The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-09-05
GARDEN BOOKS FAMOUS RODEO
 FOR OCTOBER 8
Gene Autry to Be Guest Star in Worlds Cham-
 piOnship Competition
Ry TEn DEGLTN

New York, N. Y. Sept. 5-Take the Pendleton Roundup, Chey- enne's Frontier Days, Calgary's stampede--take them and roll them all into one and you will have what will be New York's rootin'-tootin', siam-bang celebration of color and cowboys, bronks and Brahmas known as the Xorld's Championship Rodeo held each Octboer in Mad ison Square Garden.
 The sixteenth renewal Is set this year for nineteen nights and seven' matinees, opening on Wednesday evening, October sth, and contin- uing through october 26.
 Colonel John Reed Fitzpatrick, president of Madison Square Gar den corporation, sttaes that the coming production of horses and cowboys, despite Selective service and the world at war, will be the best ever seen at the corner of 9th avenue and 50th street.
 Last year, he recalled, cowboys were tossed for a loss almost every night, steers ran rampant over the Garden arena and there was a gasp for practically every minute of the program. This year all that is promiSed-and more.
 Gene Autry will be back again as guest star and six of the fairest girls in the Golden West will appear in another cattle-cutting contest against e herd of Texas Longhorn steers, an event that proved mighty popular last season.
 The l940 Rodeo, by the way, reached an all.time peak in attend ance, due, no doubt, to the fact that, while all of the old western sports events-bronk- busting, steer riding end wrestling, cowgirls' bronk riding, wild COW milking and wild horse races-is still retained as competitive events, the entire rodeo has been streamlined bit and a iegfeld touch added in keeping with the times.
 For sometime past the rodeo has been on the upbeat and almost as important to the tenderfoot who dwells in cities that fringe the At- iantic seaboard as the World Series Is to baseball fans or big-tine foot ball to college sports.
 Rodeo Is five-letter word begin ming with a bang and ending with wallop and 1t Is about this time of the year that plenty of eastern fans hereahouts begin itching to get @ look at the steer wrestlers, bronk busters, and the pretty ranch girls they have been reading about since January In the newspapers and magazines.
 This is indicated by figures show ing that approximately 4,000,00o people last year passed through l06 turnstiles where official rodeos were held. Of this number, 1t is said, more than half the spectators who attended these bone crushing events to see belligerent steers and outlaw bronkS draw curtains for the toughest riders in the world were from big and little cities east of the Mississippi.
 Here are the official figures:
 Madison Square Garden, 29l ,s67; Boston, l7S S,460; Cleveland, l04,27l; Pittsburgh, 93,364; Rochester, 7s,- 763; Philadelphia, 8l,62l; Washing ton, D. O.; 59,2s3; Hershey, Pa, 32,- 4o2; Chicago, 203,i97.
 That makes total of 1,2ls,l36 for the cities mentioned. ApproXi- mately 100000 attended rodeos in Providence, R, T., Middletown, N. Y, Baltimore, Md, New Haven, Conn, Allentown, Pa., Syracuse, N. Y, and similar cities and towns not in the west.
 Consequently, the rodeo as thrill spectacle Is being built up to meet the growing demand, and while the competitive events are still the main draw, it is now beauty and saddles as well as boots and saddles, as guest star and pretty ranch girls are added to treamline what began as only a "ropin' and ridin' show"
 Col. Fitzpatrick announces $36, ,820 offered In prize money by the Gar den, which, with the entrance fees in the eight competitive events tossed into the kitty, will total $5o,- 900 for the boys and girls to take home and help pay of the mort gage on the old homesteads. Gene Autry will bring with him this year Champion and Champion Jr., his two screen horses. Several western states have held contests to select their prettieSt and most talented ranch girls and six new ranch beauties who can really ride will be in the arena to participate Tn Autry'S act and put on the cat tle-cutting event.
 There will be other added fea- lures to relieve the tension and for the children there will be clowns. western singers, cowboy band and trained horses and burros to fill in the waits between the sports events.
 All over the west, cowboys and cowgirls are polishing leather, un- packing their gayest shOw-shirts and biggest Stetsons. preparatory for a ride into Manhattan next month by train, trailer and plane in an attempt to grab of some of the S50,000 in prize money and. maybe, a championship or two.
 Rodeo month in New York is just around the calendar corner and Madison Square Garden is prepar- Ing for what promises to be the big gest and best championship event In its entire history.