The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-08-28
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(Reg. U. s. Pat. OffD By JACK CCDDY
United Press Staff Correspondcnt)

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 New York Aug. 28-(UP)-Again we say farewell to Henry Armstrong as an active fighter We are grati- fled that he earned enough money during his comeback campaign o1 27 bouts to put him on "easy street and that he apparently evaded tht blindness that threatened during ev- cry venture into the ring.
 Armstrong quit the ring last night because one of his headlights had become blurred-because of scar tissue growth inside his left eyeball that "resembled a cataract" He did not quit because one of the game s greatest fighting machines had run down.
 Because of threatened blindness Armstrong was retired against his will on the night of Jan. IT, 1941, by his manager, the late Eddie Mead. That was the night when he failed to recapture the welterweight crown from Fritzie Zivic-the night when he and pug -nosed F'ritzie fought be- fore the largest indoor boxing crowd in history-23,l90 persons at Madi- son Square Garden.
 Mead, who had no more money left after ArmstrOng's amazing ser ies of victories than did Armstrong, had a genuine affection for the bull shouldered little Los Angeles Negro. After two terrific brow beatings by Zivic, he feared that Hammering Hank might go blind. He said Arm strong never would fight again as long as he I'd his contract al- though Ha IS top attraction then. Han. Ut fight again while Mead lived. Iead dropped dead in front of his New York hotel on May 25, 1942. He was broke.
 Armstrong started his comeback campaign in June. 1922, under the management of George Moore. an educated Negro whom Armstrong had asked to handle his affairs.
 Sought Money
 Whether Armstrong, the former triple champion, was broke when he started his comeback, no one knows for sure Henry claims he still had some property in Los Angeles, de- spite the terrific pace he and Mead had set in expenditures during Arm strongs heyday. Anyway, Henry was out for dough; and he thought Mead's fears of blindness were un- founded.
 Eastern boxing experts, who had witnessed most of Armstrong's i'm portant bouts and who had seen the terrific punishment absorbed by the brows of the crouching. bobbing gladiator, groaned in apprehension after the first Zivic fight. They re- membered the terrible sight of his eyes after the second Zivic braWl. They didn't want to see him go blind.
 AS Armstrong fought on along the comeback trail, the vision of his left eye became blurred. It bothered him so much that he finally went to a Hollywood physician, Dr. Simon Jcsberg. The doctor told Henry that a scar-tissue growth-similar to a cataract-Was forming inside his left eyeball. He ad viSed him to quit fighting as soon as possible.
 The blur increased, Armstrong ad- mitted last night, and-although he is signed to fight Slugger White at Los Angeles on Sept. 18-he will withdraw from that bout and never fight again. He will manage a stable of fighters in the future-Cecil Hud- son, Gene Johnson, Terry Gibson etc.
 And Henry hopes that the $l00,0OO he earned since the death of Eddie Mead can be enjoyed in sunshine not in darkness.