The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-05-21
GOTCH ID WHISTLE THE RUSSIAN LION
 FOR WORLDS TITLE
BY BERT E. coLLYER

Chicago, May 2O.-The signing of arti- ees between Frank Gotch, champion wrestler of the world, and George Lack enschmidt, the Russian Lion.'' admit tedly the contender for the title, proved select morsel for tns sporting fans herea bouts. According to the agreement which was reached after months of wrangl!ng and much side-stepping on the part of Gotch, the champion is to receive from the Empire Athletic club of this city, which will stage the affair Labor Day, $20,00O as his share of the purse, 5000 for training purposes and 90 per cent of the picture privileges. Truly a princely. portion, even for champion According to the promoters it is expected that the match will prove more attrac- tive than the Johnson-Jeffries bout. while from a box office viewpoint new record is almost sure to be hung up.
 The final details, the signing of articles, the posting of s5000 forfeit by each party as we'll as the club, was not with out pyrotechnics. which at one stage Of the negotiations augured none too well for the clinching of the match. How ever, the Q1piOfldCyt HUI to mention pugnacity of Jack Curley, manager of Hack to whom the lions portion of the credit must be accorded for finally mailing Gotch down, was we'll attested. Curley, after months of bully ing and countrywide chasing of the champion, finally conceded the unprece- dented demands of Gotch even to the i,,ir xuht ic do- mated not by the club but by Curley. Coming directly on top of his successful handling of Hackenschmidt, to whom he guaranteed $20,000 for 20 weeks In this country it cannot be said other than Curley is entitled to the inpressario laurel wreaths
 That Gotch was reluctant to sign up was admitted even by his staunchest ad- mirers. In fact, from those close to the had grumbled that he would never sign for this match to take place earlier than Labor Day. The reason for this was that the champion had been palpably unfit for a match other than with third or fourth raters Even for these, many of whom he met during the past winter, there are those who stand sponsor for the state ment that in each and every one he had a shade an ace or whatever one might choose to call 1.-the product of a man ager who is past master In the art of lemon-selecting.
 There is yet another point that Is il- illustrative of Gotchs very, very inmost feelings anent this match-his demand for 30 per cent of the picture privileges. In this. experts hereabouts. those who know the wrestling game backwards as well as through the usual channel, point out that Gotch feels that in Hacken- schmidt he is meeting his master, and this notwithstanding his having secured a decision over the "Lion' The point raised by the experts is that if there had not been a considerable doubt in the mind of Gotch as to his ability to down Hack he never would have held out for the pictures. For if Gotch wins the pie lures will be practically worthless, that is. compared to what they will draw in the event that Hackenschmidt is re- turned the winner. There Is still another point in favor of this argument and one
 
 and that is that when the Lion wrestled the champion before, he (Iackenschmidt was a sick man, suffering from an acute blood disease, which caused him to break out in large blotches and seriously retarding his training operations On the night of the memorable struggle Gotch and Hack mauled each other for two solid hours. At the end of that time and without either having gained a fall, the Russian gave up the match from ex- haustion. It was, however, a different Lion that invaded this country during the past winter and who so easily trimmed all corners, top-notchers alike, and who left at the conclusion of his contract with Curey, disgusted because Gotch would not keep his many-time promises of signing up for match, which led to the now famed expression of Hack, who in tones indicative of con tempt said: MT Go-tch is an awful li-aire.'' r
 One of the questions sure to be thrashed out by the experts throughout the country, is gameness, for this Is surely going to be potent factor In the forthcoming match. Dealing first with ,Gotch, it must be said that he has been given credit for being the possessor of indomitable courage.
 On the other hand, there are those who do not take much stock in this we'll believes and has maintained that Gotch Is not a game man. I have in view his wrestling experience during the Klondike, when he wrestled many men at Dawson City, under the name of Frank Nenne- dy. He was then managed by Ollie Marsh who was afterwards convicted as member of the Mayberry gang of sure thing operators. That, of course, or rather the angle. is as Kipling would put it.. another story t
 Gotchs gameness was questioned very seriously when he essayed to be fighter and very pertinently when he met and was trimmed to frazzle by poor old broken-down and whisky-soaked Frank Slavin. The writer was one of the time keepers at the ringside on the occasion of their meeting. It was said that one of the details insisted upon by Gotch was that Slavin was not to mark him (Gotch) up. There was also a peculiar betting angle connected with the affair, which has never been satisfactorily explained Slavin. who in his day. was past master in the art, whaled Frank unmercifully Gotch stood a mauling for about two rounds. then he deliberately picked Slavin up and threw him over his head The police stepped in and stopped the affair.
 { There are other instances too numerous to mention when the yellow tinge has crept out prior even to going on the mat with some second-class man. Tn n word, Gotch has been the best managed athlete in years.
 As to the courage possessed by Hack enschmidt, there can be little or no doubt. He was a foreigner, came to the champions bailiwick, was palpably un-