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SMOTHER EACH OTHER IFITH BOUQUETS OF PRAIS
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"Bebbie" Ranck and Betty Schenkel Set
New Sporting Style by Telling Hew
Geed the Other IsJVintier Will Be
Champien of Philadelphia
PROBLEM OF PICKING TEN
SPORTS FOR GREAT EVENT
IS PUZZLING "MANAGERS"
0ne Can Bex, but
te Be "Mussed Up" Gymnasium Is
Ferte of ' (Beb bie" and Betty Stars en
1 the Cinder Track
'tXHO is the world's champion all-around woman athlete?
, "Who is the Silvia who can row, box, race, jump, hurdle, swim, dive
faster, farther and better than any ether woman who live3 within the
four corners of the earth?
Who is she who is without peer in fencing, throwing a baseball, put
ting the shot, gymnastics, hurling the javelin?
It is a question which still rests with the gods, but earth's mortals
gre destined for some inside facts seen.
Fer hasn't Betty Schenkcl, of Philadelphia, who excels in seventeen
jdiffeicnt sports already challenged any girl in America te a decathlon of
iperts for the world's championship?
And didn't "Bebbie" Ranck, also of Philadelphia, even this very day
answer defiance te that challenge?
"I don't want te seem conceited,"
laid Miss Reberta C. Ranck, "but I
can de a let of things especially in
the gym and I'd just like te meet
Betty Schenkel. Even if I did win,
you knew what I mean is: even if I
,rcade a few mere points than she
did, I couldn't say I was the world's
champion, because there are ether
countries besides America and ether
girl athletes besides Americans."
"I'm no champion," insisted Miss
Betty Schenkel, with equal modesty,
"and I guess I wouldn't even have
made that challenge if it hadn't sort
, of been wished en me I just play
around with these things because
they are fun. I like te run and box
and jump but gee! I s'pese there
are plenty of girls who can beat
me."
Rivals Are Friendly
' and Unusually Modest
And se it appears from the above
statements that, although the re
spective "managers" of these two
Jelly girls and the host of friendly
fans have praised their ability te the
Tery heights, the athletes themselves
are from a figurative Missouri and
they are just as much surprised ever
the challenge and the answer as
any one is, and leally just as in
terested. At any rate they will compete
seen. And both, extraordinary ath
letes though they are, will be content
that one will remain the champion
of Philadelphia at least.
"Once we, in a friendly way, de
cide who's best in Philadelphia, then
we'll invite anybody else te a con
test," is the conclusion the girls
nave arrived at.
"I'm pretty geed at gym work,"
lays "Bebbie." "I can de some tricky
things en the horizontal bars, and
the paiallels, and the rings. But I
ean't box much. Oh, I can get about
with the gloves en, but I'm net be
much. As a matter of fact, I don't
like te box. I don't like my face te
'get all hit up. I'd rather swim."
Prem Betty's quarters comes n
faint tinge of hesitancy and trepi
dation, tee.
Ivc boxed some with my two
brothers," says Betty, "but 'Bebbie'
Ranck will walk away with me in
gym work."
"Can't say as I can swim very
Well," submits Betty, even glow
ingly. "But I like basketball."
"If Betty means that one of the
fferts is basketball I don't think
that's entlrclv a fair test." comes
Information from "Bebbie." "This
tneet ought te be a personal meet,
noeooy can tell hew well a person
Plays if there Is a whole team te
ply with. If Betty wants me te
hy a basketball I can de thut pretty
well."
And be the shrapnel flics. Beth
girls are extremely geed sports.
They haven't met rnch nthnr vet.
but they both seem te have profound
Wpect for each ether. There is
nothing of the well-known confidence
' Prize-fighters about them. They
e willing te try their luck let the
wt girl win!
Of the two "Bebbie" seems te be
we etronger. Net tall, oho radiates
kind of physical force that would
m invincible. Besides that she is
Wirant with enthusiasm and youth.
bte is about twenty years old, the
Mme age as the challenger.
Bebbie" isya grnduate of 'high
wool, and she is new employed as a
tenegrapher.
When she was six years old she
Ml .Pr hCOlth' Hr ParCntS (1-
2 ,, f her' and nftcr consulting
TOians decided te treat her with
JJe form of Pleasant and mild ex
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VYING FOR
Other Doesn't Like
Today "Bebbie" is a champion in
the most energetic and exhausting
type of gymnastics. She can bend
a crab en a horizontal bar, and keep
the tiring position for minutes. She
lest by a fifteenth of a second the
first award at the historic meet of
the American Gymnastic Union a
number of years age.
