The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1929-11-02
| ALKING
IT OVER
WITH JOE WILLIAMS
NEW YORK, Nov. o.

ABOUT IOOtDall IN general ana young
Able Booth, the Yale pulmotor. in
particular. I had in mind writing
something about the capriciousness
of the gods and the poisonous de-
light they take in lifting a fellow to
the skies one day and dragging him
around in the mire the next. 1
intended to write that nobody need
be surprised if young Booth failed
to gain a yard against Dartmouth
in today's game at New Haven, be-
cause that is the way such things
generally work out in this strange
world and besides the deni tasSe
back field star performed so many
miracles against Brown and Army
that there must be limit to what
even he can do.
BY way OF a convincing touch I planned
a technical paragraph pointing out that
the other side didn't take his presence very
seriously In the Brown game and Army,
rating him only an ordinary ball toter.
didn't 20 TO any extremes In building M a
special defense against him. What I'm
trying to say. or would have tried to say.
is that he wasn't what you might call
marked man. But against Dartmouth he
viii be more literally marked than the
zebra.
WELL, anyway. 1 happened TO
w bump into the aforemen-
Mons. Curley, and what do you
imagine he ups and tells me? That
he's pulling out of the rassling
racket, leaving Broadway for Colo
RADIO and retiring from the sport
game completely. He's going out to
loot Mondts sugar beet ranch,
days ride from Denver. and settle
down among the COW puncherS and
the farm hands.
Eyes. this is my last season In the
game signed the man who made rassling
what II is today In this country. I'm
getting a little old and tired and / feel
the need OF a long rest. I'm getting my
affairs Strengthened out now and I'll be
heading for the west in the spring.
don't expect ever to come back. Broad
way doesn't seem to mean much to me
any more and the snort game has sort of
zone past me. / don't know Just how
to explain It,"
Mons. Curley knows how to ex-
plain it all right, but he doesn't care
to admit as much. There probably
comes a time when even an old fire
horse gets fed up on the thrills of
general alarms and prefers the con-
tentment of his stall.
MONS. CURLEY has been gy-
Iva rating in the vortex of sport
dom's hurly-burly for thirty-five
years, and that's long, long time.
have no way of knowing how ex-
citing life on a sugar beet farm can
be, but it is conceivable that almost
anything might be an improvement
over life sentence as raSSling
promoter.
Mems. Curley began promoting out in
Chicago in 1897 and has been almost con-
tinuously identified with the Eroan and
Erunt science ever since. His books show
that during this time he has done a
$4,000. 900 business. This is a lot of money
when you consider that rasSling has never
been nationally popular. but on the con-
trsry has been nationally pooh poohed.
Very little of this four million,
however, managed to stick to Mons.
Curley's wallet. He was a good fell
low when he had it and as a result
was not one of the men the bank
ers called on to lend confidence and
support to Wall Street when the
panic struck.
CURLEY tells you that rassling
~ had its biggest days In this
country from 1909 to 1911. That
was when Frank Gotch was cfaRl-
pion and when Yusjff Maymout,
Raoul De Rousen, StanislauS Zbys-
zko and George HackenSchmidt
we're all over here trying to de-
throne the American. Besides there
we're DR.. Benjamin Roller, Jess
WeStergaard, Henry Oderman,
Charlie Cutler. Gus Schoenlein
(Americus) and Yusiff Hussane.
Curley insists that the glory and the
grandeur of the mat game reached its
heights during the active DAYS of this
group Of strong men. Rsssling still con-
tinues TO attract attention In certain spots
sround the country according TO Curley.
A..a l.
York for instance Is very ordinary rass-
ling town. good for no more than one
stsndout show wear. Philadelphia. Bos-
ton and Los Angeles are the best raSsling
towns
The worst are San Francisco, Den
yer. st. Paul, Omaha, Lincoln and
Sioux City. These have been killed
by bad matches, confides Curley, but
one wonders how big part dis
eliminating public may have played
in the demise.
TXTHILE Curley is what you
w might call the godfather of
rassling he has not confined his en-
ergies and genius to this one par
ticular field. The truth is there Is
little the gentleman hasn't promoted
or tried to promote. One of his
earliest adventures was his exploit
tation of William Jennings Bryan,
the silver-tongued orator, to Cur
ley. Bryan was great man and
great talker Il could sit and listen
10 him talk by the hour" confessed
| Curley. In fact, had to-"