The Bismarck Tribune Newspaper, April 1, 1931, Page 8

port-Loving World Mourns Death of Notre Dame’s Wizard in Crash ‘ROKNES DT] [KIRKWOOD BREAKS THROUGH y-Teller New Warrior Joins Tribe ~ ANOS CAREER OF “+ VERSATILE COAGH Had Been Assistant Professor In Chemistry as Well as Football Mentor. BREAKS GRIDIRON RECORDS Ready Wit Made ‘Wonder Coach’ in Demand as Writer, Speak- er and Entertainer Chicago, April 1—(#)—The career of « Norwegian immigrant boy a ca- reer that reached heroic heights, has ended. Knute Rockne is dead The man whose keen mind and matchless leadership made Notre Dame, “that little college in the mid- le west,” the greatest power in in- tercollegiate football, passed on Tues~ day as he hed lived. in action. An airplane disaster é in Kansas claimed his life, but can- not quench the memory of his ac- complishment. Rockne was born in Voss, a Norwe-j gian village, March 4, 1888, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Rockne. The first four years of his life were spent in Norway; then his father, a carriage maker, brought one of his prod- ieee gq elder Knute through grammar but it was necessary for the wizard of football and psy- chology to earn his way through high school and college. Concentrated on Baseball ‘While he was a youngster in the ay interested in football and track. His famous scarred nose was caused by a blow from a baseball bat id not reach Notre that he didn’t have enough money to go to college. He was determined, however, that he would attend the University of Illinois, and it was be- cause two close friends had decided on Notre Dame, that he changed his Plans. During the four years following his graduation from high schcol he worked at various jobs, but most of the time was spent in the employ of the postoffice, He also worked on Jake steamers and did odd jobs, and after a raise of 50 cents a week at the postoffice failed to satisfy him, he borrowed $45 and went to Notre Dame. Led Irish Against Army Not much was heard of Knute Rockne as an athlete until one amaz- ing afternoon in 1913 on the plains of West Point. The Irish had gone there to tackle one of Army’s strong- est elevens—and to take a handsomo beating it was expected. ‘But Rockne tore down the field all afternoon under forward passes flung by Charles E. “Gus” Dorais, Notre Dame's quarterback then, and coach at the University of Detroit now. The result was staggering 33 to 13 triumph for Notre Dame, and they no longer called it “that little college in the middlewest.” Rockne played under Coach Jess Harper and after his graduation from Notre Dame, returned to the univer- sity as assistant professor of chem- istry, a branch in which he excelled to the point of almost deciding to make it his life work, and to assist Harper, Harper resigned after the 1917 sea- son, and urged Notre Dame to make Rockne his successor. Rock was con- Laud Irish Mentor As Stor | Intimate Friends Call Knute Rockne ‘Best Entertainer of Athletic World’ Chicago, April 1—()— Knute Rockne will be remembered first for his football accomplishments as “the wizard of Notre Dame,” but of all the figures in the athletic world he was by far the most entertaining. His fund of stories, told about him. self and about his players, was inex- haustible and they were part of the tradition that has been built up around him. He never was back- ward about asserting his opinions about football and its conduct. He was involved in more controversies over rule-making than any other coach in America, His development of the forward pass and the open game of which the now much dis- cussed “shift” was the leading and most controversial feature, spread throughout the country until at pres- ent there are more than 100 coaches using it. Although only 43 years old, premsa- combined with his re- much older. Rockne was kidded quite @ bit because of the absence of hair on his head. He stopped the wise- crackers with this remark: “Well, Demosthenes, didn’t have any hair either.” Stories Are Gems Never was Rockne without a wise- crack to fit every occasion. His tongue was as sharp as a sword and he would cut down a star football player just as soon as some stumbling fourth rater. His wise-cracks and stories were gems. One of Knute's select sayings was: “Be a good loser, don't beef. But don’t lose.” Another one: “To hell with the guy who'll die for Notre Dame, I want men who will fight to keep it alive.” Once during a practice scrimmage he yelled: “Heads up there, Joe, they won't give you a chance to tle your shoes away your knitting needles and get in the ball game. Remember this is football, rough but manly.” Rockne, possessing marvelous per- sonality and magnetism, was a driv- er; yet there was nothing harhs about his methods. As an instructor in chemistry and as an instructor on the gridiron, he gave boys sufficient time to master his system, but had no time for the youngster who failed to grasp them. There was no place for that type in Rockne’s teams or classes. He was an insistent master and uncompromising demander of discipline, but an understandiag one, who was never harsh or abusive. He was famed as a master psychologist. Few had his knack of inspirig men. Was Psychologist In 1925 Northwestern, one of Notre Dame's major rivals, was beating the fighting Irish 