Evening Star Newspaper, February 11, 1929, Page 27

P 3 Willard’s JESS DAZES ACK INTOLEDO BATILE E Uppercut to Chin Made Him “Pretty Shaky.” This is the only autoblopraphy written by Tes Rickerd. It was prepaerd in solleboration with Bozeman Bulger jor | publication exclusively for The Star and the North American Newspager Alliance, Shortly before Rickard's death he dis- ed with Bulger plans’ for publication these memoirs in book form. Follow- ing is the thirtieth instaliment of the sutoblography, which is appearing in daily chapters. BY TEX RICKARD. (In Collaboration with Bozeman Bulger.) HAVE a letter from the editor of rominent Western newspaper asl me to explain in these memoirs what, in my opinion, ac- counted for the famous Shelby fight between Dempsey and Gibbons being a financial failure, while that at Goldfield, also a small place, was a big success. Often T have been asked that. As a matter of fact there was no similarity between the events. The failure was no reflection on the town of Shelby. Nobody could have made that fight a financial success under the eircumstances. To begin with the promoters did not select the right attraction, one that Punch Harde -Champion Tells Rickard | ot VN THE LINE That Millrose Meet. AAVO NURMI, the bald-headed Phanton of Finland, took his dogs for an airing once too often. For the first time indoors he saw a Wwhite wraith fiit by him at the Millrose meet at Madison Square Garden last Saturday night and the aging dogs would not obey his will. For an instant there was the trace of an expression—almost a symptom of emotion—on the wooden face of the Finn as Ray Conger flitted by and swept across the finish line ahead of him. The Finnish ex-phantom was beaten only once before here in an outdoor race. Immediately afterward it was found that he had partaken too freely of veal pot-pie. He had to quit in the middle of a race, just as Babe Ruth was forced to quit in the middle of a training season after piling a double’order of sirloin with French fried potatoes on top of a light snack consisting of three dozen frankfurters, 18 ice cream cones and half a dozen bottles of ginger ale. But the Finn's troubles at the Millrose games were not of a dietary nature. The old dogs had lost their spring and vivacity, perhaps only temporarily, and | Conger went by him like a ghost. is no beautiful picture. whose venerable dogs never show signs phantom illusion disappears. or something of the sort, if urmi, people throughout the country were | Nurmi. eager to see. Evidently the officials of the American Legion as well as the townspeople figured on the drawing ability of Dempsey without regard to his opponent. At that particular mo- ment Gibbons was not in the limelight. To illustrate—the thousands who went to the Carpentier-Dempsey battle were just as eager to see Carpentier as Dempsey. The psychology of the Shel- by affair was wrong. It is not fair to the Shelby people to compare their match with the Gans- Nelson fight at Goldfield. Their fight had to be 10 times as good to get an even break. ,_Those who have made fun of the Bhelby scrap apparently did not con- sider the purse. The promoters of the Selby event offered $300,000, as inst $30,000 at Goldfield. The $270,000 makes quite a difference. The pro- moters showed more gameness than Judgment. Never Figured as Success. In brief, the Shelby people didn't Bave a good card, the town didn’t have enough population and the promoters offered entirely too much money. It did not figure to be a success from the start, Another thing: We staged the Gans- Nelson fight primarily to attract atten- tion to the town of Goldfield. I thought we had overstepped the bound in offer- ing $30000. Now these people on making some money, as well as get- ting publicity. They offered $300,000. The answer should be obvious. Always I have thought the criticism of Jack Kearns in insisting on the terms of the contract being carried out a little unfair. Kearns did not seek this fight. He acted for Dempsey in signing the contract. Naturally, he felt it his duty to act for Dempsex. in seeing that all were. n;e& T‘%It‘ fight, how- evep, was none of'my affair, ‘become Being very inexpert about matters he would be in