Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-11-25
WIN, LOSE OR
6NAV By FRANCIS sTANN
Celebrating A Birthday

SOME THREE WEEKS late, owing to tough but VIC
orious bout with pneumonia fabulous friend Jimmy
Lake celebrating his 18th birthday the Hendrix Steak
House today He not only guest of honor at this party
tossed by friends but POSTMASTER well. Naturally!
Today also marks the publication of new book
Footlghts Fistights and Femmes," nostalgia, witty
effort by Mrs Helen Gblo who familiar to readers of
The Star Magazine every Sunday 1t is, of course the
life story of Lake .
1t took Mrs Giblo two years to write it. and little
wonders Ring announcer burlesque mpresario promoter
old time vaudevillian pub owner etc, Lake is Of
10000 stories, not all of which he expected to tell
today
Jimmy whom connoisseurs of boxing and wrestling
announcing call the best since the late Joe HUMPHREYS
liked fighters He liked to be around them and the feeling
mutual He knows for instance how Kid Mccoy really
developed the left jab Not Jim Corbet he insists but
Mccoy the jab purist.
"A MAN WITH GOOD left jab is halfway home
before the fight starts Jimmy says in his book MANY
time sat with Mccoy watching him work out blows
paper. He great for studying things out And
training? He worked like beaver
But all this tied him up knots He got into awful
moods and when he felt of these spells coming on
he used to play with his cat.
This some time in the COS. was very young
at the time recall the Kid telling me how one
how the animal would tap him before he could get his
left hand back So Mccoy got piece of string and pulled
it back slowly that the cat would make lab for it,
Then Mccoy would pull the string with quick motion,
but the cat abbed and got every time That's how he
conceived the idea of developing a punch like that
He worked on it, and, finally, when he sprung it.,
nobody understood it at first but they paid attention
when the Kid started cutting his opponents faces into
ribbons.
kid Mccoy came to a sorrowful ending He played
Buebeard and took unto himself nine wives But he dis
covered that unlike his cat of the wives had
life After killing her, his mailing address became San
Quentin. His left ab wasn't much use to him there"
ONE OF LAKES ALL-TIME fstic favorites was Tom
Sharkey, who wound up owning cafe opposite the old
Pastor Theater in New York when playing there used
to go to Tom Lake relates "For that matter
didn't every Irshman this side of Erin?
Everybody who came to Toms would want to buy
the old sailor drink It's all you would hear there,
Have drink Toni
IF sharkey had taken every drink offered he never
would have been in condition to the customers
But Tom too shrewd operator to turn down fatty
anything that came his way So he had habit of reply
ing, III have cigar
Thus, he developed very lucrative racket Tom wore
vest and an odtme dickey white collar. and no tie
or coat His vest pocket bullying with cigars When
1t wouldn't hold any more he'd give them to the bar
tender who dropped them back in the box And
Tom with his natural Irish tendencies to make buck
would sell the same cigars to new batch Of customers
LAKE WAS SITTING in sharkey's one night when
puts it, and invited Sharkey to have drink The fellow
wound up buying the cigar saying, you're great champ
Tom"
After the fifth drink invitation and the fifth cigar
had changed hands, Sharkeys customer got mad He
called to the bartender: Buddy give a match and
If this thevin' Of gun doesn't light cigar III
knock his thievin block of"
Tom didn't light and the fight Naturally,
Tom couldn't afford that sort Of thing going in his
place" Jimmy says, so he threw him out But Sharkey
was very cautious with his cigar sales from then on"
Once, when he was running the Park Theater in
New York, Lake signed Jim Jefries added atrac-
ton. Jimmy tells story that reveals another side Of
one Of the al-time great heavyweight champions
Jim HAD RETIRED indicated, but was training
to make comeback in Nevada against Jack Johnson I"
Lakes story starts "Jefres big box office for us
SO naturally was pancky when he refused to go after
See WIN, LOSE OR DRAW, Page C-s
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