Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1899-12-24
THE GENTLE ART
OF WRESTLING.

The manly art of wrestling is going
to regain its old time popularity in
the near future. / am convinced that
during the coming year much of the
enthusiasm over wrestling bouts that
used to be witnessed in days gone by
will be seen again.
| have several reasons for this opin-
ion, one being the much larger crowds
OF people that have paid to see wrest-
ling contests and exhibitions during
the past few months than for several
years previous to that time. Only a
short time ago | was challenged by
Professor Atlas, of New York, and the
affair was arranged to take place in a
hall in a rather out of the way part of
that city. l thought possibly a couple
of hundred dollars would be taken at
the door, but to my great amazement
we cleared over $1,000 that night.
Little straws like this show which
way the wind is blowing, and I am per-
fectly convinced that it is at last veer-
ing round in favor of wrestling, and I
hope it is, for it is a great science. Such
contests are not only intensely inter
estlng to watch, but it will be a good
thing for the youth of this great coun-
try if they will go in for wrestling
more generally. 1t is one of the best
possible exercises a mar can take up,
as it not only serves to develop every
muscle of the body, but also induces
quick thought and rapid action, besides
making one able to grasp a sudden
opportunity without fatal delay.
Still another reason for my opinion
that wrestling is coming to the fore is
the number of challenges that l have
been inundated with, directly and indi-
rectly, during the past few weeks.
Some of these have been from men who
have issued defis simply for the sake
of a little possible notoriety. To them.
of course, l shall pay not the slightest
attention, as they have no intention of
ever facing me On the mat. Others,
again, have come to me from ambitious
amateurs who think that because they
have downed a few local celebrities
they must of necessity be world
beaters. | annot afford to pay any
attention to this class until they have
done some work that necessitates
my meeting them, not only because
the matches would draw no crowd, but
the result would be so farcical that the
old cry of fake, that has already done
so much to hurt the game, would in
evitably be raised again. | have never
been guilty of trying to hoax the pub
lie and will not be a party to any
scheme that, even if perfectly legit-
innate, looks like a skin game.
There are others who have challeng-
ed me, however, whom | shall be only
too glad to meet. These are men who
are champions in their own countries
and who are coming to America to try
to wrest the title of champion of the
world from me.
Among the foreigners who have sig
nified their intention to come over and
wrestle me this winter are two' men
who are likely to give me a good tussle
before l down them, for they are fell
lows with splendid regulations abroad
and there are few tricks in connection
with the game which they do not know.
One of these men is Paul Pons, the
champion Greco-Roman wrestler Of
France. He is about 6 feet 5 inches in
height and built in proportion, with a
tremendous muscular development. He
has defeated all aspirants in Gaul so
handily that nov everybody over there
is afraid to meet him.
A similar complaint as regards a
lack of opponents is said to be the rea-
son that Beck Olsen, the champion of
Germany, has decided to come over
here to get on a match with me. He is
another giant in stature, being consid-
cradle over 6 feet in height, while | am
but 8 feet ~ inches. Olsen is COM
monty known in Europe as the Great
Dane, because Denmark is his native
land. He is said to have defeated all
adversaries with such amazing ease
that his countrymen believe him irwin
chile. Naturally, l am confident of de-
feating him and shall do my best to
keep the championship of the world in
this country a few years longer.
l have twice made tours of Europe,
wrestling any one who would meet me,
and in 1895 brought home with me a
sheepskin emblematic of the champion
ship of Europe. While there | met and
defeated 100 men in II months, often
meeting four and five men in n even
ing. The wrestlers over there are not
to be sneezed at, for they are good
men, but we have better yer here.
During the past two or three years
there has been an invasion of this
country by several alleged Turkish
wrestlers, each of whom has claimed
to be the champion Of the Ottoman en-
pire, and each Of whom has in turn
declared that he has defeated all COM
ers, including the ones who were here
before him. Now, as a matter Of fact,
none of these men was a wrestler ac-
cording to our standards. They were