The herald., 1896-07-21
iNTER-URBAN TUG OF WAR
Teams From Southern California Towns
Pulling for Glory
Results Of Last Nights Events-A Little One
sided So Far-The Personnel OF the
Various Teams

| There was a number of vacant seats
| last evening in Hazards pavilion when
| time was called for the first pull in the
| tug -of-war match between the differ
cnt teams of this and neighboring cities,
| and despite the fact that the opening of
the affair was delayed until fully 8 o'clock
the crowd did not increase to any ap-
rreciable extent. Upstairs in the bal
! comics there was fair representation,
but the lower floor was sparsely dotted
with spectators.
John Brink, president of the Athletic
club was the major domo of the evening
and handled the referees pistol. On the
stage band played and the interior of
the hall had been draped with American
flags and red, white and blue bunting
The raised platform on which the pull
ing was done extended lengthwise of the
hall, and over the center had been erect
ed framework wound with the national
colors. 1t was 905 before the first two
teams filed out and lined up along the
cleats ready for the fray. They We're the
Spanish team of this city and the club
from San Diego.
The visitors were somewhat the heaV-
Ter, averaging 210 pounds, and comprised
r. A. Liljegren, captain; J. A. Anderson,
anchorman; H. Bloom, Ed Bloom, For
sell, Lund and Nelson. The Spanish team
was captained by Tom Rico, with the
following men: Jose Sunega, Ysidro Gar
cia, Francisco Lizalda. Isaac Pedreno,
Francisco Dolson and Francisco Busta-
mentes, anchorman. Their average
weight was 1872 pounds. At the crack of
the pistol both teams gave settling pull
and laid quietly for fully three minutes,
neither side doing much Then, with
three hard pulls, a minute apart, the
Spanish team gained the same number
of cleats and they looked every inch the
winners. But the San Diego men were
only waiting, and after several ineffec-
tual attempts got the signal and with
jerk snatched the Spanish off their feet,
dragging them down the cleats on the
! run, winning the pull in minutes and
so seconds.
Then there was more music by the
band and another long wait before the
next two teams, the Electrics of this city
and the Santa Monica contingent. ap-
peared. Everything favored the Elec-
tries and betting at the pool boxes in
the corner of the hall was S to 2 in their
favor. The Santa Monica men We're
light, averaging 172 pounds, while the
Electrics pulled down about 210 apiece.
James Smith captained the seaside boys
and the men who did the pulling were:
Il. Hughes, c. johnson, e. Christoffer-
sen. John Boman. c. Holmberg and G.
White, anchorinan. When the rope was
released from the clamp after settling
themselves the Electrics made lunge,
but were bravely held for moment.
Then another heave and the Santa Mon
lea men slid down the rough cleats at a
rate that must have taken off some skin
on their shins. The pistol barked and
the pull was won by the Electrics in
triae less than two minutes. The WIN
ming team is composed of Charles A.
Scheldrick, captain; Charles Miller.
anchor; w. e. Smith, b. f. Lander,
John Chapman, M. j. Welsh and w. H.
Eaton.
The third and last pull of the evening
was to have been between the San
Pedros and the American team of this
city. The meS from the harbor site
did not show up, however, owing, it
was said, to the disorganization of their
team by losing their anchor man, who
yesterday shipped on vessel as mate,
and could not come. To the strains of
the Star SpangledT Banner the Ameri-
cans marched out, and they looked like
sure winnerA Every man is built from
the ground up. as may be imaYinyl
when it is known that they average 23O
pounds apiece. In default of the San
Pedro men, picked team was hastily
gotten together, composed of some OF
the San Diegos and members of other
clubs. When the rope was stretched
out at the first pull the pseudo San
Pedros held their ground for a full
thirty seconds. while their opponents
We're getting a firm grip on the rome
Then-and the Americans walked Off
with as little apparent exertion as a
boy drags toy wagon; the San Pedros
skating down the boards to meet de-
feat in just one minute and five seconds
after the starters pistol was fired.
The winners are: r. e. Doan, cap
tain; J. G. Fifield, anchor; j. o. Gray,
George Gray, w. ]. Fifield, D. b. Kemp
and j. e. Fifield. The three Fifields are
father and two sons, none weighing less
than 295, and all muscle. The three
weigh 900 pounds. The Gray boys
are also powerful men, and Kemp
is quite an athlete himself. From pres
ent appearances the Americans will
come pretty near winning the match.
Tonight the second series will be
pulled off, a team from Redondo enter
ing the lists in the place of the San
Pedro men. The pull of last night will
not be counted for the Americans, and
they will probably be the first to meet
the beach combers.