The Washington herald., 1911-09-03

Hackenschmidt-is the topic on every
tongue in. Chicago tonight. The eyes
OF all the sporting world are turned
toward the White Sox ball park, where
these two greatest exponents OF ply
sical prowess in the worlds history
will battle for supremacy Monday, at
3 o'clock in the afternoon-and this
Western metropolis is wrestling mad.
1t will be a battle Of monsters. the
clash of two man-mOuntain marvels
of speed, strength. and endurance. and
a fight to the finish. BY Sundown
Monday, one Of two things will be a
fact. A champion. raised on "A pedestal
of glory and Iauded as never before
has a champion been lauded, will have
/ justified the admiration that has been
his. or he will have fallen before one
of even greater prOwess, and with him
the pride of the American people.
For the entire country is wrapped
up in the success of Frank GOtch, the
| big. brawny, wonderful Iowa farmer,
who has fought his way upward by
persistence and courage. Nor are the
| hackers of the Russian Lion" want
ing, which are shown by the odds that
are prevailing tonight. just two days
| before the big match-even money
and that despite Gotchs victory over
the Russian in 1909.
New Hack Is Here.
1t is a new Hack" that will step
| through the ropes on Labor Day. His
months OF training in England have
given him added speed. weight.
strength. and stamina. and, what is
more. he has fully mastered the catch
as-catch-can game. One of Gotch's
arguments for a victory is that the
Russian was brought up in the GraecO-
Roman game. That argument also
works the other way 1t can be used
to explain Hacks defeat on the for
mer occasion and to show how much
different his new knowledge OF the
catch-as- as-catch-can game will make.
These men have trained for the
match as never before have athletes
trained. Their preparations can almost
be said to have dated from the time
of their last meeting. nearly three
years ago. Gotch claims the title of
worlds champion by virtue OF his
technical triumph over Hackenschmidt
when, after three hours of wrestling
without a fall, the Russian protested
foul tactics by GOtCh and withdrew
when the claim was disallowed Gotch
then realized that experience would
improve his rival. and. therefore, has
strived to improve himself.
At Gotch's home town. Humboldt.
Iowa, he worked like a Trojan. Every
day he tossed about on the mat
the foremost wrestlers of the country.
among them such stars as Yusiff Rus
sane. Henry Ordmann, Jess Wester-
gaard, Joe Rogers. Charlie Olsen. Fred
Beell, Farmer Burns. Jim Asbell,
Domke. and Relmel with his ever
present manager, Emil Klanke. over
seeeing everything with his eagle eve.
Since the champion broke up his Iowa
camp and came TO his present quar-
ters at the Chicago Athletic Associa-
tiOn A week ago, he has taken things
easier. aiming toward further mastery
of the new holds he has invented to
supplement the terrible toe hold.
Hackenschmidt has worked even
harder than Gotch. When he boarded
the liner for England to start condl-
tioning, he took with him DR.. 3. F.
Roller. the Seattle physiCian-wrestler,
who is believed to know more about
Gotch's style than any other man.
While his manager. Jack Hurley
stayed behind him in this country to
look after his interests. Hack toiled
away at his villa. 'Fairhaven," at
Shoreham. England. Besides DR.. Rol-
Ter, he worked against the German
champion. Adolph Ernst: Johann
Kock, another German mat artist. and
Dusty" Coleman. the famous English
trainer of athletes When he boarded
the Olympic to come across the At
lHntic, he was accompanied not only
by all these, but added to his retinue
the veteran Tom, Jenkins. At New
York he was Joined by "Americus."
and Charlie Cutler entered into Hacks !
training system when he arrived in !
this city and opened his gymnasium |
on the North Shore He also brought |
along with him a special chef to cook !
his meals, and ten barrels of French !
spring water, not wishing to take any |
chances with change of diet.
Gotch Plans Quick Finish.
Remembering the terrible strain of |
his long match with Hack in Chicago |
three years ago. and that strength and |
conference.-the snap-ebbs as the !
match draws on, Gotch declared that !
he was planning a quick finish to the |
match. Instead of tugging with his |
opponent and trying to find out Just |
what his strength and present knowl- |
edge of the game is, Frank is going
right in from the jump to bring home |
a victory. He does not say he will |
on Zbysco in gaining the first fall.
but he says he has a better and more |
effective one, and one into which Hack |
will surely fall.
II confidence and the perfection OF
condition will carry one through to
victory, Gotch has as good as re-
tained his title of champion wrestler
Of the world. A defeat at the hands
of Hackenschmidt would be the great
est surprise the Iowa farmer ever has
experienced in his mat career.
But when he enters the ring to
srapple with the huge Russian, Gotch
1oes so confident that he will be re-
turned the victor, whether It takes
him only a few minutes or IL the
struggle is prolonged for hours. One
hing can be put down here, and that
S that the champion means to termi-
nate the battle just as quickly as he
,an.
- Il