TJIE SUNDAY OKEGOXIAN, PORTLAND, DECEMBER 31, 1905
18
BOXING LOOKS UP AT MULTNOMAH CLUB
More Than Thirty Members in Class, Some of Whom
"Have Distinguished Themselves
SLEPT IN TIE SNOW
JEFF NOT TEMPTED
Auto-Drivers- Had a Perilous
Champion Declines O'Brien's
Challenge to Fight.
Time in Blizzard.
ESCAPE WAS A NARROW ONE
SAYS HE'LL STAY RETIRED
Belief Prevails However, That the
BIr Fellow Will Fight With
the Proper Inducements.
News of Pugdom.
Jim Jeffries announced yesterday that
he would not consider a challenge sent
out bv Jack O'Brien, and .says that his
siatenient of retiring stays "put." Jeff
talks Hk a man who means what he
Mvs. and the big follow just at the pro
mt time, pot-slbly means It. But It will
not be good betting to waBcr he will not
change his mind. Walt until the great
est fighting promoter the fistic game ever
saw-James Coff roth-gets where he
wants a championship battle between
big fellows, and then, like the wise man,
Jeffries will probably change his mind. -
It will be noticed in all of the talk
about O'Brien being anxious to meet the
retired champion that Croftroth's name
has not been mentioned. To those who
know the California matchmaker, this is
significant. When Coffroth moves and
announces openly that he will give poor
old Kitz's conqueror and the cx-bollcr-makcr
a small fortune as a purse for a
battle under the auspices o Mis club,
then the fight fans can make up their
minds that unless Jeffries should die or
lose an arm. there will be a battle.
Coffroth has his datcbook pretty well
filled up with a number of battles be
tween lightweights and mlddlewelghts.
It will take until along past the Summer
months to clean these fights up. and as
there Is only one man in the game at
present who will come through with big
moncv for a match of the Importance of
a Jeffries-O'Brien fight, the fight fans
will have to wait.
Little Fellows May Fight Again.
Another thing which stands In the way
of a battle between the big fellows is
the possibility of a return battle between
Battling Nelson and Jimmy Brltt- Just
now Coffroth is not saying much about
this light. He is letting the Britts and
Nolan wage thlr "gabfest." and when
they get through lie will bait has trap
they get through he will bait his trap
turn bifflng-match between Nelson and
Britt would bring as much money to the
ringside as would a mill between O'Brien
and Jeffries, and for that reason he Is
not pining awa . The pride of Coffroth's
heart is Colma. and just now reformers
are kicking up the dust and discontent
around the spot where Nelson beat Britt
lle is willing to let matters rest out
there for a couple of months, and by
that time the fire will be out.
O'Brien, In challenging Jeffries, sets
about to still the voice of the timid ones
who point to the fact that In meeting
Jeff he is giving away pounds in weight
by saying that when Jim Corbctt mcT
nml defeated the mighty John L. bulllvan
'he California!! gave away lots of weight.
There ie something In this, but the
Quaker forgets that the cx-champlon
never has lapped out the juice of the
kTapc In the quantities that Sullivan did
Then. too. Sullivan never saw the day
ihal he was as fast as Jeffries. Jeff, on
account of his long rest, might have
slowed up. but If he would enter the ring
Just half as fast as he was on the night
lie beat Jim Corbett. he would beat the
Philadelphia!!. On this night Jeffries
was so fast he made Corbett actually
seem slow. Against Fltzslmmons 'ghost.
O'Brien was a stake-horse, raclrtg with
j truck-driver's nng. He simply pecked
Bob to pieces, a thing he could not do
wiih Jeffries. O'Brien also feinted Fltz
'izzy, and all such business as this would
be a waste of time against Jeff.
O'Brien's Slender Chances.
In Jeff's battle with Corbett in New
York, he was chopped and hacked to
ribbons, yet when he sent that trenchant
light home. "Gentleman Jim" took the
queer-street route for his. Fltzsimmons
rut and slasned him like a butcher would
n piece of liver, yet it was the big fel
low's paw that put the Ruby one out of
commission. This is Just what would
happen should he ever fight O'Brien.