condition. had been in condition? EW classification rules will be enacted to favor the rank and file of bowlers in the approach- ing Washington City Duckpin Association tournament, which will open April 15 at the Coliseum, ac- cording to members of the committee appointed at yesterday's annual session to revise the constitution and by-laws. Earl Stocking, Lonnie Krauss and Ar- ville L. Ebersole comprise the committee appointed yesterday by President Harry Z. Green, that is to set the boundaries for the various classifications. The most important change planned would raise the limit of class A to include in- dividuals and teams having ages. The remaini would be subdivided to ocre performers. An early announcement is expected benefit the medi- Perhaps it does not me to discuss it ‘asked me to give my candid opinion re- garding the toughest fight Jack Demp- ever had among his early title bat- Only one man answer this ques- #on -nr.hmhuul?—nam Dempsey. The champion answers it for me cluding myself, thought the big fellow was ‘gone_and that it was merely a question of flattening himr with & punch or two in the second round. “In my eagerness to put over a knock- out I rushed at Willard wide open in the second round. Willard was desper- ate. He put everything he had on a right uppercut that caught me flush on the chin. I thought somebody had ‘walloped me with a policeman’s club. I saw a million lights and then every- thing went dark. It was only for an instant. I felt pretty shaky for a min- ute, but my head soon cleared and I was all right before the round ended. Jf Willard could have followed up his advantage with another punch like that while T was shaky he might have won that fight. “A funny thing about that punch is that Jack Kearns and the other s=conds in my corner didn't the punch had hurt me. I don't think anybody else at the ringside saw the effeet of that uppercut. I know, though. Wil- lard. has big, heavy arms and they felt like Jogs when they dropped on you. He was a better fighter than he gener- ally got credit for being. llard was Wil very active for a big fellow. He boxed | Le well and was a straight and accurate puncher. Nobody knows better than me what terrific power he packed in those b}ows. of our fight in Jersey City. He tipped my head back with a couple of rights, and T knew I had been hit all right—make no mistake about that—but I wasn’t really groggy. They didn't even make; me hesitate. I was able to keep right | on boring in, trying to put over a fin- 3 ishing punch.” E “What about Miske?” Dempsey was v asked. Miske Troublesome. “Say,” he replied, smiling, “do you know that Billy Miske gave me plenty of trouble in our first fight in St. Paul back in 19187 Miske was at his best then, having beaten Fred Fulton, Jack Dillon, Carl Morris, Gunboat Smith, Harry Greb, Kid Norfolk and Battling | Douglas No. 53 Levinsky. Most of my fighting up to'Gorsuch that time had been with second and third raters. “I wasn't the finished fighter. that Miske was. Billy was aggressive, and he swarmed over me like a flock of bees in the early rounds. Luckily for me he wasn't a knockout puncher, but | & his blows cut and bruised. He certainly could take it. I socked him on the chin with. everything I had in the third and seventh roands, but he shook it off and came back at me like a tiger. “A fellow named Jack Downey, from the Pacific Coast, also gave me plenty of f during my early career as a fighter. We fought three times. He got the decision over me in two of these brlutr%el, but I knocked him in the In another chapter I will tell of an- Sther blow—one that Dempsey will long, remember. I must reserve it, though, ;orh!',ny discussion of the famous Firpo ght. (Copyright, 1929. by North American News- baper Alliance.) (Next—Firpo.) TULANE RETAINS BIERMAN. | NEW ORLEANS, February 11 (A — | Bernie Bierman has signed a three- year contract to continue as head coach at Tulane University. Blerman for two years in the Spring of 1927, T know because I stopped some | I L Ci “Carpentier didn’t have me in any serlous trouble in the second round of | &, ed of Phoeni: the re-classification committee. M speculation has what limitations should be placed on the various