Arizona republican., 1900-12-24
ROBERTS W0N THE MATCH
Bassett, However, Made the Best
 Showing in Steer-Tying Contest.

Showing in Steer-Tying Contest.
 In the best exhibition Of steer-tying ever seen in this portion of the coun- try, Oscar Roberts defeated Joe Bas- sett, in their match at Phoenix park, Sunday afternoon. Rcocuts won on fluke, to be sure, but deserves none the less credit. as his were the hardest steers and his i'll luck the most ire quent. According to the terms of the agreement, each man was to throw and tie five steers, eadl steer to have 35 yards start, and the teal lime for the five to decide the contest. Roberts time was 6 minutes and 1415 seconds, and that of Bassett was minutes an1 2S% seconds. Roberts is richer by S32G and two-thirds of ithe gate re- ceip:s, if the advertised agreement was adhered to. Roberts furnished his own backing, and Jack Gibson wus the pro- wider for the Bassett side.
 In the presence of a crowd of about 1900 people the match began at 3 o'clock. The men alternated in their trials and Roberts was the frs. to make an al empt His misfortune be- gan there and aIthought he threw his steer in thirty seconds and made d clean and good throw, the brute arose and did not stay down until the third throw. In the meantims Roberts had broken a bridle rein and consequently had difficulty in handling his horse. He made the tie in 1:5015. Bassett rode the same horse which Doc Goodwin used in last years contest and the same little animal upheld it's reputa- ton as one of the best cOw-hOrses i1 this country. Bas e l. u1de a quick throw, but was a long time in tying The throw was made in 9 seconds, but the total time was .51$4. In his sec ond attempt, Roberts made two throws in 45 seconds and tied in II more. His third. steer was tied in 1:O6al. His fourth steer was a hardy fellow and Roberts did good work in throwing him three times and finally tying him in 1:151a His las. attempt was thc best of the five. He threw the steer three times in 43 seconds, the third time brcalng it's leg. The time was 1:O3ls The steer was killed later Bassatt's second throw was made in 1:451b, and his third attempt was the fastest of the day. Directly in front of the grand stand he made a beautiful throw and with his rope over one horn. had the steer down in 9 seconds and tied in :4C1@ better time by f seconds than that Of Ed Horrell, who won last years carnival tie, and within Az seconds of the best time ever made in a local con- test. His fourth effort bid fair to re- suit better than the other one, as he threw his steer in twenty seconds. The animal arose, however, and the time required for the throwing made a to- j.al Of 52 seconds. At this stage in the contest, Bassett had such a lead over his Cr-'0r er.t hat there seemed no pes sibility of defeat. H. was minutes and 20 seconds ahead of Roberts, time enough and to spare for the roping of two more steers. But the uneXpect d happened, and his last steer was his undOing. The brute was the quickest. strongest and wisest of the lot. Bas- sett missed his first throw, and after some difficulty got his rope over the steer, but the la,ter threw it off and escaped into the corral. Bassett drove the brute out into the open and finally got his rope over the head, but could not make the th;sw. The steer fell, but got up ard viciously charged the horse and rider. Again he was thrown and again arose fighting. At the end of a hard fight Bassett downed him ef- fectJnfy and tied him, bus minutes and 141H seconds had elapsed and he was beaten.
 The contest, according to experienced cattlemen, was a very excellent exhib- ition of eXpeIi, work. Eassett's show ing was in fact al1.lst a brilliant one, up to the time of his last attempt Un- til that time he was ahead of the terri tOrial record and had he made the last tie in reasonable time. he would doubt less nave set up a new figure for Ari- zona punchers to attempt. AiI,er the steer-tying. Texas Wilkins, Jchn Moore and Harry Knight competed in a h"onco-breaking contest. Moore was awarded first money.