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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 1911)
TTIE SUNDAY OREGOXIAX, PORTLAND. JANUARY 1, lgTI. CALIFORNIA WILL Fighters Who Won, Lost or Retained Championship Titles During 1910 GORBETT RENEWS 010 FRIENDSHIPS RESTRICT BOXING Promoters Look Forward to Legislation and Are Willing to Compromise. Ex-Champicn Finds Many Familiar Faces in New : Orleans After 18 Years. ROUND LIMIT SUGGESTED NEW YORK CLUBS WARNED Affair Like McFarland-Attel Fiasco May Clamp on Boxing Lid Again PrtMnt Squab bling Hnrta Sport. BT JMM J. COBBETT NEW ORLEANS. La.. Dec. 31. Spe clai.) During the holiday week In tbla quaint old city I have had the great pleasure of renewing friendship of years' tsndln. To prove that 1 have not yet passed Into the Dr. Osier class. I hare had no difficulty In recalling the names and faces of roar.y old timers whom I tad not met In nearly two decades. On every hand I have been reminded f an event Important to me that oc curred here over 1 yeara ago. And It seems to roe only a few abort yeara alnca J carae to thla city comparatively un known and won the heavyweight cham pionship, yet It waa In September. 1S9. flnce that time the followera of the fcama have aeen many a champion come and go In the different classes. The title that It waa my rood fortune to win haa changed handa no lens than three tlmfs since It waa In my posses sion. A few of the rood old boya of thla locality have passed over the (treat dl tl'!e stn?e my last visit here, but I am pleased to report that the majority of my old frlenda and acotialntancea hero are stilt alive and kicking-, and In most Instances enjoying good health. Plating One Acaintt Otlier? Aa a result of the hot competition between the National Spirting and the Fairmont clubs of New Yorit City to eecuro the Packey Mcf-arlind-Abe At tel encounter the match has gone up In moke. Packey asserted he waa honor bound to Billy Olbecn of the Kalrmont while Attel stood out for Tom O'Kourke and th- N.itlonal people. I would not be surprised If the boya simply were playing one club against the other to get eome soft money, and over played the hand. At any rate, the bout la off and. for one. I believe that's the tet thing that could have tuippenc-l. I have nrKucd right along that the match looked too one-sided. Abe can fol al ra tth the ordtnary fellows and give sjrelght away to the dubs, but Packry Is n entirely different proposition. Just at thla time when there la a plan on foot to Introduce a bill In the com ing session of the Lei;tslture of the tate of New York which will legalise public boxing exhibitions, thla scrapping over the services of a couple of boxers will not do the game any good. It will not take much to clamp the ltd down Mi boxing In the metropolis If conducted a at present, and club dlrectora oi'lht to use Judgment and try to avoid killing the goose that lays the golden eggs. Pome of the smaller clubs are auld to violate the police retaliation openly In the matter f disposing of membership llckets. and such methods do not tend lo make frlenda for the game. The National and Fairmont clubs have bona fide lists of members snd do not buck the law In thla manner, but why all the noise over Attel and McKarland? one would think It was the Jeffrlee Johnson affair over again. Let the high est bl'lder get the prize, and If the rival -!ucs do not csre to raise th ante, they ught to take back scats. A young boxer was killed In a contest In Philadelphia a few weeks ago. and hia opponent waa arrested, aa Is usual 'n such ease . The Coroner, however, dis charged the prisoner and exonerated him of all blame. The offlclnl took a common-sense view of the matter. One Vf his srguments was that Inasmuch aa baseball or football team Is never held responsible for a fatal accident to a a layer during a game, there Is no reason lor holding a boxer. He did recommend, though, that the authorities Insist on the various athletic and boxing clubs of '.tie Quaker City employing the services f competent physicians to be present at the ringside w.th authority to pre vent or stop bouts if In their opinions the contestants are unfit. It would be a splendid Idea for every boxing club In the country to adopt this suggestion and take precautions to guard against simi lar accidents. laon Assimilate 13,380 Blows. A Western statistician haa It figured out that during his ring career to date Battling Nelson has taken more pun ishment than any other boxer of note, and lived through It all. To be exact, according to the dope, the Battler has assimilated altogether 13.380 blows, 'and - some of the wallops were not mere love taps, either. That professional pugi lism Is not such a really terrible affair after all is proved by these cold fig ures, and to drive It In deep. Just stop to think that Nelson la still In the game and looking for more. Of the boxera cf lesaer note 1 would opine that the original Iron-Jawed man. Joe Grimm, la th leader In th assimilation line. ' The bout between Freddy Welsh and Jem DrlscoII at Cardiff. Wales, ended In an unsatisfactory manner. Krorr ac counts Welsh had a shade throughout and Drlscoll