classes. It is assured that Te ven to raising the A limit to 110 and better, but it is not likely that such a large step will be taken this year. President Greer, Secretary Ebersole and Treasurer Wesley Miltner were re- elected to office yesterday and Perce Ellett, efficlent secretary and scorer of I would suggest that they call him the loup-garou. Canadian habitants will tell you just what the loup-: I cannot look that fast. Once in the woods of Northern Quebec a half-breed guide crossed himself and said “The loup-garou.” looked it was gone—if it ever had been there. Regardless of what the experts have written, it is my notion that the stride and the form of Nurmi are decidedly unbeautiful. in action suggests the jerkiness of a Western jack-rabbit running in ad- vance of a hungry coyote. The stride is effective, as the records of the ex-phantom indicate, but there is no grace to it. At that, the game does not call for grace; consequently, this criticism is rather idle. It was Conger who looked like the champion that night, with his rhythmic and graceful stride, running as smoothly as an antelope with an open prairie before him. It got to look like a race between an antelope and a weather- beaten jack-rabbit in the last few laps—and a wearied and spent jack-rabbit His motion Paavo Nurmi on many occasions has made much better time than that made by the man who beat him over the boards at Madison Square Garden. He has run close behind the cld gentleman with the scythe and hour glass, of slowing up, but at these games the Finn was no phantom. When the dogs start clattering along the boards the ‘The boys will have to find a name for Percy Williams, the Canadian, who ‘won two sprints in the Olympics. They might call him the phantom of the North, the phantom thing has not been copyrighted by ‘The French u is. I never saw ‘When I pertaining to foot racing, it seemed to me that the impressive thing about the Millrose meet was the performance of Edvin Wide, the Swede, in the two-mile race. built like a distance runner, with a bellows for a chest and legs of a greyhound. ‘What pariicularly impressed this inexpert was the condition of Wide. Only a few weeks ago I read in articles by experts, including our own, that the A. A. U. was averse to having Wide run in this meet because they did not believe In the last lap of the two-mile race Wide sprinted as though starting the first lap of a quarter mile, and at the finish he was within 20 yards of lapping the second runmer. His form seemed perfecc. He is ‘What could he have done if he New Classifications Likely For W.C.D.A.Bowling Tourney Odd Fellows’ League, was named vice president to succeed Joseph B. Yerkes of Bankers' League. ‘Thirty-two duckpin circuits were rep- resented at the annual gathering. Med- als were awarded the 10 ranking man bowlers of 1927-28 and winners in the Howard Campbell sweepstakes received their respective shares of the purse. Many league bowlers are still unfa. miliar with the foul line rule it was pointed out yesterday by members and officials of the Washington City Duck- pin Association. Many of the smaller and newer leagues have failed to adopt a foul line rule and some of the older loops fail to enforce such a regulation. A resolution was adopted ur, each league to adopt and enforce a foul-line ruling. It is just as casy to adopt a bowling style that will permit a bowler to 'stay behind the biack stripe, associa- tion officials pointed out, as it is'to get in the habit of passing the mark. The sooner a bowler gets the habit of keep- ing back of the foul stripe the better, it was called to the atfention of new leagues. A continuance of the three-year agreement for rotating the annual W. C. D. A. t was assured for the next three years. The Blick, Davis and Carroll establishments will be visited on successive years after the 1929 event is staged at Coliseum. Over 12,000 Bowlers to Roll InA.B.C. Tenpin By the Associated Press. HICAGO, February 11.