| OCR Text |
Show NERYBJS CiLLAPSE OF JflBJE FFRIES No fallen monarch over traveled a more solemn road than did James J. Jtffrlts yesterday from Reno to Oakland. Oak-land. Not a voice gave a comforting cheer , to his aching body and spirits, while the majority of the crowd that was on hand when h arrived at Oakland Oak-land and when he left Reno the night before! barely noticed his prege.-.cc, save for ft. sneericg . remark or two about his battered and unhappy appearance. ap-pearance. Jeffries was eeemlng;y without a friend outsid? of his relatives rela-tives and a few Intimate friends who were by his side. Jeffiifs has a disposition and will all his own, anj the free rein he exercised exer-cised In training himself was not in accordance with his own best wishers. wish-ers. His trainers thought best to coincide co-incide with him, and this clearly worked against the final test that came so disastrously on the Fourth. Beaten Before First Gong. Tho facts in a nutshell point to Jin; Jeffrips being- a beaten man before he crawled through the ropes of trie ring, and his light against Johnson was only for the matter of putting It before the public that demanded It. It has come to light, with every assurance assur-ance of being thn truth, that Jeffries collapsed in his rubbing room at bis training camp tn the day of the light, and was therefore in no condition to make the light he had worried about and worked for so hard. The big fellow's ' nerves went to pieces at 12: JO Monday afternoon, as near as can be figured. He had just returned Irom n stndl on the road with Frank Gotch and had proceeded to his rub room to go under a massage by Roger Cornell, (lotch had noticed the mental struggle that was going on because of the big fellow's dij:- ; clluation to talk. He was rational on f only recolle-ets the sounding of thf gong and the commencement of h.i downfall. The wonderful change cimc about In Jeffries dating from Saturday. Then he was as confident of winning and as carefree as his fol-. fol-. lowers, could hope for. ' Ho even proceeded so far as sending send-ing twenty-five night-letter telegrams Saturday night to lrlends all over the country, advising them of his hope of victory. AJditional facts that his ckst8t friends, including his two brothers, were wagering on him. would offset the stories that h$ knew nil along that defeat stared him in the face. Just Lost His Nerve. Having boen with him for , nearly two months during his training siege, the writer feels certain that Jeffries lost his nerve and contracted the fear of Johnson some time between Sunday Sun-day and the hour of the fight. Ho spoke frequently. Sunday to frienJs about the vast amounts hlngod on the, outcomo of the battle, and It is most probable that his will power am: nerve force gjve way under the weight. , Cornell's Statement. - Cornell's statement to the Chronicle follows: "Jeff suffered a mental ami nervous breakdown lu the rub room shortly after noon on the day of the light. He collapsed under the strain. We were puzzle J what to do. We hoped for the best. There was no turning back at that stage. Jeffries was in fine physical condition, and It was that which kept him going the fUteen rounds. He went Into the ring like a dish cloth, with his strengrn and mental powers gone. We thought he might work out of it, and he shook his head in tho ring trying to get right, bat it was no use." - Lewlssohn intimated as much right after the fight, when ho said: knew it was coming before he w.i? into the ring. I wired my brother In Chicago not to bet and tried to hedge myself. Jim wouldn't do what we j wanted him to do. lie was not nim-1 nim-1 self" The sum and substance seem to be that Jeffries went Into tbe. ring not mentally fit.- The result of this raav bear badly on the big fellow, too. He wat In a daze coming down on the train yesterday, and since his collapse col-lapse of Monday he has not been himself. him-self. The trainers do not worry much, crediting the condition to the ferfut lacing he received, but Roger Cornell, who witnessed the entire sufferings , of the big fighter, has grave apprehensions. appre-hensions. He thinks Jeffries should have medical attention. the ouiaide. but an old friend like Cot:h noticed a change the minute - they started out on the roiid. In the rub room Jeffries' nenes , gave way entirely. Cornell admits this, und the friends of Jctfrier. who i were present bear him out. Jeff shook like a leaf, says Cornell, and when he had pass.d the first stages of the collapse he was left as limp as a dish-rag dish-rag D.iv'd Lewlssohn, Jeff s Chicago, l:i nd, tried to have the , fight declared de-clared ofi. according to go Jo authority, authori-ty, but this was riecidfd to bo out of the question. The trainer- that knew also thought that Jeffries would recover re-cover hi.s strength shortly, too, and they hoped for the best not knowing what to do. At any rate, 'Jeffries waa prepared ! for the. encounter while Lewlssohn aud others having the Information wired e-ast and tried to hedge on their bets The. rest of the story has tieen torn, jeir went into his dressing room at the arena, and it was there that his.- brother Jack discovered his real co:idit!onv "What has happened to Jinif" h. , whispered anxiously In Cornell's ear. 1 "We Is as weak as a cat." I Refused to Talk. Jeffries was' also trough mentally. He refused to talk.-anj his aasoclatCh could not raise him from the ttupor, I which gave rise to-the rumor that he ' had been doped. .There was Certain')-a Certain')-a marked change in the man. Tho j I writer was prcsout when he was lec into the ring' by his second.; and he appeared for all the World l.e he was in a daze. Jin; Jeffries is such a cui ' ous Individual thrfhis condition was 1 not. so notico-.bk .'t tho time, but ro- t lowing the circumstres, it bears out j to a marked degree the etory of his collapse. - I Jeffrk achfd the ring and went I through i;;,. prellniluarie-s of the Intro- j ductlon. but he says now -that he re-I members nothing of the kind. He 1 |
