Omaha daily bee., 1916-12-24
LEWIS SPINS YARN
ABOUT JOE STECHER
Stranger Entertains Boys on
Coast With Stories Of Five
Hour Match in Omaha.
SOME OF IT'S FUNNY, TOO

Stranger Lewis, when he was in
San Francisco, spent lot of his time
entertaining the wrestling fans OF the
coast with tales of his fivc-hour bout
with Joe Stccher in Omaha last July
I, The following, one of the yarns the
Stranger spun. shows that he has
good imagination:
Stranger Lewis thinks that Joe
Stecher is one Of the finest fellows i'll
the world.
Joe is just big country boy says
tho Stranger" and when | wrestled
him five hours | was half inclined to
be sorry for him, he was so disap-
pointed over his failure to beat me in
short order.
when we started In | kiddcd him.
joe asked, while we we're in the
clinch. don't you think that either one
OF us would give Gotch merry old
timcH
"T would he drawled, but you
wouldn't
When we had been wrestling al
most five hours and Joe was blowing
and cross-eyed from exhaustion, !
addressed him again.
Joe, asked, do you think now
that would give Gotch run for his
money!
Yes he, drawled. Didn't have
enough gumption left to give me
saucy reply
The Stranger" laughs like big
school boy when he gets to telling
about how certain the Nebraskans
were that Stecher would beat him in
jig time, and Of how they bet their
money on their man.
There was no betting on the gen.
cral result said Lewis, because no.
, body in Nebraska thought it possible
for anyone to hold his own with the
great Stecher. And any person who
thought Stecher could be beaten and
said so would have been considered
fit for the insane asylum without any
further examination.
What they bet on was how long it
would take him to throw me. When
the announcer got up and said we had
been wrestling half an hour groan
went up all over the arena from those
who had bet that he would pin me
= within that time.
"One old fellow who was sitting
near the ring got up and started to
S run out
"'Wait a minute, HikeW yelled a
friend; where you goin'?'
j "'Shet your mouth, consarn your
e yelled back Hike, I've lost my
t eighty acres.
e "Stecher was a sick man after the
first hour and half, actually sick
|, with modification,
! He had brought his girl to the
, arena, and she had ringside seat
> No doubt on the way to the arena
he told her that he would beat me in
half an hour. or an hour, and that
the rest of the afternoon he would
I spend buying her popcorn and soda
3 water.
E ~ felt sorry for the girl really
: and truly sorry, she looked so forlorn
$ and detected as the hours passed and
her Joe didn't pin me as he had prom
: ised he would,
d "Seeing how disappointed the girl
looked and while in the heat Of bat
: ,ie ! peIalhe li''Ie pe,sons pWe
ndps' anu 4ow tIlat .i'n,A ~, =. y ~
sorry put ! c9uiuii iesist INC Temp
'at,oJ 10 hlu JOE :. -. a..
our po9i u ,c NY u'sap.
c we're a champion I'm sorry to beat
n you and take her away from you.'
e "lf Joe could beat me at all he
wouid nave done II rlent lnere; ne
ooilea over win ahger ano ior
: n]iiuto .rleu esery'iii's NC nau ol'
me. put every ti'ne nc ,hfew MS ~
over 10 Ihook me ,'.o lhe seissors ;
>, caugnt u MS zoe ana tnwarteu MN;
u nat was tne one thihg ! nau Y
> De careiul aoout-'ne scissors. Wnen
i once otesner gets & .he SCISSORS noiu i,
:. goou ana sohu tnere lsr q man ~
the Worio nc can I squeeze ih'o SUP
mission; Gs -, -. :. \
4 otechef Is suci Dig man IN ne
- DTdSkd, 81 WSll tHOusut VI tldt HS
e eo,.os ;,, tb. et,to'e ooI;t;cs