—More than 12,000 pin smashers from 175 cities, towns and villages will seek a slice of the $105,000 prize _melon at the annual American Bowling Congress tournament here next month, Secretary A. L. Lang- try of the A. B. C., has announced. Chicago naturally made the largest entry with 1,263 teams, while Detroit, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Cleveland and Tournament Buffalo supplied the largest number from out of town. The South will send its Jargest repre- sentation to the tournament this year, Langtry said. A final check-up on singles entries has not been completed, but Langtry estimated 12,520 bowlers in all have registered. Work has already started on the in- stallation of 32 new alleys at Dexter Pavt::an. where the tourney will be staged. With the Bowlers TYPOTHETAE LEAGUE. Team Standing. segd Fellowship Forum. . National Capital Press. ludd & Detweiler Washington Typog: Kot B ational ishing Co. Potomac Elect: Boss & Pheipy District Title Vardman N ardman Sansbury Hedges & Cafritz Co. Columbia Ti McKeever & Goss. EAST WASHINGTON CHURCH LEAGUE. Team Standing. | Douslas N Keller | Ninth No. | Ini | First Brethren Ingram No. 2 Second Baptisi. High individu High individui High individual set—Hughes, High individual spares—Price, 123. gHieh faividusl strikes—Cady and Lilley, High team game—Douglas No. 1, 611 High team set—Douglas No. 1, 1,678, BASS AND 0'DOWD FIGHT. CHICAGO, February 11 (#).—Benny Bass of Philadelphia carries on his campaign to regelrr‘: his featherweight title tonight W) he tangles with Eddie O’'Dowd of Columbus, Ohio, the outstanding 10-round bout of the week here. GRANTHAM GOLF VICTIM. m};ufmxx, “Qflz.' Plbmml ). — ph Pugmire, Ogden, young- ster, won the annual invitational :5( uiu;mmg';h or‘the Phoenlxucmlnm Club yester rom George Grantham X 2. Grantham is first x, 3 and of 'the Pitalggh Nationals baseman 00 | William Burke, New York, HORTON SMITH'S 274 WINS GOLF TOURNEY By the Associated Press. PENSACOLA, Fla., Februs 11— Horton Smith, 21-year-old JD';I{II. 0., g:oleulnnll, wdady v:n:htn at least tem- rary command of e gol arm; :zurlnx :ehz. Bolllth gg virtue o%ngh Vi 4 ry yesterday in the greater Pensac mith clic off a 274, 10 “stre under par, for the 72 holes and alll‘:: strokes better than the score of “Wild Bill” Mehlhorn, next in line. In third place came Gene Sarazen, New York, with 282, and Henry Cotton, British pro, was fourth, with 283. Bobby Cruick- shank, Al Espinosa and Tommy Armour ‘were in the next section, with 284s, Only three others scored in the 280 class. They are Densmore Shute, Co- lumbus, Ohlo, 285; Ed Dudley, 287; 288. Espinosa and Cruickshank expect lfimre s:l{l,dt“ g)r: ]Ne: York, :lherehtdh:g for England to e - yeorly nter the Brit - INDIANS FARM GILL. KANSAS CITY, February 11 (f).— 04 | John Gill, Cleveland outfielder, is be- ing sent here on option by the India; officlals of the Kansas City club of tl;x‘e' Almarclcm Association announced to- night. GET 1930 GOLF DATE. LONDON, February 11 (#)—' championship committee of the Ro-‘;: and Ancient Golf Club announced today that the British amateur golf cham- plonship for 1930 will be played at St. Andrews and the open championship l‘:‘k e'.he Royal Liverpool course at -Hoy- TROUSERS To Match Your Odd Coats Vienna Hat Co. 435 11¢h *Street THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D st, Says Dempsey : Tilden Holds Record for Net Rankzng M FENCE TO INCLOSE DIAMOND AT TANPA Improvements Will Be Com- pleted in Time for First Game March 10. Saecial Dispatch to The Star. ‘TAMPA, Fla, February 11.—Home runs in training season games played by the Washington ball club at Plant Field will have to be bona fide, healthy wallops this year. This fact was estab- lished here today when decision was made not only to lay out the diamond in the orthodox fashion, directly in front of the grandstand, but to build a regula- tion big league fence all around the ball field inclosure. Heretofore the only fence inclosing the playing fleld has been the railing which divided the race track from the fair grounds infield. It took a mighty wallop to clear this fence, but a ground ball eluding an outfielder 1'1;; lfirge stretches of territory in which roll. Decision both as to the layout of the playing field and erection of the fences ‘was made by J. L. Cone, ident of the Tampa ball club, and William L. Cobb, vice president. It was readily agreed to by Clark Griffith on: behalf of the Wash- ington club. Present