The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-05-22
Double Header at Rickuuood To-day Sl
Corbett's Daily Letter
 On Great Sport Topics
By JAMES J. CORBETT


 At the age of 57--when some men are nearly in their dotage-Martin G'Farm- er'D Burns, hero of more than 45O0 wrest- ling clashes, yearns to tussle for a worlds championship.
 The sporting world generally might scoff at the def, but no man who knows Burns doubts his phenomenal ability. Whether Burns could conquer the giants who now dominate wrestling is a ques- ton But there isn't any doubt that if Burns were thrown into the same ring with any one of the half dozen top notchers of today he would put up most remarkable battle.
 Burns has been wrestling for nearly 50 years. His first bout was at the age of S. He won t--and a side bet of .5 cents. In all the years since then Burns has tackled every great man that wrestling has pri- duced- and only seven of all that number sent him down to defeat
 Burns conquered Frank Gotch and aft erward won the worlds heavyweight championship from Evan ("St1angler'3 Lewis. Sometime afterward Ton Jenkins wrestled the laurels from htn. Burns defeated Dar Mcleod, Fred !3eall ard never was Leaten by any of the sreat for cign wrestlers that came to these shor 1 And Furn5, mind you, ne+cr weighed more than 11 at his best.
 1 Hal. Acai, "The Sultan Lion,' weighed 3t2 pounds and was r, f.,ountain | of tone end muscle. He ra-le ed as the most powerful of all Europe wrestler. He tossed all those who tried conclusions w'tn him extfpt Ruins. Tn Farmer stayed the stipulated 90 minutes and won 1 a big purse
 Burns perhaps is the only man who ever submitted to hanging to prove the strength of his neck muscles. It hap pened nearly 20 years ago in Iowa. A l moose was placed around his neck and ! the rope was hung from a cross tree un- der railroad trestle. The box he was standing was kicked from under him. A drop of nearly three feet followed. As the body of Burns shot downward and the rope frightened around his neck the crowd thought that the wrestler's neck i had been broken But burns, to the as tonishment of the crowd, began to de- ] liver a little lecture on clean living, while the rope pulled tighter and ever tighter around his neck.
 | The bet was that Burns couldn't hang 1 for two minutes. He hung for nearly four | w box was slid back under him and the rope taken off, Burns rubbed the neck skin which had been gashed and torn by the rope and then grinningly exclaimed: Pretty tough neck I've got. eh?"
 Burns is the greatest show man that l the wrestling game ever produced. He has performed feats spectacular to an extreme and his various stunts during his heydey years made him a theatrical at traction of the best kind Burns was per haps the pioneer in the all-comers wrest- ling bouts For nearly one year he was on tour with a theatrical troupe offer ing $50 to any man who would stay with him 15 minutes and $2O0 to any one who could gain fall in that time. Our show gave 14 performances week and I wrestled on average of 30 men each week." declared Burns '1 never lhad to pay out forfeit although sorhe
 of the fellows who tackled me outweighft } me from 50 to 120 pounds" Burns gained considerable fame due tt l his ability to break a rope merely by B chest expansion. He has wrestled lions ] tigers, bears and kangaroos and never los fall to any animal He had many mar
 row escapes in trying conclusions witt members of the feline tribe which sough , to use foul methods by biting ant
 scratching
 i Burns has been given credit as the mar
 who brought Frank Gotch to the front It was the veteran who saw in the low;