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Show M C Its CB If / / you YOll think tlllllk billing bilmg bitting bilmglS bittingr , r i iIts , is lS an easy game , if l/ l lou i f / youthink you youdunk , ou ouI outlunk I tlunk dunk tlunkIt'S dunkit's it's its ' child's childs cluld's clulds ' ' play to tostand tostand tostand stand standon on a hal/-sub- hal sub half-sub- half - halsubmelged halfsubmerged half-sub-meiged half sub meiged / - - melged merged pine log , chum- chum clrUln- clrUln churn- churn - clrUlning churning chumT chuming - T ing in m the tire water , thenthink then thentlrmk tlrmk think tlrmkagam thinkagain again agam . You're Youre ' go- go going goI gob going go going - I b ing to slip , stumble , tripand trlp trip trlpand , 4 4and and fall , landing facedown facedown face f fdown down in an icy pondwIn pond _ r while wIn Ie some wisecracking wisecrackingspectator i iIT 4 4spectator rv rvspectator > spectator yells yells- yells yellsYOU'RE ells- ells ellsa IT - a . - - " ' . 'fc fc ' . ' ' " i w w'fc * " li ha . . . * > .S S . .SALLW YOU'R YOUR YOU'RE YOURE YOU'REALIwv YOUREALIwv ' ALLW ALL _ WET 'i i ' ! , By JOSEPH W LaBINEChips LaBINE LaBINEChips Chips aren't arent ' flying flymg so fast fastthese fastthese fastthese these days from the axes of ofnorth ofnorth ofnorth north woods lumberJacks lumberJacksBetween lumberjacksBetween lumberjacksBetween Between strokes S ; ou 11 find findthem findthem findthem them talking about a sport sportcalled sportcalled sportcalled called birling blrlIng ( log rolling toyou to toyou toyou you ) and the world champlOn champion champlOnship championship championship ship birhng blrlmg blrhng contest to be beheld beheld beheld held at Escanaba , MlCh Mich MichAugust , , August 12 to 14Nothing 14 14Nothing Nothing is easier than fall fallmg falling falling mg ing off a log N Nor or is anythIng anythIngharder anythingharder anythingharder harder than standing on one oneespecially , especially when it's its ' ' half sub sub- submerged submerged submerged - merged in a pondof pond of water waterand waterand waterand and somebody else is on the theother theother theother other end , trying trymg to push you youoff youoff youoff youoffHere's off offHere's Here's Heres ' a nimble mmble footed art artthat artthat artthat that makes toe dancing look looklIke looklike looklike lIke an old man's mans ' game It'sstrange Itsstrange It's Its It'sstrange It'sstrange ' strange , surely , , that log roll roll- rollers rollers rollers - ers can be seasoned lumber- lumber lumberJacks lumberlacks lumber-lacks lumber lacks - Jacks lacks big boned men with heavy heavyshoes heavyshoes heavyshoes shoes who should be more at home homeon homeon homeon on dry land than tripping tnppmg the lIght lIghtfantasttc lightfantastic lightfantastic fantasttc fantastic on a slippery log logPart logPart logPart Part of the JobBut JobBut Job JobBut But they aren t brIers b riers rlers by choIce choIceLumberjacks choiceLumberjacks choiceLumberjacks Lumberjacks d scovered long agothat agothat ago agothat that to keep your Job 300 in the north northwoods northwoods northwoods woods you ve ye got to have a knack knackfor knackfor knackfor for this apparently senseless busl buss buslness bussness business businessIn ness nessIn In the days when legendary Paul PaulBunyan PaulBunyan PaulBunyan Bunyan was a youngster in m knee kneetrousers kneetrousers kneetrousers trousers lumberjacks first rolled rolledtheIr rolledtheir rolledtheir theIr logs into mto the river nver and nursed nursedthem nursedthem nursedthem them downstream to the sawmillUsually sawmIll sawmIllUsually sawmillUsually , Usually the dnv drn drly e twent lwent s smoothly smoothlythe smoothlythe 1 1othlY othlY othlYthe the churning churnmg waters carrying mil milIons mil1 Ions 1 ons of feet of timber tunber down to the thedoorway thedoorway thedoorway doorway of civilization But now nowand nowand nowand and then some obstruction oDstruchon wotJd would