John Henry vs. the Mighty Steam Drill

John Henry vs. the Mighty Steam Drill — page 1 — JOHN HENRY Was He Real Back in the days before cars and jet airplanes there was the railroad It took thousands of strong men to build the railroad across the United States But one steel-drivin man stands above the rest John Henry People disagree about whether or not the John Henry of legend was real We do know that building railroads was difficult rhythmic work Because of this the men often sang Songs helped the men keep the pace of their work The legendary John Henry was the subject of many of the songs Eventually steam drills were introduced to the railroad companies The men who had built the steam drills thought the machines could work faster than any man On at least one occasion sometime in the 1870s they decided to see if the steam drill WAS better than a man Who was tested against the machine Legend states that it was John Henry

John Henry vs. the Mighty Steam Drill — page 2 — The night John Henry was born the skies turned black and rumbled In fact the very moment John Henry took his first breath a bolt of lightnin struck a giant sycamore tree Oh Lordy was John Henry a mighty fine babe His legs were the size of tree trunks And his arms they were as long as the kitchen table But most surprisin of all was what he clutched in his newborn baby hand a 10-pound steel-drivin hammer

John Henry vs. the Mighty Steam Drill — page 3 — Yessiree John Henry used that hammer BANG He built a fort when he was just 3 years old CLANG At the age of 6 John Henry built a road CLANK By the time he was 9 years old he carved a statue from a mountain

John Henry vs. the Mighty Steam Drill — page 4 — John was always singin while he was hammerin away I was born with a hammer in my hand oh yeah I was born with a hammer in my hand Got me a hammer in my hand yes sir Got me a fine hammer in my hand

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