The Washington times., 1920-04-03

Carpenters parents were of good
old French stock. but they were poor.
struggling folk. They found 1T i'm
possible to give young Georges an
academic education. and at the age
of twelve he was compelled to leave
school and go to work in the coal
mines and collieries. Many years
later Georges became 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 dis
trict or northern France, the French
idol lost nearly everything he owned,
nearly half a million francs.
Athlete From n Kid.
From early boyhood Carpenter was
athletically inclined. Little wonder,
then, that he found working under
ground distasteful. He soon got
enough of being a pit boy and he
tired also OF work in the collieries.
But what was he to do? His par
ents needed his weekly earnings.
Poor Georges was greatly discour-
aged.
One day a travelling fair came to
Lens. One of the attractions was a
boxing exhibition between two Eng
lish professionals who possessed
very fair knowledge of the science of
the ring game. Georges attended the
fair, but he saw nothing but the box
ing show.
1t was here that NJ. Descamps. then
a professor of boxing with gymna-
SUM in Lens, first laid eyes on Car
pentier. He saw the rapt expression
in the youngsters faceSas he watched
the two Englishmen perform in the
ring. He saw that here was a lad
who wanted to be a boxer with all
his might, and he sought Georges out.
Was Wildly Enthusiastic.
Carpenter was wildly enthusiastic
when Descaps invieed him to his gym
nasium and offered to give him box
ing lessons. But how about his par.
ents? NJ. 'Descamps determined TO
persuade them to permit Georges to
take up boxing as n profession-this
after he had learned the rudiments OF
the game.
Monsieur and Madame Carpenter
listened quietly to NJ. Descsmps
proposition. When he had finished.
after depicting fantastic pictures OF
what would be the future OF young
Carpenter as a professional boxer.
they consented to permit the lad to
try his hand at the manly profession.
but only after Descamps had promised
to contribute 8 francs a week to the
Carpenter pocketbook in lieu OF the
wages Georges would lose by quit
ting the mines.
SO Georges was to learn boxing. No
more labor in the somber mines. He
was delighted. His dream. the dream
that had come to him as he sat rap
turously watching those two English
boxers at the fair, had come true at
last. 1t was wonderful.
Dc,camps Taught Him.
Descamps spent much time in
structing his youthful protegc. He
carried him along rapidly, yet care
fully, and within a little less than a
year he entered the ring for his first
public boxing exhibition as n bantam
weight Previous to his entry AS n
boxer in public Georges had demon
stratcd. rather painfully to Descamps,
that he possessed a punch.
Descamps had. determined TO give
young Georges hiding with the
gloves In punishment for some esca-
padc, and then tell him aftcrward
why he had done so. They put on the
gloves. when time was called Des-
camps went after his young pupil
with a rush. He swung pretty hard
Twenty seconds later he opened his
eyes. lie was nat on his back on
the floor. Young Georges had side
stepped his swing and crossed with
right.
The professor was a bit embar-
rnssed, but his JOY at discovering that
Carpenter possessed a sopor'fc punch
and tho clcverncss to drop his in
structor overshadowed his feeling Of
humiliation.
Desca nps began To have visions Of
his widest dreams for tho boy being
realized. He had been the nrst to