in addition to these men at the conference, held in the fair grounds, were Mike Martin, trainer, and Ed Eynon, secretary of the Wash- ington club. Tentative plans for the new layout of the ball field previously had been presented to those interested in the Nationals and their training fleld, but the fact that a fence was to be placed around the inclosure came as a sur- prise to the Washington club officials. Batsmen Are Considered. President Griffith was especially pleased when informed that the center- field fence, directly on a line from the home plate, will be painted dark green, without any advertising, affording a fine background for the batters. The balance of the fence will have adver- tising matter the same as in the other ball parks. From home plate to the fence in center the distance will be 380 feet, while the distance from the plate along the foul line to the left and right fleld fences will be 350 feet. Work on the construction of these fences and the bullding of the new dia- mond started this morning. In addition to Emil Haisman, groundkee, of the Washington club, and Trainer Mike Martin, employes of the city of Tam will assist in the work incident to the building of the new playing field, while the Tampa club will have charge of the construction of the fences. Work will be rushed to completion in time for the use of the fleld by the first squad, and when the date for the first game is reached, March 10, the Washington club will have at its disposal one of the nicest training ball fields in the South. D. C. NETMEN SCORE, TIE FOR LOOP LEAD BALTIMORE, Md., February 11.— ‘Washington’s entry in the Intercity In- door Tennis League is tied with Clifton Park racketers for first honors as the result of a decisive win over the local racquet club team in Fifth Regiment Armory yesterday. The two leaders are to meet next Sunday in what promises to be the de- ciding match of the champlonship series so far as first place is concerned. Racquet Club contestants did not win a single match. Two were dropped by default and another was unfinished. Results: SINGLES, 3 63 hanan vs. Hobbs, unfinished: , Buc 5 (W.) defeated Duvall (R. C.). 6—3, &T's"fimnm.yw,y defeated Hinés (R. C.), 2—6, 6—1, 6— DOUBLES. s hore defeated Capt. Hills e 305, 0T, 63 “Bnepard and ikcom dateaced Skreniney and Hines on_defeate K G4, {o—::‘, 'Mitchell and Buchansn won by de- ault. TWO GAMES ARRANGED BY BENJAMIN FRANKLIN Benjamin Franklin’s basket ball quint, in addition to its game with Hy- attsville High tomorrow night, has an- other match this week, being listed to engage Columbus University team Fri- day night. Lester Singman, former Business High star, is the latest addition to the Ac- countants’ line-up. FEBRUARY 11, 19293 SETS WORLD MARK AS SYEAR LEADER Big Bl Stil Is Great at Tennis Despite Loss of Title to Frenchman. BY ALAN J. GOULD, Assaciated Press Sports Editor. EW YORK, February 11.—It will be a long time, at Jeast a decade, before any tennis player can hope to match the ranking record of William Tatem Til- den, 2d. Reinstated just in time to gain the No. 1 position on the American list for the ninth consecutive year, Tilden not only established a new national mark, but a world record as well. Tennis has produced a long list of stars from Sears and Renshaw, down through Lawford, the Dohertys, Brookes, Wilding, Larned, McLoughlin and other forerunners of the modern generation, but none can match this mark of Big Bill's. Larned topped the United States list eight times altogether, but they were not con- secutive. Tilden has scen such stars as Little Bill Johnston, Dick Williams and Nor- man Brookes fade while he remained at the top of the American list. The tall Philadelphian has watched his oft- held American singles title go to France three years in a row, along with the Davis Cup. He has passed from one stormy episode to another, tried the stage, the movies and the typewriter, with somewhat disastrous results, but since 1920 no one has come along to usurp his place as the No. 1 man at home, even though some of the former luster is lacking. Rene Lacoste, the solemn young Frenchman, started a winning streak when he succeeded to Tilden's American singles title in 