Evening star., 1939-10-28
From the
PRESS Box
Chilean Firpo Coming
To Share Louis Gate
BY JOHN LARDNER.

l OAeAAs wv. 90 t4N.<A4NxAJ.-
Since no move is made by sea in
this hemisphere without the knowl-
edge of Lardner's Personal Marine
Intelligence and Blockade. Inc.
pocket battleships our speciality. we
learn that Arturo Godoy, the Firpo
of Chile, has boarded a scow or
shallop headed in this direction
with a cargo of cotton swabbing,
liniment, toothpicks, cut remedy and
a sack to take the money home in.
Godoy will fight Joseph Louis,
the world champion heavyweight,
in February. His pilgrimage reminds
us somewhat of the crusade of Luis
Angel Firpo, the Wild Bull of the
Pampas, the more so because Godoy
is a dead ringer for the Wild Bull.
BY next year he may be just a
dead ringer, It's too soon to tell
He looks like Firpo Nor does the
resemblance stop there Godoy has
the same spiritual affection for
money that gave Firpo much of his
charm. Unable to make one suit
Of clothes do for five years. like the
Wild Bull. Godoy nonetheless is a
frugal dresser At one time, he even
wore the famous Firpo high cellu-
loid collar, with fire escape attached
Godoy's Greatest Weapon
Straight Right Thumb
In one minor matter. the two
llama -punchers differ. Firpo could
sock with his right hand. Godoy s
best weapon is a straight right
thumb.
Godoy's take from the Louis fight
will be something like $4,000, which
is good pickings for the kind OF
work he does. Minus tax, he will
take every doubloon home with him
to Chile, in canvas bag. A canvas
bag will be enough, because $4,000
is no such lordly sum as the $4,000
that Luis Angel Firpo took away
from here, distributed in a money
belt, couple of sacks and an old
purse which was the original hero
of that joke about the moths.
You have to hand it to Firpo, and
that was exactly what America did
punches with the right, money
with the left. When he first came
up here-tWo days growth of beard,
the cellulold collar, the tight black
suit, the right hand like a side of
beef-Firpo was quite a character
When he went home to stay, he was
just little groggy from contact
with Dempsey and Harry Wills, but
not in the Treasury Department
No tourist in this country ever laid
out less and picked up more.
Firpo Was by No Means
Purely Comic Figure
Come to think of it, the Bull was
by no means purely a comic figure
For four minutes, one summer
night in the middle of ball park
he sent the pubic's heart to its
throat and pumped blood faster
through million veins. There never
were four such minutes of stark ac-
ton as in the Dempsey-Firpo fight
He gave them their moneys worth
If ever a prizefghter did
The Wills fight, on the other hand
had a tragic side. Arriving here
for the battle with the thrifty
panther of Harlem, Firpo tried tc
introduce his staff, including fiancee
through the customs, and was taxed
with moral turpitude, and illegal
entry. and fishing through the ice
without license, and what not
and thrown into Jail.
There, trying desperately to save
his bail and waiting for some kind
of legal fire sale which would get
him out for SO cents on the dollar
Firpo did most of his training for
Wills. 1t was a ragged, weary, Sleep
less South American who climbed
into the ring to play target for the
mild brown matador.
Wills was no such lusty brawler
as Firpo-the best Firpo-but he
knew his business and he knew
how to hurt Given a mark like
Firpo. he tore his victim slowly to
shreds. The fight was nightmare
The gate was s5O9, 900. That gives
you an idea of the kind of business
the wild bull was doing, even on his
nights off.
Arturo Will Live to Toke
Much Bullion Home
For his Dempsey fight the gross
was $1,188,603 With Jess Willard
the aging cowboy from Potta
watomie County, Kans., he drew
$431 900. And what he made he
kept.
That is, he kept it until he un-
hacked down home in Buenos Aires