Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1916-08-02
Thrilling Game Coming to Winne-
shiek Fair. American and Eng.
land Teams Will Compete.
MOST SENSATIONAL GAME
EVER STAGED
Players Appeared at Grand Forks, n.
ID. Fair Last Week. Five
Wheels Were Broken From
the Cars. Machines
Tangled Together.

A copy of the Grand Forks, N. d
Herald reaches our desk, and ha
the following to say about auto polo
which will be one of the big attrac
tions at the Winneshiek county fai
this year. E. j. Curtin, of this city
one of the officials of the Winneshiel
fair, is also an Iowa State fair direc
tor, and he secured this big attrac
tion for Decorah. 1t appeared a
Des Moines last season and was tn;
sensation of the week. Following i!
1.-THE Grand Forks report:
For 80 minutes Americas origin
Ial auto polo team held the crowd al
the fair grounds spellbound last eve
ming with the most sensational ex-
hibition of daring ever staged in
Grand Forks, when Ray Lampkin
driver, and Ray Claypool, malletman
representing England, handed de.
feat to Paul Henderson, driver, and
Charles Adams, malletman, the
American aggregation, by score OF
|3 to 2.
+ Four times Claypool drove the ball
over the American posts but one
count was disqualified as Henderson
and Adams were in heap far down
the course, with only three wheels on
their machine. Adams pounded three
'tallies but also was forced to lose
one through an injury to the oppon-
ents' car.
During the 80 minutes five wheels
were broken from the cars, twice the
machines were tangled together and
each rolled completely over once.
Undaunted when cars clashed head
on, the death defying athletes
through sheer determination stepped
on the accelerators and plunged in
to the game with vim that brought
gasp after gasp from the spectators.
Though intimate friends when Off
the course, the members of the op-
POSING teams appeared to be mortal
enemies when defending their goals
and when count was close, reckless
abandon marked the defense.
According to r. A. Hankinson, the
originator of the game and manager
Of the teams, his drivers and mallet-
men have never before shown the
fighting spirit to the degree that w;>;
displayed in last nights contest.
Darkness settled over the track,
greatly increasing the hazard of the
participants, but not one moment
was taken from the schedule time.
Time after time the ball rolled
towards the goal but the daring driv-
ers crashed in with their machines
and blocked the play at the very risk
of their lives. In last nights game
Claypool proved trife more adept
with the mallet than Adams, but for
uUAAAo tACy WOAC oh CNCA ANu
risk was too great to take to prevent
a score, no turn was too sharp no
matter at what speed the car was
travelling.
r. A. Hankinson, originator, pro-
mOter, and in truth the father of the
most exciting game ever devised
takes great pride in his men and
their daring feats. Although each
player and driver realizes that he is
facing death the moment the flag is
dropped, they are not aware of this
fact in greater sense than Hankin-
son.
When darkness increased the dan
ger he harbored a fear that was
greater than any that ever unnerved
a driver or malletman. but the dog
ged determination which was the
stimulus of the idea he conceived in
originating the game, kept him from
calling time until the timekeeper
sounded the gong.
--O