The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1938-08-04

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laurels against lads who never
worked on a log drive, who never
pulled the key log from a jam. The
practical side of birling is foreign
to younger rollers but they know
the rules of the game which is all
that concerns the judges.
The Battle Begins.
And modern birling does have def
mite rules. A round, smooth and
perfectly turned white pine log, 1914
feet long, and measuring all the
way from 16 to Is inches in diam
eter, is put in the water. Two men
wearing light calked shoes mount
the log, one at each end.
Then comes the battle, a tempes-
tlous warfare of churning pine in
which each man, by spinning and
snubbing the tricky log, tries to
throw the other into the water. With
bewildering speed the timber whirls
and stops, then starts the other way.
From the river bank spectators see
an exhibition of perfect balance,
timing and muscular coordination.
But eventually one man topples
and splashes into the creek. AS in
wrestling, two falls out of three con-
stitute a match.
Birling has f1ourished since the
nineties without the aid of a pro-
moter. But it was not until the
lumbermen's exposition at Omaha
in 1898 that it became organized as
an annual national event. That
was the year Tom Fleming defeated
Al Hubbard in the final match. In
1900, 1901 and 1902 the tourney was
held at Ashland, Wis, after which
it was abandoned. In 1914 William
P. Hart, Wisconsin sportsman, re-
vived it at Eau Claire.
Birling's Child Prodigy.
Big Joe Madwayosh won his first
crown in 1924 and on the sidelines
that year was thirteen-year-old Will
bur Marx who decided birling
looked easy. He came back the
next year to provide the tournament
sensation by almost defeating big
Joe," racing him off the. log after
211a minutes of breathless birling in
the second round.
When the next years tournament
opened Marx was again present,
merely fifteen years old, but now a
well-muscled, seasoned athlete in
stead of an awkward boy. Losing a
third round elimination match in the
northwest titular tourney steadied
him and he won the Wisconsin state
title without difficulty. Twenty-six
of the most accomplished log cutters
in the game were entered for the
worlds title and young Marx de-
feated four of them in swift success
sion, winning his way through the
first, second and third rounds OF
elimination and the semi-fnals.
Then he faced little Billy Girard
of Gladstone, Mich, in the final
match. Too eager, too confident, he
made the mistake of thinking him.
self speedier than Girard and 'Lit-
tie Billy raced him off the log for
straight falls in the fastest match
that has ever been rolled. Feet trod
so fast they could hardly be seen
spiked shoes chewed the logs to sliv-
ers; white water" splashed the
contestants legs and both birlers
were almost continually on the
verge of wetting.
On to Victory.
But Marx was steadier birler
the next year and he could not be
stopped. At sixteen he won the
worlds championship against a
score of veteran log rollers. He
held it 10 years.
But last year the college boy from
Minnesota came along and Marx,
whom the old time lumberjacks had
at last taken to their hearts, lost
his title. To what depths has this
sport fallen!
This year Marx says he'll regain
the championship and the bearded
birlers from the northwoods are
wishing real jam-breaking logger
would appear to teach all these
young upstairs a lesson. But Joe
Connor, the college boy, has been
spending the summer at a CCC
camp making his legs tough and
preparing to take on all corners.
Maybe Joe Conner will be defeat
ed, but even then the plaid-shirted
lumberjacks won't be completely
happy. At last years Escanaba
tournament they rubbed their eyes
with amazement and chagrin to
see four girl birlers engage in a
contest of their own. A few old
timers admitted the women showed
a speed and style that equalled or
surpassed the skill shown by LOT
of the semi-finalsts in the mems
tourney.
Their only consolation, it ap-
peared, was in the memory of Paul
Bunyan, patron saint of all log roll
ers. PauPs wife, the story goes,
was the only one able to wet him in
a birling match!
@ Western Newspaper Union.