The Hickman courier., 1878-06-21
O'Leary's Account of His Great
Pedestrian Exploit in London.

O'Leary's Account of His Great
Pedestrian Exploit in London.
New YORK Correspondence Of Boston Herald
Daniel O'Leary's championship belt
is on exhibition in Broadway window
this morning The sidewalk is jammed
with spectators, and the police keep 8
passage cleared with difficulty. The
belt is massive affair, at least FIVE in,
ches wide, and as long as a surcingle
Seven rectangular silver clasps are joined
to huge disk of gold, bearing on bright
blue enamel the following inscription in
raised letters: "Long Distance Cham.
| pion of the World"
O'Leary arrived from England yester
sss.s ssus 'sic'si to-aayszs 6 Be
fore we started" says O'Lesry, "Sil
John Ashley made speech, saying il
had been said that according to the rules
for entries, fought not to be allowed tc
walk. He thought different. ANY man
who would come three thousand miles
in good faith, supposing his entry wa:
all right, sheuld be welcomed to a tour,
nament, and as his entrance meney waf
up before the whole amount WAS raised
he could not see that the rules
had really been violated, and he had
decided that the American could enter
the limits. He hoped that an Euglishman
would win; but, if the American was
successful, he would zee he got the belt
and money. Eighteen of us started.
had eaten hearty dinner and got up
from light supper of tea and toast.
Just before the walking began I tight
ened my belt, griPped my corn cobs
firmly, and opened the ball. This cob
business is habit A firm grip on them
seems to grid me up and absorbs the
moisture of the hands. | have the same
two cobs in my trunk now at the hotel,
and always carry some with me. You
couldn't get such thing in England. l
ran and walked the first fifty miles, run
ming around the corners and walking the
stretches, and quickly felt the effects of
the running in the tendons Of my legs,
and stopped it. Il also injured my feet,
for in running you spring from the ball
of the foot, while in walking the heel
comes in play. I walked 208 miles be.
fore resting, making III miles ia the
first twenty-four hours, and changing
my shoes twice a day. On the 209th
milo l rested an hour and a half,
but only slept twenty-five minutes; in
fact, / couldn't sleep, my mind was so
excited and my body so sore that I lay
moaning, groaning and mumbling, and
l could get no real rest so l got to my
feet and kept on walking until they tsld
me l was twenty-six miles ahead of
everybody. Then at the earnest solici-
tation of my friend AL. Smith, of Chi
s-a.-cJ lr-f. sssss Lxzck for thr~c hourz.-l 1
didn' ttf1k tnat y was lfardfy saEe f0f
me to do so, for l didn't feel like sleep,
and YVES afraid of getting stiff and sore,
and it turned out just as / thought. I
got little sleep on the last hour, aud
that was ALL When again came on the
track my nose began to bleed, and
found myself very sore and stiff. The
bleeding at the nose, however, did me
good. 1t seemed to relieve my head.
Then anxiety of the mind came up. 1
found that Vaughan had gained on me
considerably. He was only ten miles
behind, and Blower Brown was within
fifteen miles. Gradually the soreness
and stiffness wore away and my legs got
timber; but the right one began to show
signs of swelling. Slowly pulled away
from Vaughan, and at twelve o'clock on
Thureday night was fifteen miles ahead
OF him"
Vaughan" continues O'Leary, sis
gallant walker and good, square fell
low, We watched each other like
enemies, but there was no feeling of
envy or anger. When they handed him
bouquets, he would pass them over to
me to smell. To inspire him, Vaughsn's
friends placed the glittering belt under
his nose, Look at 1t, boy. Don't lose
it. Five hundred pounds with it if you
win it, and Ell, 900 more on top of that
On Friday Vaughan was very close to
me. and my swollen leg began TO trouble
me. 1t was hard struggle, but after
that Vaughan never got within twelve
miles of me. When he left the track on
Friday night he was fifteen miles be-
hind me. put in two mere miles and
was rubbed down and put to bed. /
slept for some time, but Vaughan was
ever before me. I told Smith to wake
me \<he instant he came on the track,
and Ra did so. All the other English>
men had given way to Vaughan. They
had given him the inside of the track,
and he was putting in his best licks.
Before / could get fairly going he had
gained two miles, hut from that time he
slowly fell away. My leg was swollen
double it's usual size, but felt no pain.
It was very stiff, however, and bothered
me considerably in walking. l knew
that if I took another rest with so per-
sistent man as Vaughan behind me, it
would become stiff and might lose the
match so ! ended the long agony by
walking eighteen hours without leaving
the track, and that's how / came to get
the belt. If he had won he would have
been the richest pedestrian that ever
stood in shoe leather"