Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, July 7, 1915, Page 5

: T T ——— Ty ’ WRESTLING CHAMP Joe Stecher of Dodge, Neb., Throws Charles Cutler ‘of Chicago in Straight Falls. SPLENDID CROWD AT CONTEST Joseph' Stecher, Dodge, Neb. farmer boy, is the champion heavy- weight wrestler of the world. Before a crowd estimated at 10,000, which filled Rourke park to overflowing, the unassuming young man whose meteoric career has made him a noted figure in the world of sport, Morday won two straight falls from Charles Cutler of Chicago, who since.the retirement of Frank Gotch has been defending the heavy-| welght championship. Stecher .won the world's champlonship with his famous body sclssors hold, coupled with half Nelsons. The firet fall came in 17 minutes and % seconds. The next fall, after an inter mission of a quarter hour, came in 10 minutes and seconds. Cutler Much Heavier., « Cutler outweighed ' his oppeonent by a good twenty pounds, but within a few minutes after the beginning of the match, it was apparent that the extralweight was of little advantage to the Chicago krappler It was the old, against age. = her, as per ) graceful ‘as a fawn, contrast beside Cutler, who, at least twelve years his senior, showed the ravagés of time after a fow minutes krueliing at the hands of the Nebraskan. old story of youth proportioned and made a strange His paunchy stomach made for con- aternation in the hea of his backers, and after the match it.was this same patunch that got the blame for the defeat. Great Cheern for Stecher, "Though Stecher was not the champlon | when he stepped into the padded ring, the ovation he received proclaimed him a prophet that was honored, at least, in his own land. When at the head of & swarm Bpectators who sai n tin® grandstana at the Speedway Monday afterncon were treated to thrills that will never be ex cellod. As the cars Swept down from the lower turn, it looked as it the mad rush of the speed devils would carry them directly into the crowded sta thousands were watching the Utmost eagerness. Then, as the cars sped on they ‘whiskeq by the watchers %o swiftly they could scarcely be noted NEBRASKA LAD I§ |Cars Passing Grandst and at the Speedway and whirled around the trying steep of the first turn, providing the ‘most spes tacular feature of the race. The picture here shows Orr, Brown and Donelson, careening along the stretch, where the utmost _speed was wrought from the oars. It was along this plece of track that the most interesting brushes of the afterncon occuhred, for hers the drivers were apparently inspired to do thelr ut- most, and exerted évery effort to got gredter headway from thely care. One ings, sons of A. A. Hastings of Silver Creek. Theso lads were 9 and 10 years of age and showed considerable science on the mat, Jack Tolliver and Joe Miller of South Omaha wrestled twenty minutes without a fall, when they were forced to give way | to'the big match. | All sorts of challenges were hurled Into exhibition by Marvin and Henry Hnll-' { the ring, but some of them probably: will not go, since Stecher won. Joe Coffey offered & $25,000 purse on be- | rhalf of the Chlcago American Athletic | club for a match between the winner and | Frank Gotch, A check for $5000 was CUTLER CREDITS STECHER'S SKILL Fallen Idol Makes No Excuses, but Gives Nebraskan Full Measure of Praise, SAYS ABLE TO BEAT GOTCH “He's a better man than I am! of followers he surgcd through the crowd | figheq as & guafantee for a match be-| L CaN throw anyone else in the worla” and appeareds mear the platform, a| mighty roag, like the booming of a thou- | sand cannon, broke upon him. ! “Ah-h-h-h-h-h-h-b-h! Stecher! Stach- | aasasaar! Ah-a-a-al’ | When Cutler appeared, he received a generous cheer and prolonged clappy, of hands. and a scattering of cheers, but | besides Stecher's greeting, it was like the | silence of the grave, 1t was a representative American crowd, There were thousands of Stecher fanatics and thousands just as zealous of Cutler, but the majority were of no perviously formed opinion at all. With them it was simply a case of seeing the two men stripped, standing side by side, and then judging which was the best man. And when they saw Stecher beside Cutler, with resounding applause, placed upon aim the stamp of approval. - Joe Was Thelr Hevo. His every action was greeted with a storm of encouragement. It waa: ‘‘Joe, Joe! Oh, Joe! Atta boy! Joe!" from the time he stepped shoulder to shoulder with the bigger man, until he stepped out of the ring, a conqueror. When he left the ring, with Cutler ly- Ing flat and breathless from the terrible effect of the body scissors grip, a cordon of police had to battle turiously to stem the tide of humanity that closed in upon the hero. Stecher. fresh as from a little sprint, tried vainly to pe the plaudits, At 5:30 o'clock all the/dollar seats had heen #old and a few minutes later, the §2 seats were all occupled. Remalned only a few seats at %, and before the match started, these too were snapped up. Every ingh of space in the capaclous grandstand was filled, and every bleacher seat con- (Rined o spectator. Catler Makes Quick Grab, The start of the big match was made at {47, with both men feeling thelr way, hut after a* minute of wrestling mn.