THE AUSTRALIAN RING.

NZ Truth, Issue 443, 13 December 1913, Page 6

THE AUSTRALIAN RING.

Reminiscences and Records. (BY "BOXER-MAJOR.") /' ' Copyright: All Rights Reserved by the Author. (Chapter -xxr.y ' At this time, Mick Dooley, whoso father was an employee of the Government Printing Office, and who worked under the old man as a pic-ture-frame maier, rO r m tome such capacity, was beginning to be recognised as a remarkably clever boxer. Dooley— who is now living m West Australia, where, I believe, he ►teaches the, young idea how to hit and stop—is a six-footer who, when m his prime around about the nineties, weighed about 12.6 fit and well. He was a perfert expositor of the good old school, and probably never delivered a left hook or swing m his life. Mick's attitude was erect; tho left too pointing straight at the foe and lightly touching tho floor, while the woight rested .easily on the right leg and foot, the latter at an exact right angle to the line of the Heft. Tho right arm was held •lightly across the chest, knuckles out, and the left, elbow and knuckles down, well out, at about the level of hia chin. Mick's guard and foot- . work were about perfect, when I knew him m ISS7 and onwards, and those who remember his fights with Joe Goddard will bear me out when I say that probably .no orthodox, ordinary white man of his day could have successfully coped with Mick Dooley. , Mick was a fine product of tho Mace school. ,He had sat, at the feet' of the great master himself, when a m«^re stripling, and had absorbed his, very attitude and movements. Then he became a pupil and follower of Mace's greatest pupil, Larry Foley, and m 1883 began to be looked upon as about the best white heavy-welirht m Australia. I remember the first time I «var heard his name. It was during a discussion m Auckland m 1885, on matters ristic, with the late Dick Matthews, one of the most sensational boxers ■, these parts ever saw, thouph possessed of very little science, . and 1 was asking about Peter Jackson, of whom Dick was a great admirer, when I turned the' subject to ask who was the ' BEST TVHTTF. MAN IN AUSTRALIA Kince Jackson had put Tom Lees on the scrap heap. Dick lifted his eyebrows m the peculiar woy he had that gave him such a calmly inquiring gaze as he sat m his chair waiting for the order to "box on," and instantly replied, "Oh,, Mick Dooley, to be surc r ' ; ar«t then followed a description of the man and his methods, and , Dick informed me that though Jackson had beaten Dooley, and there was no question of their meeting ogam, Mick was forced to roinain Wile because there was no white boxer m Australia fit to face him. In 1887-8, when 1 got first-hand knowledj?*) of Dooley, T found that Pick Matthews had told me the truth. The late George Hill had become Jackson's 'patron, and Foley had a firm belief m his own big pupil, Dooley, and one day, discussing the men, Foley, who never would believe that Peter had not "a yellow Streak" that would always show when he was -pinched, offered to back Dooley against Jackson for a pony. Hill snapped him up, and both men were ordered into training. Training was a rummy thing m those days. There was no regularly-appointed suburban, seaside, or mountain quarters, no fitronj? "camps" with rubbers and sparring partners and all tho paraphernalia of a present-day training station. The feporters would be told that Bill or Jim or Jack had ''gone to tho mountains to train" and they'd publish the yarn, and all the boxers would havo to do would be to Ue low ami keep out of the ".qu&ranMne" area, otherwise the White ITorse and l tho haunts of its patrons and of the newspaper Iqlk. No newspaper man ever dreamed of visitiug the pugs at their allowed training quarters, and so the public had no check on the men and no GUARANTEE OF THEIR GOOD FAITH, as it has— to a very great extent— nowadays. Well, Dooley trained for this 'fight —that is, ho did hit) daily exercises, what tho dickens he did with his nights and the rest of his days the devil a know did anybody know—at Faloy's place, awl was reported -, to he getting into great shape. Peter Jackson appears to have bocn left | to his own devices, pretty much, and i to have had no real supervision. '; Anyhow, the %ht wna to come on I on a Saturday night and there was a rac« meeting at C&ritorburv Park m the Afternoon. George Hill w^as thorp, of course, and all his eonfra'tornity, and one of his friends presently approached him and asked: "Hey, George, aren't you backing thnt nigger follow, Jackson, against Dooloy. to-nfprht ?" "T am," said Hill, m his sententious fashion. He wns never a man to talk a paragraph when a sentonco or an ejaculation would nuftice. "Well, do you know he's hero on the course and drinking beer between tho* raws, just. as if thort) was no such thine: us training and no fight to-nlpht ?" Geortro TTiU prnmted nnd wundorwl on about the rlnpr; but ho was thinking hard, and, later on, when leav. ing th*» course m hJs biiffiry, he kept hi« eves on tho l-CRC 1 * crowd ns it poured out of tha prates, and t prosentiv \u* snot.ted tlu» tnll nocrro laughing and chutt inor with n bunch of b°y*» ° 8 * )O sl-a«*tcd to walk to the station. "Hey. you .Tnck6on. Come hero," shouted Hill. Peter whs at tho whool of tho butrpry m threo lonjr stridw, and touched bis hat to its chief occupnnt. ••You wnnt me, Sun f" At ..*hnt~ tlni«. ond ev*n when T first know Jackson he spoko markedly "i%---(?ah" though. »x>int? keenly obsorvnnt. quick to lenrn, and intensely anxious to «P«*ak nr>«J act Ilk© win tin $i<M»U««ro<»n. tr.nt nlnuwt entirely rid of hi* accent ,md idioms lot<» r on, "Yen t do." «ro«'»ml lint. "I want, to know whnt the y ou menn by boinir out hr>r«? to-dnv. Don't you know you've uot to flight Mooßv to«nl«ht for JL'M of my «ond money? And h«iw th«s — — - «ln you .expect to do |i, you Mnek blinker. «'b«t you're. knaeWJny nrouml and drinking l**»r m th*n igtoUinm 9 Do you iutcad to %Ut,

