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Schmelling. We were most hospitabiy receired the Vienna Athletic Club, and I made the aoquain-

of various first-rate athietes and wrestlers.

was there I first met Wilhelm Tü rclr, a very brian, at that time about forty years of age. was nearly 6 ft. high and weighed 18 st. 12 lb. He raise, largely by main force, a bar weighing lb. to the full height of his anus, and oould dtaw

a weight of 132 lb. in both hands simultaneously lb. in all). My best perforxtiance at that time 114 \b. io zack kand, or 228 tb. in aJL But in a weight with one hand, which reqnires

he could only oianage 1 lb. as against

242 lb.

may herg point out that owing to the excitement on stich events it is very difficult for a man

do his best. Mjr performances were:

Jerking a bar with both hands, 311 lb. Slow pressing a bar with both hands, 249 lb.

Slow pressing a bar with both hands, 220 lb. four

In weight-lifting I was third; 6ehind Tü rck and the latter also a Viennese athlete.

lt seemed to me that the arrangement ob the was all in favour of the Viennese, for even vety strong French champion, Pierre Bonner, not win a place, owing to the fact that the trad, undoubtedly, been exclusively trained

these Special feats. The same remark applies to feats with separate weights (i. e., with the se- short Bohlig dtimb-bells). My fellow cltib- Meyer, it is true, made a very creditable show, even he could not score much. Herr von Schmel- a very tall man, 6 ft. 41 in. in height and 17 st. 4 lb. in weight, had wresded with ene with Paul Pons £ or a ftill hour without decisive

114 THE WAY TO LIVE

result, and was reckoned a better wrestler than I; bet ke kad very poor tuclc in Vienna, for, after defeating Wetasa, the best Viennese wrestler of that day, after a content of one and a half hours, he had, owing to a misunderstanding with the tinipire, to

now Dr. von Krajewski'a sole remaining hope in the wrestling bouts. I was in excellent tettle, and, first of all, threw several Viennese amateurs, in very quick time, leas than one minute each. I was then matched with the Bavarian champion, Michael Hitzler, a wonderfully good wrestler, but rather too light a weight for me. I put out my full force and threw him after a plucky struggle lasting Gve minutes. It took me only two minutes to eettle with Btirg- hardt, who was not so good a man.

had now won thu first prize in wrestling, the championship of 22urope, a beaiitiful gold medal, and a magnificent championship-belt. Dr. von Kra- jeweki was delighted and congratulations rained down on me from every side. Pmtessor Hueppe of Prague was one of the umpires in this competition. Azi extbusiast fa gymnastics, he took a great faterest in the wrestling contests and was good enough to praise me very highly. I received quite a general ovation at the aupper given at the close of the contest, and the Athletic Club invited Dr. von Krajewski, 3leyer von Schmelling and myself to a soiré e.

Towards evening on the following day we found ourselves in the C)ub rooms, and the old doctor was the first to inake himself at home and laid hold of the tt›ols. Great surprise was shown on every side at seeing so old a man so keen at his work. He put up a bar of 154 lb. several times with two hands and performed a number of other feats of strength. F'•ired by his example, I achieved the following per-

THE WAY TO LIVE 115

fomiance: lying on the ground I raised above the head and put up 331$ lb.

Next day, on the invitation of one of the umpires, ' Herr Vfctor Silberer, we made an excursion to this

- gentleman’s country house on the Semmering Pass,

’*Regent a mmston)opbte Cme.

Herr Silberer was the proprietor and editor of the Altge net r S gon Zeitu, and himself a keen sports man. After our return to St. Petersburg I was cliallenged on various pretexts by Wetasa of Vienna and also by Lurich to wrestle for the championship or Europe or to defend the same. Dr. von Kra- jewski undertook the preliminaries, but both men sought to insist on such impossible conditions that the contest fell through. Even at that date I had not the slightest fear of either of them. Wetasa was

. already somewhat past his prime, while I knew that Ltirich, though somewhat more experienced, was a

, ”wealcer wrestler than toyself. I spent the remainder of the year at Dr. von Krajewghi’s, and in January, ’3899, after a keen struggle won the championship of Finland from twenty competitorg.

