Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-12-16

THE present vogue for wrestling,
which became marked last year
and which Is exceedingly strong
this sea son, is sufficient reason
for calling the interested public S
attention to this. the not least interesting
fact about wrestlers today-that, unlike
prize fighters they are a pretty abstemious
lot when ont of training as well as when
In.
Tom jenkins. the American heavyweight
champion, winning back that title from
Gotch, in Madison Square Garden, New
York. last spring, does not know the
taste of beer or any other intoxicant.
Harvey Parker, the weiter-weight, has
never drunk or smoked, and In addition he
forswears coffee. Leo Pardello. the premier
italian heavyweight In this country, only
occasionally takes glass of some light
Italian wine. Farmer Burns, originally
from Iowa, has consumed just as little
liquor and smoked as little tobacco as has
Parker. The Cuban Wonder (properly
speaking, Claren Bouldin), refuses invita-
tons to be zone of the boys great deal
oftener than he accepts. William ]. Brown.
for fourteen years wrestling partner of
George Bothner, is every bit careful in his
living as Bothner himself, who admits that
he takes a glass of beer once in a while,
this being the extent practically of his in
diligence in the divers excuses that usually
wreck the prize fighter before he has reach
ed thirty-five or forty, Fttzsimmons being a
lone exception.
The names of many other wrestlers could
be included in the list with propriety and
truth, but perhaps the most abstemious
wrestler of them all is the Russian Lion :"
George Hackenschmidt.
x X
1t is belief amounting almost to a su-
perstition with Hackenschmidt that the
moment he quits living in accordance with
the moral law, to the best of bis knowI-
edge and ability, that moment his strength
will desert him and he will become as
weak as Samson when he was shorn OF his
locks by the treacherous Delilab
Perhaps "Hack's' observations of the de-
moralizing effects of wine women and
song on many men is responsible in part
Tor the hold this belief has on him; per-
haps his marked religious bent is more
largely responsible. At any rate before
he does anything Hackenschmdt always
carefully weighs what effect the act Will
have upon him morally, his attitude of
mind being that anything which will
weaken mans moral fiber will sooner or
later do the same for his physical fiber.
The simplest of foods are good enough
Tor Hackenschmidt S65 days in the year
and only once in a great while does he
wash down meal with a glass of beer
taken more for tonic than stimulant.
He never smokes. He never stays out late
with the boys" He Is early to bed and
early to rise. He holds that hard work
10 one OF the best methods possible for
keeping ones self In trim. morally as well
as physically. and he plans to have some
thing for his hands to do every minute OF
the day. II he Is not exercising, then he
is giving time to his investments or dis
cusslng arrangements for matches with his
manager. and when business cares are van
ished perhaps books of the sort that would
delight the most straightlaced claim his
attention. Where, indeed, is a man who
lives more abstemiously?
To the average wrestlers considerable