wotJdcause wouldcause wouldcause cause the logs to pile pule up and it was wasI wasthe wasthe wasthe I the birler blrler s job to skip out underthe under underthe underthe the face of this irenacmg trenacmg irenacing Jam ] am underI find findthe findthe findthe I ' the key log Jerk ] erk it loose and get getback getback back to dry land before he was wasI wascrushed wascrushed wascrushed I crushed to deathWith death deathWith ' With WJth a roar like l1ke the collapse of a a10 10 story bu Id ng the jam would wouldloosen wouldloosen wouldloosen loosen itself and go thundering thunderingdownstream thunderingdownstream thunderingdownstream downstream If the birler blrler was wassk wassk wassk sk lled-and lled and lied-and lied lied - and lucky-he lucky he lucky - he would sk p pover pover pover over the swa swaging swaying ) Ing carpet and get out outof outof outof of danger it If luck or skill skull failed he hem hem hem m ght meet a horrible death bet be bet bet t veen crush ng splintering spllntcrmg logsSmart logsSmart logs logsSmart Smart lumberjacks soon dlscov discov dlscovered discovered discovered ered that it was pretty good life hfe m in msurance insurance insurance surance to pract ce cc log rolling In Intheir intheir intheir their spare time When the day sRIGIIT s sRIGHT < . RIGHT RIGIIT Joe Connor the 1937 1937'l"forld 1937world 1937world 'l"forld lforld world ' " champion birler blrler showa shoWl shown : at atwork atwork atwork work on the spinning pmnmg timber limber as heprepares he heprepares heprepares prepares for this year s tournament tournamentat at Escanaba Escanaha \ Mich I\hch I hch BELOW A Aremarkable Aremarkable Aremarkable remarkable picture of o ( birling bullng barling feet feetwhere feetwhere feetwhere where a man must step taster faster and andhigher andhigher andhigher higher than in toe dancing if of he hedoesn hedoesn hedoesn doesn t want to get wet labors were fin shed or the logs had hadbeen hadbeen hadbeen been delivered dehvered to the mill they theyfound theyfound theyfound found a postman s holiday hol1day in com corn competlng cornpeting cornpeting petlng peting with one another to deter determme determine determine mme mine who was the best man on the thelog thelog thelog thelogAnnual log logAnnual logAnnual Annual Summer rventThat rventThat Fvent rvent FventThat That was the start of competitiveb compettliveb compettlive competitive b rling rlmg a sport that is at once toe toetr toetr toetr tr pping ppmg and red blooded In a land landwhere landwhere landwhere where the heyday heyd.1Y heyd1Y . of lumbering lumbermg has haslong haslong haslong long since d sappeared a few en enthuslasts enthusiasts enthusiasts thuslasts thusiasts have kept birl blrl burl ng ahve alive ahvegathermg alivegathering alivegathering gathermg gathering annually from the lar far larflung farflung tarflung flung outposts of their prlmlttve primitive prlmlttvenorth primitivenorth primitivenorth north woods to vie lor for the cham champlonshlp champlonship championship plonshlp plonship There are veterans who whoremember whoremember whoremember remember the invinc mVlnc inane ble TomFlemmg Tom TomFlemmg TomFleming Flemmg Fleming and Al AI Hubbard who whoreached whoreached whoreached reached their peak in m 1898 They Theyremember Theyremember Theyremember remember Big Bug Joe Madwayosh Madwayoshthe Madwayoshthe the husky Indian woodsman who whowon whovon whowon won von [ the title tttIe in 1924 They sttU still sttUwatch stillwatch stillwatch watch W Wilbur bur Marx the ch child d prod prodIgy prodigy prodigy Igy of yesteryears who tossed BIg Bug BIgJoe BugJoe BigJoe Joe into mto the pond when v.hen vhen . a boy of of14 14 summers summersBut But they cannot believe bel1eve that b rl rlmg rlmg rlmg mg has become a college boys boyssport boyssport boyssport sport So they 11 II Il converge at Es Escanaba Escanaba Escanaba canaba from every north woods set settIement settlement settiement tIement tlement this thus year to watch some somereal