Although from the date of

, 4n the wrestling ring onwards

\for weight-lifting records, yet in January, 1899, I

. pressed a bar of 2Z9J lb. with both hands.

The time for my enrolment. in the army had now arrived, and I was commandé d to join the Preo- rashensky Polk (the lat Life Guards of the Czar ),

I was released from 4errice after five months. On ay 16, in Count Ribeaupierre’s riding school, I nestled to a finish the content with Herr von elling which had been left undecided in the evious year, and defeated him in twenty-five tites by means of a ”half-nelson, ” thtis winning championship for 1898. A few days later, on ay 19, a second victory over S‹â imelling in forty-

116 THE WAY TO LIVE

four minutes gained ore the Russian championship for 1899. Schmelling was one of my toughest op- ponents!

After this, I again trained for some time at weight-

lifting and made some progress, as I jerked a bar ot 330 lb. with both hands; but in trying to flow press 286 lb. with one hand, I strained a sinew in my right shoulder, an injury which was destined to trouble me for years afterwards. At first I thought little of this trifling pain and trained for the Championship of the World wrestling contests in Paris, which took place in November. I was firmly resolved to become a professional wrestler. Although my arm had not yet fully recovered I went to Paris and took part in the contests.

The list of competitors for this tournament was as follows: Charles ie Metinier (France), Henri Pechon (France), Francois ie Farinier (Swiss), Ferio1Maritis (France), Henri Alphonse (Swiss), Loir dit Porthos, Trillat Ie Savoyard, Capitant ie Parisien, Louis Chappe (all of France), Niemann (Germany), Cam- illtis Evertsen (Denmark), Pietro Dalmasso (Italy), Barnet Ie Dé mé nageur (France), Jaccavail (France), Devaux (Belgium), Dirk van den & rg (Holland), Raoul le Boucher (France), Raymond Franc (France), Victor Delmas (France), Edgar Joly (France), Hautier le Bretpn, Leon le Jouteur (France), Bonera Domenico (Italy), Aimable de la Calmette (France), Starck (Germany), Jean le Mar- seillais (France), Edouard Robin (France), Jax le Taureau (France), Henri Lorange (France), Feng- ler (Germany), Alis-Amba (Africa), Eberle (Ger- oiany), Robinet (France), Laurent le Beaucairois (France), Constant le Boucher (Belgium), Kara Ahmed (Turkey), CharleS Poiré e (France), Pey- rousse (France), Miller (Gerniany), Paul Pons (France), besides œ yselfi.

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My first opponent was a medium wrestler, Loir, nicknamed Porthos. I got him down in eighteen seconds I My second was a Frenchman from the South, named Robinet, a wrestler with a fairly good

. style and till then of fairly high reputation. It is, perhaps, only natural that /nrcipn wrestlers should be greeted with a certain amount of distrust. I was at that time almost unknown to the general public in France, and every one was astonished to see me defeat the popular Robinet in the short space of fotir minutes. Robinet was too sportsmanlike to attrib-

. ute his defeat to accident, but, in answer to ques- tions, said that I was very strong; “he has a grip like vice, and if he gets you on the ground you are Doc. ” It was about this time that people

to call me “the Russian Lion. ”

the struggle with Robinet, the next morning went to the Gymnasium Piaza, Rue Faubourg St. to train, when Leon Dumont, the French

put my shoulder out of joint, and for x time my right arm seemed half paralysed. Mon- Piaza used hot and cold shower-baths and elec- to try to restore the use of my arm, but with

result.

has long been the custom in wrestling circles all sorts of difficulties in the way of beginners threaten to prove dangerous rivals later on, and to scare the newcomers out of the profession.

myself was told that “Beginners who may become

must be defeated often and severely in to get rid of them. ”

accordance with this policy the third opponent to me was one of the best French wrestlers, versatile Aimable de la Calmette. This athlete, I seen discovered, was not nearly so strong as I,

Jor crore cxpenlenced, a fact which made it neces- for we to be careful, for an experienced wrestler

