The New York herald., 1874-12-08
The Five Hundred Mile walk.

great lntor0St ana pleasure.
Tho Five Hundred Mile Walk.
He who in fair condition can walk fifty
miles over country roads in day may set
himself down as q person of good physical
endurance, but to hold the pace for ten whole
days together and cover in that period five
hundred miles, would stamp him man of re-
markable stamina and grit-one almost of
hundred thousand. It would be equivalent
to walking in that time from New York to
Albany, back, out again and nearly back
again. And yet there is now in this city a
man gamely essaying to do not simply
five hundred miles in ten days, but
in six and q half He has, to be
sure, q track to his liking, no uphill
work, is well sheltered from the weather,
can rely on the best of fare for his pur-
pose and can dress as lightly as he pleases,
while he claims to be in excellent order for his
task. He has the advantage-no mean one
Of having seen . famous rival twice try the
same, or o somewhat harder feat and fail. and
he claims to understand where to place the
C0uoO0 OA sAOo~ Aoi4oACo tAuu W Ao . 4CLuOVCQ
them in his case. He goes back of the mere
development of muscle and lung power and
the most effective stride, and thinks he
has found that subtle thing how to
have the mind and spirits in the
best order throughout this enormous test,
for long before ten O'Clock next Monday night
he at least will be convinced that it is enor-
NOUS Weston Boston-to- Washington tramp,
his famous one to Chicago and his two
already mentioned proved him very tough
man, but not up to what we believe man
never did yet-fve hundred miles in six days,
or what Judd now attempts, six and half.
Walking on narrow sawdust track around
great, hare hall, must, even in one day,
get intensely monotonous, however sharp
the spur, but to keep it up increasingly for
whole week, day and almost night too.
would long before their muscles refused to
work we'll nigh craze many men. Still
Mr.. Judd has strong nerves, and certainly in
one thing shows excellent judgment In
stead of breaking out into occasional snowy
dashes, pretty to the eye. but terribly wear
b
four-and-a-half mile pace and seems deter
mined not to change it. If he will live up to
this resolution he will be more likely to cover
his seventy-seve miles day than by any
other course he can adopt, of which fact,
as he announces himself as professor" in
these things, he is doubtless we'll aware.
As he swung along yesterday afternoon
round after round he showed many points in
his favor-some not so much so. A triAe
above the medium height, built in many ways
much like the fastest single-sculler America
ever knew, Walter Brown, the muscles of his
calves are noticeably large, while, with strong
thighs and good loins, and roomy, though not
remarkable chest, he has broad heavy shoul-
ders. The impression he at once gives is that
of strong, bony man, with certainly deal Of
with head extended, swinging his arms low
and far forward and back, and throwing
his right foot rather higher than his
left Even at his present pace be seems to
labor and to 60 strongly, but not lightly, or
with the agile movement we look for in one
feet Of foot. Still, his style may not tell on
him as it looks to, and maybe it is the fastest
he could adopt, though we would like to see
him thoroughly test the higher carriage Of the
arms and the better bracing up Of the chest
But suppose he accomplishes this purpose,
on which his heart is set, what good
will it have done2 Satisfied curiosity,
his own and the public's-little more.
Men who, like him, are devotng them
selves to athletics, if they will but turn
their work to its best uses there is in this
country vast need. There are gymnasia scat
tered here and there where there are all the
appliances one wants for the increase of
health and vigor. But how many begin to
get the good out Of them they, even with a
tolerably good instructor, might? If at one
college gymnasium, for instance, it was known
that there was q man presiding who could
take ones physical measure and single out
his strong and weak spots almost in mo-
ment's look, and who, by study and expert
ence. knew just what sort Of work would weed
out the weak spots and bring the man
symmetry and vigor and staying power, and
whose instructions the students would be COM
PEELED to attend as strictly as at any other,
would he not soon make his influence felt
wherever graduate of that college went, and
do good difficult to measure? Oxford Uni
versity has such q one in Professor Maclaren,
and we would be glad to see his like in every
college in the land and in every city and town
besides Then we would hear less and less
about the physical degeneracy of our people,
and we would hail men like Professor Judd as
real benefactors.
KING KALAKAUA.-The reception of His
Majesty of Hawaii in California, the incidents
of his voyage, and his opinions of America, as
expressed in an interview with the HERALD
corresnnndant are the snhiect of oIr letter