The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1879-06-22
ke to walk 1 .22s miles on ordinary ronds In


plished the undertaking. and $4,000 II he sue
Seeded IN maSiJn n, 100 miles in tgeniy-iour
be set out from Portland. lie made four Ai.
tmpts to cover the 100 miles Ia "a hours. In
the fret attempt be made GO mice; in the
second even less on account Of bad roads. in
the third 81 miles. With over three hours
~ do the nine miles in, but gave up. he says. by 1
the advice Of his trainers and friends who
were with him. This failure hurt Weston. VINO
WIS OPENLY charged with being bought or lie
always stontly denied the charge. II last at
tempt 10 walk 100 miles In twenty four hours
was mndc on the 25th oi November. He only
made eglty-six miles He renchcd Chicago on
Thanksgiving Day. Nov. IS. aud was received
with great DEMONSTRATIONS; This walk made
Weston rs name a household word for months.
His effort Inspired young men everywhere to
become pedestrians, and gave the start 10 tho
pedestrian mania which has become 80 general.
His name was upon gil lins; his Photograph
IN nearly AL households. There We're Weston
shoes, Weston hats and Weston coats. Musicians
composed Weston marches, and young ladies'
danced to Weston wRlt2es. The pedestrian was
determined not to give up the idea oi walking
100 miles in twenty-four hours. and. after
iocturing tour egstwari, he m1rgde The NJ
lie ACCOMPLISHED the task in % hours 10
minutes. 10 seconds. and tho sporting pa
pers ~ the, time characterized the feat as un-
! precedeuied.
In the snme month Col. Dan Rice. tho veteran
. .g5 1so nm y onrrsd i2 giyeo hin purse OF
/ se'utive days. not to walk on Sundays. The
! correspondence between Rice and Weston
was e rpehrousy incneG and his '' lrtt"rs
| we're filed with pious sentiments lie also
WTs ar, an fv9Wsd 'emperance mum Lne re-
naturally have nothing to do with proies-
, sional pedestrians gave Weston their hearty
| CORRESPONDENCE with Weston was published az
| the time. However, the 5000 mile walk failed
! from lack Of funds to- carry II out.
| Returning to New York after lecturing tour.
Weston gave an exhibition walk in StcinwHy
Hal, at which Horace Greeley presided and
! which many prominent persons attended.
Weston walked little Tor several years except
when hs duties required IT,, He hocame 70.
porter on The SUN, and 1t fell To- his lot to visit
the police stations on the east side Of the city ut
a late hour a night, His speed in coming to
the City Hall from Fiftv- ninth street became
proverba He used to say that he never rode
in street cars unless hes was in no hurry. and
lie often beat them IN NAL ing trip.
His most successful walk IN this city was In
the spring Of 1874. On May IL he started on a
six days walk IN the American Institute Rink.
first "a hours he made Is m les. hut he failed
10 cover more than 430 in the six days. This
was considered good walking then. In Sep
t"mbcr Of the same year he twice ATTEMPTED the
same feat in the Hippodrome. and each time he
six days walk in Newark, and he claimed to
minutes. 500 miles lie covered lis
In March 1875 he lea; j. r. Judd in six dsys
walk in the Hippodrome in this city. walking
i3l miles, In November Of thar year he walked
against OLeary in Chicago for six days. and
Weston 45i. After his walk Weston went 10
England. and on the 30th Of September. 1876.
walked 5OOs miles As yards in six days. Ia Liy-
erpool. In December Of the Same year in q six
that contest he walked ll5A miles with
out rest. and rs miles in q hours.
with only Is minutes 10 seconds rest. Ia April,
1877, O'Leary beat him In Agricultural Hall.
London making nearly $50 miles 10 Weston 3
olO; Weston, after this, give eNhi Otop walks.
in a 4S-hours' walk in which he scored $50
miles.
Il is said that Weston found firm friend in
Sir John Ashley. He did not compete for the
Ashley belt. when O'Leary won 1t In March.
1878. although his name was among the orig-
nal entries. On the 18th Of january last he
attempted TO walk 2 600 miles In 900 consecu-
tive hours. over English roads and deliver Wy
lectures in English towns and villages He
chose season OF the year very unfavornhe for
the undertaking, and he failed. but only by a
with Hn2ael. Brown. and Corkey. He walked
only $50 miles, while Brown made the then best
record. $40 miles.
weston's lace is familiar one 10 the Ameri-
can public The photographs and pictures Of
me pedestrlan that are scattered hroalcast are
land fare--clean cut and shrcwd. He is small
and slender. but wonderfully compact, and his
hcsh is very solid. He IS. as he naturally would
bs. an enthusiast upon the subject Of walk NJ
nut he is too art to promise 10 do more than he
can perform; This. time, however. he has done
more than his best friends had faith to believe
that he would accomplish. Next TO walk ng.
Weston enjoys a quiet game Of draw poker
among friends whore the stakes are not high.
Weston wrote from Agricultural Han. under
date Of June g. to a friend in this city givink
some particulars about the walk aud the profit
Utilities Of his winning IL. and also telling Of N is
experience in London. His letter was in reiSl-
which. he says. contained the first words c..en-
enlargement that had come 10 him, except
from his immediate relatives In the three years
OF Residence in England. He regrets that
the news papers here huVe not found OrcHsi on
70 sneak Kindly Of his efforts. He says that tpe
New York sporting journals have all spok N
ungenerously OF him. with u single eXceptiln.
while the London journals discovering thRt he
was not the fraud that his enemies had repre-
scented him TO be- saw that be- rot fuir treatment.
Weston says that he was the first TO sucs.es;
10 Sir John Ashley that Rowell was the nan for
him TO send to New York to compete for the
champions belt Rowell aiterward hlsulied
him. he says by ignoring his challenge and
accepting one from Ennis. Rowen clumed
thnt the date fixed by him was too early but
West n says that he bad the right 70 alter It.
| English champion would have to contend With
him first and Rowell himself told reporters in
would meet him. as had been propos,d d.
| When ROwell returned 10 London ard n 1T
with him. first. that he had received prior
challenge from Ennis. mentioning date be-
fore he had won the belt or had walked 45O
miles, and before il had been decided whetLe r
Hartman or Ennis would come n second in
the walk at Gilmores, Weston also says that
Ennis was opposed to his walking in the match
OF last week. and did his best 10 keep him out.
| However. doubtless, before you nave received
this" says the Yankee walker, you will have
heard OF the start and will learn that the un.
dersgned Is somewhere around. and will do
his level best 10 meet your most sanguine ex-
Degrading his prospects Mt the time OF his
writing he says that there were not over five
persons in England who believed that he stood
any chance against runners. The betting
ranged from G to 10 25 90 l against his vim
ming. His last contest in Agricultural Hall
convinced him that running would beat walk
ing in six days, For the first time in my
life" he writes. &c am at present enjoying a
severe and strict course of training and you
will be pleased 10 learn that my efforts thus far
are more satisfactory than my most sanguine
expectations"
In conclusion. he adds: Il go ont tonight to
begin an experiment At | A. NJ. tomorrow
Wednesday, and should the weather permit
hone to remain until Friday A. NJ" The ex-
pertinent ne speaks Of, probably, was test Of
his running powers. Weston alludes 10 Sir
John Ashley as an honorable, hiRh-toned gen
teman.
Verdict for sIO5.4s0.25.
PHILADELPHIA. June Ala final order was