El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1920-04-09
CARPENTER WINS HIS FIRST FIGHT
Product Lens Famous Coal Mining Town Battle Center
Bout Over transformer and Enters Professional
Desehamps Teaches Youth How to Defend Himself.

(Continued from previous issue.)
I 7 EMS. a little coal mining town II
Il the north OF France, held IN the
iron grip Of the German army
/ throughout the world war, is the
proudest town OF the old continent
II was In Lens. on January II, 1884
I that Georges Carpenter first saw the
! light Of day And now, after IS
years, they are naming babies. streets
ana bridges after the athletic son OF
poor coal miner who has won popu-
laritY throughout the fistic world
Carpenters parents were Of good
old French stock, but they were poor,
struggling folk. They found Il i'm
possible 70 give young Georges an
academic education, and at the age OF
and 60 10 work in the coal mines and
colheries. Many years later Georges
became a coal baron His earnings
were invested in mines around HIS
home town. When the German hordes
crossed the Rhine in 1914 and flooded
the rich mining district OF northern
France, the French idol lost nearly
everything he owned. nearly half a
million francs
From eerIy bOyhOOd Carpenter
was uthleticaily fnclined. Little
wonder. then. that he found work
Ing under ground disfaEteful. He
soon got enough Of being a PIT
boy and he tired also OF work in
The eoIlleries. But what was he
to doc His parents needed his
weekly earninEs. POoE Georges
was greaflr discouraged One
day n travelling fair came 10
Lens One OF the attractions was
a boxing exhibition between two
English professionals who pos
sessed very fair knoWledEe OF
the science OF the ring game.
Georges attended the fair, but he
saw nothing but the boxing show.
II was here that NJ Descamps, then
q professor OF boxing. with a gym
lasium in Lens. first laid eyes on
Carpenter. He saw the rapt eI-
preston in the YOUNGSTERS face as
he watched the two Englishmen per
form IN the ring. He saw that here
was z lad who wanted to be q boxer
with all his might, and he sought
Georges out
GEORGES ANXIOUS TO
BEGIN GLOVE STUDY
Carpenter was wildly euthusiasticl
when Descamps invited him 10 his
gymnasium and offered 70 give him
boxing lessons. But how about his
pare1ts2 mr Descamps determined to
persuade them TO permit Georges TO
take up boxing as a prOfession-this
AFTER he had discovered thai the
young lad had natural inclinations
toward boxing and assumed the at
titude OF boxer as though 70 the
manner born, even before he had [
learned the rudimeuts Of the game
Monsieur and Madame Carpenter
quietly 10 ". Descamps prop +
osition- When he had finished, after
depicting fantastic pictures OF what
would be the future OF young Carpen-i
tier as a professional boxer, they I
consented to permit the lad to try I
MS hand a. the manly profession, but
only after Descamps had promised TO .
contribute five francs a week to the I
carpenter pocketbook in lieu OF the
wages Georges would lose by quitting
he mines
50 Georges was 10 learn boxing.
No more labor in the sOniber
mines. He WIS delighted His
dream, the dream that had come
to him as he sat rnpturOusly
watching those two English box
ers at the fnirs had come true At
last i was wonderful. Des-
camps began to have visions Of
his widest dreams for the hoy
being realized He had been the
first to see in this raw youth the
material for the making Of n fis-
tic champion He Ind discovered
the gold In young Carpenters
lists. To DescamDs goes the
glory for having discovered Car
penuer, and 10 Georges the credit
Tor never linchtnEs even in de-
1eat, from the moment he set out !
TO conquer unknown fields. I
Carpenter made his debut in the v
ing as an amateur, rather than as q q
Professional. as some writer's have
scoroeu. In 1907 he was entered IN
he amateur Championship in France 4
nd lost In the final bout on points
a boxer named Major. But he r
ave away weight in this tournament \
nd prior to being outpointed BY Ma g
Dir he defeated Bourgeois and We G
mex. In face OF the fact that Ma y
Dir became one OF the best amateur Y
lampions OF France, Carpenters
litlal setback at his hands was any
linB. but a disgrace. And at this
ne ne was scarcely more than u q
ears old. \,
GAIN STARTS OUT "
; A REAL BOXER y
From his first tournament Carpen- N
er went back 20 Lens with Des- n
amps and a year later entered pro- T
'sslonai ranks. In the meantime g
escamps did everything possible 10 d
ring out and develop every ounce
boxing talent possessed hv hfsf
'otege, and on several occasions