New-York tribune., 1908-03-17
HACK" SHOWS HISSkILL
By BIG CROUD.
Some LiUely Wrestling Bouts at
Grand Central Palace.

! GEORGE Hsckenschmidt the ''Russion Lion con-
sinced a big crowd the Grand Central Palace
sast night that has a fair claim to the title of
worlds champion wrestler. In his first exhibition
IN this country prior the big match with Frank
EScsch April in Chicago he figured in three
bouts and easily disposed of Neil Olsen Young
Hackenschmidt and Emil Stegemiller- That wrest-
aing is still popular plainly indicated by the
size and enthusiasm Of The crowd The enter
fainnent OF the best. and the followers OF the
sport went home well content
The fun began with GrRco-Roman match best
two OFT Of three falls. between Hans Lehnert ard
George Sohraeble. a pair 81 heavyweghts- They
~ent each other like bulls. and evenly
matched were the big fellows that the crowd was
kept guessing every minute Of the time Schraebe.
with an arm lock threw his man for the first fan
after thirteen minutes.
A time limit Of twenty minutes was put on the
next bout. The pace even faster than before,
and both sqUiTmed out Of several dangerous
positions and broke half Nelson's with apparent
ease. Finally LehnerI got hammerJock working
and forced his mans shoulders To the mat in
minutes and Is seconds In the decisive bout the
time limit placed ten minutes. but as neither
man had succeeded in gaining fall Jim Bagley.
the referee declared il q draw
Next TO appear were Tom Mccarthy and Paul
Kronie. who according Joe HUMPHREYS the an
nouncer a veteran Of the Boer war The man
from South Africa looked trihe fat but for all
that he did all the work during the first ten min
1ltes. After that he had bellows to mend ana
finally Mccarthy pinned him down with hammer
ans crotch hold The time was seventeen minutes
George Bothner, the lightweight champion. then
delighted the crowd by his superb footwork and
science. He Sailor Nielsen in catch-as-catch-
can match and Nielsen weighed considerably more
than Bothner. but the latters cleverness and gen
eral lsfip easily offset the difference in weight
4; one time Nielsen seemed TO have the cham
rion in a bad way with d crotch hold but Bothner
souirrned free. A little later Nielsen by the ald
of a half Nelson. got the New Yorker nearly over
i ike fash Bohner reversed the condltlons ana d
t,ao,,aa- aTte-1-ard he allowed the other to free
himself 1t was only for second. however. for as
Nielsen got OF one tight place ne rolled Ll'o
2 crotch hold. trap cleverly set by Botheer- Inc
latter then in three minutes and foriy-slN sec
onds
Later IN the evening Bothner met Cal Chrlsten-
sen There again the lightweight champion foufd
himself opposed a heavier man; but the resoi'
rroxed the same in the former bout FOR
eho,r five minutes the men squirmed and twisted
ont al holds in A manner that set me cro"u
shouting Bothner's shoulders were almost 70 'lie
mai AT one time but he knew what lie was uolls'
for as he apparently gone he suddenly spun
round and catching Christensen with chanceIH
leg hold threw him before he knew what had nap
rened The time minutes and % secohdS-
Fothrer received ovation as ne leit the TINS
About this time Ernest Roeher. the oidtIlhe
charnpion got up in his seat near the rlngslde
and declared in husky voice that he wanted 10
meet the winner OF the HacEeilschlIdl-'
match Roeber kept on talking like Ph"hosIail'
although the officials and the crowd invited nm
"A
when Facsl.nsch1nidt appeared for his first bou>
with Olsen the champion looked in the best o1 con-
di-ion He seems a trife heavier than when last
seen in this CITY three years ago, but his speed
,as MOI diminished in the least. Il only child
rla.- for him to throw Olsen TWO straight fails IN
4 minutes and % seconds and minute and % sec
ords RESPECTIVELY Half nelson holds did the Trick
both times
The champions next opponent was Young ffach-
erscan9idt~ who is considerably lighter than the
Russian The smaller Hack tried 10 keep away
bur big Hack soon had locked in a Viselike
grip and although the under dog saved himself Tor
rjon aprljed a full nelson 1t required minutes
and 21 seconds
The next fall shorter Scarcely mac ti1e
men come together than HackenschInict allowed
himself 10 be turned partly over 4 snout went
up from some who thought the big fellow had
been caught mapping but l. was only ruse. ana
the champion smiled mis- man sank uiutT the
rress11re ia a minute and half
The last bout, with Stegeniler- proved interest
ing StegeTliler IS a bury German weighing about
go pounds, and addition TO this he knows the
game He made Hackenschmidt work hard for
time but finally the champion got his mans shoul-
ders down with forced bridge in minutes and 70
seconds II was a pretty bit Of work and came
Unexpectedly
FIackenschrnidt VIII give an exhibition in Boston
tonight and viii in time for his scheduled
appearance at the Clermont Avenue Rink, in Brook
lyn tomorrow night, when another big crowd is
sure out.