1926, but he allowed this crown to pass to the hands of his coun- tryman, Henri Cochet, without defense last year. These two are so well matched that neither appears able to gain and hold the top for any great length of time, or establish such an individual supremacy as Tilden did over his main rival of other days—Johnston. But the two young Frenchmen, com- bined in team play, may outdo the great record of Tilden and Johnston, who were the main factors in seven successive Davis cup victories for the United States from 1920 to 1926. Cochet and Lacoste wrested this trophy from the United States in 1927, successfully defended it last Summer in Paris with the loss of only one match, and look invincible for some time to come. Lacoste is only 24 this year and Co- chet only 28, a year older than Tilden was when Big Bill first won the Ameri- can championship. Helen Wills, who will be 24 this year, now has headed the American women'’s ranking five times in six years, and gained undisputed recognition as the world champion for two straight years. She has three more years to go before equaling the mark of Mrs. Molla Bjur- stedt Mallory, who was No. i on the American list eight times, including the war year of 1927, when no official rank- ing was issued. The California girl did not lose even a set in women’s competition last year and there seems to be no menacing op- position in her path for 1929. ‘Whether his sensational streak of golf on the Winter route from California to Florida heralds his lfib\‘o‘ch to national title honors, “Wild Bill” Mehlhorn never will have a better chance to become American open king than he did over Oakmont’s terrifying terrain in 1927. ‘Wild Bill, after being apparently out of the running, kad one of the wildest of his wild sprees at the start of his fourth and last round. He came to the turn in 32, five under par on a course whose terrors were too much for Bobby Jones, Walter Hagen and a_ flock of other stars. Out of a clear sky, Mehlhorn was back in the running with a chance | p; to win. He needed only a 36, one over par, on the last nine to beat 301, the mark at which Harry Cooper and Tommy Armour tied. But as suddenly as it had begun, Mehlhorn's streak ended. He took a disastrous 7 on the 621-yard twelfth hole and quickly passed from the picture, finishing with 304. ‘The difference so far this year is that Mehlhorn is making a habit, rather than an exception, of such outbursts. SKI RECORD SMASHED. GREENFIELD, Mass, February 11 |& 27, JAPANESE CUEIST IN'BIG TEST TODAY Win Over Cochran May Mean 18.2 Billiard Title for Matsuyama. By the Assaciated Press. EW YORK, February 11.—Kin- rey Matsuyama, the “mighty atom” of billiards, reaches a crisis in his bid for the world 18.2 balk-line crown tonight. He faces Welker Cochran of Holly- wood, a former champlon, in the twelfth match of the round robin tournament at the Level Club. Despite the fact that Matsuyama, & “dark horse” if there ever was one, tops the field with three straight victories, Cochran, a dangerous and game player ‘5“!“‘: pinch, is the favorite at odds of 0 4. These two, with young Jake Schaefer, alone are in the running for the title now held by Edouard Horemans of Bel- gium. Horemans, Eric Hagenlacher of Germany and Felix Grange of France, all have fallen by the wayside. If Matsuyama can down Cochran and follow through with another victory over Schaefer the title will be his without dispute. If he loses one or the other of two remaining matches he still is assured of a tie no matter what Schaefer and Cochran accomplisi. If the little Japanese loses both of his mabtecdhes he will automatically be elimi- nal 5 Only the Cochran-Matsuyama match is to be played today and on the result hinges the schedule for the remainder of the tournament. ‘The standing: (#)—A new record for a long stand-|=—— ing ski jump was established here when Strand Mikkelson of the Green- field Outing Club leaped 152 feet. Lars ;{:ugen held the former record of 138 eet. Harrison radiators and cores in stock ts, 1809 14th North 7177 12 Bloek Below Ave. “To reduce coughing during the second act Old Golds will be furnished during Intermission doubles and |. 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