somereal somereal real lumberjack defeat Joe Connor Connorthe Connorthe Connorthe the twenty six year old Umverslty University Universityof Umversltyof of M nnesota student who won the thecrown thecrown thecrown crown last yearConsIder yearConsider year yearConsider Consider ng its barrel chested chestedhentage chestedheritage chestedheritage hentage heritage birling blrlmg should not be a col college college college lege boys sport But the modern V ? ' ; - . modernsl r sl slw slm slyy r w , [ m o/f o f yy / ' f ftl fI . " ' \ ; I R . ' " . t tl , - . x xs9 s9 I , ) ND ' " + rY m h4g 'WJ KK . 'WNV 3 . 'W- 'W W ' - h 4g , J -NV NV - NVI * t I " m . o- o osw - | " A At sw x w t . . - - - ? ' " Al -r r - rkt4 kt4 , vx vxr r 3 , , ; q k ' 3 3ire c " " ire x very veryc , c a aI aH at I H t 7 7vs ! vs , i iT T 44 k w ) , p// p p4t.9 / / / 4t.9 4t9 4t.9YK4 ! . YK4 FRy4 FRy4f f / j jEs Es f 1 C21 C21ClryyY.r ClryyY.ry . y ClryyY.r ClryyYr 'm'epa mepa 'm'epa't ' ' 't t ' t 'tw'r w'r wr w'rFM ' FM FMf f f 1 ' " rem k " . ( ( ' 9 r f , - . birl blrl ng match finds veteran river rivermen rivermen rivermen men strugghng struggl1ng struggling to retain their theirlaurels theirlaurels theirlaurels laurels against agamst lads . who v.ho vho never neverworked neverworked neverworked worked on a log drive who never neverpulled neverpulled neverpulled pulled the key kcy log trom from a Jam lam ] am The Thepract Thepract Thepract pract cal side of birl blrl burl ng is foreIgn foreignto to younger rollers rolIers but they know knowthe knowthe knowthe the rules of the gameThe gameThe game gameThe The Battle Begms Begins BegmsAnd BeginsAnd BeginsAnd And modern birling blrItng docs does have def defImte deffinite detmite Imte finite rules A round smooth and andperfectly andperfectly ! perfectIy perfectly turned wh te to pine pme log13th log 13th 13thfeet 13thfeet 13feet % feet long and measuring all aU the theway theway theway way from 16 10 to 18Inches 1Binches 18 1B inches in m dlam dram drameter dlameter diameter eter is put in the water Two 'I'wo Iwo ' men menwearmg menwearing menwearing wearmg wearing I ght calked shoes mount mountthe mountthe mountthe the log one at each endThen end endThen Then comes the battler battIef battles a tempostuous tempes tempestuous tempestuous tuous warfare of churning churnmg pine pme In Inwh inwh mwh wh ch oh each man by spinning spinmng and andsnubbmg andsnubbing andsnubbmg snubbmg snubbing the tricky log tries to tothrow tothrow tothrow throw the other into mto the water WIth WIthbeilderlng Withbewuldering Withbewildering be\\ilderlng be ilderlng bewuldering ' \ speed the timber tunber whirls whirlsand whirlsand whirlsand and stops then starts the other way wayFrom wayFrom wayFrom From the river Tlver bank spectators see seean seean seean an exhibition exlubltton of perfect balance balancet t mmg ming and muscular co ordinationBut ordmatton ordination ordmattonBut ordinationBut But eventually one man topples topplesand topplesand topplesand and splashes into mto the creekBlrlmg creekBirling creek creekBirling Birling Blrlmg has flourished since the thenmettes thenineties thenineties nmettes nineties without the aid of a pro promoter promoter promoter moter But it was not until the thelumbermen thelumbermen thelumbermen lumbermen s exposition expositton e'cposition ecposition ' at Omaha Omahain In 1898 that it became organized orgamzed as asan asan asan an annual national nattonal event That Thatwas Thatwas Thatwas was the year Tom Fleming Flemmg defeated defeatedPl defeatedftl Pl l Hubbard in m the final match In In1900 1900 1901 and 1902 the tourney tournqy tournGy tournqyas \/as as was washeld \ v/asheld v asheld / asheld held at Ashland Wis after hvhlch 1which hvhlchIt 1whichit ( whichit It vvas was abandoned In 1914 WillIam WilliamP P Hart Wisconsin sportsman re revlved revived revived vlved vived it at Eau Cla Cia reBullg reBirlgg re reBirling Birling Bullg Birlgg ! ) s Child C1uld ProdigyBIg ProdigyBig Prodigy