\er1 made a quick grab with a crotch hold to | g6t behind, but it did not avail. For five | minutes they gruelled back and forth with no appmrent advantage, wm\cut-} lor got behind by grabbing a crotch hoid | while stll standing. F£techer made a strong defense, with the result that after a few twists they went under the ropes with Stecher behind. “Stecher was given the position bphind ufivr they were placed In the cenfer a;,,‘ the mat, according to agreement, an liooked the scissors in a very short time. Then began the punishment that was the downfall of Charles Cutler after the Dodge county wonder had squeezed Cutler | with his scissors for about four minutes | the terrible pressure began to tell and Cutler was seen o 160k at Frank Gotch and shake his head. The pain he was forced to endure was plainly evident. Catler Cdn't Eseape. Cutler made a herojc effort to get away ! and again they went under the ropes. After they. returned to the center Cutler edged away and Stecher seemed in dan- | ger for a moment, but he soon twiwted behinll and again hooked his sissors, For | almost ten minutes Cutler was forced to endure the terriffc pressure of those ! gigantic legs of the Dodge county farmer | with Joe all the while trying to twist the giant over with a nalf Nelson. After | 17:08 minutes of wrestling' he succeeded | in putting both Cutler's shoulders to the | wat and Referee Bd Smith patted him on the back. | Rooters Cheer Stecher. Pandemonium broke loose from the thousands of Stecher rooters until it was noticed that Cutler fafled to rise. He lay on his stomach in the middie of the pad¥ed ring for several minutes un- til he was assisted to his corner. FHere Frank Gotch visited him and told him he must go back for the second fall. He also advised him to wrestle the second fall without his jersey. It was rumored aro that Cutler would not return for the second fall, but when the agreed fif- teen minutes was up he welked to the center, Cutler was behind after one minute of wrestling in the second, but wae very {Will Gotch Give 4 | that he'd bring dark days to Nebraska. |Stecher’s Father tween Cutler and Gotch In Omaha Wwithin | aixty days. Stecher challenged Gotch for | a match within sixty days. Ordeman | challenged the winner. Frank Gotch was introduced in the cen- | ter of the ring as the world's champlon, | but he refused to make a talk, The weather was made to order, too chilly to be uncomfortable, nor damp to remain outdoors, the crowd as a tonlc. large, cheerful evening, and tfip crowd | drew from it an inspiration. | The promoters had arranged electric | champion heavyweight pujama-clad, sat, Not | Castle hotel yesterday, and fought over 0o and over again the Rourke park battle. it acted upon |Ho was surounded by his henchmen and It was /a fine, |a Bee reporter. “Frank Gotch cannot now,por never |eould throw him! “T'd lke a return match, but I don't think it would do mueh good!" These are some of the pithy statements made by Charley Cutler, defeated world's Wrestler, as he in his room at the All were sitting about, listening sto- pearls of wisdom from-the ex-champlon. Only occasionally would they interrupt, lights in the grandstand, and so gradu-|and then to cheer up the fallen idol as ated the lighting effect that the plat. |he recounted some dark detail of the form out near the pitchers' box, which|fray. Was under a doszen blazing white arc Hghts, was as )ight as day, and perfecfly plain to view from every seat. ¥ Was Cupid Flying Over Rourke Park When Stecher Won? “Winning this match means a lot to me,"” quietly sald Joe Btecher, as he sat in the Henshaw dining room night, surrounded by a host of friends at a lit- tle dinner, His friends gazed at him admiringly. The mateh certainly did mean a lot. Movie royalties, gate receipts, champion- ship—certainly it means a lot. But Joe's face was masked In an ex- pression of mystery. His eyes were up- turned, as if he was trying to find some- thing on the ceiling, ““Yes, this match means a lot to me,” | he repeated, dredmily. 1iverywhere about him was excitement. In the cafe.all eyes Were upon him, but somehow, to an ob- server who was on the trall of & mystery story, it seemed that the champlon was | not lending himself to the occasion. Yes, that's the meat of this story. Also, that's as much as there appears to be in it, for Stecher would say nothing about it, affirmatively or negatively. When a reporter asked him whether he won a bride with the world's champion- ship, Joe smiled wanly. “Where'd you get that?’ he wanted to | know, stfll seemingly preoccupied, | Joe Opportunity To Defeat Him® emme i you-ens wick ia penty tor Frank Gotéh smiled and smiled and smiled, “Yee, 1 think I'll give this young fel- low a chance to put me on my back," he | said. “I think he's a wonder,”I'm going to see more of him.'’ % Before the match Goteh told newspaper men that “Cutler'd throw Stecher so hard Afterwards, Gotch revised his opinion. He wag loud in Stechér's praise, “He's a great boy, all right,” he sald. - Proud of His Son It was after the first fall at the Stecher- Cutler match that a sudden ‘commotion in the grandstand sent pollce there on the ‘run, and made thousands of heads turn. A- cheer that plainly cdrried o note of sympthy told that it was not a | fight, and then a few minutes later ex- | planation cgme when an erect old gentle- man marg out on the field, and up to the platform, followed by cheers from every section of seats thaf he passed. | It was Joseph Stecher's father, Everybody seemed to/want 'to wring | bir hand. Everybody demanded an| answer to the same question: ““Well, | what d'ye think of Joeysboy now, eh?" as if Stecher pere had previously been a | Cutler backer. He smiled wanly. know, ‘‘Ob-h-h, . 1 don't I guess he's all right!’ slowly, Intereslji; Match Holds the Record Public interest n the fate of Joe Stecherin his match with Cutler ex- ceeded that in any sporting event held in Omaha within the memory of newspaper men. All The Bee telephones were kept ringing continuously from early evening until after midnight carrying inquires. There was almost no cessation of the uestion: N5 “What do you hear of the wiesting match st Rourke pars?’ then and sighed heavily. Everybody else one trick.” that guy.” after the match with just a few close begin to know how tickled I am. Just tel Thenght Would Be Eany. “When I'arrived here—I'll tell you the truth—I thought I was about to take candy away from a babe. I hear so much of this ‘farmer boy champioh’ stuff, you mee. Every ten minutes, some one is dis- covering & champion wrestler somewhere out in' the jungles. 1 dote on ‘coming champlons,’ but T'll tell you like a man, that I bit off more than I could chew when I started.in to commit mayhem upon this boy. “I was too confident. I didn't belleve these stories about his wonderful legs. But that first fall got me ®o quick that T realized what I was up against the next time, and I fought, hard and warily. I gave up everything that was In me— everything that nine years of the ‘wrest- ling game has brought me. When I say verything, I mean every trick in the ame. And I bet my money that I'd beat him. My friends here pawned their personal adornments to take away some of this ‘soft money’ from Nebraska. Those Wond . ‘You: have a wonderful boy here. There is no one in the world able to put him on his back. His legs are wonder- ful, but they're:not his only good points, even though they are his best. Too much canpot bo sald about them. When he gets a body scissors on an opponent— gg9od night—it's like a gigantic boa con- strictor. Slowly, but surely the folds tighten, and tighten and tighten. Just above the short ribs I got it. Wirst a felling of nausea. Then giddiness. Then red, red rea!" Cutler's manager, Rochelle came in fust sighed. “Well Charley, it beats me. To think that we'd get goofed by a guy with only “Only one!" Charley exclaimed. “Say, if you're talking about the scissors hold, Joe Stecher Says The Match Meant Whole Lot to Him In his room at the Merchants hotel friends and the members of his family about him, Joe Stecher dressed for the | street and wreathed in smiles, declared: “There {sn't a one of the crowd oyt ! there, indicating the huge swarm of ad- mirers beneath his 'window,” that even Tt meant more fo me than the ordimary| Person can realize. “As for Cutler he is a decidely tough man, and a bully good' sport. His extra weight I belleve had much to do with my being able to throw him so quickly. the bunch I did my best and that was enough to bring home the Eoods.” Tharvy-fifth ¥ ear Removes permanently the cravh for Liquor and Drugs. "~ ho: Always improves the genera! h Surroundi; Pl ;—.flum ‘mane, nothing “herolc.” ln“‘r"" m pse ithd) with the ald of our patients suffer no ot i Do not be "B‘:““ i sat- is _the onl mv.o" one. as &:‘ and -).o.v( Come m. without del hw me ] fo Ho"skperiments. o T for fllust let, Corre- The Keeley Institute Corner 25th and Cass Streets, OMANA. NEB. fair spectator of the race said, after | was over: rush down STECHER LOOMS from the surn onto nounces Young Titan Marvel of Wrestling World. | By EDMIE sMITH, Referee of the Match, There is no way one can find out |*8&y for those who have been watching | |now just how good this astonishing ‘youn. fellow Stecher really is. Charley Cutler in such convincing great athletic marvel of a century, a3 much of a wonder as Jess Willard, the new champion in his