Union County star and Lewisburg chronicle. [volume] (Lewisburg, Pa.) 1859-1864, 1860-12-07
Pedestrianism in England.
THE FASTEST TINE EVER MADE
A NILE IN A xIsurrs 22I sEcoSps.

| CoPESHAGES GRoUSDs Oct q
Though the above grounds are Of comparatIye-
| ly recent formation, they have already been the
scene of some extraordinary achievement ca
nine rs well as bipedal. Some time ago it will
be remembered that Tom Hosspoll, of B.sf,rf
| was considered the fastest mile runner. even
when he occupied min. 2S Sec. in accomplish
| ing the distance; but when he subsequently, met
Job Smith, of Manchester, upon this course. ami
| traversed a mile in 4 min % sec, his perform
ance then, and up till to day, was unparalleled
| in pedestrian annals. But the event of this
afternoon proved that Lancashire nav now
pride herself on possessing the hero in mile m
| ces in the person of Siah AlbiSOn, Of BowIee a
rural village situated near Middleton Before
describing the contest, a few particulars Of its
| origin may not be uninteresting to our pedes-
| tIian readers. On the llth of August last, the
| spirited proprietor Of these grounds gave a
splendid champion belt to be run for, which
had been manufactured expressly for the occa-
sion by Mr.. Preston, of London, the value Of
which was 50 guineas and on that day the fol
lowing men contested for the coveted prize e
Siah AlbisOn, of Bowlee, near Middleton; job
Smith, of Hume; W. Lang, of Middlesborough;
J. White, Of Gateshead, and c. Mower, Of Dur
ham. Piior TO the race, AlbiSOn was 80 mUCh
pleased with the trophy that he declared bis
intention either to become its possessOr or 10
cause the man who defeated him not to let the
grass grow under his feet whilst contending foT
t, and Albison fulfilled his prediction by car
rying off the prise. The conditions under which
he held it required him to hold himself in
readiness to run any one who might challenge
him through these columns at six weeks notice,
for f25 q side and the belt the distance OF
course being one mile. W. Lang, Qate of Mid
dlesborough, but now of Manchesterl not con-
tented it would appear, with having to sue
cumb to Albison in their former engagement,
threw down the gauntlet, and this afternoon
was fixed for champion henors. Soon after
articles had been signed, both men went into
active training, Lang betaking himself to in
hale the invigorating breezes of barley Dale,
iu Derbyshire. and Albison's preparation was
entrusted to his veteran tutor, Mr. j Etchells,
Of the Weavers' Arms, Ellsworth. As the day
OF running approached, the interest as to the
result became more intense, especially as a few
who were supposed to be acquainted with
stable secrets pronounced botn pedestrians
to be in first rate f,tile. The excitement, how
ever, reached its eliminating point this after
noon; a considerable number Of cabs, heavily
laden buses, crowds by rail, and large bodies
of persons on fCot all assisted TO swell the at
tendance within the inclosure into a monster
gathering, between 5000 aud 4, 600 persons
being present, AMI gave proof that the heydey
of foot racing has not yet passed. Added To
this the day was fine, the course in capital or
der, and the same excellent arrangements as
usually prevail here having again been made,
everything foreshadowed a more than Ordinari-
ly interesting struggle for the pride of the
place. and such il was. Mr.. Hayes, filled the
office of referee, and the betting. which opened
at to 4, closed at = to on Allison. At about
q quarter to four O'Clock Lang ma le his ap-
pesrance on the scene Of action, accompanied
by his friend and hacker, Mr.. q. Hardy
ShoItly afterwards, Allison also entered the
arena, both looking well aud each appearing
sanguine OF the result Lang won the toss, If
course then taking the inside place, and after
"A couple of failures they left the crease at the
third attempt. After running nearly side by
side for few strides Lang began to show the
way at a pace the reverse OF slow, and gradu-
ally gaining upon his opponent, he was leading
ly nearly half a score yards when the men first
passed the stand. This gap Lang still further
widcned during the succeeding revolution of
the course, on the complexion of which he held
the premiership by upwards of dozen PAGES,
but shortly afterwards Allison began to MAKE
up leeway. On going along the back of the
ground on the final lap, the Champion gradu-
ally reduced the distance between himself aud
his formidable opponent, and became more
bend they were nearly breast and breast, and
on entering the straight the struggle as to
which should claim the belt was commenced in
earnest. Every energy of which they were in
possession was now brought into action, as
yard by yard they rushed on, and though Al
bison's hacker sbied his castor into the air,
when the men had about leo yards to Iun, the
race was not then over. AibisOn, however,
having got Just in front, succeeded in slightly
increasing his lead during the concluding forty
yards, and the trophy once more fell into his
possession, after a magnificent race, Mr. Hayes
nat being that Allison had won by yard. The
winner covered the distance in four miaaes and
tlrenfy tro and quarter secondsi thus excelling
Hosspol's fastest time by three-quarteIs of a
second. Both pedestrians had had quite enough
at the finish, Lang especially being much dis
tIessed, and Albison was warmly congratulated
on his brilliant victory. Langs performance.
though an unsuccessful one, reflected great
credit upon him, and though he did not win
the belt, he lost little of his well earned fame.
Surprising as was Albison's achievement, We
cannot help thinking but that he, at times,
somewhat hazards his chance by purposely fall
ing so far behind, such being the case not only
to-day, but also when he first contended for
the prize. Should Albison continue So to do,
he may on a future occasion, when coping
against some pedesiIian-even il not quite 50
feet-find the beautiful trophy, upon the pos
session of which he so Justly prides himself,
wrested from his grasp. We may add, in con-
clusion, that Ling is just over twenty -one years
of age, and Allison attained his twentieth birth
day on the 26th of April last