10 to 0 at the end of the half. Disgusted with the stum- bling of his players, Rockne walked into the dressing room between halves, took one disgusted look at the athletes sprawled on the floor and snarled to Assistant Coach Anderson: “Fighting Irish, eh, well you can have my share of them.” Then he walked out. That Notre Dame team went back into the game fighting mad and in two successive drives down the field deflate the conceit of players came to Notre Dame with fancy reputations. Probably his favorite in this cate- ing the first half. “The whole trouble is,” Rockne told him confidentially, » one of Rockne’s greatest i E i 4 3 f i : te il ule Jack stars, how @ newspaperman in Chi- cago, was kidding his former chief, Duluth Hornets and Kansas City Pla-Mors Prepare for Final Game Thursday ! il ¢ ry i BEY a tf Bge il { 5. el J iH I e fe : i sf | i i | i E i bi i i if Bradley, president of the Cleveland club. President Bradley ianan a stockholder in the club by giving him one share, Long had gone through a snappy workout in his new the prediction that the Indians “were in.” His oratory, responsible. for the Indians abandoning plans to shift to a ing base next season, BROWN GETS FREE DUCAT; DWELLS ON BALL CURVES 75-Year-Old Baseball Fan Re- ceives Free Tickets for Na- tional Loop Games Pittsburgh, April 1—(#)—For 63 years @ baseball fan and so ardent a follower of the National league cam- paigns during the past 22 years that he receives annually a season’s pass trom the senior circuit's president— that’s Jimmy Brown, 75 years young. He ‘says he remembers when the curve was first used in baseball. “I'm afraid 1 can’t recall the exact year,” Brown, one time restaurant proprietor reflects, “but I remember the first pitcher to use a curve, Andy Cummins of the Cincinnatis, A col- lege professor had written an article, claiming that it was impossible to throw a curve ball. Cummins took up the argument and they put on an ex- periment in the Cincinnati park. “Cummins had three stakes driven in the ground about 30 feet apart, the middle one a bit out of line. Then he curved a ball between them.” Among the old timers that this na- tive of Steubenville, O., recalls was Ed Morris who, according to Brown, was probably the first player to use a toe Plate on his shoe. Brown was stung by the baseball bug while he lived in Blairsville, Pa. On coming to Pittsburgh, he entered into the restaurant and rooming house business and catered to many baseball players. Dazzy Vance Accepts Brooklyn Club Offer} New York, April 1—(#)—Dazy Vance, Brooklyn's great speedball Pitcher, has accepted the club's terms of $23,000 in ending his prolonged holdout and will sign his 1931 con- tract as soon as he joins the Robins at Macon. ‘When the New York Rangers three years ago won the Stanley Cup, em- blematic of world’s supremacy in hockey, the team finished with the same mark as this season—J9 vic- tories, 16 defeats and nine ties. Be Buried at His Indiana Home Town world paid its final tribute. Arrangements were made for the baseball leader to lie in state at the Spencer Christian church from noon. until the services at 2 p.m. The body was brought to his home here Monday from St. Louis, where he died last week. A number of baseball executives who Tuesday attended the funeral at Cleveland of Ernest 8, Johnson's successor as American League president, were expected to attend the services here. Barnard pant Johnson in death by a few Fl TS Last IGHT (By the Associated Press) git eaten te cae, Se ind Gorn eae O'Kelly, Ire- jew Yor! al Berlenbac! New York, knocked out ties ) Eddie Clark, New York Daytona Beach, Fia—S Mandell, Rockford, Ill., calgaie Jose Estrada, lexico Cir vies, Angeles — Billy Townsend, Glick, Brookiya (10). 7° —_—__—____ ‘The Duluth, Minn., hockey club re- cently broke scoring records by caging 18 goals in an American League with St. Louis, OUR BOARDING HOUSE HONEST, MARTHA —Nols HAVES, ANY (DEA How “tH” AN? “TURPEMTING IS KMOCKIAS’ “TH? SMELL OF PAIAT up, PROPS OUT FROM UNDER MY HEALTH f ~~ MAKES ME DROWSY DURIN® “TH? DAY AMS’ KEEPS ME AWAKE ALL NIGHT mae MY APPETITE IS DULL AS’ YM GETTIN" FLICKER VISION ! —~ GoIAs” UP AN? Dowss Hese LADDERS ALL DAY MAKES MY SMITH, SARAZEN TO WIN OPEN GOLF TOURNAMENT Coaches Pay Tribute to Knute Rockne Grid Mentors Dame Wizard's Ideals and His Sportsmanship Australian. Trick-Shot Artist Wins Match With 290 Total for the Tourney M’FARLANE FINISHES THIRD Paul Runyan, White Plains, N. Y., Pro, Takes Second Place ‘With 292 Total cath Vii : Bale Ba. Fl E Fae 5 E Petrolle, Tut Are Reinstated Minnesota Commission Also Eliminates Charges Against Fight Managers match in New York. Joe O'Gordon, secretary of the commission, said the reinstatement was due to lack of evidence of “fix- FAMILY ICE COMBINATION Jock Dan, ery, aeeeen Billy and) " A lents of Ottawa, Canada, Lim WELL an SF NOUR HANGNAILS START AcTING TUL GIVE Nou SomME ie i g g i i aT i Bk age [! ce i i i Hl & ¥ Ea #3 545% [ Stress Notre A He I A g i i Ht i i E ll Eg E E 5 E i i ! I H i 4 4 i i i ? s ° #8 E i dl i i i & i i ? | asf EL i t i Hit 3 ing April 9 and 10, ‘North Dakota State college, through | tively of the “We at West Point,” sald Major/its coach, Lieutenant Fay Smith, is Philip B. 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