Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1908-05-18
HACKENSCHMlDT RECEIVES
GRAND RECEPTION ABROAD
Wrestler Questioned by Many English
Friends Regarding His Recent
Bout with Frank
Gotch

According to the London papers, the
reception given Wrestler Hacken-
| schmidt when he reached there was
thousandfold more enthusiastic than
the cable dispatches made it. His own
! account of his match with Gotch had
reached there ahead of him, having
been cabled from New York, and his
English admirers were ready to be-
| lieve the whole of it-and then some
more. Far from losing caste with his
British admirers, he was greater than
ever in their eyes and was hailed as
conquering hero because he succeeded
| in bringing his precious life back home
again.
The London Leader, describes his
homecoming thus:
LAS soon as lie brave George stepped
heavily out of the Plymouth boat
train, with a most undefeated twinkle
in his eye. mighty multitude of Curl
osity mongers, rubbernecks, pressmen,
photographers. sporting lords, baro-
nets and knights fell upon him, so
that George staggered by the way and
heaved up against the boat express SO
that it rocked where 1t stood painting
on the rails"
This follows an allusion to Hack as
1.-The pride of the British public"
Some of the Questions Asked
After the excitement had Gained a
bit Hackenschmidt submitted to a cat
egorical interview in which the inter-
viewers appear to have done most of
the leading. They asked him how near
he came to losing the sight of both
eyes: how long Gotch's nails We're; how
much oil Gotch had smeared on his
body, and if it We're fresh or rancid;
how many threats were made against
his life: how many times Gotch had
bitten him, and to what extent his
brutal opponent" had stretched his
ears.
The answers Hack made were not
quite as rabid as the questions. He
reiterated that Gotchs skin was oiled,
that his nails were long and that the
latter were used on his eyes and face.
He admitted that Gotch was good
man. This statement was commented
on, parenthetcally, as most extraor-
binary. Hack said he spoke to the
referee about the grease on Gotch's
body, and the referee told him that
all wrestlers resorted to tricks"
Then this comes in ''Who was the
referee, George?" II think he was a
billiard reporter, or something like
that" Whereupon, according to the
stenographic interviewer, every one
exclaimed, in parenthesis, my word!'
Protests Vain in Chicago
In answer to the question as to
whether or not he had protested
against fouls, Hack is reported to
have said. with a smile and a shrug
of the shoulder, also in parenthesis:
What could L do? I said something
once or twice. but I did not want to
make a fuss in strange country, and
certainly not in Chicago"
And the final question was about the
fall when Hack was stated to have
been thrown: 1T was toward the end"
George said. II pushed him away, and
in doing so. went back against the
ropes. l caught hold of the ropes to
steady myself, and then when l felt
the ropes In my hand I was ashamed,
for l have never had the ropes in my
hands before, and as l loose them
Gotch catches me and 1 fall sideways.
1t may have been a rolling fall. 1 do
not know"
AS for the future, Hack will keep his
match with Zbysco in June, and is
prepared, as has been said, to wrestle
anybody else in the world, including
Gotch, but not in Chicago.