principal cities in the east continuing my offer of s10o to any man couldn't stop in four rounds
 Of course, the producers attempted to make capital of the fact that 1 Mas matched with John L. Sullivan by in troducing me to the audience as Tins is the young fellow who is going to fiSht John L., the great champion Did the audience rise up and give me cheer' Oh, no. Those crowds did exactly che opposite. They hissed me and they
 hooted me. And in several of the cities gallery boys threw pop bottles and oags of peanut shells at me.
 I mention this merely to show in What
 wonderful esteem John l.. was held oy the sport loving American public. NO
 athlete ever lived who had so many wcr- shippers. His reign Of more than lV years in the world of pugilism had made practically every fight enthusiast thihh him unbeatable. The fans resented the very fact that I was going to fight SUI livan. And everywhere l went ooos or mocking laughter was my portion. 
 In the present day when some young fighter, matched to meet champion appears in public he usually provokes at least little applause. But from city | to city I went, and everywhere was ! faced by hostile crowds. Even the fact | that I was stopping every foe Tn less 1 than four rounds did not influence any kindly sentiment toward me Every | time stopped man the multitude Woiio declare that John l.. could have turned | the trick in half the time
 In hotel Hobbies and on the street peo- ' pie who recognized me rarely overlooked ! a chance to pelt me with sarcastic re- marks. Universally I was classed as | a poor fool. Some of John IA's admir- I CTS would ask me sneeringly what scr' of flowers I wantedd on my coffin after | september [ Oh. 1t was a blissful lift l for me in that particular era.
 | I was a trifle more than six feet tai ! and even in my best days weighed iron
 15 to 30 pounds below normal for mS height. To some I looked slender, toe lmuch so for a fighter. John l.. was con sidered by the public a physical ideal 2 perfectly proportioned athlete, and whef | the fans compared us they couldn't hell but laugh Universally it was felt tha' the compactly. built John L. would crust me in steam-roler fashion with the frs 1 few rushes. And rarely did the figh crowds overlook the opportunity to tel me so from orchestra circle, from gal | leres or when they met me in public 1 places.
 I Frankly, I was glad when the tcu was over and l no longer was calico upon to appear twice day befor' ! crowds which figured I had done some thing feamuly wrong in accepting : match with John L.
 l At the conclusion of my theatrical tou I cast around for a training camp. l l had to be an inexpensive one, as m! l funds were limited. And I knew that couldn't afford an elaborate corps O. | sparring partners. My first thought wal I to go back to California and work uu | there. But at last I was influenced II favor of Asbury Park, N. J. And ther'
 I went with William A. Brady, my man ager; Billy Delaney, my trainer, ant
 Jim Daly of Philadelphia, who served | as my sparing partner.
 | weighed around 1S5 at the time ant | figured that from seven to ten pound of it was excess poundage.
 | Soon after his theatrical tour ended
 John l.. went into training i'll Good | ground, l.. I. The champion weighe,
 between 225 and 290 at the time, and n busied himself at once in ridding hi l frame of the unnecessary bulk. Johl
 l.. figured on 21O or PIP pounds as his aor nal ring weight, and with Phil Case.
 as trainer and Jack Ashton as sparrinl
 partner he proceeded to reduce. l QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS | Dear Mir. Corbett: What is tn record for rowing four miles in tn eight-oared varsity race?