Has Praise for Deaf Mute
Who Bettered Her Recerd
"I was beaten then by a deaf and
dumb girl from St. Leuis," she said.
"And I'm glad I was, for that trirl
is remarkable. Yeu knew she couldn't
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hear the crack of the gun at the
start in the races. She had te watch
the ethers, and then she flew like
the wind."
"Bebbie" hasn't been ill once for the
last seven years.
"Yes, I was, tee," she Interrupted
herself. "Last winter I fell off the
apparatus at the Turners and broke my
tee." She was silent for a moment and
then resumed gravely, "but I guess you
wouldn't really call that being 111, would
you?"
When "Bebble" was six the mild
form of exercise chosen by her parents
was esthetic dancing. And she has
kept up her dancing. -But tee much
ballroom dancing bores her.
"I can't explnin It very well," nnd
her smooth brew wrinkled prettily with
the effort te explain It, "but I don't
like anything that ties you down. I
like te be up and doing, I like te get
out In the open, I like te work nt my
tperts activities hard. Fer Instance
here's about the way it Is :
"I've Just come home from my vaca
tion. I was nt Delaware Water Gap.
It mined the ether day nnd the girls be
pan te play bridge en the perch. That
was tee slew. I Just had te go down
stairs and sheet some peel it kept me
moving nreund nnd I was happy.
"Some wny with books. What's the
use of rending n 'dry' book. If you're
going te stay indoors te rend why net
rend a book with a whole let of ndven
ture and action in It? They are the
kind I like though I don't find time
te rend much."
When "Bebble" grew te be a little
stronger, bcr father, Marcus D. Ranck,
tent her te the Sherwood Recreation
Center, at Fifty-fifth nnd Christian
Streets. Iiere vnn iraumi i" nniiu nun
the rudiments of gjm work.
T.ater she joined the Turngemelnde
en Brend Btrect.
Chocolates Are Favorite
Training Diet for Her
"I don't trnln the way athletes
usually de." she said. "Fer Instance,
I like chocolates. I like geed heavy,
mushy ones. I ent nny hour of the
day. They make me happy-7-and I be
Hove that being happy is the way te be
healthy." , . ,.
The little poem by fourteen -year-old
Hilda Cenkllng, written tp her mother
was quoted te this bronzed nnd freckle
faced girl:
If I am happy and you.
And there are things te de,
That Beems te be the reason of tnU
"Thati juafrbeut theVajr I HM
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erted "Bebble" with delightful en
thtislnsm, "Keep busy nnd be happy tkatyi
seems te tip nil the reason In all the
world for liking te live. And I like
te keep busy by !i ivlng ether Interests
beside my work. I work hard every
dny nt the typewriter. On Sundays
I almost llve In the gymnasium, land
two nlehts a week In the winter I go
te tnke fencing lessens nnd bexlngv
When I get a chance I squeeze In
some golf and reine tennis or seraA
horseback riding.
"Snorts are my hobby. And I think
everybody ought te have n hobby. Minen
jUHtv happens te be athletics. But I
don't iy everybody ought te have ath
letics for n hobby. I'm the Inst one
te eay what ether folks ought te de,
nnd I don't like ether folks te say
what I ought tu de.
"Of course, I don't approve of cof
fee or any drink like that. I have net
touched coffee since I can remember.
And I don't smoke either. Net that
I disapprove of smoking. I couldn't
de that, and believe se hard that folks
ought te mind their own business. But
I don't think smoking would de me any
geed se I don't smoke.
"My mother has always let me run
my own llf te a great extent. I guess
that Is why I still want te run It and
why I like ether folks te be free te
run theirs. 'Let your conscience be
your guide' Is a little old for a motto,
but It's true," told Miss "Bebbie"
with net a little conviction.
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But I think you eucht te nlonse
your own conscience, nnd nec weriy
tee much about somebody else's. I ap
prove of bobbed li.ur. I don't bob
uiue because I tort of feci It wouldn't
!nek becoming il-'it way. Ami I believe
In one-piece' bathing suits nnd In the
men's trunks nnd jerseys for girls in
track rind fluid competition. Of course,
if I didn't feel Hint 'w.v nlinut these
things It would he wr ng nmyhe f..,
me te wear them. And If ether folks
disapprove of them they eucl.tn't te
wear 'cm, but neither muht fier object
te anybody else wearing tietu."'
