Sport: Rolleo

He picked his teeth with a pine tree. He spat ponds of tobacco juice. Tussling with his foreman, Hels Helsen, he trampled down an oldtime plateau until all that was left were the black hills of South Dakota.

That was Paul Bunyan, legendary hero of the logging camps. In his honor, woodsmen from the Northwest camps meet in Paul Bunyan Canyon, near Longview, Wash., for their annual “Rolleo,” a carnival featuring the things Paul Bunyan liked to do—log-rolling, timber-topping, axe-twirling, Gargantuan eating, whopper-telling.

This year’s Rolleo, attended last week by hearties from 1,200 camps, was distinguished by the joyous rite of selecting “Pauline Bunyan,” a suitable mate for skyscraping Paul. Ann Mclver was chosen, a strapping beauty who proved her ability to do best the feats that Bunyan demands—sew tremendous buttons, mend great-gaping socks, flip mighty flapjacks.

The log-rolling was won by Peter Hooper of Kelso, Wash. Clad in trunks and spiked shoes, he maintained his equipoise on a log furiously spinning in water for 14 min. 50 sec., when Sam Harris, his nearest competitor, splashed off. Champion Hooper received $150 and a belt stout enough to hold his bemuscled girth.

Ed Sorger of Longview, equipped with spikes and a circling rope, squirreled up a 120-ft. fir tree, cut out the top, descended, all in 4 min. 5 sec. Among his prizes was a Paul Bunyan doughnut, one foot in diameter.

Because Paul Bunyan knows no law, it was not surprising that the ceremonies should have been interrupted by one Gunnar Scheftstrom, ex-convict, who held up a Longview merchant, shot him, fled to the forest. Human, he could not escape with Bunyanesque speed. A posse smoked him out in full view of an audience of 15,000.

There were many other events dear to the huge heart of Paul Bunyan—log-jousting, block-turning, canoe-tilting. For two days the carousal continued with Bunyanesque shouts and vaunts, ended with profound Bunyanesque sleep.