O'Brien would get off in the lead and
lance his dainty minuet around the big
fallow, but In .the end It would be the
same old story. It Is only forecasting
now to say that if over they do light
the lid will be taken off the journey. It
Is hardly believed, even if Jeff should
sigrcc to meet O'Brien. that he would
make it a 20-round affair. They could
make a route too short'for him. but It Is
doubtful whether they could make the
voad too long.
What O'Brien should do before he talks
about mixing with Jeffries Is to clean up
he second-raters who call themselves
hampions In the light-heavyweight and
:-eavyweight class. His anxiety to meet
Tommy Ryan Is more to settle an old
si-ore than for real championship honors,
''"here fs a feud of long standing between
them that O'Brien wants to settle; What
'ie should do is to hook up with Marvin
Hart, the gift-champion. If ever a falso-
larni champion held the title, it Ls Hart.
He Is nothing but a rough-rugged batllor
t bt. but with as much class as a
cheap selling platter. Then there Is Gus
Rulilln and one or two others who would
keep O'Brien busy.
The Next Fight at Colma.
When Coffroth was in the Cast ho
promised Willie Lewis, a crack light
weight, a battle in one of his clubs and
the other day Lewis arrived in San Fran-
Iseo. He was brought there to light Wit
he Fhzcerald and the battle will be hold
at Colma. January 10. Lewis visited San
Francisco four years ago with George lie
Fadden. whom he helped train for the last
tight he made on the Coast. Lewis had
tie fight Jiere. and this was with Rufc
Turner at Stockton. He was a young
boy then, and Turner put it on him in
two rounds. This defeat was one of the
few he has tastod during his carcor In
the ring. Since that time his record has
Itw n one long string of conquests, and ho
has not picked his game cither.
Willie's Inst battle was with Jack
OKeefe, whom he beat in 15 rounds at
Detroit. O'Kecfe outweighed him at least
five pounds., but he won just the same.
Another recent contest was with Fred
Douglass "at Portland. Me., whom he
trimmed In seven rounds. A year ago this
Christmas he whipped Martin Canolc in
nine rounds. Another good fight he made
this year was with Jimmy Brlggs whom
lif bested In 15 rounds. Brlggs is one of
the hardest nuts around Boston, and
Lewis stock went up with a bound when
he scored this victory.
"I am n years old. and I have been
lighting six years." said Willie to a Saii
Francisco reporter. "In this time I have
had 72 fights and lost but four. Joe Tip
man beat me once, but I licked him in
live rounds in a return match. Turner
beat me in two rounds and Sam Lang-'
ford and Billy Gardner each put it on me.
These arc the. only tights I have lost,
which I think is a. creditable showing.
OXING Is one branch of athletics at
the Multnomah Amateur Athletic
Club that has shown considerable
Improvement In the past year or so.
Some time ago the boxing classes of the
club fell off in membership, notably after
charge of the boxing at the club there
were very few members in the class, and
it necessitate!, considerable effort on his
part to get together the large following
he now has.
SO members, some of whom have distin
guished themselves and added to the
laurels of the club by winning trophies in
competitions with other athletic organi
zations. Care in Handling Xcw Members.
Instructor Fred Rennlck displays the
greatest care in handling the new mem
bers of the class, for many of the- would-
be candidates arc touchy on the matter
B Intrurtor Gori Kay
mm wmFimmKSm M 4mmm n&Ofc?' rHIB A. secured to take charge of the class. Dur
tjjf m
Megargcl Writes of Itcccnt Adven
tures in Arizona Snow Storm..
Journey Across Continent
Again Under Way.
FLAGSTAFF. Ariz.. Dee. 21.-(SpeciaI
Correspondence.) When I wrote my
weekly story of the tour of the Rco
Mountaineer and dated It Flagstaff. I
fully expected to be In Flagstaff within
the next three or four hours, and mailed
the story from Williams, SI miles wcat
of Flagstaff.
