Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-08-02
|SMTHACCUSES
D|REC|TORBRE
Commissioner. Says Police De-
partnent Head Refused to
Cooperate With Promoter

|
William IT,. Brennan. director Of pub
iic safety at Newark, n. j.. is the man
entirely responsible for the mishandiing
Of the. big crowd ut the First Regiment
Armory:tbpre last Monday night at the
International Sportsmens Club show, in
the star bout Of which Fred Fulton was
Knocked ont by Harry Wills This is
the opinion ..of Commissioner John s.
Smith, o.'i.. -
Furthermore. Commissioners Smith
centends,EIa personal grudge between
Director Brennan and Dave Mackay, the
| Newark promoter. caused the whole
Lfurhpus. which resulted in the scandal
derision: and criticism lereled at the
New Jersey State. Boxing Commission.
For, several days after the fiasco, Mr.:
Smith refused to be quoted, nor would
| he issue any, statement in connection
with the attacks made on the commis
sion. but yesterday afternoon at Atlantic
City hh 'opened mp and spoke his little
piece, which puts Director Brennan In
bad light. 2. -
''Brennan has passed the buck to the
commission because of the lack of pro
lection for the fans, some of whom paid
SIS 10 see the show, saying that it was
not .up' to the police department Of
Newark to care for thousands of out OF
town men who went there to see tht
bouts" said Commissioner Smith. I'll
| Il Were not the duty Of the police to pro-
tect the people L would like to know
who was. 10 be- responsible.
Gets Soldiers
when Mackay learned that he
would not get the cooperation of the
police department to handle the crowd
! he arranged for $50 soldiers to take ur
the duties inside of the arena, which
was not taxed to its capacity. OF the
thousands Of tickets printed for the
show, 400 remained unsold. so that
there was no reason why every man at
the arena should not have had his seat.
'Had there been even only twenty
mounted police outside Of the club to
handle the crowd and as many policemen
inside the arena there would have been
no rush for seats nor jamming of the
aisles, for the fans ave always ready
to act accordingly il there is some one
to keep them In order. But lack OF law
Keepers was conspicuous, and once
mob gets to jarnming and pushing there
is no way of stopping it..
Brennan knows that he made mis-.
take, doing so because of his ill-feellnp
toward Mackay, between whom there
has been no love for number of years.
This personal feeling caused Brennan
to refuse to cooperate with Mackay.
who, as the promoter. did everything in
his power to handle the crowd success
fully; but. without the assistance OF
the police department, it was an i'm :
possibility. .#
: There. il only one man responsible
for the black eye given boxing in New
ark last Monday highland Brennan is
that man. And he. while he is laugh :
ing up his sleeve today, knows it,
Could Repeal Boxing
In commenting on the probability OF
repeating the boxing law in New Jersey,
Commissioner Smith said: ''If any one
wants to have boxing in Jersey, where
it has been run so successfully that 1t
really had lot to do with the passing
Of the bill in New York, no one can
did so more easily than /. I had more
to do with the introducing of the bill
in Jersey than any one else l know, and
l can have the law repealed If it comes
to a show down.
A story from Newark last night
stated that there would be no more box :
ing in the First Regiment Armory until
sufficient fire escapes and exits have
been provided according to an an
nouncement> issued by Director Bren
nan, after conference with City
Counsel Jerome Congleton. Building
Inspector John O'Rourke and Captain
Alfred Gasser. attache Of the Bureau
of Fire Risks and Combustibles.
Director Brennan took his stand on
the advice of City Counsel Congleton
who said that. although the armory is
state property, the fact that it had
been leased to the Newark Sportsmen's
Club for the fights made it a public
building and, therefore, subject to all
city ordinances and regulations.