Evening star., 1931-06-13
DOWN THE LINE
Very Much Like Toledo.
BY v. o. McCEEHAN-

/ THERE is Just one dangerous note In
L the ballyhoo that IS being sounded
by Mr. Sam Potts Hall He has
started with the Stcry that Pa Stribling
has Just bought a block Of S25.000
worth of ringside seats to be occupied
exclusively by Crackers from Georgia.
and he intimates that this is only the
beginning, with the fight nearly a
month away
Now it was something like this that
ruined the gate receipts at Toledo
The records show that Mr.. Tex Rickard
made a profit out Of that one, but am
convinced that he did no better than
break ever-f he did that A week
before the bout the press agents had
sold so many seats on paper that
customers from the outlying districts
began to figure that there was no use
in going to Toledo, because the place
was sold cut
Even the aStute Mr. William Nc
Carney, who was aiding ,he ballyhoo
at Toledo became affected ~ his own
eXaggeration. Believing his own stor-
les. he leased some vacant stores and
bought a number of army cots. He
figured that he would get S5 cot from
the overflow visitors who could not be
accommodated by the hotels. On the
night before the fight Mr.. Mccartney
had exactly one customer. He rented
one of his cots to himself and he was
SO lonesmce that he hired total
stranger to occupy one of the cots IN
the place with him so that he would
not 90 goofy from solitude.
A few days before the fight Mr. Rick
ard came to the correspondents IN a
panic. Not only did he deny that the
place was anywhere near sold out, but
he begged them to send the news that
there were plenty of spare seats to ac-
Commodate any number OF visitors.
And this turned out to be the truth;
There were plenty Of vacant seats all
through the bout. The Toledo gate re-
ceiptS suffered from the overballyhoo.
The Battle of Cleveland so FAR Is not
menaced by anything Of the sort.
Chances for Rescues.
TT seems significant that both of the
L principals in this fight are training
beside the shores Of lakes. 1t Is
customary for each principal in Battle
of the Century to rescue some girl from
drowning some time before the battle
The last rescue before championship
fight was made, I believe, by Mr..
Thomas Loughran.
Of course. Jack Sharkey, in a fit Of
jealousy. has beaten both Schmellng
and Stribling to it. 1 hear mat Mr.;
Sharkey only the other day saved girl
from drowning and Mr.. Sharkey is not
even in training his proposed bout with
Primo Camera having been enjolned by
a Federal judge.
Gene Tunney always had lake
handy when he was in training, but
Tunney always refused steadfastly to
rescue anybody for publicity purposes,
though Mr.. Steve flanagan was at all
times ready to provide him with Max
Sennett bathing beauties for Iescue
purposes. Mr.. Tunney did make one
rescue from drowning while training at
Spsculator. but it never got into the
papers.
He saved his manager, Mr.. William
Gibson. 1t seems that Mr.. Gibson,
after very tiring day, went to sleep
in his bathtub. Mr.. Tunney heard his
gurgling and dashed into the bath room.
Seeing that Mr.. Gibson was in danger
of finding a watery grave in the tub,
Mr. Tunney reached down and pulled
out the plug, letting the water run out.
Mr.. Gibson's life was saved, but the
story never came out, and Mr.. Tunney
never received a Carnegie medal for the
rescue.
In q few days there will be ultima
tuns sent back and forth concerning
the referee and something will come up
to make the Schmeling Stribling fight
a grudge fight. But the way things are
going nobody will know or care, because
the customers Go not seem to care any
more for the fight literature for which
they once clainored. Or did they ever
really want it3 Having written reams
OF it myself. ! wonder.