line. nature athlete, the farmer boy is coming into his own-And the city chap surely must look to lis laurels now. Studying Stecher and his methods closely, as he flashed them on mt mat tonight, I must say that he is one bf the greatest boys 1 ever saw, and,) consider- ing his age, one of the world s wonders. He upeets all precedent by becoming a champlon at the tender and complotely unheard age of 23, or Is it 22?7 We lave been led to belleve that it took a matte of ten years or so to properly season a in Indiana Surely this Is the day of the clore-to- | t AHEAD OF GOTCH Referee of Match with Cutler Pro- |!hn& to thik about ONE OF RARE MEN OF THE MAT ;atyle—to prove that he is the one| M Just as much of a marvel and jnut’M CONNELL WINNER |Streteh was territying, but soon one be- UAt first vou didn't realize |came accustomed to the speed, and the how fast the cars were going, and the |exileration of the spectacle kept one on the | tensiog to the very end.” | wrestier. What do you know about that | when Stecher at 22 becomes a wrestlor of | the Goteh type! Astonishing? Truly vo | Ana this seltsame Gotch, 1 Imagine, had | vomething of a scare thrown Into hin by | saw in those flery twenty-elght | what h | minutes on the mat. 1 tkink he has somne- Hats off to Stecher. He's the real thing! Frierds Stecher with their plans for giving the new champion a diamond Dbelt, 1t is sug- gested that this be realiy representative of Nebraska, and while it Is presented |by his Nebraska friends, that it be mads in Nebraska. Already 3230 bas beon ratsed to pay for this trophy, and it s ot are going ahead the new champion to |pald for by Omaha 00 that it will be d Chicago money | The country boys have surely been clean- | It was enough this defeat of ing up on Stecher on every match he has wrentled \ + IN HAPPY HOLLOW MATCH MeGonnell beat Brownlee in stralght | sots, 7-5," 6-3, 64, In the Happy Hollow club tennis champfonship finals in singles. | All first round matches In the doubles | must be played by tomorrow evening by order of the tennis commission. Overall in Uniform, LOS ANGELE Cal, July 6.-Orval Overall, former ‘Uhicago Natlonui pitener, got into a Salt Lake City uniform today and pitched at batting practice. Manager Blankenship of the Utah team suid aftor- | ward he had offered Overall a contract. | Overall has been working as a brewery salesman. Get Your Copy of T * “Is England Worth It AII”” You must read THE LiTERARY DIGEST of July 3d for this finique view-point current in England. Since the recapture of Lemberg by the Germans, the Berlin populace? in their delirious enthusiasm, feel that Lemberg is only an incident on the triumphant march of the German hosts toward Calais, Paris and L_ondon. THE LITERARY DIGEST presents the best and most comprehensive. ac- count of the War in both war-zones. Another feature that will be of interest to every reader is the detailed . . opinion of various authorities upon how the Lusitania might have been saved, ~in which it is pointed out that the aeroplane has not been utilized to the extent that it should have been by the Allies for spying upon ll_lbmarines. While THE LITERARY DIGEST features the War in its various phases prominently it is also rich in features of a peaceful aspéct which particularly concern the American public. Among these mhy be inen tioned: Regulating t?le Ji’hey End of the ‘‘Grandfather Clause” Pursuing Political ‘‘Higher-Ups”’ The League to Enforce Peace Full Description of the Widener \ Library at Harvard The Military Officer in German Letters German Rejectors of “‘Hatred” Cigars Under the X-Rays THE LITERARY DIGEST for July 3d, is, as usual, copiously illus’ trated with striking cartoons, photographs, and maps. Besides the features above mentioned, it contains news of interest from the fields of Science y Politics, Invention, Literature, Art, Religion, Education, Industry, Sports, Drama, that will claim the attention of the American public. HE LITERARY DIGEST for July 3d, TO-DAY . News-Dealers, 10 Cents " The Jiterary Digest __ FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY (Publishers of the Famous NEW | | Avoid colds. | Don’t get overheated standing | over steaming tubs of hotwater. J Wash your clothes in luke- warm water ! with soap. Saves hard work, fuel and bother. Makes your clothes cleaner than when washed the hard,old fashioned, wash-boiler way. Fels & Co., Philadelphin. ¥ Co-Pa-Co Paints Best for Wear and Weather Varnishes, Stains and Enamels 1812 Farnam Street C. R.Cook Paint Co. Omaha real estate is going to take a jump this fall. Buy now. ’ How Summer Weather Affects the ; Wireless Food As It Concerns Personal Fitness Musical (Sounds Translated Into Colors ‘ D’Annunzio As Italy’s Voice of War The Memorial to Mrs. Wilson Through the Servian Inferno The Awakening of England The Czech’s Aspirations Nervous Tension in Holland Standard Dictionary), NEW YORK o .