The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1922-01-30
PUBLICITY STUNT,
PULLED YEARS AGO,
GOT GOOD RESULTS
BY FRANK C. MENKE

Sixteen years ago, Nate Lewis, fistic
manager, striving for publicity for e
fighter, put over a stunt which brought
about remarkable results.
1t was back in 1906, when Lewis was
| managing Kid Herman, lightweight
Ever on the alert for publicity, in be-
half of his man, in the hope it would
land him battle with the negro, Lew
is dreamed out an idea one night.
| and went through with it.
| He secured from a friendly tele
graph operator one of the official re-
| ceiving blanks from a telegraph COM
pany. He then typed on it a message
| to himself, purDorting to come from
! Virginia City, Nevada, and which read
as follows:
| ''Offer $4,000 purse for fight here
between Kid Herman and Joe Cans.
Wire reply Immediately"
! The telegram was signed Tom
| Brennan who was real person, who
| lived in Virginia City. and who was an
| intimate friend of Lewis.
Lewis then hired a messenger boy
to take the telegram to the sporting
editor of a Chicago newspaper, where
some of Lewis mail and kilograms
usually had been sent. About twenty
minutes after the boy delivered the
message, Lewis strolled into the news
paper office and Immediately was
tagged by the sporting editor who
passed along the telegram. Lewis.
nonchalantly walked over to the desk
of the managing editor, whom he
knew, and opened the telegram in
matter-of-fact fashion, read it, and
passed it along to the managing editor
Senses Great Story.
The editor read it and Immediately
l sensed a great news item, for $40, 0Ga
purses in those days were consider
J ably rarer than million dollar offer
ings in this frenzied financial era
As a result, that newspaper played
on its front page the next day the
story of the $4,000 offer for the Her
man-Gans fight Other papers through
out the country copied it and nation
wide furore was created And then
Lewis became a bit worried
He feared that some newspaper mar
:. would hunt up Brennan and that Bren
nan, knowing nothing about his fab
ulous offer" would spill the beans
Brennan and told him not to talk Il
any newspaper men about anything
until he got Lewis explanatory letter
Brennan played his role splendidly-
simply wouldn't commit himself wheT
/ attempts were made to interview him
/ Eventually the Lewis letter arrived
Then Brennan played his part nobiy-
Il bit too nobly, in fact Yes, he told
everybody he had made the offer
t meant it, too Bingo! Cans and hi!
Y manager wired an acceptance. Blu
|. Lewis held off The fact that he diC
. made the public bit suspicious.
Dame Fortune Smiles.
Il At that moment when it seemed tina
e the truth had to be told and Lewis
t would be compelled to stand in tn
o light of a publicity faker, Dame Fo.
tune smiled upon him For on tn
l. very morning that he had determines
7 to go to the managing editor and cor
fess the bunk story, a real Telegram
came to him from Nevada, signc,
johnson and Riley" 1t read:
IF you have not closed with Virgins
City for Herman-Gans match, don't d.
so until you hear from us further. w
may have a proposition to make whiCl
is more attractive
- Lewis Immediately wired for de
- - tailed proposition. And the next de,
= the telegram came which stated:
- "Will offer $4,000 purse for Hel
~ man-Gans fight in Tonopah, and Civ
, each fighter 81 900 additional for trair
f. ing expenses" -..
= Hurry to Accept. ..-
The offer was accepted with alacrit
,s unlike any ever before shown in pug
ilism. For Lewis, hardly believeing b
was receiving the figures right, didn
give the Tonopah folks a chance t
change their minds. And Gans-ra'
ing his acceptance to the telegrap
n office-nearly broke his spinal column
| The battle was staged on Ne'
Years day, 1907, in Tonopah, on tn
basis of 60 per cent ($12,0OO) for IL
oil winner and 40 per cent ($S,0OO) fc
S. the loser. Cans won by knocking OF
r Herman in the eighth-but both He
ty man and Lewis were reasonably hal
DIV. For the $4,000 purse dizzy an
lg the 81 600 bonus represented MOI
It. money than Herman had received f
lie any six other bouts earlier in his e
De ceer.
IN Copyright 1921 BY King Features
Hr..