Daily Arizona silver belt., 1909-09-16
MIGHTY BRA WN. IF WESTERN MEN
 WORN 0U1
TORONTO PAPER HAS NO APPRE. CLAYTON OF SKILL NECES-
 SARY IN DRILLING

Evidently the writer of the follow ing, in the Toronto Globe, has seen very few championship drilling match es, or he would have more respect for the skill required in the proper handling of the steel, and less to say of the brute-like brawn which he thinks the only requisite in driving steel through ainty granite. But, after all, the story is but an appreciation of the stalwart, healthy manhood of the west ern miner, and it is natural that the Canadian should seek some excuse for being beaten so terribly bad. It will be remembered that the nearest con. testants to Page and Pickens lacked nearly thirteen inches of equalpg their record:
 To be sure there is the temperisg 2 of the steel and the fine calculation and skilful workmanship necessary to get the right gauge, but hand drill con test depends on the mighty biccps and the bulldog endurance to smite and smite and smite the cold steel into the granite. There is something primitive. something fIomeric, in these com csts-- brute force of thew and sinew against the inanimate resistance of the Ninty rock. Last year in the drilling contest iD Cobalt, to be sure, it was discov- cred that the handle of one of the ham mers had been sawed almost through, but, as a rule, the game admits of no little petty tricks and meannesses that so often make organized sport nauseous to the more sensitive conscience.
 This year long before the date of the contest. on August IS, miners were spending their spare hours in driving the steel into the rock and preparing for the big fight. The contest was lett open and, therefore. permitted of Page and Pickins. the Globe, Arizona. cham pions, competing There would nave been more local interest if they nad not, but Cobalt would have missed a magnificent display of Thor-like shit ing. It cannot be alleged that it was mere professional efficiency in prepar- ing the steel that won them their over whelming superiority over all local op- position; they were the brawnies; and Hitest nth pH lbe RIouHu IdRc, tnc more famous of the two, is spare westerner, as tall as his mate, Jun Pickins, but with that easy nonchal ance of bearing that is peculiar to thu western man. He is lighter than Pick ins and one inch less in chest measure ment, but his blow is faster if not as mighty as Pickins'. Pickins looks the giant he is, stifAy-set, of soldierly bearing As he talks with friends on the Cobalt square he is pre-eminent as a type of splendid manhood in eoun. try where six-foot men are common.
 It is only fair to Cobalt to say that if is not hand" camp. Steam and air drills are everywhere, and the miner has no practice for the contest in his work, whereas it is the westeruer E daily toll. When he packs his little load of steel and dynamite on the hurro and departs into the sage bush wilde :. ness to search for gold, be naturally cannot take air or steam with him. Sc if is no disgrace if Cobalt did cut t poor figure against Page and Pickins. The drillers themselves were good losers, admitting frankly they were honestly beaten, and fought hard for second place. Forty.three inches, the westerners' record, is more than any To- cal team can hope to attain under pres ent conditions.