Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-05-17

why philadelphia Sporting Men Ne
Iieve They Have . Sure W3ancr-i
wrcssler,s Remarkable Rccerd-7lis
Challenge.

Prom the N. 7. Sun.
When the steamship Wisconsin arrived at this
port. on her last trip from England medium
sized young fellow stepped ashore and began to
look around with his keen eyes. Although
very temperate man, he passed two days accom-
panied by friend. quietly visiting the sporting
resorts Of New York, without making himself
generally known He then proceeded to Ph!ia-
deiphia taking up quarters I'm Arthur Chambers
Champions Rest in Ridge avenue, where q San
reporter found him the other evening". The
young man had become q Hon among the ath-
letes who make their home at the Champions
Rest, including boxers, vrpsslers. spriuters Pc
destrians and leapers. His fame had also
gfDwn TO be a topic of conversation i'm the
outer circle of sporting men, who pride them
selves on keeping posted with the latest points
from the Inner circle.
The stranger is Joseph Acton of wi9an Lin
colnshire England. Prom Trustworthy records
Of his performances. he il undoubtedly the most
wonderful wrestler of modern times and taking
his size into account. possibly of all ages.
Acton is keeping very shy at the Champions
Rest. and neither he nor Chambers viii talk
about proposed wrestling matches In which
Acton Is to take part. or his present condition
ard chances Tor success All the information
they would give was that "a challenge from Acton
would appear In this weeks CaiPper, aud that
would tell all worth Knowing.
A sporting man. who is wen informed about
what ia going on in Chambers place saitpthat
the boys believe that they have sure winner
In the Little Demon, name given to Acton i'm
England from the fact that he had snceeeded in
downing every wrestler OF note little or big
from his fayOrite style OF cateh-as-catch-can up
to the French method, in which there is no
catching below the waist.
Acton was born March 8, 1853 He is only 5
feet inches In height. and weighs little over
14o pounds. He says that he will not wrestle
under 140 pounds His hair, eyebrows and
mOustache are of the color Of q ravens wing,
and his eyes shine out from his clear complex
ION Hike balls Of highly polished black ONYX
He has the apparently small, rounded, compact
form that Is so deceiylnQ as to size. strength
and endurance to the ordinary observer ANY
enc passing him on the street would not be apt
TO pick him out for an athlete of extraordinary
powers. His shoulders ere of good breadth.
but his chest is not prominent His back and
legs are of proporti0Bate length as are his
arms also. Neither legs nor arms. 90 far as can
be judged from seeing him In ordinary clothes
Indicate unusual strength. But those who
have seen Bibby tackle and throw giants Of the
wrestling arena here can Judge of ActOns
prowess when informed that ne had encoun-
tered Bibby in eight matches, winning five, III
Guiding the last.
In the long list Of Actions achievements his
encounter with Tom Cannon. noted wrestler
last October, is one of the most remarkable
Acton had challenged, i'm the Sporting Life any
man In the world, and conceded four stone or
So pounds. In weight, for $500 q side, French
style. Cannon stepped into the ring weighing
154 pounds to Act0n's no. The match was To
be three falls out of five, with fifteen minutes
rest between. Cannon gained: the first fall in z
minutes 10 seconds. In the second bout
the Little Demon nearly initiated Her.
eules in his wrestling match with Anteus,
the son OF Terra Antsgns was mighty
giant whose strength was invincib!e so long as
ne remained in contact with his mother Earth
Hercules, finding that it was of no avail To throw
nim held him up in the air ami strancied him.
The Little Demon lifted Ga nnGn in tire air and
dashed him head doWnwar on the floor at the
same time falling on him. The 9portias Life.
which reports matters i'm a cold Hooded; manner
said: 1.-The thud was heard all over the building
Cannon became inseGsible. and was unable to
come to time" Restoratives were applied to
the paraiyZed athlete wlthOu. effect and Acton
was declared the winner with the consent of
Lannon's hackers. Tie time of the finishing
round was minutes and 80 seconds
Acton began his wrestling career when lad
1T Lincolnshire, where boys Irvine their arms
and legs together for Iall about as soon as they
learn to walk Some of his notew orthy contests
are as follows:
He first appeared IN public about 1870 when
he defeated James Jewell, OF Wigan winning
two falls in Ia minutes He followed this bv a
victory over William Mcknight. of Wloan His
next opponent was John Ashurst also of Wigan.
whom he defeated: but in a return match Ash
urst turned the table
Acton then remained quiet until December.
".
the performance In January. 1873 i'm an off-hand
match at catch weight. securing both falls i'm 33
minutes and minutes respectively He next
defeated j. TOnge (EckeEsley) twice i'm success
non, very eieveriy, in the usual twO-sut-Of-
three back falls
His next encounter of note was with John
Futtail, of Farnsworth whom he defeated with
ont very strenuous exertions.
Hrs reputation as an inyincible wrestler was
now at so high pitch that he was matched
nit he In. MI
December. 1873. at d score 12 pounds for SiO0
side, at the Snipe Inn Grounds Adenshaw, the
contest terminating in ActUus favor
In February. 1874. Acton beat Miles Sweeney.
ana Frustrated his old opponent, John Ashurst
again. Then Elijah Harrison of Chowbent
steodbefore him at catch weight Elijah went
down like the others After this contest no one
appeared to be shorn of his strength until April
1875. when Edwin Bibby answered Actions chal-
lenge to any man in the world. Bibby was con-
fined to score Ii pounds, and suffered defeat.
Acton securing both fails in minutes and
minutes respectively
B,bby then challenged Actsn at catch weight.
and the men met in Royal Oak Park grounds.
Manchester. November Is, 1875. The ground
was ankle deep in mud. and Bibby won both
falls somewhat easily. The friends of Acton
were not satisfied with this defeat. and another
match took place between the wrestiers In Old
nam. April y. 1915. Acton being confined to I2S
pounds and Bibby to 40 pounds. Four thou
won the 1rst fail in minutes so seconds Acton
won the second in the short space Of 80 seconds.
aud the third in minutes Is seconds, winning
the match.
Acton was next matched with William Tomas
at catch weight. LOmas won the second and
third falls and match They met again. when
Acton had not to exceed $50 pounds. while
Lomas came at catch weight. This time Acton
downed his man handily. Lomas was dissatis-
fed, and faneying that he could cope success
fully with the Little Demon. as Acton had now
come To he called he faced Acton the third time
Acton won the first fall after a hard struggle of
Twelve minutes. Acton only required two min
utes to make bundle of Tomas in the second
bout and win the match
Acton and Bibby wrestled again Aug 3. 1878
for $500 side and the LA pounds cha,npjOn
SHIP Bibby gained two falls in ten and five
minutes respectively, winning the match
The two tough opponents came together
AGAIN Feb. 3, 1872 The Little Demon tossed
Blbby in the inst bout after struggle lasting
10 minutes In the second bout he placed
Bibby on his hack within IS seconds after the
nrst grappie. winning the stakes
On May 3, 1879, Acton and Blbby met for the
eighth time The engagement was fierce and
brief. The Little Demon placed Bibby on his
back In the irst bout inside of three minutes