ProdigyBig Big Joe Madwayosh Mad\\ayosh Mad ayosh \ won his first firstcrown firstcrown firstcrown crown in 111 1924 and on the s delmes deletes delmesthat deletesthat delmesthat that year was thirteen : year old WII Wil WIIbur Wilbur Wilbur bur Marx who dec ded blrlmg biding blrlmglooked bidinglooked birlinglooked looked easy He came back the thenext thenext thenext next year to provide the tournament tournamentsensat tournamentsensat tournamentsensat sensat on by almost defeating B g gracmg gJoe gJoe Joe racing racmg him hun off the log after afterWi 21 213 % minutes mmutes of breathless birling blrhng birhng m in mthe inthe inthe the second roundWhen round roundWhen When the next year s tournament tournamentopened tournamentopened tournamentopened opened Marx was again agam presentmerely present presentmerely presentmerely merely fifteen years old but now a awell awell well muscled seasoned seasQned seaspned athlete m in mstead instead instead stead of an awkward boy Losing a athird athird rthird third round elimination ehmmatlon match in m the thenorthwest thenorthwest thenorthwest northwest titular tltwar tourney stead ed edhIm edhim echim hIm and he \ won on the Wisconsin Wlseonsm state statehtle statetitle statttitle htle title without difficulty Twenty SIX SIXof sixof si ; of the most accomplished accomphshed log cufler currers cutlers currersIn cutlersin ; in the game were entered for tbiworld the theworld theworld world s title and young Marx Man Mare de defeated defeated defeated feated tour four of them in swift succes successlon successoon succession slon soon winning wmnmg his way through the thefirst thefast thefirst first fast second and th rd rounds of ofehm ofelim olelim ehm elim nation and the semi finalsThen finalsThen finals finalsThen Then he be faced little l1ttle B lly Grard G rard rardof rardof rardof of Gladstone M 1\1 1 \ : ch in m the final finalmatch finalmatch finalmatch match Too eager too confident he hemade hemade hemade made the mistake of think thmk ng him himself himself himself self speed er than Girard and LIt LIttIe Littie Littie tIe Billy raced h m off ofT ' the log for forstraIght forstraight fo-straight fo straight - straIght falls in the fastest match matchtha matchthat matclthat tha that t has ever been rolled Feet trod trodso trodso trocso so fast they could hardly be seen seenspiked seenspiked seenspiked spiked shoes chewed the logs to sl v vers vers ers vhite vhlte \ water \ ater splashed the thecontestants thecontestants thecontestants contestants legs and both brIers brIerswere b rlers rlerswere rierswere were almost continually on the theverge theverge theverge verge of a wett v . wettng wettngOn ett ng ngOn ngOn On to 'IctoryBut ' . Victory 'Ictory Ictory VictoryBut actory actoryBut But Marx Mare was a J : stead er brIer brIerthe b rier rierthe rieithe the next year and he could not be bestopped bestopped bestopped stopped At sixteen sl'tteen sltteen ' ' he \ won on the thevorld theworld theworld \vorld vorld world \ schamp s champ onsh p aga nst nit a ascore ascore ascore score of veteran log rollers He Heheld Heheld Heheld held it 10 yearsBut yearsBut years yearsBut But last year the college boy fromMinnesota flom from flomMmnesota fiomMinnesota Mmnesota Minnesota c-ime c ime C'lme Clme come ' - along and Marxwhom Marx Marxwhom Marxwhom whom the old t me lumberjacks had hadat hadat hadat at last taken to their hearts lost losthis losthis losthis his title To what depths has this thissport thissport thissport sport fallen ' This year Marx says he 11 II regain regainthe regainthe the regainthe champ onsh p and the bearded beardedblrlers beardedbalers beardedbirlers blrlers balers from the nOI noithwoods thwoods are arewishmg arewishing arewishing wishmg wishing a real jam lam breaking breakmg logger loggerwould loggerwould loggerwould would appear to teach all these theseyoung theseyoung theseyoung young upstarts a lesson But Joe JoeConnor JoeConnor JoeConnor Connor the college boy has been |