waa blowing aome when he committed the foul. Jem cried and begged th referee to change hla ver dict and give him a chance to continue, but that official aald ray to hla plead ing. No uae talking, the rules are lived up to on the other side and when a tighter bresks one he generally regrets It. unless he has done so deliberately. The pictures will be on exhibition in this country soon, and then w can see how It all happened. Sullvan Would Be Slugger. Jack ("Twin") Sullivan Is quoted as sarin g he will cut out scientific boxing in tb future and try to develop Into a slugger of the most approved type. "Twin" must know that It takes all kinds of people to make up this world, and all kinds of boxers to make pro fessional contests Interesting from spectators points of view aa well as profitable to the participants. He haa made an enviable reputation aa a clever boxer, and for the laat year or ao haa been giving weight away In nearly all his contests. In most cases he has brought home the long- end of the money. Does "Twin" Imagine for a minute that, without bringing Into play th skill In boxing that It has taken years to develop, he could have accomplished so much? Supposing he had chosen to mix It up with th big fellows, would be hT won so easily, does he think? Not In a thousand years. It Is she dev. r boxer who can afford to glv weight sway, not the slugger. 1-ook at Abe Attel. If Abe did not possess cleverness to a marked degree would he have last ed through all his handicap matches? Tet It Is not mere skill with th ItiS ;-x :v f Aa II I ; - n V lV " - - III s 11 if ' 4 - r- " J . - w C- pNI i' A JJ SK: -J I i ft f rV r I? - ::l --i -I '- t- m Ab Attell Is the only pugilist who retalna hla title of champion with th opening of the year 111. for death or defeat haa eliminated all of the other clatmanta to championships In th various divisions recognlxed In the Mar Qula of Queensbury rules. . The biggest event 'of the year In pugilistic circles waa the defeat of James J. Jeffries by Jack Johnaon, and te establishment of the latter aa th champion heavyweight fighter of th world. The champion had retired from th ring four years previously, and the long absence from the arena, together with dissipation during that time, wrecked the once magnificent physique, and Jaraos J. Jeffries, "the hope of th whit race." went down to lgnomlnloua defeat at Reno. Ner.. and for the first time in the history of the pugilistic world a negro wss balled aa cham pion. Th result of the Jeff rlea-Johnson fight seemed to cause a lull In the In terest In th fistic game for aeveral months, and even though Owen Moran and Battling; Nelson drew a big house at tan Kranclaco, no other fistic bat tles of Importance were staged at th Bay City, which waa formerly the mecca of the big majority of the cham pionship encounters. The action of Governor Glllett. of California, in re fusing to permit the Jeffries-Johnson bout In that state was th hardest blow th promoters auatalned during the year. Harvest Not Itrapctl. The Governor's action alao bad a had effect upon the motion pictures taken j or tne Dig ngnt. ana wnicn are ofing shown in Portland for the first time to day, for many cities refused to permit the exhibition of the fight, and the New York Arm securing the right to th film haa not reaped any part of th ex pected harvest. The elimination of Jeffries at the hands of Johnaon also had an adverse effect upon interest In natle encounters, for the vast majority of th followers of the game confi dently expected Jeffries to win. where as the big fellow was beaten before ha stepped into the ring. The principal reason the fight fans favored Jeffries waa due to the writ Inns of the many hundreds of "experts." who were at his training quarters dur ing th period he waa preparing for the big battle. With but few excep tions, the scrlbea heralded Jeffries aa unbeatable and prophesied the defeat of the negro within a few rounds. Th sporting writers erred, and erred so seriously that heavyweight battles will not be very popular for a long time to come, for Jack Johnson completely up set the "dope." snd proved hlmse f a fighter of a great deal more ab llty than anyone ever gave him credit. Kctobol on Down Grade. The year 1110 also saw the elimlja tion of Stanley Ketchel. middleweight champion of the world, but thla did not occur at the handa of an opponent gloves and the footwork that make a champion: the gray matter enters largely Into the makeup of a successful boxer, and no one knows it better than the foxy Sullivan. Let Jack continue to take on big. hard-hitting youngsters whose knowledge of boxing Is not great and he will get away with them only by exercising all his cleverness. Try mixing and exchanging wallop for wal lop and it will prove a much more dif ficult task. Sullivan. If quoted correctly, says the sluggers get all th applause and that th elever boxer are not enthused ' over. It's too bsd. Isn't It? But I hap pen to know dirrerentiy. uo to any club and watch two roughhouse artists at work with their wild swings and upper cuts, sandwiched between tb pulling and mauling and hugging that take up fully two-thirds of each round. Then take a peek at two skilled boxers at work with the clever stuff In full play, the feints and lightning-like Jabs and counters, and not who win the approval of the crowds. No. Mr. "Twin." I do not look at the matter In th same light. And you are getting to be too old a bird to hope successfully to change your style of fighting. Between us I cannot see at all where you can iroprov over pres ent methods. You have established a reputation to be proud of. claim to be able to make the middleweight limit of 131 pounds, and. If so, stand a good chance of becoming champion now that poor Ketchel is no more. You ar not a natural alugger. but a boxer who must rely on skill and not brute strength, and 1 -advise that you stick ir " I j-- T.:..