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Show Boxers Much More Valuable at the Front Than Here in America Little Johnny Schif f, Former California Featherweight Feather-weight Champion, Condemns Common Practice Prac-tice of Ring Artists' Enlisting in Shipyards and Naval Reserves. By T. S. ANDREWS. Special to The Tribune. MILWAUKEE, Wis., Oct. 5. Little Johnny Schii'f, the former for-mer California featherweight star, who served for a year and a half with the Canadian and then the American army in Prance until he was invalided home, is back with the Yankees Yan-kees at the front this time with the ambulance corps in Italy. Johnny has taken part in over 150 battles in the rinp, but he says this is the longest srap he ever pot into and he is going to stay until the finish. Writing from the front in Italy. Johnny gives the following interesting dope: "Just received your news of the Ful-tou-Dempsey r'iht, and it was like getting get-ting a Christinas present, even if Frederick Fred-erick did lose in such short order. Gee, the gang just ate up the news. "My section here has been phot to pieces owing to military activities, 1ut ;i few of us are still together of section 6 JO. "Ve expect to be assigned lo another an-other section. Two of the ambulance boys had 'taps' sounded for the last time the pat week. The Italians gave them a wonderful military funeral, and they were laid to ret in one of the most famous cemeteries in Italy. "Just heard from some of the boys here that Mike O'Dowd is in France. He is a real boxer. Do you remember Steve Ketchel, the Chicago lightweight, who used to right around Chicago and Milwaukee? Well, he is in France with a base hospital unit and has been given sergeant first class stripes.- whi.ii is great for Steve. Our boys h iv ' .n doing wonderful work lure aau in France, and every time t lie Italians see them they howl themselves hoarse with 4 Hurrah for the Americans! ' I often wish to be back in the good old states, but could not face my friends until my bit has been done in helping to lick the kaiser. "Why do so many of thi boxers join the ' Slackers ' Retreat ' or the naval reserves? Many of the French and British boxers are serving at the front and a number of Yanks like Mike O 'Dowd, but the boys here are sure sore at many of them who are seeking sate spots in the shipyards and other places at home. While many of the boxers are making a good name for the padded mitt game, they could do still more for the sport if they were over here doing their bit. 1 ' Just saw some of the aeroplanes passing over to the front lines, and, believe be-lieve me, these boys are doing real work. It is wonderful to see them. Many prisoners have been taken here, aDd those I have talked with seem tickled to death almost to be able to Let something to eat. We expect to have some boxing matches here shortly. The Italians like the game and are very apt pupils. "Well, best to all the boys at home." Jack Should Get Busy. If Jack K earns, manager of Jak Ix-m psey, expected to force Jcs3 Wil-lard, Wil-lard, champion of the world, into a match with his protege by the tirade ?''uintt the chammon in a l'-ttr sent broadcast the pa.st week or so, he has another guess coming. Willard is of that nature that he might bo coaxed into a match but never forced. Kcarns goes to great lengths in his ibtise of Willard regarding the latter's failure to do his duty in giving his srv-icrfi srv-icrfi for war benefits, etc., and, at the arno time, praising the work of Denin-jcy. Denin-jcy. Tf Dempsey were fighting over in he tren'-hes with some nf the other box--rs like Mi ke O 'Dowd, Bombardier Wells, Jem Driscoll, Steve Ketch el and Tiany others, he might bo in a position to Kiy something along thoe lines, -nit. the fact, i-:, Jack is of military age, vn if ho is married; white Willard is v arer 4'J than I lejppsey is !'". and he ja-, a family and has been doing farm .vork, which is considered essential. It is the same old fdorv of "people ivjng in gl.'fSK hoii'-eq should not throw tfn.ft Jark Udls about J. :.-- 's great -r forts at braggi ng about w hat he voold do for tip- government, etc, but 'ne fact is, the champion lias kept, very jifiet; in fact, he vm almost buried un-;il un-;il he was bombarded with offers, ro-jueM.H ro-jueM.H for b( iM-J'it. shov.H and '-hallerigea "mm Dejuj."rv after Mi" latter had p.-atep Fred Fulton in a punch at New-(r:., New-(r:., N. J. Loses Some Popu!;i rify. Willai I could haw made liini-.Ht-popular wrlh th" merica n people :id h" sl.ovn a mor'' libeial d i'-po-d ! ion eL'arding wa r beuet'i I s and (-.nch, but, h I 1 1 ;i de of al-HH'- lieapi-d on him by U :( a a "i.r I-', earn- will g-t nol hing for '1 r. I :t-t and l ttei , from 1 he boys 1 1 t 'ne I ron n'a te v 'TV pin i nK ' ha I i,,-v wo-ild iJ e to :-- the Submarine ' nvcr t her-; ' a nd not. i n t lie rtt u h-:i i. " ay f ron t ho rca I ba 1 1 le.. 