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'BROWN CONDOR OF ETHIOPIA'
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(Photo courtesy of the Chicago Defender.)
John S. Robinson, Chicago aviator (fourth from left, with group of fliers who bade him godspeed just before he left for Africa few months ago), has been appointed No. 1 flier for Emperor Haile Selassie's Ethiopian air force.

John S. Robinson, "the brown condor of Ethiopia," who left Chicago three months ago to cast his lot with Emperor Haile Selassie, has been made No. 1 flier for the Ethiopian air force, according to an Associated Press dispatch today from Addis Adaba. 

The youthful Negro flier, an air school graduate and former flying instructor at Tuskegee institute, Negro college at Tuskegee, Ala., replaces Hubert Julian, "the black eagle of Harlem." Robinson was the first American volunteer for service in the Ethiopian Army.

Robinson is described by his Chicago friends as "in his early twenties." He is a garage owner at 41 E. 47th st. and unmarried. He has been known here for some time as "an expert flier."

Julian, the Harlem "black eagle," fell from grace Aug. 8 when he assaulted Robinson, and now holds the humble job of drilling rookie infantrymen. Julian, who has become an Ethiopian subject, has been transferred by the emperor to the remote Wallaga region, 400 miles from Addis Ababa, where he will continue drilling recruits at a salary of $100 a month. 

Robinson has been up every day in a single-seated plane and his flying ability has electrified the populace.

Sees Crash 
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There's Always an "If" Following Louis' Bouts--Why?
By WHITNEY MARTIN
NEW YORK, June 20.—(AP)
-If Billy Conn hadn't believed he could sing it out with Joe Louis, Billy probably would be world champion today.
Joe Louis won by a knockout.
If Buddy Baer had followed up his advantage after putting Joe Louis through the ropes, Buddy might have won the title.
Joe Louis won by a knockout. 
If Abe Simon has two good hands instead of only the left, as he claimed, he might has defeated Joe Louis. 
Joe Louis won by a knockout.
If Tony Galento had followed through with another left hook after he knocked Joe Louis down Tony might have been the champion. (Perish the thought).
Joe Louis won by a knockout.
Joe Louis' record is cluttered with "ifs," all voiced in a plaintive bleat by the losers and their followers and all as futile as those saddest words of tongue or pen: It might have been.
Why is it they never have to say: "If Louis hadn't been careless he wouldn't have been knocked out," or "if Louis hadn't had his eye cut he would have gone the limit?" we're just asking.
Could it be because Joe Louis outlines his own destiny, makes his own breaks and takes advantage of them? Could it be, in short, that Joe Louis has a little more of what it takes than the other fellow?
There is something as final as death about that terse statement. "Louis won by a knockout."
It smothers all the ifs, all the might-have-beens. For, after all, the main idea of a fight is to win, and the most convincing way to win is by a knockout. Joe Louis' opponents have the same opportunity. It's just unfortunate for them that they seem to make all the mistakes. Louis, it seems, never makes a mistake, or at least a fatal mistake. 
All the "ifs" associated with the losers can be dismissed but one—the Billy Conn if. The other fellows never had a chance. Even in Conn's case the use of "if" is debatable. Louis had been waiting patiently for just such a chance. He thought it would come sooner or later. We thought so, too, even after that twelfth round when Louis was a pretty seasick sailor.
There is something so deadly, so merciless about his stalking that you feel that somehow, somewhere along the line he will explode and white our any deficit. One little opening, one clean [[s?]] and it is the beginning of [[the?]] end.
As for Billy Conn, there is [[just?]] one word for him-magnificent. Physically out of this class, [[?]] dynamite fists, he [[?]] everything on his fleetness of foot, boxing skill and courage. Mostly courage.
We take back anything we ever said about him being a poor match for the champion, but at the same time we believe that is they fought again the same thing would happen. Somewhere, somehow that opening would appear in Billy's armor. Louis might look like a novice until that time, but he has looked bad before, and always the time-worn headline is dragged out:
"Louis wins by a knockout."
Give a real sportsman the credit due.

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Lincoln Paige
5/13/39

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