-. . ."ess !. r It ' ' -e ' - " '& lasiajsjsassjssasjassss 1 , Z?jrs-Z7Z? f I I J I - Ll- it ' ';js.v Ni, "J I ' i 1 's - " - ' ' 11 m f i " .C - rf 2 -If T'V ' ; V - & I ' 'V I I . 7 M -xvVtv rA 't i l v i 7XV ;A 7v ' k, I S: Z T ' t-f" I L- - l mzzg S-7 l : L ,itL i In the ring, for Ketchel waa killed by a gunshot wound Inflicted by a man with whom he quarrelled. The death of Ketchel. who was the acknowledged premier among the .mid dlewelghts. leaves the title vacant in strict accordance with the rulea of th game, but Billy Papke. by virtue of a knockout scored by him over Ketchel, la claiming the title and will soon en gage in a ring contest with Hugo Kelly, another claimant. Jimmy Clab by, of Milwaukee, la another possible champion in that division. The double elimination of Battling Nelson, the lightweight from Hege wlsch. 111., was the first surprise of the year, for "Bat" went against Ad Wolgnst. the Milwaukee "Wildcat." at Ban Franclaco, on February 22 last, and the conqueror of Joe Gans succumbed to his more youthful opponent. Wol gast did not knock Nelson out. but he ao completely defeated th former in vincible one that Nelson's seconds were compelled to throw up the sponge to save their man from further punish ment. Wolgast waa Immediately hailed champion, but aomehow or other he does not seem to fit the bill. to the style which has made your rep utation and not try to adopt at this late day a method that nature did not Intend you to use. A new Richmond has entered th lightweight field in the person of "One Hound'" llogan, the young San Fran ciscan, who recently won a 20-round verdict over tough little Johnny Frayne. While the Hogan lad did not live up to the reputation that estab lished the nickname, and put Frayne away before the limit. It must be re membered that It waa the first profes sional bout of Importance that has come his way. His previous efforts had been confined to amateur circles and It had been his custom to dispose of all comers In a round or two, hence the moniker. While It would appear that New York Is overrun with good light weights, there seems to be always room for one more, and the Oothara clubs are already angling for Hogan's services. "Knock-Out" Brown and Tommy Murphy come together again this week and a proposition has been wired the new star to meet the winner. If he has the goods It will be an easy matter to keep busy in New York. Look over the list of lightweights; all classy men, too. Jack Goodman (although aome aay he can't make the weight), Tommy Murphy. "Knock-Out" Brown, Lew Powell, and Pal Moore are the stars, and there are at leaat half a doxen more who fall Just a trifle abort of the front rank. The big city Is de veloping a great crop of boxers, under th present system of le-round contests. In the case of Owen Moran. who also defeated Nelson, the situation Is dif ferent, for Moran is looked upon as the most likely claimant to. the light weight honors. Not that Moran'a knockout scored over Nelson haa any thing to do with the approval ahown him by the public, for Nelson was ad mittedly snythlng but the lighter whose bulldog determination won him the approval of the spectators at th time he gamely withstood ine assauna of Wolgast. Woljrast AVanta Big End. At present Wolgast and Moran are wrangling over terma for a match be tween them. Wolgast la demanding; the big ellco of the puree, win, lose or draw, and Moran refuses to concede him anything of the kind. Wolgast haa claimed the same thing every tlma anyone has challenged him. and this la one of the reasons that he haa held his title for ten montha without hav ing entered the ring to defend it against all comers, as champions are expected to do. The trouble with Wol gast seems to be "high finance." but most of the present day champions are GOLF CLUB HAS PLANS WAVERLY ORGANIZATION" TO BUILD AXKW. New Year Contests Among Local Golfers Arouse Much Interest. Prizes Are Offered to Winners. The past year has been a most suc cessful one among the members of the Waverly Golf Club, which organization fosters the game In this vicinity and possesses one of the finest golfing courses in the West. The Waverly Golf dub Is planning extensive improvements during the coming year, for at a recent meeting of the club It waa decided to aell off a portion of the big tract of land now owned by the club, to a corporation known aa the Waverly Association, and comprising members of the golf club. The proceeds of this sale will net the club sufficient money to erect a hand some new clubhouse and to make such Improvements at the links aa will be deemed necessary by the trustees of the club. The plans for the proposed new club house are now being drawn and will be submitted to the officials at a meeting II f t , 1 Jt II I - -l C : i . : 1 I . " ; I ,vr?