OCR Text |
Show Released by Western Newspaper Union. THE Great Men of the prize fight industry came close to getting Heavyweight Champion Joe Louis fa an unsavory mess when they urged that the army allow him to fight another bout in order to earn money to pay his income taxes. The Great Men made a mistake. The suggestion came shortly after Louis had presented approximately $85,000 to the army and navy from benefit bout receipts. The suggestion sug-gestion had too strong an implication implica-tion of reciprocity. It was as though the army had been asked to grant Joe a concession in return for his financial aid. Such a move never would have occurred to Joe. His honesty and forthrightness would have prevented prevent-ed it. Louis is the kind of a person who would naturally steer clear of such schemes. Joe's tax bill is 5117,000. It doesn't take a mastermind to figure out that the man on the street earning maybe may-be $35 a week can't feel very sorry for anyone whose tax bill amounts to that kind of money. Since the original suggestion was made, Louis has been transferred to Fort Riley, Kan., for completion comple-tion of his basic training. In a ruling rul-ing on Louis' status by Secretary of JOE LOUIS War Henry Stimson, it was stated that "appearances other than those strictly in behalf of the armed forces will not be undertaken by Louis until un-til he has finished his training." A soldier since January 13, Louis put in about six weeks of training at Camp Upton. Thus the question of his fighting may be brought up again no later than the middle of August, leaving plenty of time for a late summer fight. However, the shift may end the matter. It probably was a good thing for Joe that the army ordered his transfer to Kansas. The Great Men will find it a bit more difficult to operate from long distance. - Too, the next Louis fight isn't likely to draw a very heavy gate. The opposition isn't strong enough to engender much enthusiasm on the part of anyone but the challenger. Conn is the most suitable opponent, but he's also in uniform. Bob Pastor's Pas-tor's drawing power is becoming limited to relatives and a few close friends. There are other angles. The Office Of-fice of Defense Transportation has frowned on county fairs, conventions and other assemblies which would use transportation equipment that might be necessary in the war effort. ef-fort. A heavyweight championship bout usually has a greater pull than a county fair or a convention of the Friends of the American Buggywhip Collectors. Louis unquestionably is in .good shape. While he was under the jurisdiction of the Second Corps area he was sent out on a good many exhibitions ex-hibitions too many, some observers observ-ers believe. In this connection, Secretary Sec-retary Stimson's statement was quoted: "The many public appearances made by Louis since his induction have made it impossible for him to be afforded the same privileges of training that are available to other soldiers. That is unfair to him and to the army." Joe's entire attitude is excellent. When he was told of his transfer his answer was characteristic: "I don't know anything about it but anything the army does is all right with me." SPORT SHORTS C In the American league the visit- ream BCl.s cents each for grandstand and pavilion spectators and 20 cents for each occupant of the bleachers. The home club keeps the balance except for three cents which goes to the league to pay salaries and expenses of scorers, scor-ers, umpires, etc. C. In a recent game against San Antonio, Tulsa put 18 men on base but only two of them scored . New York is the only city' which could stage a championship fight without drawing patronage from dis tant areas. And gas rationing in the erablyW0Uld lak 0. Lieut. Comm. Frank C. Lane former business manager of the Cta crnnat. Reds, is the athletic office; at the Corpus Christi Naval hi? . Until 1920 a rule eS 'i .called a balk if the pitcher toew to an unoccupied base L Dick Wakefield, Detroit Tigers. rookie now with Beaumont ta Z Texas league, had three hi. two doubles. 16 total bases f "' runs scored and six runs battel for a recent night game baUed m C Coach Leahy of Notre Dame mes he has scrapped the systern although he" use the formation in the sr,rin T game. Spmg Practice C Big Ten football squads will h permitted to start their faU tTainin! earlier this year because of i g schedules, which inclnrtl ! "ger service teams. de games |