| OCR Text |
Show BENT F. LARSEN VICTIM OF RIOT OVERU.S.FLAG B. Y. U. Professor Defends Americans and U. S. Flag Paris Riot. PARIS, May 19. Prof. Bent F. Larsen, of Provo, Utah, was knocked knock-ed unconscious, though not seriously injured in a riot yesterday at the Colombes stadium, following the final Olympic rugby match between the French and American teams. Immediately nfter tbe American victory on the field the Anierican flag was raised on the flagpole, an honor always accorded the country of tbe winning team. Considerable friction bad developed de-veloped during the game, tee French players often were penalized for undue roughness. The French crowd was unjustly harsh in its jeering of the American players, and thousands thou-sands of Frenchmen waving heavy-headed heavy-headed cans rushed onto the field after the Americans had beaten the French team, 17 to 3. Then came the raising of the Stars and Stripes on the victory pole. Americans in tbe audience, outnumbered a hundred to one, raised hats and cheered for the American emblem. French men answered an-swered with jeers. An American photographer who attempted to take a picture of tbe flag was knocked down and bis camera destroyed. Two art students, B. F. Larsen, of Provo, Utah, and Gideon William Nelson, of DeKalb, 111., rushed to the flagpole, around- which were grouped what few Americans were on the field. Hundreds of infuriated infur-iated Frenchmen charged on the group. Larsen and Nelson, without even canes in their bands for protection, pro-tection, faced the excited French, men. Both Americans were badly pounded, and both were knocked unconscious. un-conscious. Nelson was unconscious for more than an hour. Larsen was not hurt badly, and with the American team was escorted out of the stadium under police protection. Just to show that Americans are good sports the American team cancelled its banquet and accepted the invitation of the French to attend at-tend their banquet. The showing made by the American Amer-ican players today did not suffer j by comparison with any rugby shown in Euroiie this winter, v "Dick Hylnnd, San Francisco; j (Jack Patrick, Palo Alto, Calif.; Dudley de Groot, Chicago; John O'Neil, South Dakota ; Norman "Babe" Slater of Woodland, Calif., captain of the team, and Charles Doe of San Francisco starred for the Americans. Captain Lnsserre ,and Andre Behoteguy were tbe only two Frenchmen who showed international inter-national playing calibre. The crowd was very unfair; it was as clean a game of football as I ever saw," said Charles H. Sher-ill, Sher-ill, member of the International Olympic committee, speaking of the outburst by the" spectators at the French and American rubgy match today. Frantz Reichel, general secretary of the French Olympic committee, praised the American players for their work on the field, saying : "Your boys are wonderful rugby players. They won the match fairly and squarely." |