-- 'p.m. 774A' 777-Z5 ZP&yBtVZ: similarly afflicted, ao his case is n exception. some time this month. According to present plans the new clubhouse will be capable of accommodating the entire membership and invited guests at the numerous social functions conducted By the golfers during the year. Last year was especially notable for these social gatherings, and on such occasions the members found them selves handicapped by lack of commo dious enough quarters at the present clubhouse to entertain as extensively as they would have liked. With a new clubhouse the club officials will feel amply able to plan aocial functions on a larger scale and be able to accommo date all easily. The Waverly Golf Club is fortunate in numbering among its membership several high-class golfers, who have distinguished themselves upon many links on the Pacific Coast. At present the club possesses a splendid golfing course, and this is one of the attrac tions the members boast of with pride. Another feature Is that the course lies along the banks of the Willamette Kiver, and its scenic environments are unsurpassed. I Annually It is customary for the golf ers to open the new year with a tour nament, and today will be no exception to the rule, for a suitable programme haa been prepared and some fine games are expected. One of the innovations scheduled for today will be a match played between rival teams of 12 men each, and cap tained respectively by G. Voorhies and Major J. J. Morrow. The teams com prise the following players: Voorhies Summing up all of the champions, the one man, who ushered In 1910 wearing the belt, to wind up the year still holding his title, is Abe Attell. of California, featherweight champion. Attell has shown himself to be a real champion, for he has met all comers and has been victor In every battle. Atte"Il has not fought on the Pacific Coast, for all of his encounters in the squared circle have been fought either East or South. Several Bantum Claimants. The midget division, or bantam weight clas, has several rival claim ants for tha title, whp, have not met in the arena. Johnny Coulon, of Chi cago, and Frankle Conley. of Kenosha, Wis-, both claim the championship, yet they have not met in the arena, and both have claimed the title for from ten months in the case of Conley, to nearly 18 months In the case of Coulon. The division of the purse between the rival champins has been the principal contention, and this is another division in .which 'high finance" figures more strongly than does the anxiety to de fend the title. (captain), Macleay, Young, Wright, Koehler, Minor, Alexander, Thomas Kerr, A. Kerr, R. Wilder, Buell and Dougherty: Morrow (captain), Zan, Murphy, Bennett, Llnthicum, Hugglns, Smith, Sample, Mackay, .Wheeler Hon eyman and Grelle. This contest will be for IS holes, scratch, match play, with one point to the winner of each nine holes and one point for the gen eral result. Besides the team play today and other special matches, the golfers will also meet tomorrow in a series of spe cial matches, for which suitable prizes have been offered by the club. Professor Ridicules Football. SALT LAKE, Utah.- Dec. 31. "College athletics are one of the most ridiculous and ludicrous ingredients of modern education," Is what Dr. John M. Tyler, professor of biology at Amherst Col lege, told the Utah State Teachers' As sociation here yesterday. "Why 22 foot ball players should engage in mortal combat, with 2000 other men on the side lines yelling themselves hoarse at the performance, is a question I have never been able to solve." said the doc tor. The 22 men, he added, do not need the exercise and most of the 2000 specta tors do. "Athletics for the boy in high school," he said, "should not be too se vere. The heart at the time the boy is in high school is yet weak, and the tissues are not tough. Every commander dreads to take with him into the field of battle boys of 18 to 20 years. They die off like flies." Trip of Boston Americans Clenr Across Continent for Spring Training Arouses" Interest of Ball Fans. BT HARRY B. SMITH. 