Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1923-09-11

- d. n 80
orally it flares but once in lifetime un-
less man be a great soldier-Gordon at
Sharpsburg, with his five wounds, for In
stance. We know Firpo as a prize fighter;
what is his fibre man? How does he
react to spiritual or moral tests? Until
we know that, bet on any fight in which
he confronts a Dempsey is but a lottery
ticket, for, barring accident, SO nearly
would he be matched, the spiritual and
moral would probably decide the issue.
In estimating the South American 1t
should not be forgotten that sporting col
umns demand much copy and the foreigner
is always safe copy. He is beyond statistics
and the censor He is outside the record.
Anything may be true of the unknown for
eigner: he is something to hang romance
on When Firpo comes to our ringside he
will be carrying load that will put him
in the class Of old Atlas or German clerk
getting home with his weeks salary. The
fact that the burden will be made up of
the stuff of which dreams are composed
will not make it lighter for him. To the
unthinking crowd it will be real, and their
efforts Will De TO see IndC IL rs not l1SuC-
ened. He will be the cave man. the blood
thirsty brute, the adventurer with an in
satiable thirst for gold; the wild, hairy
savage of the pampas; the fighter without
rule or conscience, atavism from the
stone age and lot of other things they
have read about And, crime of crimes! he
comes to take away the championship from
the hero, Dempsey, Americas latest pugilis
tic pet! What will be Firpo's, mental atti-
tude toward such environment If it could
be known, prophecy would be safer
A living organism called man carries the
flag in charge. A bullet smashes through,
arrests progress and defeats the force that
moved it. Another living organism seizes
the flag and carries it to victory. The
point of failure and the point of defeat, were
the same. mad so in all conflicts and
endeavors in life; that moment of defeat
for one man is the moment of, victory for
another who has something within that the
other lacked What? Moral fibre. We know
something, but perhaps not all of the lDemp-
sey fibre. In the, hour that tried mems souls
and tested patriotism, he failed us. There
seems to be no dispute as to that. Some
force, fear or greed, but yet some
force stronger than the moral nature of
the man caused him to fail our sons who
beckoned to him as they passed in their
country's service. He fought then with an
unknown enemy, his skill and strength OIL
no avail, the glitter of gold no lure-and
was counted out. The record is cited only
in argument. And the record is that Demp-
sey's moral fibre could not stand the su-
preme test.
But will FirpOs? There is none tn saw
But there is one or two detached facts that
are of value in the estimate. Recently it /
became known that his singular conduct in
risking defeat in various sections of this
country and Mexico on the eve of his great
fight with Dempsey was not due to a mad
craving for the dollar, but to fulfill prom
ises made before the terms with Dempsey
were settled. The Dempsey fight was really
planned for next year, but afterwards moved
up to September of this. Regardless of the
risks he was taking, Firpo refused to break
his promises because they were promises
He refused a New Orleans fight which
would have netted him more than the Mexi-
can tour This, if true, is revealing. And
added to it is the fact that the Argentinian
has made no boast of his ability to put
Dempsey down. His talk on the coming
fight has been little, his modesty large.
This, with his fighting record, is about
all that is known of Firpo. 1t seems little,
but in the minds of some it may appear
great deal. The world has faith in a
man who will not break promise. If the
strength and skill of Dempsey and Firpo
moral fibre will win.