MIks "Bebble" seems te he suUiclent
ly nble te tnke care of herr-elf. One
imdgines that even in fisticuffs nl
11 tht swi-ia 11 hefty enough t;iht cr
left. In addition te that, i-lie has the
type of mind which is nutter of fact
nnd downright. She never hesitates
much about her opinions except when
t-he Is discussing her own iiDl'ity, Shu
can blush then like nny eth"r pleasant
girl, nnd stammer n little te beet.
Smile a Winning Climax
te Well-Formed Athlete
She weighs about 1!!0 pounds, she
reaches five and ene-hnlf feet in height
nnd she is well developed JNr shoal
tiers nre brend nnd her strong graceful
limb.- are theso of n duncer. Her volce
Is soft and enjevnblc and her hair a
wavy brown. When bIic smiles ebu
displays teeth that nre regulnr and
penrlj white. And nil this nrriy Is
being listed only te refuie the impres
sion that girl athletes are mrmlsli
that "Bebblo" is miumMi.
In her street clothes SIlss "Bubble"
aeems (lie eternal feminine. One might
ntrer suppose that she can twist and
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Bebble Kaiick en the flying poles
turn en the bars with the precision
nnd grace rarely equaled bv men ; thnt
she can outrun the avenue young man
one meets en the streets: thnt she enn
turn hnndspiings, stand en her head
nnd swim n tnnk.
"Of course nthletlc women make geed
mothers!" Raid Miss "Bebble." "Why
shouldn't they? They an- healthy, nnd
they hnve sene enough te wnnt their
oblldren te have the same advantage of
open air nnd physical exercise as they've
had. Besides, no nthlete can he in
tolerant. He or she always hns te
respect the ether fellow and hew ran
urn possibly de that and be intelcrnnt?
In athletics you are entirely en your
own if you lese, well, you simply
hnven't measured up, nnd must give
credit te the girl who wins. When
nnyueuy says tnat women nre peer
sports, I just don't believe them. Seems
te me they hnve mere determination
than men they want te win mere but
they knew hew te lese, tee."
And she togged en te thnt :
"If Hetty Schenkel heats me. why
should I be n bad loser? I'll de my
best, nnd I wnnt her te de her best,
Nobody can nsk nny mere from cither
of us."
And like nn echo comes the same
phrase from Betty :
"I'll de my best, nnd I won't gel
mad if I'm benten!"
Girl's Trophy List Is Leng
as After-Dinner Speech
Betty Schenkcl hns been doing most
of her work with the girls of the Penn
sylvania Railroad. She holds all kinds
of cups, ribbons, certificates perhaps I
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she has mere of these honors thnnl
"Bebble," who has a sufficient supply
In her own right, however.
She had had .the ndvantnge of two
brothers just n little yeutiscr. "Bob "Beb
ble" has but one brother, sixteen years
old, with whom she has learned te play
basketball. Betty, eh does "Bebbie,"
plays rather well at billiards; roller
skates, riding, even football, number,
however, among the aperts wlilch she
hns developed without much chance of
feminine rivalry.
If the decathlon includei football,
"Bebbie" will be up' a tree.
"But I'll try anything In athletics,"
, she Insisted bravely. "I believe In try
ing nil sports. It s the only way te
find out what you can de nnd the
mere sports you try the mere fun you
hnve nnd the mere chance te excel In
some of them."
If the decathlon Includes bowling, nt
which Betty is no mollycoddle, "Bob "Beb
ble" will again have te fight with little
experience.
"Betty, uses a rifle tee," snys her
"manager." 8hc's just started with
the rifle, but she Is breaking 30
out of 50 every time. She's chnm chnm
plen of the l R. It. en the trnck.
She wears spiked shoes Just like a
man! She's wen all the championships
up te 100 yards. She did that In 13 1-5
seconds and 50 yards in 6 3-5."
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"Bebbie" has never run anything
but the ."0-ynrd dash, nnd her best
time la 0 l-.r seconds. But she is n
shade tha better of Bettv in the stnnd
ing bread jump. Miss Ranck has made
S feet f Inches, while Miss Scbcnkel's
best is " feet.
But nny comparison of records be
comes the least .satisfactory speculation,
in the light of the fact that both girls
are Improving each dny.
In the gym "Bebble" had benten nil
comers. At the A. A. I', meet this
spring nt the Turners she captured first
and a large cup for work in the gym
nnstie events. She was fust In the
trnck nnd field events in the meet of
the American Gymnastic Union Inst
.Tune. She has the highest award for
the year anions clrls in the Turner
classes, and she received just recently
a geld medal for fencing.
