Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1911-09-05
RAVE At
ALL BETS OFF"
As As GGOTCH WINS
Referee Ed Smith Says He
Feared Squawk from Bettors.
Match a Fiasco, While Pro.
moters Reek With Money.
Game May Be Killed in Chi
CagO.

CHICAGO, Sept. 5.-Calling off Of all
bets on the Gotch-Hackenschmidt
wrestling match yesterday has raised
a storm of protests by those who had
money upon the winner.
Herman F. Schuettler, assistant chief
of police, last night explained the ac-
ton by saying that such procedure is
customar An added reason, he said,
is that the police are determined to
stamp out gambling in the city.
Referee Smith, Chief Schuettler ex-
planned, proposed that the bets be
called off. His reason was that in
case the match turned out to be q poor
one, as it did, there would be q tre-
mendous 'squawk' from the bettors,
and that the wrestling game would re-
{ i've a serious setback in Chicago.
You understand it is quite GUS
tomary to call bets off in events of
this kind. 1t has little effect, as the
bettors will back their opinions re-
CARELESS of the announcement
"One more 1asco like this and wrest-
ling is a dead card in Chicago.
1T is q shame the assistant chief
continued, Ito bring a crowd like this
together and send them home with
this memory of the worlds greatest
wrestling match
II am a devotee of wrestling. No one
likes better than l do to see we men,
evenly matched, battling for a big
title.
1T isn't right to put up a match of
this kind. Wrestling is a good sport.
1t car be made crooked, Ike any other
sport, but honestly conducted it is a
splendid recreation.
Il do not think this match was
crooked. But it was a fiasco. Why?
Because tne men were not evenly
matched.
Because one man wasn't up to
standing the gaff this GROVE paid over
500, 900 to see twenty minutes of in
different sport. The next big match, If
there is one must be preceded by a
guarantee arranged so that the public
can be satisfied there will be a real
contest. Otherwise. wrestling will be,
as | ave said, a dead carr in Chi
cago."
Ticket-scalpers selling seats for the
Gotch-Hackenschmidt wrestling bout
reaped one of the largest harvests
ever recorded for a similar event in
this city, according Il the vendors
themselves. Business was exception
ally good, especially in the three days
before the match. but the outlook was
really gloomy before that time. 1t was
not until the out-of-town spectators
arrived that the real sale began.
Tickets selling originally for $40 went
to SIS. while a few of the choice ones
were sold from $17 to $50. The IS seats
| We're sold for $3.50 up to SO. and the SO
tickets brought an advance of 2. 1t
is estimated that 1000 tickets were dis
posed of by the scalpers.
The announcement that Frank Gotch
had Ion his second victory from
George Hackenschmidt at Chicago was
the signal for the most enthusiastic
demonstration Humboldt, Ia, has
witnessed in any years. Last night
the home folks" We're informally cele-
brating the event, and it is doubtful
If there is a single farmhouse within
a radius of fifty miles to which the
news has not travelled.
Friends and neighbors OF Gotch
gathered at the postoffice early in the
afternoon, where wire arrangements
for receiving news of the bout had
been made. 1t was not long before the
crowd completely filled the small lobby
of the building and had %oyerfowed into
the street. But the announcement that
the contest had ended came so sud-
denly that for a m it seemed to
stun the crowd.
And so when the flash "Gotch wins
came in less thai twenty minutes, the
GROVE gasped. and then, as the full
significance of the message disclosed
itself, there was a yell of delight. For
fully twenty minutes more there was
wild cheering. Plans already are
under way for a rousing reception to
Gotch upon his return.