FROG JUMPING.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 140, 15 June 1936, Page 5

FROG JUMPING.

. CALAVEKAS CONTEST. . WORLD FAMOUS FESTIVAL. • MARK TWAIN'S CLASSIC. i r (From Our Own Correspondent.) ; SAN FRANCISCO, May 26. A frog that has kept the citizens of Angels Camp awake for many nights , with his bellowing in the swamps and pools outside the mining camp -won the ' right to chirp his love songs undisturbed . by capturing the annual Calaveras , jumping frog contest at Angels Camp, in i the world-famous festival. The winner, ■ reviving the Mark Twain days- of the [ Mother Lode country, was "Can't Take It," the entry of Roy Weimer, of Angels ; Camp. The victory of the hometown product was exceptionally popular, for "outlanders" have been carrying off the--top prize in recent years. "Can't Take It" took the money by jumping 12 feet three inches. A "furriner" finished second —the frog that Jack Dalton entered by the Will Rogers Ranch, of Oklahoma. His best leap was 12 feet two inches. Discovery, I another home town product, entered. by i Joe Mendalo, took third money with 1.1 'feet 11 inches. The fourth and final prize went to Red Can V, whose owner is Edwin Lillie, of Angels Camp. His jump was 11 feet 4 inches. It was the closest that Angels Camp has come to making a clean sweep in the famed contest it sponsors annually to commemorate the first frog jumping contest ma'de historic by Mark Twain's story of the "Jumping Frog of the Calaveras." "Can't Take It" made his winning leap the previous day in the trials, and it stood against the assault of several hundred assorted frogs, many of them from Oklahoma, North "Carolina, Mexico, ; and the Pacific North-west. Each frog ] was given one minute to leave the J starting line. Then he was allowed three

consecutive leaps. The distance covered in the three leaps represented his score in the contest, the details of which were broadcast all over the North American continent. Some Never Started. Some of the frogs never left the starting mark, giving rise to suspicions that as was the case nearly 75 years ago, some one might have fed the amphibian a spoonful of buckshot to weigh him down. Anxious owners shook, weighed, jolted the steadfast ones, but prodding never moved them. Others took a few feeble leaps, while the crowd of 10,000 cheered encouragingly. But some of them struck out nobly, and "Can't Take It's" distance seemed in danger several times. Oregon Prince, entered by Mrs. C. S. Jackson, was placed among the first ten by jumping eight feet four inches. None of the leapei;s came close to Old Budweiser's world record of 13 feet six inches, established four years ago. The veteran record holder competed again, but age had taken the. spring from liis joints, and his performance covered only six feet five inches. Zip, the 1935 champion, also was off form, and his leap of j six feet eight inn''-- was far from the money winning circle. s| j The celebration tins year included a pony express race from Calaveras to i Angels Camp, a distance of 12 miles. ! Ronnie Rolleri, of Calaveras, won the I race in 34 minutes, while a quartet of saddle mules, which received a lot of support in the pre-race betting, could not do better than fourth. Each contestant changed mounts four times.