The Washington herald., 1921-11-07
Big Jim Took Punches of
Hardest Filters with Smile
George Hackenschmidt, the Russian Lion,"
Was Strongest of Wrestlers Pat
Ryan Is Wonder.
BY ROBERT EDGREN.

Strength may not be the whole
ping in any branch Of athletic
Rompetition, but IL helps.
Strong men have won champion!
ships of all kinds They were
supermen - natural champions
Training and practice did the rest
They had the Foundation to build
on. There have been champions who
worked up from a sickly. insignii-
cant youth-see any fiction story
but they have been the lonely ex-
ceptions. The man who started
with natural strength had a lead
hard to overcome.
The strongest fighter In all rims
history was Jim Jeffries. Jim is
popularity supposed to have grown
up as a boiler maker. In fact his
hTst job was in a cannery near Los
Angeles.
Two men were employed to haul
truck loads OF canned fruit from the
cannery to warehouse along an in
clied railway, one at a time. II was
hard to keep men as they complain
ed that the trucks were too heavy
End on the incline il was almost i'm
pssible for any two men to handle
truck without danger of losing
kntrol
Pair after pair quit. One day
en- two men had left, Jim Jeffries
ffteen-year-Old boy. weighing
|out 225 pounds, strolled in ano
ked for a job. To get rid OF him
ey told him to start hauling the
AIDED trucks, unaided.
JeRries Was . Bear.
Jim walked up to the cannery
d in a few minutes was seen
ming down the inclined railway
iding two loaded trucks. one
head and one behind him He
torked that way from ten to four
cen hour day during the canning
season.
The boss was SO struck by
efrries' strength that he paid him
two mems wages. 1t was later that
YJim worked as a boiler maker. but
only for a short time.
Jefries was so strong he hardly
felt blows that would kill an
ordinary man. Once a painters
scaRold fell on him from an upper
story. blocks Weighing fifty pounds
striking him on the neck and
Fearing out a piece. Jeffries shook
himself and laughed.
In the ring he took the hardes,
blows Of FitZsimmons, Sharkey and
4 other great hitters and apparently
didn't feel them.
He was only seventeen when he
fought Grifin. a colored heavy
XeiEht who fought johnson and
angford and all the rect OF them.
The boy walked into Grifin's
eavy punches until Grifin's arms
dropped from sheer WEAKNESS, and
then knocked Grimm out.
Among wrestlers the strongest
trained man I ever saw was George
Hackenschmidt. the Russian Lion" "
Weighing only 21O pounds. Hack
was one mass Of muscle. His
favorite trick was to pick up his
opponent. turn him over in the air
and throw him to the mat This
usually resulted in stunning the
Fictim. when Hack would turn him
kver without any more trouble
ack liked to exercise by putting
150-pound dumbbeus with either
and.
A Human steam Roller.
Souroulah. the gigantic Turk who
ited this country about eighteen
RS ago. was six feet ten inches
and weighed AIS pounds OF
rse. there was little use in
ling him.
handled Roeber and jenkins
npions In their day and skill
men. by simply pulling them
and rolling over them. Roe
who was a short, stocky fellow,
50 nearly smothered under the
q huge bulk that the referee
Hurst, ordered the Turk "a
D. The Turk didn't understand
bh, and finally Hurst ham
him in the face with his fists
ke him move.
foulah evidently thought this
Of the game in America-and
The referee was against him
|orking in ROBBERS interests.