New-York tribune., 1919-06-28

DIS olu D0c lime persists In drifting
They say time flies. If so, it flies
with a broken wing and bum pro-
peller in a fight camp six or seven
days before tho stew is opened and
the birds begin to sing.
dempsey, who has honed his condi-
tlon to much keener edge than Will
lard has, or will, is still working and
husting harder than the champion.
lie has a better grindstone at hand
Tor the honing process in the Jamaica
Kid and young Jock Malone, who are
able to carry him along at tidy pace.
Willard, who could stand lot more
work, is the one who is taking it easy.
But SO it goes in this dizzy existence.
The bloke who needs it seldom gets it,
while the one who doesn't has all that
he can carry
Training Quarters damned
The only interesting feature Of the
TWO training camp scenes is the make
up of the crowd. Packed in steamy
layers after the manner of the sue
culent sardine, they gaze stoldly at
the two leading figures, displaying as
much animation as one might show
in observing telegraph post in ac-
ton.
This doesn't mean that the crowd
lacks finer instincts in q keen appre-
citation of art. Maybe it does, or
maybe it doesn't. 1t merely means
there is nothing in either workout to
cause the human pulse to hop a beat
faster or to prod one into hoarse huz-
zas.
Yet day after day they crowd the
two training centres, at 25 cents u
shot. There are sedate old gentlemen
with chilly side whiskers, young girls
with round and wondering eyes, pom
derous looking matrons in mauve or
pale heliotrope, prime looking old
maids, any number of kids around ten
or twelve years old; buns, yeggmen,
old sports-those who know nothing
and those who know all Of the seamy
side Of life-a cross section cut out of
humanity and lured daily to the spot
through the immense amount of pub
llcity impaired to the carnival.
Why do they come out day after day
steamy rows and see the same old
thing without the semblance of a
change? This is merely another of the
merry little mysteries that make up
the guessing contests of life.
There isn't any answer. Those who
have to come in behalf of the press
complain bitterly at the daily hardship.
Those who don't cannot be driven
away. It's quite a world when syou
start sizing it up.
Looks Like Regular Fight
One thing that helps is that, as far
q fol ;o
tion that it is going to be a regular
battle. Dempsey is going to rush the
titleholder from the jump, for that is
all he knows. He is going to hit Will
ard more than one lusty walop-and
when he does Willard isn't going to
stand still and wait for him.
Both have the wallop. Both can hit,
and both can be hit. This is what helps
to make it look good in advance.
Neither is blessed with any uncanny
cleverness on defence.
Dempsey is a great fighter, in the
pugilistic sense, because he can tear in
maker with eclat. He is clever enough
on attack, and when one of his punche 8
land with full power, something is 60
ing to bend, if not break. And even
Willard's lofty jawbone isn't invulner-
able.
Willard is q great fighter, in a pu-
gilistic sense, because he is fifty
pounds bigger than any other good man
in sight, because he is active and alert
for man of his mold, and because he
knows more than a trife about his
chosen profession. He isn't merely a
big dub. He is the only white hope of
a melancholy past who wasn't. And he
can hit. He hasn't the crashing snap
OF Dempsey-but he can hit hard
enough to close out the argument any
time he lands upon vulnerable spot.
1t is for this reason-the hitting
power attached to both men-that many
believe the fight will not go twelve
rounds If either was exceedingly hard
to hit and forced to depend upon clev-
erness there might be a different story.
1t has always been said that Willard
emerges in a wild and furious rush
from his semilcthargy the moment
some rival fops him on the gobboon
or stings him with a Furnishing blow.
Dempsey is going to do this very thing
shortly after the pot is opened. In