Little did I dream at that time that
the adventures experienced during the.
ttme it took to cover these 31 miles would
be more thrilling and dangerous than
any I have yet encountered on the four
months of my touring, yr,t such is tho
case, for we ran Into one of those West
ern blizzards on the mountains, miles
from a railroad or human habitation, lost
our trail, ran out of food, and finally used
up the last of our gasoline supply.
Leaving William? on Friday night, wo
ran a few miles Into the mountains over
an unbroken trail, and then encamped to
await the freezing of the roads. A littlo
the loss of the services of David Camp- after midnight we again started eastward.
Dell wno resigned as Instructor on ac- J mounting nigner and higher on the moun
count of his duties of fire chief, and It 1 ta,n hut traveling painfully slow, as
was some time before another man was V" . . l ine st. cver'
cv icei, utrtt-asiiaung our Ulgging OUC
the Car. AH rfav Snttmtav Sllnilai.- an, I
Ing this lapse Interest In the manly art Monday we ploughed our way or, to be
fell off and when J. F. Rennlck took I plain, shoveled our wav over the traiL
We frequently lost the road, and several
times narrowly escaping running over a
cliff or precipice.
Monday a howling- blizzard raged, all
day the snow blinding us, making wheel
ed mosi uiiucuiu .uoro tnan once we
The class today comprises more than J realized we must be lost, but keeping tho
compass before us. we steadily advanced
tn an easterly direction. About noon our
gasoline gave out. we having used four
times as much as we ordinarily should
have done because of the hard wheeling
through the snowdrifts. Leaving our car
we struck out for what we supposed was
the railroad tracks, but It proved to be
only a stone ledge.
Bed In the Snow. '
Eventually we gave up trying to find
the railroad, and retracing our steps to
the Reo Mountaineer, built a big camp
fire, and, unrolling our blankets, went to
sleep In the anow. Tuesday morning we
ate the last of our provisions and again
started to find the railroad. It being a
clear day. we soon found It. and inci
dentally ran into a party of searchers
looking for us.
Wiring to Williams for gasoline, which
came up on the first freight, and replen
ishing our food supply, we went back to
our car and succeeded In reaching Flag
staff by Wednesday afternoon; shoveling
our road practically the entire dlstanco
from Williams, 34 miles- away.
Escape Was Lucky.
Upon arriving- at Flagstaff we found
that six people had lost their lives In tho
snowstorm and that we were reported
as having been frozen to death In the
papers throughout the United States. It
is needless to say that I have been busily
telegraphing friends and acquaintances
ever since, assuring them that I was not
only alive and well, but none the worse
for my three days In the mountains, for
the fourth day we slept In the section
house at Bellemont, 12 miles below Flag.,
staff.
We leave Flagstaff in a pretty bad
snowstorm this afternoon with lots of
gasoline, a week's provisions, plenty of
matches and an extra snow shovel. We
have little to fear from the weather.
for from Flagstaff our trail steadily runs
down hill, and through the woods the.
trees are well blazed, making a road easy
to follow, no matter what the condition
of the ground under foot.
PERCY F. MEGARGEL.
and have to be handled diplomatically In
order to determine whether they possess
any merit In the boxing line. Some of
the candidates are very awkward at first,
but as soon as the novelty wears off and
they have become accustomed to a hard
knock or two, they buckle into the game
in a determined manner and soon demon
strate their capabilities, and oftentimes
give the Instructor a strenuous two min
utes of exercise.
The members of the M. A. A. C. boxing
class who have shown themselves to be
the most proficient In the game, have
competed against representatives of the
Olympic Club of San Francisco. Seattle
Athletic Club and the Spokane Athletic
Club, and In the number of matches won
by the local men, they have scored more
victories than defeats by a comfortable
margin.
Some Amateur Champions.
