Barrier Miner (Broken Hill, NSW : 1888 - 1954), Saturday 15 May 1909, page 6


"GOUGE OR STRANGLE.'

JUJITSU AT WIRTH'S CIRCUS.

AN EXCITING BOUT.

.-. At the conclusion of the programme at Wirth Bros.' Circus on Saturday night. Professor Stevenson, of Sydney, and Mr. Albert Monier, who performs at the circus as a strong man, engaged (say« the' "Telegraph" of May 10) in a ju-jitau contest for a purse of £75. The struggle waa intensely exciting, and at one moment the feelings of the audience were so worked up that a serious disturbance was only averted by the timely appearance of the police.

The ringmaster announced the con-ditions of tbe contest. Each man waa allowed to hit, scratch, bite, pull by the hair, kick sideways, gouge, or strangle. Practically thé only forbid-den action was a straight kick. Mr. M. P. Adams, of Melbourne, acted as referee, and Mr. Clancy was time-keeper. The duration of actual wrest-ling was to be 15 minutes.

. Before starting Professor Stevenson complained that he had contracted to meet Arthur Frans, whereas Albert Monier was appearing in his place. He claimed that another £10 should be added to the stakes in consequence. After a consultation, Messrs. Wirth Bros. offered to make the addition to the prise. ?

, At ithe word "go" both men bega« to Circlo much in the fashiontof ordinarywrestlers, bat the similarity to familiar methods ceased when Stevenson dealt Mon er a smack on the face, on at-

tack which thc latter rot urned by try-' lng to kick Stevenson's legs from un-der him with Iiis heel. A clinch fol-lowed, and they ¿went to the ground.' After some active .work, in which each alternately gained the advantage, they came to their feet again, and almost immediately Stovensan caught his op-ponent by tho arm, and flung him bod-ily over hifi left shoulder, Monier turn-ing in the air like a cat, landed on his fleet, and was ready to meet Stevenson by tho time the latter turned round.

Both .men now recognised that they were practically evenly matched, and thence onward put ovary ounce of effort into their work. Several times in quick succession each threw his oppo-nent over his head or shoulder to tho

ground, a movement which waa warmly applauded by the audience, but when Monier started feeling, for Stovcnson,'a eyes with, his thumb for the purpose of dissuading that gentleman from tryii ing to break his ? (Alon ie r's) neck ha* tween his knees, or when Stevenson hill Monier ^rigorously across the loins, to niter Monier's intention of dislocating his thumb, the,ideas of fair-play of tho

moro conservative of tho audience wend shocked, and ?? the cheering; was equally balanced with hoots.

Five minutes from the start Steven-i son secured a master-hold and Monier, yielded, A few minutes were nllowed. to rest, then the second round conn menced. A good deal of footwork; wad used, and tho men gradually edged ta« wards the side of the ring. A clinch followed, and resulted in both tripping qver tho edge of the wooden ring-bankj Monier was uppermost, and lifting Stevenson in the air, proceeded to thump his body on the wood. By. aft adroit movement the latter contrived to free himself, and clutching MonidH by the shoulders threw him outside tho ring. The referee at once proceeded to, separate thom, but meanwhile a sec« tion of tho audience began to hoot, ari« about a'dozon ring-assistants rushed across the ring and forcibly toro th« men. apart. Stovemon protested vig. orously against the treatment ho waa submitted to? and in the oxcitcmesitt which ensued it seemed inevitable that the crowd would rush tho ring, wh«H a couple Of policemen appeared, and ofter some difficulty restored order, i,

Tho contest was resumed in the ringy and soon af tor ^Monier, secured an arulr. lock, which' modo him tho winner of tho round. The result was greeted wiçh, tremendous cheering. ti

Tho third round lasted out tho rfc maindcr of thc fifteen minutes, neidict, one gaining a decisive position. When, timo was up the referee awarded thg match to Stevenson on points. , ,(."

Another tumult seemed imminent,, The audienco swarmed down to th» ringside, hooting and cheering, but tho polioo and attendants kept it clear, anft whon the principals left for their drea»V ing-rooms the crowd gradmdly molted^

"^icn seen afterwards, Mr. AdoiM

said it was tho most exciting contest ho luid ever refereed. He Thad had some ton years' experience, and recent ly at Ballarat had given 70 decisions,m, ono tournament, but on no occasion^ had he seen a harder struggle tran this, ono had been. Explaining the ruto governing tho contest, he said that thej Object was not to try for à fall as .njy ordinary wrestling, but to obtain "R, hold which would compel tho other mai), to yield. The kidney hit, which Stejf, enson used, was quito permissible. Jt| was dealt with tho edgo of tile oropp, land, dn tho ¿ame way that tho "kid-! 'ney punch" was given m boxing, andi was used to make an oppouont relax his,

^ Professor Stevenson said that 3ie ha¿I

had a difficult man to beat. "Soon, ofter wo started I got a doulblo wristi and shoulder-joint lock on his arm,' which would hove resulted ,in any orrt| dinary man having his shoulder dis-). . located had lie struggled. But Monior;

avoided it by.turning what I would, have thought to be on impossible som-,

ersnult. I should bo glad to meet him aajaih." . ,

»»Monier stated that he was properly acGumborlnnd and Greco-Roman wrestkMV>but had a knowledge of ju-jitsu. Hamdmitted that Stevenson had great-er! experience and knowledge about ju-jitsu than he. but he thought himself stronger and quicker in:his movemonts. Ho-iwns prepared to have another bout with Stevenson. ;