Evening star., 1923-04-04

big fellow named Levy, who
weighed around 100 pounds. had
charge of all the Journal, Tribune
and News wagons and he hung
abound the Journal circulation room
a good part of the time. One after
noon late in the fall of 1904 / was
leaning up against the door leading
out into the news alley when he
came along the other side of the cor
ridor. He gave the door a hefty
push and the knob hit me in the
small Of the back. 1t hurt me and
made me little hot. Nothing would
have come of it, perhaps. If he hadn't
said: Get out of the way, you -"
let him have one. 1t opened his
eye and knocked him down. His head
hit the ground. They carried him in
side and | stood around a minute,
badly frightened. l heard some one
say:
Hes dead. Get that guy out
there"
\ bunch ran out. but l was away
ahead of them and outfooted them.
Wanted by the Police.
They got out a warrant for me and
couldn't go back to work, because
some of my pals had told me that the
cops We're down every day looking
for me. The only thing to cheer me
was that they didn't know where l
lived and they couldn't come after
me. For about week | hung around
and didn't tell my father anything
about it, / would have preferred TO
go to Jail. One week of idleness had
exhausted my finances and l knew
that | had to do something, and only
one thing suggested itself-get out
of town. Without a cent of money in
my pockets there was about as much
chance for that as to hire big
lawyer to fight my case.
taken boxing seriously. had
never signed up with manager
and I Ind never been given any
professional instruction outside Of
those few tips from GriffO. The
possibilities of professional ca
scented Themselves. but they did
now. j realized was fitted for
nothing but boxing md hustIing
papers to get some quick money.
nnd for the first time I thought 1
might make something worth while
in the ring.
Grover Hayes, the pal whom |
spoke of having boxed in Hammond
had gone to Philadelphia and he
wrote me that boxing was going
good there and that he was doing
very well. ] decided to go to Phila-
delphia. PhelOn, the sports editor of
the Journal, gave me a letter to Doc"
Thiel. a handler of boxers in Phila-
delphia, who was mixed up in the
game as a sort of hobby. i grabbed
the blind baggage and hit il out for
Philadelphia. Before leaving / had
my conscience relieved by hearing
that Levy had only a slight scalp
wound and was not hurt badly at all.
The warrant was still out, however.
and 1t may be there yet. When the
train pulled into Pittsburgh, after
had made several stops en- route, l
- H.,
started hustling papers to get the
wherewithal for some food. which
had been coming only at scattered
intervals.
After week in Pittsburgh
landed fOur-round bout with
Mickey Farrell, won the decision
from him and got SIS. With such
roll the temptation yvas great to
buy n railroad ticket and ride in
state, but 1 wasn't sure that
would get anything to do in Phila-
delphia without long wait. I
decided to hit the "blinds' again
and keep my $15 in my pocket to
be sure of something to eat for the
first week there.
When SIS Lasted Five Weeks
That fifteen however, would have
been enough to put me up at first
class boarding house for five weeks
In those days we thought we were
swell when we could say we lived in
SO boarding house. 1t is true that
purses of s5 to s25 dollars that 1
received for preliminary bouts in
those days are ridiculous to what
young boxers get these days. But il
must be remembered that living con-
ditions have changed.
When L was starting out, as said,
good board could be obtained for SO a
week. 1 always had a hobby for nice
clothes and ] was able to crafty nv
Whims, because a fine suit cost no
more than sS; 81 was an exorbitant
price for hat, and the f1ashfest pair
of shoes the most fastidious could
desire were not more than $1.5O
Against this, figure what the pre-
liminary boy has left out of his purse
todayt First comes the managers
cut-usually very big one, because
managers can't be bothered with
youngsters. Then he has to pay for
training in gymnasium, for being
rubbed and treated; and also he does
not get the opportunity to work as
frequently as we did in those days
The difference in the cost of living
and clothing oneself is too well
known to the layman to discuss.
Finally L arrived in PhilndeI-
phin and presented myself to ThieI.
He said he would he glad to take