Bisbee daily review., 1905-10-29
THE DRILLING CONTEST
Fl PaS0 Will be Mecca for
 Miners Next Month

M Paso. Texas. Oct. 25.-Roek drill ing is the great sport of the west-a sport where trained muscles, a steady
 nerve. and a clear eye win against all odds. a sport in which practice
 makes peTBect and perfection only comes to the men who work hard for it.
 One who has never seen a drilling contest cannot understand the excite ment it affords, the tension to which the feelings can be wrought over a contest of this kind, or the enthusiasm which it engenders in the spectators. The contest of man against man is one of skill and strength purely, and the quick stroke of the great ham, mers, the steady click of the steel drill as it cuts into the granite make every drop of blood jingle.
 In this great sport worlds records are mande in a few minutes and a new hero as in every other contest where strength and skill are pitted against strength and skill, is liable to develop in a monument It takes grit and pluck, for it is mans work to drive a steel drill three or four feet into a block of Gunnison granite, the hardest in the world, in 15 minutes.
 Great preparations are made for a contest There is intense rivalry among the camps in the various sec uons of the country and money isl waged freely. For weeks before the contest, the work of the champions of each camp is watched by their ad- mirers, anld enthusiasm rises to a pitch well nigh indescribable. Then the great day of the contest arrives and the miners pour into the city by the thousands, backing their favorites with good words, and cold cash.
 The contests are the shop talk of the west The history of a cer- tain block of granite that has done duty for many contests is eagerly | sought and as eagerly discussed; the number of records made in each par | ticular block of is known far and wide and there is an interest in it amount ing almost to veneration. To desc crate it is worse than a breach of | etiquet In Fl Paso there is a block | of granite in which two worlds rec prds have been made and around | which hangs history that the min.r is always ready to relate h oshe cities the same thing applies.
 Sometimes there are accidents in these tournaments and a driller is injured. Then it is that the stuff of which these men are made comes to the surface and tells. The endurance Of the participants is wonderful. In this city three years ago a great con test was in progress. By a careless stroke from one of the participants the sledge struck hAs kneelilg part her on the head Great pools of blood dropped on the stone beside him but he shut his eyes and held on. Sec ends poured bucket after bucket of cold water over his huge body lest he faint from the blow, and he continued. Still the steady stroke of the hammer rang out on the cold January air, and ston the drill found it's way home One drill sunk to it's depth and was replaced by another and longer one without the missing of stroke. Suf- fering untold agonies this giant of the west remained at his post and con- unued his task working regularly as clock with his partner, the man where recklessness or ill luck had given him the blow that would have felHed an ordinary creature. Down they drove the drill. The seconds flew, the crowds with bated breath watched and waited. The blood still flowed from the wound in the fore head and the water soaked garments on the sturdy fellows body were al most freezing in the bleak January weather, but this sturdy son of the west was made of the stuff that has made the west what it is today, and he stayed.
 Fifteen minutes.' came the cry from the lips of the timekeeper. The contest was ended. The powerful fel- low with the wound on his head had done his duty by himself and his part ner. The reaction now came and he fen in faint He had won, however. and he could now afford to faint but sntil the timekeeper had said his task was over, he had never faltered. Grit and perseverance had alone kept this man Of might at his post. Pride in his power as a man and a driller had Strengthened his heart and had en- aoleo him to continue. Once the sus- pense was ended, he collapsed and vas carried from the scene of victory 1ihp as a rag. He had demonstrated what 1t was to suffer and not sue. cemb, had proved that the spirit af the man of '49 was yet alive and could now afford to becarried away by friends. His injuries were serious, but he recovered and he was cham pion.
 The worlds record was established ln this city on January 13, 1903, by Chamberlain and Make. and it has never been equaled since that event ful date. This team is going to make an effort to break the record at the contest which is to take place here during the meeting of the American Mining congress November 141S. and they may do it, but it was a great feat when they established their pres ent record two years and a half ago and if they beat it this time, it is a safe predicton that they will hold