New-York tribune., 1922-09-22
The 7owev
Copyright. 1929, New York Tribune Inc
DEMPSEY AND WILLS FIGHT
A DRAW

worlds championship, which was sched-
uled to go twenty rounds, ended in a
draw Mt the beginning of the third
round here this afternoon. In another
Ave years, if both pugiists are alive
at the end Of that time, it is thought
that they may be in condition to renew
the battle.
THE FIGHT BY ROUNDS
Round AT the tap of the bell
Wills quickly manipulated his wheeled
chair toward the center of the ring.
Dempsey was slower, as his long, white
beard caught in the mechanism of his
chair, and time was taken out while it
was disentangled. Wills, at this point,
claimed that the lights used by the
moving picture men hurt his eyes, and
squabble arose as to whether he
should be allowed to wear smoked
glasses, Dempsey fearing that he might
be hned $25 and costs for hitting a
man with glasses on, thus cutting into
the S45,000,000 guaranteed as his share
win, lose or draw. But Wiils's man
ager handed Dempsey's manager s25,
and the fight was on.
Dempsey rapidly maneuvered his
chair toward Wills, who lodged him by
a clever bit of wheel work, and Demp-
sey's chair sailed past Wills and hit
one of the posts of the ring. The
shock of the impact knocked the aged
champion senseless, and he lay help
less in his chair. Wills, on being told
of this by his seconds, quickly showed
| his chair in the direction in which he
supposed Dempsey to be. But the
great negro's sight was SO poor that
for fifteen seconds he was unable to
locate the champion. There is no doubt
that if Wills had been able to get
near enough to Dempsey while the
latter was lying unconscious in his
that would have gained for him the
championship of the world. But just
as Wills finally located Dempsey the
bell rang, saving the champion from
defeat.
During the intcrmission of forty
minutes the seconds and handlers la
bored briskly over the men, injecting
cocaine here and there where it seemed
needed, rehlling the oxygen tanks on
the wheeled chairs, adjusting the
splints, trusses, braces and plaster
casts which held the pugilists together
and otherwise putting pep into them.
Each was given bowl Of Cruel, a weak
milk punch and twenty minute nap.
| Round 2-When walked by the bell
| boys for the second round it was easy
to see that both athletes meant busi-
ness this time. Both rushed stimuli
taneously, and the wheeled chairs met
| with crash in the center of the ring
| Neither man boxed, but both seemed
intent on getting to close quarters
where infghting would count. There
was a roar from the brutal crowd when
1t was seen that the wheels of the chairs
had become locked together in such
way that neither pugilist could break
away nor retreat. For three minutes
the two doughty veterans hung wheel
punches. Wills pulled hair after hair
out of Dempsey's long, white beard,
while the mob of spectators kowled in
primitive blood lust.
Dempsey removed his false teeth, and
grasping the upper set in one hand and
the lower set in the other he leaned
forward from his chair and used them
on Wills as if they were a pair of
currycombs. The aged negro turned
gray under this frightful punishment,
but he was game. He pulled out his
own false teeth, and swinging the
lower set in his terrible left and the
upper SCI III MS IlRHL lie once AGAIN
met the fierce old Dempsey on equal
terms.
The teeth clashed and cracked as
they met, bicuspid grating on bicuspid
and molar grinding on molar 1t seemed
as if the teeth were fighting ndepend-
entity of the men-as if all the ami
mostly and grudge talk Of many dec
AIDES were animating them. They be-
longed to jaws which had chewed the
rag for more than sixty years, during
which their owners had never met in
the ring, and now that they had finally
got together all this pent-up anger was
exhibiting itself in terrific action.
After minute or two it was apparent
were no longer in control of the teeth,
and the question was asked again and
again throughout the vast crowd: "Can
those two feeble old men stand the
terrific pace which the teeth are set
ting? Can they find the strength to
stick it out until the teeth fight to a
finish?' 1t was easily apparent that
the first veteran who became so weary
that he dropped his teeth would be the
loser. For second after second the
terrific exchange kept on, electric
as they bit and grated.
Suddenly man in a ringside seat
leaped to chair and cried out: "This
brutality must be. stopped! Stopped,
say, stopped! This inhuman exhibi-
tion, which outrages all the finer feel
lngs of civilization, can go On no
longer!" 1t was at first supposed that
the would-be interrupter was some re-
former, but inquiry revealed that the
outcry had burst from the heaving
breast Of no less a person than Pain
less Parker the Dentist.
The bell saved both men from de-
feat, and painting and weary they
dropped the teeth and were wheeled to
their corners for rest of two hours.
The referee was bitten six times when
ne tried to pry the teeth apart, and
they fought for twenty minutes in the
ring before they could be separated.
When they were finally parted it was
found that most of them had been
splintered and ground to powder and
little but the artificial gums in which
they had been set remained.
Round 3-When called by their room
clerks for the third round both old
men were considerably refreshed by
their slumber, but both were in an ugIy
mood. 1t was evident that they had
had bad dreams.
Dempsey at once created sensation
by rising from his wheeled chair and
tottering toward the feeble Wills, with
his right hand raised high in the air.
The crowd cried: "The rabbit punch!