9 AN FRANCISCO, Dec. 31. (Special.) The forerunner of the anti-boxing bills that it is expected will be Introduced at the coming session of the California Legislature has appeared. The newly drafted bill has been prepared by an Oakland aesomblyman nnmed Rogers, who Is a District Attorney's assistant In Alameda County. If Rogers has his way. there will be no more prize fl.ehtins and the sparring exhibitions allowed will he about as deadly as tennia matches. Rogers wants to stop the gamo and the only thing that he would allow would be sparring bouts of not more than six three-minute rounds, with elpht-ounce pillow? for the boxers. In addition, he provides In hits bill that If either of thn boxers shows any dis position to do bodily injury the affair ceases to be sparring and becomes a prize fight. In short, it would he hard to tell just how far the men in the ring might be allowed to proceed. Promoters May Compromise. It is expected that there will be a score of anti-boxing hills. The promoters ad mit thi3 and declare that they would not be surprised to see sorao measure passed. As "a matt-sr of fact, it will occasion no surprise if the promoters Ret together on a sort of compromise bill that will permit matcl'es say of 1.". rounds' duration with decisions at the cloeo. It has been pointed out that tilts would not be a bad scheme and at least would savo the game in part for two years more. There is little question that there will be some restrictions on boxing an permitted under the present tight law in California. The news of the defeat in Australia of Billy Papke has occasioned some sur prise although of courso. we know little of the worth of the man who beat tho American. You will remember, perhaps., that in a recent batch uf newn from Au stralia, it was said that Papke waa suf fering from vellow jaundice. Perhaps l.e tried to get into the ring before he was really in shape, but tho chances are that he haa sen his bet days. . When Papke lirst fought Ketchel in San Francisco, he was a great tighter, barring, of course, the yellow streak from which b? has- always suffered. Since that time, however, he has gone hack until he could be considered little more than an ordinary tighter. Unless Papke can wipe out this deafeat he will hi ve mighty littl- chance to lay claim to the middleweight title. a he has been doing. Icing's Yirtory Xo Surprise. On the other hand, the way that Bill ling beat Jack Burns, the California heavyweight, in London, was not a sur prise Burns never had anything to -v ..,. av. He is a big cTap: with absolutel'y no speed. Somebody referred to him the other day as being al slow as molasses, and that hits him off about right. All the me, Lang la entitled to "credit for stopping Burns, something that a lot of second-rate pugi lists in this country have been unabU t0Lew Powell Is on his way home from New 'ork. after a disastrous f'" campaign In the East. Powe 1 dldnl get many matches, and even in thoM bouts the Eastern newspaper tecMon have not all been for him. Fia nciallj, his trip was a decided frost. In a re cent match with Young Otto. Powe! drew down the munificent sum of for his end and in the bout where he lost the decision to Jack Goodman. th Ca.lfornians bit was a little snore thv.ntuallr. the Western fighter, who think that there is a rt" awaiting them in the East ''ill dis cover that there is more to be made In San Francisco, if they can but get the chance. Of course. If they can w in in the East, it will enhance their repu tations but that is all it amounts to. Baseball Gossip Kenewcd. The arrival In San Francisco of Tip O'Neill, who in addition to being presi dent of the Western League is the ad vance man for the Boston Americans, who will train on the Coast next Spring, has started baseball gossip. O'Neill, who will remain here until February, is authorized to make con tracts for training camps for the tw squads and also will orrans da5.'" whatever exhibition games are PlaVf- The Red Sox will leave home on Feb ruary 18 and reach sunny California on the 23d. Ttey will not start play ing games at once, but will have a sofid week of training and drilling to get them into shape. One of these training camps is to be located outside of Los Angeles and the other somewhere In the San Joaquin Valley, where the boys can be assured of good weather. The exhibition games will start the first Friday in March. Five days a week will be given over to Playing Oakland and San Francisco In tha North and Los Angeles and Vernon in the South. The early part of the week there will be scheduled games with outside club, and interior cities Port land will get the games that it desires, after Walter McCredie has made up his mind where he will train, and so will Sacramento. Games to Iast Througu March. The whole month of March will be given over to these games, at the end of which time the Coast Leaders will be readv for the opening of their own season and the Red Sox will have to start for home. As the longest Spring training trip ever taken by a baseball team, the Journey will be watched by people all over the country with deep Interest. Danny Long left this week for the San Joaquin Valley to pick out a training spot for the Seals, who will start work on February 20. Long haa several towns that he wants to look over before making his choice and he will not announce his decision before he returns to San Francisco in about XTelegram has been received by the Oakland Baseball Club from Harry Wolverton at Philadelphia, announc ing that he has secured another hlgli class twirier in the person of Knight, who for the past three years has been one of the star twirlers of the New York State League. The deal was ef fected through the Philadelphia Na tionals, who drafted Knight from Al bany last Fall. In exenange for Knight Wolverton has turned Outfielder Car roll over to the Phillies.