The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-02-03
BIG JEFF WAS NOT REALLY
 GIVENK. O.---ONLY. TECHNICAL
Rckard Relates Interesting Incidents Of Famous Fight That Meant Passing Of The Heavyweight Crown Over
 Head Of Jack Johnson 7ss

find out just how we stood financially.
 The receipts for that fight were $270,- 715! I suppose my smile would have been as golden as that of Jack Johnson if had had the gold teeth. !
 After all the troubles and irritations
 Including the s1o1 900 and the bonuses I had agreed to give Johnson and Jeffries the total amount I had to pay the fighters was about $125. 900. They got a great deal more than that, though. The picture rights were a be- manga to them.
 The total expenses of that fight were within a few dollars of $160,000 and this takes into consideration all the difficulties we had in California.
 It might be interesting to show just how much. each of the fighters got:
 Jeffries-Purse, $A0.4oo; bonus, $1o.- 900; pictures; sss .sss; total, s1l7oss; 500; pictures. s50,000; total, $120,S00.
 I made a profit of something like $100 900. The pictures paid altogether something around $s00,000.
 No sooner had Jack Johnson got his money than he came around and paid me back the $2,500 had loaned him on the train that day going from Pitts burg to New York, and his training expenses as well.
 dS, than the money I made out of it. and that was considerable. The les- sons that I learned there about how tos arrange a fight. how to build a stand and howato avoid confusion have been of a value to me that could not be estimatedStn dollars and cents.
 There Is no question in my mind that an arena is the proper place for a big fight. 1 will discuss this in another chapter. The most important thing in erecting an arena to avoid confusion so as to keep the crowd from stam- peding. In some ways people are just like large bodies of other animals fused or uncertain they are likely to lose their heads.
 To avoid this Is quite simple if the promoter will take his time and use common sense. I learned early in the game that the free use of printed signs Is of immense value. I have them printed by the hundreds. Anywhere there is a turn, gate, a stairway, or even an alley I have signs put up so that the people cant go wrong. It saves them the trouble of asking ques- tions. Too many questions would get has to wait for information a hum dred more get jammed in behind him. Crowd Is Like a Herd The main idea is to have a gate and a runway leading into each section. For example. there must be q gate for the five-dollar tickets. That gate opens into walkway which leads directly into the five-dollar section. In other words, the spectator must never be compelled to cross another section to get into the one shown on hls ticket Right there most of the trouble oc- CUTS. If man, for instance, should hold ten-dollar ticket and be compelled to cross the $25 section to reach 1t he may stop at the first empty seat. In few minutes the twenty five dollar fellows, then ten-dollar fellows and the five-dollar boys will be all mixed up.
 To handle a crowd successfully I have found that the secret is to keep the people going straight ahead. Never give them a chance to mill around. A panic among human beings is just as bad and just as fatal often as among the dumb beasts. Mans intelligence, I find, often adds to his confusion. With out a definite idea of what Is going on he starts thinking. It's pretty hard to outguess an arena. ry.