118 THE WAG TO LIVE

in far more dangerous than one who is merely strong. One is never safe from surprises, and it is almost impossible to calciilate on what such wrestlers may do. Well, I threw the wtirthy Aimable attet iorty- seven minuten, but learned a great deal in the course of this struggle. On the following day Laurent le Beaucairois, a very strong and clever performer, appeared upon the scene. Till then I had not be- lieved it possible that so corpulent a man—Laurent weighed 18 st. 12 lb., though he was slightly shorter than I—could show so much activity and nimbleness. Laurent was an old hand at the game, having wrestled for fifteeo yeorx and it did not look as if there was much chance for me who had scarcely had //feen months’ experience. In strength I was the Frenchman’s equal, it not hi5 superior, and I made up my mind to be on my guard and give no chances. We wrestled for thirty minutes, when the referee declared the context a draw.

After this last bout the weakness in my arm gave

me a good deal ot trouble, and I thought it best to retire from the tournament, especially as a French surgeon had ordered me to avoid all overstraining for twelve months. I sincerely wish that I had fol- lowed his advice!

I looked ori at a few more contests and then re- turned home to have my arm seen to, going in for treatment with electricity for abotit six months, but I am inclined to Nancy that this did me more harm than good. All went well, and irt May, 19ß 0, I again began to lift heavy weights.

With the thoughtlessness of youth, I soon began to lift the heaviest bars again, and my arm, which had scarcely recovered, was again injured in an atterrlpt to establish fresh records in weight-lifting. Dr. von Krajewski warned me seriously, and I grew more prudent and avoided teure de force ob this nature.

THE WAY TO LIVE 119

In June, 1900, a wrestling combat took place at Moscow. This was my first appearance as a pm fessional wrestler. The tournament lasted forty days, my salary being 2; 500 francs (or IU) per znonth. We were wrestliog for two prizes, viz., tate championships of St. Petersburg and of Moscow. As I sticceeded in winning both I gained another 1, 500 tr. for the St. Petersburg champfonship and 2, 500 fr. more, being the amount of the first Moscow prize. I met Aimable atid Petroff, and defeated them. I also threw the eel-like Constant Ie Boucher, a yoting Belgian, in five minutes. Petroif was an immensely strong Bulgarian. Constant was incred- ibly clever and agile, but seemed to undervalue me as an opponent. As he admitted afterwards, he had heard me described as being somewhat clumsy, though very strong. After defeating Constant; the French wrestlers put Peyrousse forward against me.

This wrestler was tret endously powerful, but had little heart, so that hardly had we commenced struggling than he pra‹: tically threw himself, greatly to the surprise of his coinpatriots, who had counted on his crushing me. My second bout with him

. lasted only seven seconds. Following Peyrousse I met and defeated an enormously strong Cossack in Michailpff, whom I threw in ten minutes. While our championship matches in Moscow were still proceeding a great wrestling competition had already

. commenced in Vienna. Unfortunately I entered too ’late and did not reach Vienna itntil the final stages were in progress. My old opponent Pons took first prize. Kara Ahmed, a first-rate Turkish wrestler, was eecond, and the corpulent Laurent third. Neither Pons nor the Ttirk would consent to meet inc. Apparently they were in no hurry to risk their freshly-won laurels. The good-matured Laurent

! aIone waa willing to wrestle a fall with me. I first

120 THE WAY TO LIVE

of all had a bout with a very tall and heavy Spaniard, named Chorella, whom I threw in the short space of twenty-nine seconds. 1 had more trouble with a Dutchman, Dirk van den Berg, a finely built athlete. Van den Berg played a defensive game, looking out for some oversight on my part, but at length I de- feated him in twenty-two minuten. I fouiid an even more wily opponent in the German Fengler, who seemed a good-natured man and made all sorts of proposals to me before the contest, but orice we set to work I found that he was only too anxious tr› beat we. I now begaii to realize that in order to win one requires iipt only 6rute strenytli, but must also ernploy in a far greater degree than the uninitiaterl would suppose, both judgment ariel reflection. I threw Fengler in twenty-six mintites. On the riext day I wrestled with the doughty and corpulent Laurent le Beaucairois. We had a pretty lively set- to, and the Frenchman let it charly be seei that he had no hope of beating me, for at the end of an hour he withdrew mom the contest. Early in Sep- tember I went to Dresden, the capital of Saxoiiy, to attend a small wrestling competition. I was the chief attraetion there, and wrestled almost nightly with from three to five o{ipo1ieiits, nearly all of whom I defeated very q uickly, e. g. :

Winzer of Hamburg in seven mintites.

