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Show czla Naughfofl's Opinion of flie Big Fighters (By W. W. Naunhton ) . San FranclHco, Jan. 15. The clamor clam-or for a Jim Jeffries-Johnson fight growing. Pretty uoon the howl of the hungry fight fans will be as tho tnarllng of a famished wolf pack or the growl of angry waves on a rock-bottom rock-bottom coast. Nor will Jeffries' appearanco before be-fore the footlights allay the tumult. On the contrary it would have a disturbing dis-turbing effect on tho dissatisfied public pub-lic mind. The gallery gods will twit Jeff; the holders of reserved seats will irltlclse him just as thoroughly hough less noisily. And how will it all end? Some of the oldtlmers think that before Wig -a am Week, even, has passed, Jeff will fall to withstand tho pressure; that le will cry out, "I've had enough of (his. Bring on your Johnson and 1 will fight him at twenty-four hours' notice." That an undercurrent of belief to ihe effect that Jeff will fight Johnson again exists Is very evident In the assumption that such a match is inevitable in-evitable some of the sports are already al-ready asking why the Austriallaus thould bccure 6uch a high class attraction, attrac-tion, If Jeff electrifies the world 01 sport with the bare announcement that he is ready to meet Johnson and leaves the match open to bidders It joes without saying that some of the ylldest schemes imaginable will be propounded to tho retired champion. There will bo many offers from reput-tMo reput-tMo concerns in the United States as ell, and it will be for Jeff to attempt iho task of separating tho wheat from tbo tares. Jeffries Could Have Beaten Negro. A question that is frequently put is tow would Jeff havo compared with a man of Johnson's known, cleverness when Jeff was champion? The answer an-swer to this is that Johnson would 'have lasted but a short time in front of Bomo of the men Jeff has beaten. Johnson would have made no better showing with Fltzslmmons than Peter Pet-er Maher did, and in the writer's opinion opin-ion Jim Corbett, in his good years, would havo found Johnson an easy mark. Nearly tho last act of Jeffries' official of-ficial career as world's champion was to outbox Jim Corbett, who, in the opinion of many, was the cleverest big man the world has known. In the case of Jeff and Johnson it isn't a matter mat-ter of a lumbering white man being sent against a talented negro. Tho enly question is can Jeff take up the game where he left off and perform as well. ' It is very ewdent that so far a3 public opinion is concerned Stanley Ketchel has started off on tho wrong foot In tho hope of diverting attention atten-tion from a Langford-Ketchel match he has Issued a flamboyant challenge to Jack Johnson, and he seems to havo been caught in tho act. As Ketchel Ket-chel is reserved to a fault, and usual ly becomes tongue-tied when anyono talks fight to him, the- chances are he is simply ill-advised In the present instance. in-stance. But whether he is following the dictates of some master mind or not it can scarcely bo claimed that of the two evils Johnson and Lang-ford Lang-ford ho has chosen the lesser. Ketchel Too Small. With Langford, Ketchel could be looked to to make some kind of a showing. Indeed, if the two men were on a par in the matter of vulnerability vulnerabil-ity it would be a fairly safe investment invest-ment backing Ketchel to win. With that rangy, talented 200-pounder, Jack Johnson, for an opponent there is doubt in my mind as to whether Ketchel Ket-chel could land an effective punch. It is a foolish proposition, on the face of it, and while it isn't easy, som-timcs, som-timcs, to tell what will hit the popular popu-lar fancy, I doubt whether any considerable con-siderable portion of the fight following follow-ing contingent will cver be persuaded to regard a Johnson-Ketchcl content rcriously. Au acquaintance of the writer suggested sug-gested the other day that the affair might be made spectacular and interesting, inter-esting, if it ever came to a head, by laving Jeffries, Sharkey and Jim Corbett Cor-bett in Ketchel's corner. Maybe if this trio of Queensberry exempts were to act as Ketchel's seconds they could rail at and threaten the "big black" ko while the fight was on that Johnson John-son would wax timid and only half extend himself. Ketchel is in a dilemma all right and maybe it is not too late for him to take the advice Tommy Burns didn't take, and declare, "I am a whlto world's champion, and I draw the color line." While the writer has always held that in the prize ring all races should be equal, there crops up a case ot where a champion is justified in fakirs fak-irs into account tho individual traits of himself and the man he is asked 1o meet. Langford Built For Fighting. Ketchel is a rather fine-llbered fellow, fel-low, with none of the earmarks ot the Ideal prizefighter. He docs not even possess the heavy lower Jaw which is recognized as the guinea stamp of the breed. His features bear a refined look and his face, while it suggests the active athletic temperament, tempera-ment, is rather tho faco of a college footballer than of a pugilist. The secret of successful matchmaking matchmak-ing is to have everything appearing as equal as possible before the men are put to the test It would require quite a stretch of imagination to make Langford and Ketchel appear equally matched. Any sane man, on seeing the pair In a ring would say, "Why, that white boy will need to be twice as good a fighter as the other in or-eler or-eler to- win." Langford may not be able to hit as hard or as true as Ketchel; he may havo neither the courage nor the dexterity, dex-terity, but he has, if looks count for anything, a stock of endurance that is reasonably certain of bringing him home a winner after Ketchel's shifts and swings aro sped. AMENDED COMPLAINT FILED IN COURT An amended complaint was filed vesterday morning in the : case of George A. Torrey et al against the Oregon Short Line Railroad company. The complaint alleges that plaintiff chipped baggage and personal effects over tho' Short Lino from Ogden to St. Anthony, Idaho, and that the name were lost or stolen enroute, whore-fore whore-fore damages aggregating $625 were demanded, together with costs of action. ac-tion. . ' . - |