"TOMMY" BURNS'S ARRIVAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2892, 11 August 1909, Page 64

"TOMMY" BURNS'S ARRIVAL.

RECEPTION AT AUCKLAND. tFsoic Oub Own Cokbestoxdext.) AUCKLAND, August 9. Something akin to hero-worship must have attracted the thousand or more youths and men to the Queen street wharf yesterday afternoon, when th» Huddart- Parker Company's s.s. Victoria, ! with Tommy Burns aboard, drew along- , eide. The ex-champion boxer of the ; world -was soon noted at the ship's rail, and was cheered by the crowd. The I Northern. Boxing Association had arranged a reception, and several members j immediately went aboard the steamer. I " Tommy " Burns in aspect reminds one j of the educated American class, being quiet and dignified in manner. In personal appearance he fills the suggestion of "as broad as he is long " more nearly than most subjects who are d-übbed with that description. His immense chest and shoulder measurements wei*e enhanced' yesterday by an over-waistcoat of cloeely- , knitted white worsted and a "Napoleon" , overcoat. Burns's features do not suggest the prize-fighter, being of the intel- ; tectual type, and he states that the only j scar on. his face was received in a lacrosse match. At the conclusion of the reception he was driven to the Royal Hotel, and from there almost immediately -set out for Mount Eden. A Herald representative had a -short chat with Burns, and the talk naturally turned on the big things' in the fighting world. Referring to the cabled reports in regard to the proposed Johnson- ' Jeffries match, be said that if ever it ! came off Jeffries would win. Johnson had no more chance of beating Jeffries than be (Burns) had of beating Johnson on the day they met. Johnson had adi mitted that he did not want to meet j Jeffries. In Tef en-ring -to himself, he said ! he would only enter the ring again to ■ contest the world's championship. Johni son' and Kauffman were to meet at San Francisco, and, if the latter should win, which was unlikely, he would challenge him. He did not think Johnson would meet him again. As to His future, the ex-champion said that he had taken a house at Wavterley, near Sydney, and would go into business if he could find a proposition to suit him. He had made his money easily — £67,000 during the short while he had been in the ring from, prize money, vaudeville engagements, and picture interests, and " guessed " he could lose it as easily. His best friend was the " almighty dollarr' ; but one thing he had noted in Australia was that money was not supreme as in America. A man's oharacter and bearing were considered by the Australians and New Zealanders he had met. He always felt inclined "to take his hat off to Australians and New Zealanders." A large crowd gathered at the railway station last night, and heartily cheered Burns as the train moved off.