Evening star., 1926-08-24

dempsey was a success from pic
ture standpoint. He had never even
seen more than four or five movie pic
lures, and starring in Daredevil
Jack" he proved to be a great actor.
He was great hit on the lots, and his
appearance before the camera was
the signal for all the other stars to
take a day off. When he was being
SCREENED he had Fairbanks, Chaplin.
Pickford and all the others for an
audience. They never missed one of
the famous miX-ups. in which Jack al
ways was at his best. When he could
outdo Fairbanks in the rough and
tumble stuff he was bound to be a hit.
Accused of Being Stacker.
Dempsey was going along fine in
the picture when all of a sudden and
out of the clear sky came the greatest
tragedy Of Dempsey's life.
Maxine Dempsey, his former wife,
had written to the San Francisco
papers charging Dempsey with being
a "slacker." 1t was like bomb
dropped from nowhere, and SO totally
unexpected.
It's funny old world, and you
don't know how eager it is to throw
the hooks into a person who is up
Ask Red" Grange. Ask any star at
the top of his game. They had never
been able to hang anything on Demp-
Sey, and here was an opening for
broadsides Stacker" Ugly word. |
recalled that it had ruined Les Darcy,
and in the end had sent him broken
hearted to an outcast'S grave.
l had a fight ahead of me. No man
will ever have a harder one. The ma
chinery was ready to tear down what
| had built up. Ruin my champion.
The slurs and the bitter onslaughts
would drive him into-God knows
where | made his fight, but only the
surface stuff is known.
While this charge was crashing
down about Dcmpsey's head he went
on with his picture work The
Stacker" trials came, and then he
went home to Salt Lake. | got on a
train and came to New York. At
least I'd whip him out of that row, so
far as distance went.
Gets Fight With Mislle.
hired an open space in Fifty
seventh street, with the idea of open
ing public training place for Demp-
sey / pumped in the ballyhoo. lie
needed a lot of it now. I'd bring hin.
out of it, if trying counted for any
thing. | went back to Chicago. and
Floyd F'itzSimmonS came to me with a
proposition to put on Il fight with
Miske in little ball park he had at
Benton Hal'bor. Jack came on to that
place to train. and | had Harry Greh.
Pill Tate and Panama Joe Cans ana
jamaica Kid to help him.
1t was the first fight following his
trial at San Francisco and the first
since winning the title from Willard
He had fought Miske a great 10
round battle and a siXround node
cision bout, and this coming bout was
looked forward to as being pip. But
as it developed Dempsey had i'm
proved, and Miske had stood still. He
was knocked over in three rounds.
I took Dempsey through the coun-
try, but public sentiment was all
against him. They thought they had
him down. and everybody wanted to
take a kick at him. 1t took patience
and time to offset this.
Brennan Proves Tough.
We came on to New York to box
Bill Brennan for Tex Rickard in the
old Madison Square Garden. Brennan
was a tough old heavy. Dempsey,
readers will remember. had knocked
Brennan out in six rounds in Milwau-
kee, breaking Bill's leg. Dempsey
trained hard for Bill. but he had done
a little too much Of 1t. He was stale
Brennan gave him a tough argument
for 10 rounds. Dempsey couldn't, get
going. He had a bad eye and split
ear.
He looked bad at the end of the
tenth. but he had made no complaint
Of any kind
AS he went out for the eleventh he