, 1874-08-16
THE CHICAGO DAILY TR1BUNE SUNDAY, AUGUST IT, 1874

to the Smile stone at Vau1ba1l and back: he
undertook, for wager Of 10 snneas, to DC DC
it in an hour, and finished his task in 81
work Of man who ran coach-wheel
miles in an hour, with half minute to
spare; but he had smooth road purposely pre-.
pared for him; wooden platform, quarter OF
ground. We are not sufficiently yerscd in these
matters to know whether the narrative needs
correction but the chroniclers OF Charles IL g
time told Of a butcher at Croydon who ran from
St. Albans to London, about ~ miles, IN lcsa
tnau Al hour and half. It is gratifying to
learn that he ''ran the last 4 miles 80 gently
that he seemed to make it rather bis recreation
than a race" James Smith, i Falkirk man,
undertook for wager to "hlk z miles
backwards in half an hour; II he really d'd
his feet must have had no small strain upon
them. blind man undertook, early in the
| present century,>to run race With the mail
coach from Halifax to Bradford, distance OF =
miles; be lad 5 minutes start given to him, and
came in - minutes before the mail, thus beating
| it by minutes, A byHtander expressed belief
! that the victor could Hee whereupon the blind
man offered to have hin eyes completely covered
! With plaster, and thus run the distance on equal
terms for weger-a chaileuge which Was not
| accepted
| It is to Capt Barclay that pedestrians attrib-
| ute the introduction Of tho celebrated feat Of
walking 1000 miles in 1000 successive hours. To
do q miles day for Elk weeks, although for
midabIc prospect for my beyond comparative
| " small number OF men, and an imposBlbility
for the majority, would not dster any real pedes-
| triau seeing that be could have long and sound
| sleep every night but the case io very different
| when every hour in the six weeks. night and day,
il to have its distinct mile Of walking since in
about an hour and half at \
time. The feas had been tried several
| times before, Without success; Capt. Barclay
accomplished it about 1909. oless thsn fl00,-
QUO WIS etaked on the Issue. Newmarket was
selected az the course; and the walking occupied
from June to July II. IIe suffered during tho
ordeal, and had often to he lifted after resting;
but his appetite remained good, and he canne in
victor amidst q vast corcolrse OF spectators.
THIS feat has frequently been performed slnce.
Eaton did 100 miles in 1.10o hours; while 9th
or peraons have accomplished the still more d1tti-
! cu!tfeat OF walking t.U00 quarters OF q mile in
1000 successive quarters Of an hour: More dlth-
cult in respect only, tlIato having such very
short intervals for rest the total time being OF
course ouly one-lourth as long as Barclays. 4
pedestrian named Baker did 900 miles in twenty
days, SO miles day; to show his stamina, he
accom- plshed IS miles or, the last day, and
'thrico danced hornpipe."
Of course the wagers as to the fcetness OF
horses are known we'll enough. seeing that they
foru tue staple commodity Of most OF our races.
Before betting and handicapping, however, bo-
cane reduced to = syBtem individual bets OF
a special kind were made, some relating to
saddle horses, Aome to the driving OF some Kind
Of vehicle. llr. Shaf:o WAgered LOCO guineas
against M1. Reyuell that he would produce
person who could ride % horses 1900 miles ID
20 daya. each horse doing complete 1U0
miles in day, aud ono rider performing the
whole; this rider, Mr. Woodcock, fulfilled
greatest distance covered within = given time BY
the Tartar couriers OF Turkey and Persia such -
Mr. Frazer described some years ago but We
apprehond that this ride of l1r. Woodcocks
would have we'll compared with theirs. What
arc tho notable doings of donkeya in the art of
running, wo do net know; but there was one
instance III which bet Of f100 to ,f10 was laid
that donkey would so 100 miles in 1wenty~fonr
hours; tue affair came oil at Newmarket, when
Ncddy not ohly dit his duty, but accomplished
it in twcuty-ouo hours. leaving three good hours
to spare.
Special journeys have sometimes been made
involving sea a8 veil al land travel John Stow
tells of one Bernard Calvert. who left London ut
2 o'clock one morning, rode to Dover, sailed IN
barge to Calais. and back again to Dover. and
thence rode back to London, reaching Shore
ditch Chul ch at 8 o'clock in tho evening Of the
ramo day. As the and-riding wns 142 miles, and
tho barge-yoyase T. miles, it is certainly wonder
ful lit true) that such journey could have been
appliances Is wcre available in tho days
Of James l. Great notice was taken
in 1909 OF journey from Paris to Lon
don made BY Mr.. Huuter: he completed it IN |
twenty-five hours, the shortest time ever known !
up to that period; but VIC incline to think THAT |
all things taken into account, Ca!yert's work wss
the more remarkable.
Some OF the achievements depending on the
incentive OF wagers were III past tlIncs very odd;
aud journalists always looked ont for such nar /
ratives in times when society had not ysl begun
to more on, literally and Egurativey. At railroad
speed In the early part OF tho reign of George !
ILL., two gentlemen made an eccentric wager at :
colfee-houao lear Temple Bar Oae Of them
undertook tq jump ,o,o INTO W water .aa na1 feet
hinse1f completely. He did it; and if we PIC
lure to ourselves the twisting and wriggling III
yolyed in such an operation, floating tie whole
OF the time, we must admit it to be As difficult
an affair az it was ludicrous. butcher, on
calm summers evening. undertook, for wager,
to cross tho Thames in his wooden tray. In tots
exploit, using his hands as paddles, be made
tho passage safely from Somerset Stairs to tile
Surrey side, providing himself with cork
took care to record that seventy boat-loads Of
spectators were present; and bets to the
aggregate amount Of more than 1,'0u
guinness depended on the event." Ricnara
Jenkins. merchant OF York, Wagered
large sum TINT he would pare 1000 squar
yards with stone in nine hours. He sccome
pushed it, but wo arc left in the dark as to-
what kind Of paving it was, aud in what way the
work WAS performed. geutlemhn undertook, !
for wager. that he would etaud for whole day
On London Bridge. with tray full OF good
sterling Borereigns, aud would fail to fnd cus-
toners for them at penny apiece. Tho report
s, that he won the wager, all the passers-bY
boIieun: that he was merely trying to cheat
them with brass limitations. During visit paid
By one of the royal Dukes to q victorious ship
of-war 1t Splthea1, SAILOR got upon tho very
top of.tho mainulast (the truck, and stood there
upon his bead, waving his hat round and round
81 one foot. It Is to be hoped that this display
of antlpodean loyalty WAS duly apple
,iated. Heideeger, Master of tho Refels
to George H., was considered to be tho
ugliest man in England. a wager Was laid that
4 competitor for this doubtful honor could bo
found An old woman from St. Giles vas
brought forward, and the UMPIRE with HedcS-
,er's own approval, Was about to award tue palm
10 her but HeidcEser. in response to sugses-
:lon put on the old woman's bonnet. to render
Tho conditions more equal the additional usA-
ness was 60 ndescribablo that the victory was
awarded to him. Long before the days
If Btenmboats, gentleman. wsgered
[,003 guineas that he would make a
ooat move Is miles IN hour. He accom-
9iiHhed it in = very singular way. and at con-
siderable OUTLAY in money and ingenuity. He
,aused circular canal to be dug, 100 feet in
diameter. md feet wido, and filed with water !;
horizontal pole equal III length to the radius OF
he circle, was pivoteu at one end to strong |