New-York tribune., 1919-06-28

was no price to see the gladiators at
play
At the Dempsey camp the session
was shorter but livelier. Bill Tate did
not put on the gloves. He had become a
trifie stale from constant contact with
the canvas. Jock Malone and the pur-
pie coon (the Jamaica KIDD gave Will
lam Harrison his exercise. The purple
coon got reckless and swung couple
dropped his little dark playmate with
!! choppy left hook to the jaw.
The purple coon's eyes popped out
like couple of round white marbles,
and he sank to his knees, obviously in
considerable distress. The left hook
followed vicious right to the kidneys
that made the Jamaica Kid moan. Will
lam Harrison at play is a whole lot
rougher than most prizefghters when
they are working seriously.
Jack McAuliffe, the great little light
weight of another and hardleA age,
dropped into town to-day in company
with Tommy Ryan, the former middle
weight champion. Jack is Just back
from service in France with the
Knights of Columbus and Tommy Ryan
is now prosperous fat owner of SYRIA
cuse,, N. Y. Jack is fifty-three and Tom
my. is fifty. But the old gladiators
look as though they could still give a
good account of themselves.
Jess Impresses Ryan
Tommy Ryan seemed particularly
impressed by his first peep at Willard.
Tommy is the man who taught Jim
Jeffries how to box, and Tommy was
certainly competent and successful
instructor.
willard is big" declared the vet
oirh p,+ ;@S
ent sort of bigness than the kind that
jeff had. Willard is so we'll propor-
toned that one isn't impressed by his
size until he stands close to him. Then
1T dawns on you. To me Jeffries at his
best looked more powerful, but Willard
seems quicker"
ut was hard work teaching Jeffries
to box. He used to swing and hit with
his thumbs. finally figured it out
and L made him come into a twelve
foot room to box: That's where he
learned to box and to block and he
learned pretty fast once he got started.
When he knocked out Fitzsimmons he
was the fastest and the greatest of
them all; but after that never saw
him put up good fight. He just
slowed down"
To return to the matter Of the referee.
His full name is Oliver Thomas Pecord
and his status before the elevation
was that of bartender in a dry town.
About Mr.. Oliver Pecord
He has refereed some 400 battles.
according to his biographers. You will
not find many accounts of these affairs
in the works of Richard K. Fox. be-
cause to the outside world the interes It
in them was not great. But on the
local lots where they were fought the
interest was feverish and a decision
which did not please meant ducking a
shower Of lead and other unpleasant
missiles.
Going over his pugilistic endeavors,
Mr.. Pecord recalls that he was a well
terweight, but that he got several de-
cisions over heavyweights. He beat
Jack Evon, Dan Bailiff and "The Brew
cry Boy" and others who are not in
the Queensberry histories, but who are
said to have packed kicks in either
mitt.
Pecord was born at Troy, N. Y. an
other battling city, but has lived in
Toledo the greater part of his life. In
his youth he was champion of Con-
neaught Hill, and even in these days
the champion Of Conneaught Hill has
to step some. Oliver once played first
base on the Columbus team of the old
Western League in the days when the
boys poured out of the dugouts with
their bats to conclude the Afternoons
performance with Donnybrook,