Predicts Day When Girls
Will Beat Men Athletes
"Seme day innybe women will whip
the men in gym event"," she believes.
"Just new the difficulty Is that women
nre net se strong us men. In work en
the bars nnd the H113H a competitor
needs strength and cleverness Women
are as clever as men, they often show
neuer lerm, uui iney are rarely as
strong. "
Fer the delectation of her small audi
ence she flipped a difficult turn en the
parallel bars. It was 11 whole series of
turns- anil seemed the most excruciat
ingly hard work.
"Net se pleasant." she gasped, "in
the summertime." And because hhe be be
lleved it se. she cried : "I'll say it
isn't." and then touched.
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can't de en the apparatus " Bald MM 0:
uuniviiii, uirci'ier ei umiuiit-n
weed Itecrcntlen Center. Miss Sulll
Villi. InndcKt llltp lint nrntecpn. refuBM :'V,
te admit that nny credit Is due he '
for the early training she afforded MI '
Itanck.
" 'Bebble has it In her te be anath.
Icte," Is the nuthorltntlve conclusion
from Miss Sullivan. "She was born
with the knack, and had the geed Bens
te develop It. I hnven't seen Mlsn
Schenkel, se I don't knew hew geed she
Is. But there are few better than 'Bob 'Beb
ble,' nnd nny rival of hers will have
te work hard;"
Fer a while recently It wa necessary
for "Bebble" te call a halt In her vlg-'
oreus activities. Her doctor advised
that nothing niled her, excepting her tee 4
energetic trnlnlng. 'Consequently, late
jy. she hns diminished her many In
terests for a while te but two swim
ming and golfing.
"And I have been playing spectator' '
she smiled. "I think there is nothing
lovelier than n geed game of baseball
or tennis. Fact is, I like most any
of these games though I hnve te admit
that whenever I wnteh ether folks play
ing, I wnnt te jump in, tee but I
have restraint enough te be able te a
joy meets from the sidelines."
Parler Athletics Net
for This Strenuous Miss
I'erbnps It is her partiality for vis-.
ible action which has made her nor
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friendly te the theatre nnd the movies
thnn te books.
"I like the movies nnd the theatrs
if there is n let happening, is bcr
mnnner of suggesting this. "Of the
ether social duersiuns 1 find I like
dancing bet et all though I'd rather
go te the gymnasium than te n dance.''
It is net se onerous a task te pick
out the influences which have led Miss
Ranck te a whole-seuled affection for
athletic competition. It might be the
pathway fernny girl, provided parents
in the early years of their girl-child
exhibit n degree of intelligent direction.
Mr. and Mrs. Ranck, enc0 tbey dis
covered thnt their daughter appeared
te be in delicate physical condition, un
derstood that it was just us necessary
te develop the girl-body ns it seems te
be te develop the boy-body. With her
privilege te compete in athletic work
she was abb te devi le; the hey-Interest
along with her girl- Intel cuts. And
nidging ft cm her work and from the
impression one receives nfter a casual
conversation with her she has fortu
nately arrived at a happy mean graced
with n mind ns chnrmluglv 'feminine ns
thene lovely Indies of the Victorian er,
and witli 11 body us healthy as any
freckled -faced boy s.
Cemes, strangely enough, et this late ,
moment word from Miss Betty Schen
kel's ninnnger, .Inck Reden, who says
thnt under no circumstances "will his
athlete" cempere in gvmnnstlcs. He
says she welcomes competition in nil
the legitimate trnck and Held events and
that she will he rendj te meet any
woman immediately after the Pennsyl
vania system outdoors championships,
September 23, nt Altoenn.
Tills doubtless will bring down "Bob "Beb
ble's" score for she excels In gym
work but It does net dlsceurnge her,
"I believe in trying out most nny of
the games," Is her gentle ultimatum.
"Somehow I've been winning a let of
things nnd I want te see. what I can
de, nny wny, with Hetty Schenkel."
And tha championship meet for the
nll-nreund woman athlete will net b
canceled.
And the world will wait nnd wonder;
like the singer In Bill Shakepeart's
play :
Who In PlIvliiT Whit la he-.
That all the (ana commend herT ,
""""HI .TIMIIl will IIU JIOIIIJ1S or y.
Betty lemalns te be seenas they bethiC'
admit thqmselvctJ the prlrc will go .M,
Whether Silvia will be "Bebble" or
the best.
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