Dooley to-night ?" ''No, Suh," said the imperturbable [ Peter. . "What ?" shouted Hill. "You're not going to fight him ! And I'm ) to lose my incarnadined money over , a black blighter like you ?" : ( < "No, Suh," answered Pete. "Ah'm [ not goin' ' TO FIG33T VIS POOLER 1 Suh. Ah'm goin' to mow him right > off d« stage, fcsuh." 1 And that's just what he did. The • fight lasted, three rounds, and m the third Jackson knocked the clever white lad clean through the ropes -• and dead to the world. Men did not get fights onco or > twice a month then, as many of » them do now. and I believe they ' were better m consequence, for it X was m 1887 or 1888, I'm not sure which without looking up the re- > cords, that Jackson and Dooley had their second and lost real set-to— and that was impromptu— and even then, neither of thorn had reached the period of his greatest fame. I often , saw them spar a pretty three round* as a preliminary to a light or at a I charity entertainment or benefit at . Foley's hall, and they usually - played light and yet made it interesting I by the amazing skill they displayed. One night, however, when they L were billed for an exhibition four , rounds, Larry, over ready for a i joke or to provide something spicy , for a few spicy patrons, put, up a , game on Jackson and Dooley — both , of whom he was keeping at the time. He got each man by himself, and r told him that tho other fellow had been bragging how easily he could lick him, and that he meant to show him up b#oro folks this time. This yarn aroused bitter rage m Dpoley'B heart and hurt indignation irf Jockson's; so that whon they entered the ring that evening, the cloud on thoir usually placid faces foreboded trouble. There was quite a bunch t>l squatters m the hall that flight, among whom, if I rwrember right, was | Mr. Duncan Anderson, an ardent lover of the game, a, by no means slow pupil of Foloy himself, and ono of his stauncheat patrons. Each of the group had beon put on to Uio joke, by tho irrepressihle X.arry. I myself. In the midst of tho usual Saturday ovoning cheorful chat with Koley, had ihoen told to "Watch this Jackson and Dooley spar to-night, d'ye understand Thoy'ro pretty good men, d'yo s«to, and when they soar you should watch 'em. careful, d'yo see, d'ye undcrstanV Naturally I , "took a tumble." nnd my suspicion was confirmed when T noted the sour look each cast on tho other as they sat m their chairs. Well, sirs, 1 have seen thousands of fights and as many more short apars, but never did I witness so SUPERB AN EXHIBITION OP SKILL and punching power as I did that night at tho old White Horso, wheu Peter Jackson and Mick Dooley, each smarting under tho mistaken .- idea, that tho other wa*» going to ; mako an exhibition of him, cut > loose and fought their damndest for four brilliant, scintillating , rounds. > Hoth were of tho samo good old Mace school; both clever par excellence, and both straight, hard hitters. As each expected a woadonor from the other, each let. got a swift, left tho moment they had shaken hands, and both landed Hush on the mouth. The blood followed tho blow instan--1 taheously and naturally each wag confirmed m the suspicion so artful* ly instilled m his mind by "tho boss," as both called Foley, aud they Buttled down for I a real trial of skill, m angry, bitter rivalry. It wns beautiful I The onlookers «at entranced and sow a go that, could it bo staged, nowadays m New York or Philadelphia, would bo watched by a dense thronif, blaxonotl all over the | world, and sent down m history. And not only was tho White llonio poorly patronised thnt night, but not ono m ton saw anything out of the convtnoo m tho net to. Tho fnct that they were of tho tvP<* they wero and did tho domago by clean blows, with no sign of raging ferocity, no mad swinping or fnuitlc, savage wrestlinjr, dccol\'cd tho boi polloi. Thofpw dilottnntl m the know enjoyed tho treat of their lives. How wo had longed to neo Jackson and Dooley nt It for koep» : there It was, ami what a treat it was'! Tho boxing wn« perfect and vot the hitting was terrific and ut the closo of tho fourth round both; 1 bled profusely and both had knobbly feature* «md _, crushed tomato tnouths. " After a wimh-off unfJer the terras th». pair met In t»*« \Mt. where! h»<l purposely waited to <«* m \vns«maker Foley <H«r««ot.ly vnolnhinl afUT Dooley hrtd burkmi At him, "You fmt him up to It to try ami show mm- op- Hut ho couldn't do it '■ And then* the two «i* footers hnd v out In forty wnrfnre, TXiolfiy was VOIX'ANIC KAOI3 FKHSONIFIED ; .inckKon bitmir i*corn atvt bltt«r invrciiv<« I-«r<l t Uo«f ihty »n»rkKi nnd what a lank wn* mm to «t«ncl h>pt ween t\u-m <»nd endeavor to k««|» tbi-m npnri A It vrn« tn>«»rly on hour , \txstoro I could induce theai to drink

one together and then, having got so far, I whisked^ Booley away m a * cab under the pretence that I want- ' ed him to take mo to a well-kn'©%rn gambling hell where I could not ob^ tain admittance without being accompanied arid vouched for by sdmo body who was weir, known to "the guardian of the door as being "all right;" And even then I. couldn't stop Mick Irom talking about hia grievance. Every tUne his lip blod again he broke out afresh. I had quite an anxious time; for Mick Dooley, half inclined to think that I ". had been m the joke, was 'a very ticklish big bruiser to handle that night. ,1 could easier have coaxed and tamed four Peter Jackson* t (To be Continued.)