OCR Text |
Show START RUMORS TO mm ODDS (IU- C. E. Van Loan.) New York, May I'l. The day of the pugilistic roorback has arrived or.ee more. It's nn easy thing to start a private line of In6lde Information about any man In whom the public Is Interested. Now, for instance, let us suppose, that Jones tells Smith that he has heard from Rowardennan that Jeffs left arm is stiff. Smith tells Brown that Jeff's left arm Is sore ns a boil nnd not fit to bo used. Hrown tells Green that he understands thnt they may have to postpone the big fight because Jeff is in such a horrible condition that It would be murder in send him Into the ring. And It you don't watch Green he will have Jeff dead and burled before night. Tho funny thlug about It Is that a who!-lot who!-lot of people who ought to know better bet-ter will receive this guff with open mouths and pass it along, f0 per cent stronger than they got It. Almost any story gathers something In tlu telling Three good men handy at r-mbndderlng alleged facts can take the most Innocent circumstance and magnify It Into a national calamity. There are some folks who lie for fun, some wbo lie for money, and oihers lie because they want to affect af-fect the betting. Plenty of men have made juicy prices for themselves bv a little Judicious use nt conversation. Philadelphia Jack O'Brien once turned turn-ed as nent a trick In this lin a- may be found In rinj? history, and he did It single-handed and alone. All he did was to pass on a little talk to a m3ti whom be felt would "lea',;" lo the right people. O'Brien bad been up In the Klondike Klon-dike on one of his long yearly pilgrimages pil-grimages after the mazuma He was (lened by wire to meet Al Kaufman. Al wag then supposed to be qult.i some tlemou, for he had been rork-l- them all to sleep with ooe mighty poke, and the San FYanclseam , thought well of hfm. r.vet t Gangplank. O'Brien walktd down the gangplank gang-plank of the steamer and started for his hotd. Harry Foley trailed along. Harry was once oulte a fighter himself, him-self, but he had a Jaw which refused to suod up under bomhurdment. Harry also hd a tongue and o wide acquaintance. He was on , the job find out what O'Brien thought i.bout : the tough younj; giant, he wa to i iue-?. I O'Brien was very pessimistic. "Of course yon know. Harry, tha I'm not qui' p.s v.. ung ;n I used to be, and m hands are bad. To come right flown to it, I in probably making a fool match, but the northern trip did not meet my expectation,!, and you know one must make ex-penyef. ex-penyef. I may be aide to get the decision over Kaufman at that, but I'd like to be about six years younger young-er for the Job.'' That was pleuty. It was enough to send Kaufman Into tbe betting a 2 to 1 choice. Foley told some of tbe "wise ones," and the "wise one-i" told their friends, and pretty i-oon there wasn't any money bet Kaufman Kauf-man money. When the price suit i d him, O'Brien quietly unbolted and seM In the family bank roll. He flew Kaulman at bis leisure, and the mn who had been counting on Jar't's h-a-a a-d hands got the trimming of tlndr lives, and every dollar that O'Brb-n bad to spare got him two the next morning. Many Rumor Starters. There will be a 0t of Jelfries men setting afloat horrible humors in th') h-.pe of brlnrlng the odds to a bargain bar-gain counter hais. There will be some Johnson men playing the am game. The fellow who believes erythlng he hears and worries about U will to as busv as a bald hornet from now on to July. The reports of the Joffrioj C;ta,M are bound to be colored by thf per- j oiDa opinion of tho nian who s?tid' I hem. Hverv felluw whose bnslne. s will take liim to Kowardcnnan b. been bsiicrd by lrletids wlrji requests re-quests fur the "real dope on Jelfries". Jelf-ries". Most of these men will respond t ' ihe beM of their ability, and thlr report on Jelfries will b- based u;"i their per.-on.il opinions. Already we have had several scar; tales ub'ei' the big fellow's wind. It Is not good, they say. Now. wh i was a fighter's wind In g-l condition three month! away from his fU'lt? Thai's one of the thitiKs a man v -nally roes Into training to correct tendency to shortwlndedaess. An 1 l.tcaue Jeff pufis a li'Ue after rir; v-ork these me are worried. Ti" .'" I evidently believe he shoe Id be lu r ' r" I f ct trim before getting Into train-1 train-1 lug If a mun could h"P Into hi.; wor ' ."Iter a few dp.js' notice and fho ' r.o slv;n of short vvlj l. ther- woaU be no :iee,j of the long gruelling tiainlng process. |