Jack Walsh, middleweight. Hood Bott
ler, welterweight, and George Teller,
bantamweight, won the bouts in their
divisions held under the auspices of the
A. A. U. during the Lewis and Clark Ex
position last Fall, which virtually en
titles them to the amateur championship
of America at these weights.
Monday, Wednesday and Friday eve
nings are etas nights among the boxers
at the club, and the members of the
senior classes assemble on these nights
for Instruction under the supervision of
Professor Rennlck. The following mem
bers of the class and their weights are the
ones who have shown the moat progress
ME BACKED JOHN Ti. TO WIN.
Charley Johnston, Who Died Re
cently, Foresaw the Pugil
ist's Future.
The news of the death of Charley John
ston. who was. one of John L. Sullivan'
heaviest backers and was otherwise ono
of the best known sporting" characters In
his day In New York, caused genuine
sorrow among the old-timers on Broad
way, says a New York sporting writer.
"So old Charley's gone, said Tom
O'Rourkc. when Informed of Johnston's
death. "Well, I'm real sorry to hear It,
although I suppose he was pretty old.
"Well known? I should say he was.
He was known all over the country as
one of the earliest and strongest be
lievers in John L. Sullivan, and there was
time when the fighter was at the
height of his fame that John L.s name
was scarcely ever mentioned unless John
ston's was coupled with It."
Johnston died. In his home In Brooklyn.
He had been 111 for some time with
Brlght's disease- He came to this coun
try from Ireland when he was 6 years
old. and lived the greater part of his life
In Brooklyn. He became well known In
the sporting world first through his man
agement of the victorious Atlantic base
ball club of Brooklyn In the early '60s.
"Charley became acquainted with Jonn
Ll early In the fighter's career," con
tinued O'Rourke. "and he took a shine to
Sullivan. He backed him across tho
board and said he didn't think the man
lived that could beat blm. As far as I
know, Sullivan was the only fighter John
ston took any interest In. He said h
knew John L. could beat KHraln. and he
to date, and have distinguished themselves went down to Mississippi with the cham-
during the season: Hood Bottler (HO), P " x.u
took Sullivan to France, where he fought
Jack Walsh (ISS). John Douglass (133). Ol-
mar Dranga. (125). Edgar Frank (123).
Henry Nickcn (IS). Charles Stockton (13S).
George Teller C113) and Tommy Roberts
Juniors of Promise.
Among the Juniors who have shown
promise In this department arc: "Bro
ther" Hughes. Syl Douglass, Roy Bernard. I
Milton Myers and Dom Sutton. The
youngsters have their session with the in-
Charlcy Mitchell to a draw at ChantHIy.
I Imagine. Johnston picked up- a good
piece of money by that fight. When the
match with Corbett was made Charley
was just an confident that John L. would
chalk up another victory, and he backed
him Just as strong as ever.
"The result of that fight nearly broke
his heart, and T don't think he" ever took
any more Interest In boxing. I have not
seen him in New Tork in some time."
Johnston was up to about ten years ago
F
KKD KE.Y.V1CK. Hexls Izaintcter.--KDUAK
PKAAK,
OIJHAK DKANGA
CHAJCLLS K. STQCKT0.V.
structor on Tuesday and Thursday after- I proprietor of the Plaza Hotel in Brook
lyn. It was a famous nang-out tor ma
Edgar Frank, who has the management "ir u'3ahn r Sunivan'ii fa!
of the boxing department of the club. Is mQUS championship belt was on exhifeL
endcavorinr to secure matches for the I tlon there.
near future with the members of the Se- I The last time Sullivan was m .New
attic Athletic Club; and U now in correr j York it is told that Johnston met him
spondence with that organisation on the J and asked the fighter why he never came
xubVect I over to the old place to e him.
Taj(t -week was vacation week, the "There a too many saloons ectweea,
clashes h&Tlitf; been discontinued for the Fortieth street and the other end e Xm
hcUftars. a they
3V4ww4y atgfeL
will resume acxt
brfetee. and X Just can't get past smm.
all," was the fci pvglM'i frank refi
3