The Austrian l3urghardt in six mintites.

And the two nimble Italian brothers, Emilio and Giovanni Raicevich, in three antl six minuten re- spectively, all in a single cvening! I threw Fenglei’ and Konietzko on another eveninq in three minuten altogether. At Dresden I met a very stout and heavy‘ wrestler named Sebastian Miller. " this worthy mag weighed nearly Z4st., and was fä irIy strong, bUt so deficient in science that I threw him in three minuten, and immediately afterwards a nimble but

THE WAY TO LIVE 121

smaller Frenchman warned Maurice Gambier in five minutes, and H itzler in twenty-thrce minuten. Hitzler had improved greatly. I took the first prize at

' Dresden.

From Dresden I n'ent to Chemnitz, another Soon town of somewhat less than a quarter of a million inhabitants. Here the contestants were: Gambier (France), Hö fer (Germany), Seb Miller (Ger- many), Konietzko (Germany), Buisson (France), Hitzler (Germany), Winzer (Germany), Giovanni and Emilio Raicevich (Italy), Rossner (G ermany), Petri ( Holland), Oscar Uhlig (Germany), Burg-

' hardt (Austria), Diriks (Belgium) and myself. At

, Chemnitz I, for the first time, met my old antagonist

Lurich. As often happens, the management of an- ' other theatre, in order to compete with otir under- taking, had engaged Ltirich and a number of other inferior wrestlers. Lurich went about boasting lotidly that he had more than once defeated me with ease.

' His impresario billed Lrrrich as the sfroiiqexf ninti

. iii Ilse u! orld and “the invincible wrestler. ”

Though as a rule I have no great liking for im- promptu challenges, yet in view of this continuous and brazen ptiffing of Lurich I could not refrain from challenging him to a wrestling match, when I found that he persisted in these wariton personal attacks upon me. Accordingly Hitzler and I

strolled round one evening—it was Monday, Sep- tember 17—to the theatre at which Lurich was

! engaged and offered to wrestle with him. Although Lurich had declared himself ready to meet any

!. wrestler, amatetir or professional, who chose to come forward, our challenge was not accepted, on the plea that the “invincible” had already his full quota of opponents. It was nevertheless announced from the stage that Herr Lurieh would wrestle with Hackenschmidt on the following Wednesday.

122 THE WAY TO LIVE

On the appointed evening we were punctually in our places, but we noticed that Lurich was already provided with two opponents. One of these, who seemed to be quite ignorant of wrestling, he threw in less than a mintite. He then prepared to serve his second opponent in similar fashion when this latter suddenly vanished from the stage, crying out as he went, “Yonder stands Herr Hackenschmidt” (pointing at me), “he will take my place, as I don’t fee! well. ” I went on to the stage, amid thunderous applause from the crowded atidience which had assembled, in order to wrestle with Lurich. But no sooner did the “invincible wrestler” catch sight of me than he turned deadly pale and bolted into the wings, and in spite of repeated calls he absolutely declined to return. The Chemnifo Allgemeine Rei- tung (No. 29 of September 21, 1900) printed the lohowing note on this incident:

“As our readers are aware, George Lurich, who describes himself as the ‘Champion Athlete of the

World’ and ‘Strongest Man in the World, ’ has for some days past been appearing at the Mose! la Vaal. In addition to a somewhat glowing adver- tisement of his powers, he has issued on his bills, etc., etc., a challenge to all wrestlers, whether amateur or professional. On Monday evening George Hackenschmidt, who is taking part in a wrestling competition at the Kaufmannische Vereiu- shaus, challenged htm to a wrestling bout on Wednes- day evening. News of this spread very quickly among all the sporting elements of Chemnitz, with the result that the 3fosella fdaf was packed from floor to ceiling on the evening in question. Every one looked forward with impatience for the beginning of the wrestling match. The disappointment of the spectators can therefore be imagined, when Herr Lurich appeared on the stage in the company of

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