Great Wrestling Duel.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVI, Issue 62, 17 March 1904, Page 4

Great Wrestling Duel.

Ip"- SENSATIONAL ENDING. '' in its conception and anB»||geinent, the great wrestling r ||jg«|rich{ >between Ahmed Madrali, • EUmowp a* "the Terrible TurK," and 1 SS|i4o*gp HackenschmiuT. who is call- t KM *H|w Russian Lion," on Satur- <■ ESfeji'U»yß a London paper of Feb. 7. t MWIIUi.Jii in li mil unique tn its endBsp& —At Olympia nearly 7000 speciffltators were present, for all the scatEptPß accommodation was taken up lyswly, save only the higher-priced reSfServetl seats, which filled as the time Ijjar the great event of the evening near. Special trains brought *WeetUng enthusiasts from Birming:'ham, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, f t lTe.wcastle-on-Tyne, and other places, i,-while press representatives were there ff.fitom sporting papers In Paris and jfSSrussels. As one looked round the ififcWldlng from the arena, the presence &Ot ladies was very marked. In all E* parts of the house they were in evidand, as far as could be judged, considerable interest in the S Well-contested wrestling bouts which SWpreeeded the big match. Enthusiasf ?Bc cheers, indeed, greeted Joe Car- ' K>l» '{England) and A. Fournier j& (France) who were so equally matched, as to draw their contest. Then, fatter a short interval filled by selecS|;lions from the London and County SaUlitary Band, the two contestants up into the ring, both look(Sfe* remarkably fit. jig,, Though Hackenschmidt looked a Iftlittle pale, it was in no way due to Sibils accident a few days eanlier at Mgfthe Xiondon music-hall, Shoreditch, when; he slipped on the stage and in■TJured his ear. Traces of the result Kbof this mishap had almost disapBgrpeared when he faced "the terrible HfUrark," whose six feet of height and BMpiendid proportions drew admiraKXtiDn from every lover of physical 18; lieauty present. Ssl, - The contest was under Graoco-Ro-rahiin rules, and limited to the best Hf»f three falls. It was for a prat' of HKs*lsoo, with a side bet of £IOO and UlCthe World's Championship. R , THE WRESTLERS. »&•>■' The Russian wrestler, who came to BjsEngland a couple of years ago, was ■aboriginally an engineer, but he beBf'teame a strong man by profession, EMeveloping from a wonderful weight-fi|-llifter into the champion wrestler of Up the Graeco-Romsji style. lie met -and defeated all the best wrestlers t, tin the Conttnent, and a few months Epago be was successful in two match- »' es against Antonio Piorri, who is, k tetter known aa the " Terriblo L v Greek." This- worthy subsequently Kwant to Constantinople, and brought back Madrali, the Sultan's favourite t wrestler, and in due counts the & Batch under notice was arranged. ft i. Since his arrival here at. the beginh ning of December the Turk has made •"light of all opposition, and in varij- one money matches lias met and dc- : .feated Tom Cannon, the English gt champion ; Saalfeld. a Swiss ; Du-ffly-fyAB, a French Canadian, and finally S.» Pat o:Rourke, a champion of the gj Emerald Isle. Both Haskenschmidt Pi .and Madrali are men of remarkably jjj temperate habits, aad while the Turk p- has sever tasted alcoholic liquor in |' his life, his opponent does not smoke, f?" They had been specially training for I i Saturday's contest, the Turk's pre* t r paration chiefly consisting of wrestler ling practice in-the Graeco-Roman C-t style, a method to which he was a [V comparative stranger. ijtf Hackenschmidt, who was much the smaller man, both in weight and jf 1 * height, is very agile, and he took /-, daily exercise in skipping, jumping, »?-* ' and running. sjj The' following were the measureSi ments ot the men when they took the f mat:S\ Hackenschmidt: Chest, 52in. ; ¥; Beck, 23in. ; biceps, 18in. ; forearm, 3T, JMn^; thigh, »Bin. ; height, sft 9in.; Ki wslgit, 14st, 61b. He is 26 years WX.i VadraH :-Chest, 48in. ; neck 181b.; kc < biceps, 18in.; thigh, 30in. : calf, 18} NT, in.;. freight, 6ft lin. ; weight, lost, f/' He Is 37 years old. iff* The arrangements at the Addison *' 'JBoad establishment were of the most [Li ample order. The platform on which %/ the men were to wrestle was erected H four feet high in the middle «f the Sf! Olympja area, and tbo carpet was ft *'about 20ft square. Above the ring fe which gave a splendid view of the proceedings to those is the fas-off ,' galleries. ~v, Hackenschmidt was attended by \ Ferdinand Gruhu and Jacques Koeh,

