Around 1960 on the radio in Britain there was a children's programme called "Songs and Stories of the American Railroad". One of the songs dealt with was John Henry. If I remember rightly,the narrator said that John Henry claimed that he could drill faster than the newly-invented steam drill, and a contest was arranged between them. John Henry won, having drilled two holes totalling fifteen feet when the steam drill had only drilled nine. However, John collapsed and died almost immediately afterwards.