St. Landry democrat., 1879-07-05
WHEELBARROW IDIOCY,
4he Kindred of the Patagonlan Elk ped
tlon.s

The Kindred OF the Patagonlan Expedi-
| tlon..
| cleveland Herald.
o. It's an old and true saying that 'One
tooFmakes many. It is.scarcely necessary
to cite illustrations of this painful fact
for surplusage of them must occur to
every reader of the newspapers during
the last three or four years. In an
evil hour it occurred to an individual
with more courage than common
sense to cross the Atlantic in an
open boat. His success stimulated ant
other fool hardy fellow to repeat the fea
in smaller boat, accompanied by his
wife. The experience of this pair was
sufficient to extinguish all desire on their
part to repeat the undertaking. But
Paul Boyton eclipsed thom by making a
boat of himself, and though he has not
attempted as yet to cross the Atlantic,
he has sailed and padded himself across
the English channel, and has for some
weeks been floating down the Ohio and
Mississippi rivers like stick of drift
wood. To be sure, there is method in
Paul's madness, the object of his
converting himself into something be-
tween a marine animal and
q canoe taking the form of bill introa
duced in congress to compel all mer-
chant ships to be provided with suit of
his life-saving wearing-apparel. Wes-
toms appearance on the road, whipping
his calves and striding along toward
goal he invariably failed to reach on
time, started up a host of tramps in
tights, breeches, Or short skirts, and
broad~soled shoes, whose performances
have nauseated the public and made life
burden to newspaper men. When
Sergeant Bates limped from one end of
the union to the other, carrying the
American flag over his shoulder, the
derision which greeted his absurd and
wholly unnecessary test of loyalty
should have been enough to discourage
any further demonstrations of that chars
acter. But it was not. To Bates and
his flag succeeded Potter and his wheel
barrow. The sergesnt, whose skull was
stuffed with patriotic zeal to the exclu-
sion of brains, was followed by the Al
bany numb.skull whose head had no
room for brains or anything else. Bates
undertook by his tramp to demonstrate
the attachment of all parts of the coun-
try-south and north-to the stars and
stripes. Potter merely desired to prove
his ability to push an alleged wheel
barrow from Albany to San Francisco.
Why the hostile Indians of the plains
or thG white thieves of the unsettled
regions of the west permitted him to 90
through in safety for the further af1ic-
tion of mankind is one of those mys-
terious dispensations that it is useless to
discuss, 1t is enoueh-more than
enough-that he reached San Francisco
in safety. AS if that was not sufficient
misfortune, the wheelbarrew man is on
his way back, and there are two of him.
On the eighth of December last, Potter
set out from San Francisco on his way
to New York, pushing his wheelbarrow
before him. At the same time one
Federmeyer started for the same place,
also driving a wheelbarrow, the two
being on "a race for a purse of fifteen
hundred dollars, offered by some San
Francisco sporting man to the one who
reaches New York first within seven
mQpths from the time of starting. At
Battle mountain, Kansas, Potter fell
behind, and when Federmeyer reached
81. Louis, May Sth, exactly five months
from the time OF starting, his competitor
had not been heard from. The foremost
wheelbarrowist expects to win his wager
with ease, and then got up another match
to wheel his way back to the Pacific
slope in five and half months. To
quiet the nerves of our readers, we are
happy to announce tina. the route of the
tramps does not lie through northern
Ohio; ;,: as they go by way OF Cincinnati
and Pittsburg."