Evening star., 1921-07-03
GEORGES 4 TRUE SPORT,
:, BUT HAD NARYA CHANCE
Y Irvin Cobb Tells How ''WhoS Who" and
Pedestrians Saw GaulS Hopes
Ended in Short Arm labs.

approval on a day like this by show
ing his jaw in front of a winged fist
There are short cuts to fame, though
painful.
At intervals Jealous member of
Gov Edwards staff rises up. ma
jestic in his indignation. and demands
to know why some preSumptious
commoner is permitted to stand or
stoop in front of his eXcellency. One
almost would think the governor
gentleman laid him. No less a Per-
sonage than Tad Dorgan. himself q
famous fight inpresario is elected
from the sacred precincts.
Georges a Trine Pale.
It's o'clock. Prompt on the ap-
pointed hour, for once in the history
of championship goes. the men are
brought forth on time. Carpenter
comes first, slim. boyish, trifie pale
and drawn looking, to my way Of
thinking. He looks more like a col
lege athlete than professional
hruiser:, \ brass band plays the
"Marseillaise" ninety-odd thousand
men and women stand to greet him
or maybe the better to see hin-and
he gets Il tremendous lleartening ova-
tion. Dempsey follows within two
minutes. A IL. ghty roar salutes him.
too. as he climbs into the ring and
seats himself within the arc Of a
huge floral horseshoe: but. SO near
as may be judged. the applause for
him, an American born. is not so sim
cere or spontaneous AS the applause
which has been visited upon the
Frenchman. He grins. while photog-
raphers riock into the ring to focus
their boxes first on one and then on
the other. Dempsey. sitting there.
makes me think of a smoke-stained
japanese war idol; Carpenter. by
contrast. suggests an Olympian run
ner carved out of fine-grained white
ivory Partisans howl their approval
at the champion He refuses to ac-
knowledge these. One figures that
he has suddenly grown sulky because
his reception was no greater than it
was.
a little crowd of ring officials sur
rounds Dempsey. There is some dis
pute seemingly over the tapes with
which his knobby brown hands are
wrapped. Carpenter. except for one
solicitous fellow countryman, is left
quite alone in his corner.
French Temperament Gone.
Dempsey keeps his eyes fixed on his
fists. Carpenter studies him closely
across the eighteen feet which sepa-
rates them. The Gaul is losing his
nervous air. He is living proof to
give the lie to the old fable that all
Frenchmen are eXcitable.
Overhead airplanes are buzzing and
Their droninS notes come down to be
smitten and flung up again on the
rest of the vast upheaval of sound ris-
ing from the earth. \ tiresome de-
tail of utterly useless announcements
is ended at last.
AS the fighters are introduced
Dempsey makes begrudged bow. but
Carpenter standing up. IS given such
an ovation as never before an alien
fighter received on American soil. 1t
is more plain. by this test. who is the
sentimental favorite. The bettors
may favor Jack; the populace likes
Georges.
Without handshaking they spring
together; Carpenter lands the first
blow. Dempsey plainly enraged, is
fast: Carpenter is faster still. But
his blows seem to be wild. misplaced.
while Dempsey, in the clinches, into
which they promptly fall. plants pun
ishinE licks. with swift. short-armed
strokes. The first half minute tells
ing. to be licked. 1 think. and that
without loss of time. A tremendous
roar goes up as Dempsey brings the
first blood, with a glancing lick on the
side of his opponents nose; it in
creases as the Frenchman is showed
round is Dempsey's all the way. He
has flung Carpenter aside with
thrusts of his shoulders. He has
showed him about almost at will.
CncOverR His Speed.
But midway Of the second round
Carpenter shows a flash Of the won
derful speed for which he is known.
pected power. He is not fighting the
defensive run away and come-again
fight that was expected Of him. He
stands toe to toe with Dempsey and
trades 'em:. He shakes Dempsey with
a volley of terrific righthanded clouts
which fall with such speed you do not
see them. You only see that they have
landed and that Dempsey Is bordering
on the state technically known as
groggy. 1t is a wonderful recovery for
the Frenchman. His admirers shrek
to him to put Dempsey out. To my
mind, the second round is his by
good margin. Given more weight, l am
sure now that he would win. Yet I
still feel sure that Dempsey's superior
ity in gross tonnage and his greater
aptitude at mitigating will wear the
lesser man down and make him lose.
The third round is Dempsey's. from
bell to bell. He makes pulp of one of
Carpenters smooth cheeks. he pounds
him on the silken skin over his heart,
he makes a xylophone of the challen-
gers short-ribs. The Frenchman cir
cles and swoops. but the drubbing he
gets makes him uncertain in his
swings; Most Of his blows go astray.
They fly over Dempsey's hunched shoul-
ders, they spend themselves in the air.
Predestined Finish.
In the fourth round. after one min
ute and sixteen seconds of hard fight
ing-fghting which on Carpenters
part is defensive-comes the foreor-
dained and predestined finish. 1 see a
quick flashing of naked bodies writhing
in and out. joining and separating. I
bruising human flesh. Carpenter is
almost spent-that much is plain to
every one. A great spasmodic sound
part gasp of anticipation, part
groan of dismay, part outcry of ex-
haustion-arises from nearly a hum
dred thousand throats. Carpenter
totters out of the clinch: his face is
all spotted with small red clots. He
lungeS into the air and then slips
away. retreating before Dempsey's
onslaught. trying to recover by foot
work. Dempsey walks into him al
most deliberately,like a man aiming
to finish a hard job of work in a
workmanlike shape. His right arm
crooked up and in like a scimitar. His
right fist falls on the Frenchman's
exposed and swollen jaw; falls again
in the same place even as Carpenter
is liding down alongside the ropes
Now the Frenchman is lying on his
side.
Waits Nonchalantly.
Dempsey knows the contract is
finished-or as good as finished.
Almost nonchaiantly he waits with
his legs spraddled and his elbows
akimbo, hearkening to the referees
counting. At the toll of eight Car
pentier is struggling to his knees,
beaten. but with the instinct of a
gallant fighting man, refusing to ac-
knowledge 1t. At nine he is up on
the legs which almost refuse to sup
xlyi0 cd &C.
the look of a sleep-walker.
It Is the rule of the ring that mt