fc. two celebrated German wrestlers, ?■ and the Turkish champion had for his fj'- seconds Antonio Picrri and Tom Canfc u so* fr FtBST AND LAST BOUT. P After the preliminary aanouneeL tnent the two faced each ether and jy shook hands. The first to make an jl, aggressive movement was th* Turk, [*.. who wore his famous charm round ipt Ida neck. A head grip wan broken .„' by Hackenschmidt, who thea intcr- "'' twined his big muscular uni hu>4 tttOBB of his opponent. The men stood swaying- tw» and ' fro like great oak trees im a storm, \- ' the Ifrtgrtfln endeavouring to bring ~- his opponent's head do\%n.

Then Hackenschmidt, whose eai -' was swollen twice its natural sir.e, sprang away a* it in paitf and pirouetted round,. Events followed one oaothe* with extraordinary rapidity, and before the immense crowd could gather what had happenad th* sontest was «E|ally over. Suddenly the. little Bussiaa closed in upon the Turk, slipped hit arms underneath those of Madnali, and the next instant lifted the huge Oriental up like a mere child. As tha Turk's legs swung aimlessly in the air he began viciously grinning the Russian's face with both hands. The agoay most have been intense for the Bussiaa, and as the blood began to trickle down his apse Hackenschmidt. with a mighty effort, _, flung the Turk, foa tha first time in ';. his life, on his back. The crowd screamed with amane- , tnent, but they could no< sea that

Hackenschmidt had his opponent's right arm- in a deadly lock. Gripping him by the wrist with the right 4uuid and above the elbow wrth the left, he dislocated the Turk's arm at the elbow, and then pinned him fair-

ly to' the carpet. The reforee, Mr T. Dunning, olew the whistle, signifying tha* Ilackenschmldt had won the first bout, the audience unmistakeably showing the trend of their sympathy in onthusias-

tic cheers Nothing wrong was oven suspected, but whei the men got up . it wag seen that Madrali's right arm had given way at the elbow. the point pf the foraarm projecting at the Joint. The seconds a»d oMter officials gathered round, and Hacktnscbmidt himself came from hissorner'towasds his opponent, and afVor a brief consultation during which the audience displayed some slight uneasiness, doctors in the building were Naturally all this led to increased, suspense on the part of the ■peetators, and 'before the brief conMltatton was over there was a rush to the platform, and a number of enthusiasts wcra swaying round the ''Russian Lion." Two doctors Hurried up on the platform and the referee said, "Madrali's arm is broken and dislocated, and he' is unable to continue ; eonHackenschmioH provos the winner." ; ' In the rush which followed, the platform many of the press seats .■>' were'brushed on one side, and every 'lnch of the platform crowded. There 'w'was no attempt at order, but fori ' tunately, save a somewhat bnister- ' wis reception of the winner, the crowd kept itself well in hand. ' • The Russian, with a.compassionate r t expression, went up to his opponent, „ and in dumb show attempted to ex- •? pTain his regret, the Turk, accepting , the 'verdict with Oriental stoicism, H- endeavoured to smile, it , The crowd was rather disappointed [&,*t the rapid termination of the ffiitnateh, but it. was generally recogB 1 Bisetf that Rackenschmidt had disjfe niftyed a hitherto unrcvcaled strength thai his science, so far as could gg&a wen, was superior to that of the |||gf%<M>;acCrdent wilt doubtless have a effect dn the future carHHnjtiM^t -whohad intended to

ihaue of lh» spotls aa winner is £llOO.

Madrali will take £SOO, hut this is hardly likely to console him for the loss of a hitherto unbeaten reputation.

When Madrali reached his dressingroom, he was examined by Drs. Jackson Lang and Charles Kings-bur-y, who contirmeii the statement that, the Turk's arm had been dislocated, and not broken, aa at first I stated.