The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-07-02
MONTHS AT
FRONT, RECORD
OF CARPENTER
Story of His Life Reads of Battles
I'm the Pugilisitic Ring and
In the Air.

pent1er, TO the french people, is the
Man of Destiny" No more do they
doubt the ability of this man, dec
GRATED for bravery during the World
war, to defeat Jack Dempsey To-
day then they doubted the ability of
the allied armies finally to over
come Germany. They have follow
ed the steady rise of the young
pugilist from the days when, as a
bantamweight, he first gained ma
tionaI note. They have studied ac-
counts of his history before that
time. In their minds, Dempsey will
be unable to fell this national hero.
Just as German machine guns
which are said to have riddle! his
J plane repeatedly, were unable to
bring him down.
Carpenters official war record,
Investigated recently, revealed that
the boxer spent is months at the
front, flying a two-seater observa-
ton plane. He received the Croix
de Guerre and the Medaille Mill
taire.
The record shows that Carpenter,
enlisting as a chauffeur in August,
1914, received a license to pilot a
Farman airplane in May, 1915. He
was sent with squadron to the
front, remaining three months and
then was assigned to general re-
serve aviation as a spare pilot.
On August %, 1915, Carpen-
tier suffered leg injury but re-
covered rapidly and was sent to the
front with the Farman Escadrille
for reconnaissance work in prepara-
ton for the Champagne offensive,
, which began Sept. rs, 191.
His Citation.
Carpenters citation, which re-
suited in the award of the Croix de
Guerre, reads: Sept rs, he did
not hesitate to fly during misty
weather and rain less than 200
yards above enemy lines. He has
given proof in many circumstances
of sang froid, never returning until
his mission was accomplished, often
with his machine riddled with bull
lets and shell splinters."
On Nov. 5. 1916, Carpetier receiv-
ed the Medaille Militaire for heroic
/ action In December, 1916, he was
+ forced to quit the front because of
illness and never returned, in May,
1917, beILg declared physically I'M
| ut to continue as a pilot He was
deta ched from aviation and detailed
as army physical instructor near
Paris. Six months after the armis-
tlce, he was transferred back to the
aviation and demobilized.
Carpenters courteous demeanor
and evident culture, unusual in
boxer, have created the impression
in America that he is the son of
wealthy parents. This is not so.
Son of Miner.
The son of a miner, Carpenter
wasa born in Lens, the coal-mining
center of France, on Jan. IL, 1894.
He started work as an Office boy in
a brewery. The ring called at an
early age, however, and when only
IA, he took up boxing then being
p0pularized in France by the visits
of Kid Mccoy and other Ameri-
can fighters. At the same time. he
was dancing and singing in the
cafes and restaurants of his native
Lens, with Francois Descamps.
who has ever since been his com
pan1on, guardian and manager. 1t
was Dtscamps who discovered in
Carpenter the requisites of a DO
tentiaI boxer. He attempted. one
day to punish the youth, using box
ing gloves, rather than the Ameri-
can switch" In the midst of the
scheduled punishment" Descamps
relates that Georges sidestepped
with agility and pouf! the lights
suddenly went out on me-"
From that moment, Georges was
a boxer. Descamps, somewhat of
fighter himself, took the youth into
his gymnasium to train him. He
fought three Around battles in the
first year and his total ring earnings
amounted to S1S4. He will receive
that much for each two seconds of
his bout with Dempsey, provided
the match goes the scheduled IL
rounds.
Has Climbed Steadily.
Since that time, Carpenter has
climbed steadily aid slowly. Some
times he has slipped but the pro-
gress has b. IN consistently for
ward and upward. He gained his
first knockout in 1908 when, as a
bantamweight,' he stopped Moline
reau in three unds. The same
year, he defeated Salmon, one of
E1SlaDd's .leverest little men, in
Is rounds. A short timc late, he
knocked out in on round Wetinck,
a lad w-o had almost held him even
two years before.
It was in 1909 tkat Carpentie' de-
feated Charlie Ledoux, famous