The Wilmington morning star., 1945-08-01


with them as much as many of his read
ers His articles serve the good purpose
of making people Think
By WEsTBROOK PEGLER
Copyright, 1945, by King Features Syndicate)
NEW YORK-In those wonderful days in
St. Louis when you could get bowl of chile
mac, bread and butter and coffee for Is cents
and save money on $3.50 week, we had a
fight club called the Future City A. c. where,
on Wednesday nights, colored waiter from
one of the good hotels ran contests among
members of his own race. OF them remem-
Der Battling Cowsmilk, the All gator kid, Aig-
Head Ratty and one known as the Mexican
Kid who drank beer from GROWER between
rounds and weighed only 1875 pounds but licked
heavyweights and was long,ngly remembered
in after years by Jimmy Bronson, OF Joplin,
as the best hitter of his weight that he ever
| saw.
Mr.. Bronson later went to France as a
| YMCA man because there was no other way
for him to make it and there came into the
life of Gene Tunney whom he handled in the
historic civic uplift project against Jack
Dempsey in Chicago. Often in after years l
sat with Mr.. Bronson in leafy glades at
Madam Bey's training camp in Jersey or Gus
Wilson's goofeycrest at Sparkill, violating our
Constitution with bust-head ale in gallant pro-
test against the foul amendment and lived
again those precious nights at the Future City,
as dear to us as memories of old Vienna to
the scattered Austrian aristocracy after the
First World War.
Mr.. Bronson has never ceased to protest
that he was not a YMCA man at heart but
on the contrary, gave up prosperous bucket
of blood in Joplin to put on the same uniform
that was worn by Harold 1ckes, for sheer
love of country. His saloon was the last one
lI-. M. all ,x,%@ 1.x,l
being dry, but he sacrificed money, pride,
principle and the convenience of his fellow
man down there to abandon noble public
utility and follow the drums.
! Mr.. Bronson and l sometimes assumed the
manner of old-timers, recalling quaint old
ways for new generation of fighters hostlers
and fight writer's and described with no more
the standard climax of those fight shows, an
event called the battle royal. This came after
the regular, twopassenger bouts, with cast
| composd, usually, OF the winners.
In this playful game there were five con-
| testants, one in each corner and one in the
center who usually the Mexican Kid
When the bell rang the Aig-Head, the Al
| ligator, Brother Cowsrnlk and-or Others
would spring, side or sneak from their cor
ners and thresh the gamey atmosphere with
vigorous blows in five-sided. one-round fight
to finish. Ostensibly, no gladiator knew a
brother but sometimes collision reared its
ugly head and partners concentrated on the
tough ones. However, there could be only one
winner so complete trust was impossible. Thus
when one of the coalitionists had learned to
repose confidence in another and was demol-
| 1shlng third, his trusted ally would belt
him one from behind and, in the words of
the nursery song, out the window he would 60.
1t was tabloid presentation of mans dis
loyalty to man, the nearest approach to which
ivo =
performed in New York as you shall see
At this writing, William O'Dwyer, an Irish
immigrant and ex-cop, a self-taught lawyer
and prosecuting attorney for Brooklyn is the
Democratic nominee for mayor. Mr. Roose-
welt thought he might become useful if
Fiorello LaGuardia should become too prepos-
ferrous so Mr.. O'Dwyer was hidden into the
Army for non-shooting duties and was raised
to the rank Of brigadier in time to return for
the Democratic nomination. LaGuardia also
wished to become a brigadier but the general
staff had to draw a line somewhere So thus
far In the campaign, he is just making faces,
reading the funny papers on the radio and
dlscoursing vulgar noises with his pursed lirs.
Last time around, O'Dwyer ran against La
Guardia with Jim Farley in charge Of his
corner and what Mr.. Farley said out loud
ABOUT the big abdomen under the black-hand-
ers hat was just awful. That time, the COM
munists and the semi-communists Of the
american LABOR Party, parasitic European
league Of unassimilated aliens, dealt harshiy
with ODWyer and extolled La G.
Nevertheless, the ALP has endorsed ODwv-
er this time, to the confusion of large
element of ant communist Catholics on the
Brooklyn side. And the Republicans, for their
man, had to abduct Jonah Goldstein. rene
gade Tammany democrat because there
weren't enough republicans to elect republi
can. They figured that they might draw
enough anti communist democrats. including
Catholics for their Jewish candidate to de-
feat the Irish Catholic mavourneen Of the com.
munists Will O'Dwyer
Completing the confusion, Edward v
Loughlln' the Tammany leader, gave Tam
manys endorsement for the CITY Council 10
Benjamin Davis, Negro communist who had
plan for an autonomous Negro Soviet
stretching from Virginia to Texas which pras.
ent!y would secede from the U. S. A.
mr. Old choked on that and made Mr.
Loughlin rescind the endorsement. In rnanar.
ing M this, Mr. Loughlin said he had discovered
mat DAVIS was still communist and there
Iore withdrew his approval, although Davis
naa never given him any excuse to believe
tnat ne had abandoned his faith or his ssces-
slonlst Negro Soviet plan
meanwhile, some Tammany district leaders
and captains have now deserted O'Dwyer for
tori'hg with the communists of the ALP and
come out for Goldsten And some republi
cans have repudiated Goldstein for deserving
MS own party and have endorsed o,r,ux,,r