“THE RUSSIAN LION.”

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2717, 24 January 1910, Page 5

“THE RUSSIAN LION.”

GEORGE HACKENSCHMIDT—CHAMPION WRESTLER OF THE WORLD.

“This is Hack,’ ” said Mr. Baker, of the firm of Messrs Baker and Talbot, to a “Times” representative last evening, indicating with a wave of Us arm Mr. George Hackensehmidt, the champion wrestler of the world, shortly after the arrival of the party from Auckland, to open for a season of two nights in His Majesty’s Theatre. The conqueror of “The Terrible Turk” and a host of other giants of the wrestling world responded to the novel form of introduction by a hearty handshake, and settled down for a chat, which proved most interesting. Unlike the majority of professional 'wrestlers, Mr. Hackenshmidt is extremely modest and unassuming in his manner, and it was with difficulty that the pressman managed to get him to talk about himself and his wonderful feats in overcoming the best men in the profession throughout the world. Avery short time in the company of the champion is sufficient to assure one that as well as being a genius in his profession, he is a man of high intelligence and intellectual attainments. No topic of conversation comes amiss to him, and he is equally at home discussing the political outlook in Britain or his last great encounter. Having travelled most extensively, and obviously intelligently, Mr. Hackensehmidt has acquir. ed a vast store of -knowledge, and being an excellent conversationalist and a raconteur of no mean order, a recital of his experiences in different parts of the world is most interesting. Conversation naturally turned upon the comparatively recent match with Gotch, which has been the subject of world-wide comment on account of what have been widely termed the brutally unfair methods adopted by the American. “He nearly put my eyes out,” said the champion, “putting his thumbs into them and screwing them round until I was almost blinded, while the side of mv face was so torn about that I was ashamed to come into the street.” Mr. Hackensehmidt- is rather severe in his comments on the treatment meted out to him by the referee on the occasion of that contest, and ecrtainly from all accounts of the struggle that have been published it seems as though he had anything but a “fair go.” It is stated that Gotch had, for weeks before the contest, been massaged daily with oil, and on the day was liberally covered with the same substance. “Every time I got a grip on him, he slipped out- of my hands like a piece of wet soap,” explained, the champion. The cinematograph film of the contest which, by the wav, has not been publicly shown, is significant, as it depicts Hackensehmidt repeatedly wiping his hands on his trunks to rid them of the oil obtained from the body of his adversary! In appearance Mr. Hackensehmidt does not strike one as a mere mass of bone and muscle and, when. stripped. it is seen that despite his tremendous strength, he is an exceptionally well shaped and symmetricallybuilt man, with a graceful carriage. He is oft 9in in height, and weighs 15 stone Slbs, without an ounce of superfluous flesh. The following are his measurements, showing the magnificent development of the man: Chest 52inches. neck 20in, waist 33in, thigh 2-Sin, calf 17in, uoper arm 19in, forearm loin. He was born in Russia on July 20th, 1577, and at the age of 18 was studying engineering in St. Petersburg. * He was then an enthusiastic weight-lifter and gymnast, but it was not until 1897 that he. acting upon advice, went in for serious and systematic muscular training, with the ultimate result that not alone is he the champion wrestler ot the world, a title gained by his victory over Madrali, “The Terrible Turk,” in 1904, but he also holds twelve world's records for weight-lifting. Mr. Hackensehmidt explains that it was principally with the hope of again meeting Gotch that he came out to Australia. A "contract was signed, but although repeatedly urged, the American has failed to “come up to the scratch,” in spite of the fact that he has been offered the large sum of £3OOO and all expenses, win, lose or draw, to meet the champion in Australia. Mr. Hackensehmidt is a firm believer in weight-lifting as the best means of muscular development, starting with comparatively small weights and graduaslly increasing until the limit is reached. These exercises he places far and away above what he terms “rubber” exercises for the purpose of developing muscle of the proper sort. He is a non-smoker and practically a teetotaller, but has no special dieting system.' “I eat what I like.” he told the pressman, “and anything that agrees xvitli me is good.” The entertainment to be given in the theatre to-night and to-morrow night promises to be a unique one. In addition to wrestling exhibitions with Gunner Moir (ex-heavy-weight boxing chanipion of England) and Alex Bain (a Scotch giant), Mr. Hackensehmidt'wTu/ by a series of postures, show his magnificent muscular development, and will give illustrations of his weight-lifting capabilities and of his training methods. In addition to the purely ahtletic portion of the programme. there are several other turns, including a wonderful magician, Mr. Clifford Eskell, Mr. Mark Osborne, musical monologuist, and Miss Blanche Corelli, a lady vocalist, said to be endowed with an excellent voice. There will also he biograph films, depicting Hackensehmidt in iome of his wrestling contests, and the championship of the world boxing contest between Gunner Moir and Tommy Burns. In addition to being a genuine treat for athletes,' the entertainment is said to he a particularly “clean one,” and a bumper house is anticipated to give Gisborne’s greeting to the world’s champion wrestler.