San Andreas independent., 1857-01-10
Plank Walking.

who walked plank 106 miles in as many
consecutive hours since which we notice
the arrival from the Atlantic States Of
two more plank ,alkers. The field i
now open for competition, and no doubt
matches can be made, and large stakes
won and lost, depending upon what endu
rance and fatigue the human muscles can
bear. If these individuals came to Cali
fornla, for the purpose of committing sui
eide by {" walking the plank, they might
have walked the plank from the steamer as
they came out, and thereby saved them
selves some days and weeks, or perhaps a
cery feac years of suffering and misery,
besides saving the people of California, the
expense of supporting that many more
drones, who live upon the produce OF other
mems labor Or if their only object is
walking, they might have walked on to the
Sandwich Islands, or Australia; or they
might have gone to China. No doubt
there is good field open there, and the
Johns" would be highly delighted to
see the amount of fatigue and endurance
the outside barbarians are able to stand.
We think it likely they would look upon
it as very fine exercise, and worthy of bar
barians and of them only We have al
ways disliked dog-fghting; held in dis
gust bull-fghting, and dshuddered with hor-
ror at reading an account of "prize
fight" and the only difference we can dis
cover between the latter, and plank walk
ing, is, that in the former two men try to
destroy each other, and in the latter, one
man tries to destroy himself Yet there
are portion of the community, who ap-
pear to look upon these professors of the
acatktng art, as a species of heroes, who are
worthy of some particular notice, and even
emulation.
We arc able to understand why the
man, who wears out his constitution in the
bloody campaign, fighting for his country s
rights and his country's honor, should be
spoken of with praise and admiration; or
why the individual who exhausts himself
in searching for the hidden truths of Ma
ture, or in improving the arts and sciences
for the benefit of mankind, should be de-
serving the gratitude of the whole human
family; or why the statesman, who, shut
up in his clositer, breaks his constitution,
in studying the science of government, for
his country's good, should deserve the
prayers of his countrymen, and be held
up as an individual worthy of emulation
Butwhy any portion of the public, should
countenance by favor, or encourage by ad-
miration the action of those persons, who
tax their strength to the utmost, merely to
see how long they can endure fatigue with
out rest or sleep, is beyond our humble
comprehension If their Creator has be-
slowed more than ordinary strength of
limb, and endurance of muscle upon these
men, they have just reason to be proud,
and should show their gratitude, by en-
deavoring to fulfill the great duty which
the Supreme Being intended all his crea-
lures should perform. We were taught to
believe that God created all things for
some useful purpose we can see the object
of many of his great and wonderful works,
and those which we cannot fully under
stand-reasoning from analogy, VIC are
satisfied they have their uses.
Now to those in the cities, who are
blessed with robust constitutions, and par
ticularly those who can stand the fatigue of
walking 100 miles in SO many hours, we
would give notice, that there is fine field
for enterprise, open in the mines. Water
is becoming plentiful, and will soon be
more so, and those who are willing to work
by the side of a long string of sluices, and
handle a sluice-fork nine or ten hours each
day, will find that the business pays well,
besides being less destructive to the human
system, than walking planks, to prove their
strength and crafty their curiosity. Il
will also show their good intention (if they
have any to make themselves useful by
turning producers, and adding to the gen.
eral stock of wealth But if they intend
to live as drones upon society, and gain a
livelihood by walking, we would suggest
that they give us a specimen of their art,
by turning their backs upon this country,