'I hi manam of .Ia'k f'mfy arid Willie iteehan are having a hot argument argu-ment as a result of the recent four-round four-round bout in San Francisco, Jack Kearns (advisor for Dempsey) claiming claim-ing that it was a shame to give Mee-han Mee-han the verdict, etc. Willie's manager is just as strong in his claim that the verdict could not have been otherwise. While Dempsev is howling about the verdict Meehan is making a tour of the country as a vaudeville attraction and giving a big share of his earnings to 'the war funds. He has a thirty days' furlough from the naval base at Los Angeles, and when that is over he intends in-tends to try and get permission to fight Dempsey a longer battle. The Cream City A. C. of Milwaukee offered to give the two scrappers 70 per cent of fhe gross for a big match at the Auditorium, at least 20 per cent of that amount to go to the Ked Cross or other war fund. The other 30 per cent would be used in paying expens.es, state tax, etc. One of the bw film companies at Los Angeles has also been trying to arrange ar-range a similar match for the soldiers' fund. Meehan has sent word that he will agree to meet Dempsev as soon as his tour ends if he can get permission from his superior officers. It is a strange coincidence that Dempsey Demp-sey should lose a lot of his glory in as short a time as he won it when he met and defeated Fred Fulton. In the latter fight he became a very much j talked-of boxer by whipping the Rochester Roch-ester giant in just IS seconds, and he lost much prestige when Meehan gained a verdict over him in four short rounds. Dempsey will have to moot Meehan again in a longer fight if he wants to remove the blot from his record. Veterans Teach Boxing. Some of the veteran boxt-ra are petting pet-ting into the limelight now as boxint; Inst In-st rue tors at the military camps. Jack Root, one of the bent-known fighters of two decades ao. haH Just bepn appointed boxing Instructor at an aviation camp in California. Root Ps a Chlcaco product, although hp Is a Bohemian by birih, having come to this country from A nutria when a babe lie nas schooled and raised in Ohici and fuarted his box m i; career in H:j7. He aroso to the top of the li cht heavy -weight division through the clever han-dnn? han-dnn? of Lou Houseman, the manager and j promoter, and claimed the title, whir h he lost to CieorRe Gardner at Kort Krir, Canada, after twelve- rounds of hard battling bat-tling in lrt03. Root fieldom scaled over 150 to 15 pounds, but he met unrre of the beat men In the country at that time and mu'h heavier than himself, ftmoriR them K Id McCoy, Dick O'RHen. Kid Carter, Ian Creedon, Frank Craiff (the colored start, Tommy Ryan, Marvin Hart, Jim Flvnn, Billy .Stiff, Harry Peppera. r;.;orire Myers and Tommy Went. 1 Tis last battle was with Fred Russell at Kalamazoo, Mich., in 1906. After that he went west 'and settled finally in Portland, Ore., where he entered en-tered the moving picture game, meeting with considerable success. Jack had always al-ways been careful of his investments and had the wherewith to do business when the chance came. He has always taken pood care of himself him-self and recently boxed a fast six-round bout with a western lad, Just to show that he could stili travel some. Jack should make an ideal instructor, for he understands the game fmm start to finish, and that is what counts in teaching the soldier boys the art of self-defense. self-defense. And it mipht be stated rlfrht here that there are ma ny veteran fighters who would make better teachers of boxing In i the camps than some of the up-to-date sparrers ; for Instance. such men as Tommy Tracey of Portland, Ore.; Tommy Rvan of Syracuse, N. Y. ; Frank ICrne, Ruffalo; Jack McClelland, Pittsburg; Mystery Billy Smith. Portland: Ray Rron-son. Rron-son. Toledo," Ohio; Ja-k (Twin) Sullivan, Cincinnati : Philadelphia Jack O'Brien, Philadelphia, and others. Retting Gang at Work. According to advices from London, there ?ere several at tempts made to stop the immy Wilde- Joe Conn match on August Au-gust last, presumably by a betting "gang. It developed that numerous wafers i had been made that the proposed f lurht would not be held as ndveri!sed. . The betting gang had been busy pulling wires in all directions and siK' erdcd in ujertlnc the boxing heard of control to Intrfre two days before the match, but this trouble trou-ble was smoothed over. As a last resort the gan? played another card that of having the military initiiori-ties initiiori-ties interfere. Wild being a soldier hut a ffain they were beaten, t hough at a b!g loss to Wilde. It was stipulated that no money prize could be accepted by Jimmv and he agreed to it in order that ho might po through with the match. Now all the sporting papers and manv Influential men interested in sport want j to know why thn hoard a'-ted as it did j and what It incitis for the future. It has s'irred up a hornet's nest and someone Is liable to gt into S'-rious trouble as a result. Jimmy Wilde has decided that, under these conditions, he will retire from arrive boxing for t he duration of t he wh r. The action of the betttne fran In the Wilde n.a.t'"h rt"-al!s something that happened hap-pened In Milwaukee during the Tib-hie M It'' hell - Ren ny Leon aril roniHt over a venr-Bn'o. T:ire was a big advance reservation res-ervation for t:i best s-ats In the houe and ciUim.'i tea were in i l.i that the receipts re-ceipts would run over .".,00. Then j ;pt before the fitrht came a bunli of coin in the betting plf'-B that the. receipt would not rea-h J"".''"). Ktil! all the best seats bid he.n r ."red and front rows wrre ho'd at a premium. However, How-ever, when It fHm time for taking up the re --ervat ior: the parties ordering them disappeared. 1 1 wan too la t e then to advert is tVe matter and the result was a greatly reduced re-duced gv.e. for Instead of J.'::..i"nt It w ,n under JlT.'-'n, and the betters who worked the scheme made thir hir. H hurt the houe and the boiorn got Irs, but that made no difference the gang got thelm. |