Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1940-10-06
Polo Stars Battle Here Today Bundles for Britain Match
Meadow Brook Plays
Texas in Capital S
First Classic
Military Troppings
Will Precede Game;
Big Crowd Seen

Blue bloods of the polo world
the first eight ranking stars of the
sport-will display their skill this
afternoon at the Potomac Park Polo
Field in a match for the benefit of
the Bundles for Britain Fund.
Marking Washington's first truly
great polo match, the contest will
bring together the Meadow Brook,
Long Island. team captained by the
famous Stewart Iglehart and the
Texas foursome led by the redoubt-
able erstwhile cowpuncher, Cecil
Smith.
The battle will begin at 8 pm.
in a setting in which John Q. Pub
lie will rub shoulders with the elite
and in which celebrities OF the polo
and movie world. high ranking Gov
eminent officials and men outstand-
ing in the United States Army will
have part.
Never before has the Nations
Capital seen such a galaxy of mall
let weilders, for Iglehart and Smith
are names synonymous with polo,
and many experts are prone to
mention them in the same breath
with the great Tommy Hitchcock,
the polo immortal. who with his
charming wife. the former Peggy
Mellon. will occupy one of the
boxes as a special guest of the
Bundles for Britain Committee
chairman, Mrs. George Angus Gar
rett.
Just before play begins an i'm
pressive professional, led by the
nationally famous Sd Cavalry Band
from Fort Myer, with a complement
of 80 men, will take place. The
Sd Cavalry men will ride onto the
field on their prancing steeds, with
all the colorful trappings, Follow
ing them will come the 56 ponies,
who are to take part in the match,
and their grooms.
Experts Like Meadow Brook.
Despite the fact that the Texas
sed-shirted stars, led by Smith will
enter the match sporting a 34-foot
goal total for their players. many
of the experts yesterday favored
Meadow Brook.
The Meadow Brook team has only
a 30-goal total, but it has Iglehart,
a lO-goal player. the only other 10
goal man in active competition out
side of Cecil Smith.
Elbridge (Ebbie) Gerry, 8-goal
player, will play No. /; Bob Gerry,
his brother, 7-goal player, will play
No. 2; Capt. Iglehart will take over
No. 8, and Bob Strawbridge, presi-
dent of the United States Polo Asso-
citation, a 5-goal player and veteran
OF the eight, will be at back.
Texas will have two 9-goal men in
Michael Phipps, who will play No.
l. and Winston Guest, British-born,
but now an adopted American, who
will be at back. Peter Grace. jr..
with 6-goal rating. will play No. 2
and Cecil Smith will be at No. 3.
This match has the official sane
ton of the United States Polo Asso-
citation and has created so much in
terest in Washington and vicinity
that between 5000 and 10000 per-
sons are expected to be on hand.
Smith on Great Team.
Capt. Smith, who learned his
Craftsmanship on the Texas plains
as cowboy, was member of the
great American team that played
the British last year. Two of his
teammates on the Texas team
Winston Guest. former Yale athlete,
and Mike Phipps, another Yale
product-were members of the start
ing lineup for the Yankees last
season. And oddly enough, Tommy
Hitchcock was the fourth member.
His place today will be filled by
Peter Grace, ir, one of the younger
players of the do-or-die type.
Iglehart. graduate of Yale, for
mer polo and ice hockey star there,
came into tournament prominence
as member of the colorful old
Aiken, S. c., team. When Cecil
Smith was injured in an early
match last year on the America
Cup defending team against Eng
land, he plugged the gap and set a
whirlwind pace.
Edible Gerry, nephew of Senator
Gerry. is Harvard graduate and
captained the champion Aknusti
team to victory in the national open
championship this year. He is
New York banker. His younger
brother, Bob, is rated at seven goals
and Is said to fine all-around play
er. not long hitter, but accurate
with. his stroking. He also played
on the championship Aknusti team,
Aknusti being named after the Ger
~ farm at Delhi, N. Y. This BROTH
er combination, it is said, is COM
parable to that of the famous Wa
terbury brothers-Lawrence and
Monty.
Strawbridge Chronic Winner.
Strawbridge has been playing
tournament polo since his under
graduate days at Harvard, and has
been on six winning national cham
pionship teams.
Douglas Fairbanks. jr., and his
wife Will occupy special seats. as will
secretary OF Commerce Jesse Jones
and Secretary of Interior Harold
1ckes.
The players will arrive a. II 80
this morning in specially chartered
plane. At 1890 they will be feted
at the British Embassy by Lord
Lothian, and after the game Mrs.
Garrett, the chairman, will honor
them at a party at her home.
Six amplif1ers have been erected
to give the fans accounts of the
world series game between Detroit
and Cincinnati. and the football
contest between the Washington
Redskins and Pittsburgh Steelers.
Tickets are priced at 81, So and
IS, and may be bought at the Bum
dies for Britain headquarters. 1881
Connecticut avenue; American Au-
tomobile Association, Keystone Auto
Club and all leading hotels.