The New York herald., 1879-03-13
The Great Walk-O'Leary's Collapse
Followed by the FAN of n Crowded

The great Woik-OAe8rys Soliopse
Followed by the Fail OF u Crowded
| Gallery.
Philosophers who insist upon cataloguing
all human actions under appropriate heads
must have been placed hopelessly at sea by
the pedestrian furore which, though it broke
out long ago, has INDUCED in such full
blown elimination this week. 1t will not do
to call it a mania, for thousands of the people
who are interested in the walk are solid
business men, who have bought as closely
and sold as well as ever. Nor can any one
claim that sudden predisposition toward
the act of walking has broken out, for horse
cars and omnibuses have their usual COM
plements of passengers, and the elevated
roads are as uncomfortably crowded as ever
during the principal hours, coming and
going Yet everybody talks of the great
match even the weather. that traditional
sheet anchor of polite conversation, has
snapped its chain cable and temporarily
disappeared from view. The crowd at
Gilmore's Garden is far greater one than
that great enclosure ever before held for
SO long time, and, as was proved by the
crash last evening, far greater than some
parts OF the building are strong enough to
carry with safety, while the throng in front
of the HERALD bulletin is as great as it ever
was on the Presidential election day, and
far less changeable. How many toes have
been trodden upon, each with its cursory
accompaniment, we shudder to estimate,
while the trousers that have been spoiled
by the Street Cleaning Bureaus own
darling mud, cast up by passing vehicles,
should rejoice the heart Of every tailor in
the city. What is it all about? Nothing
unusual is going on. Four men are walk
ing as fast as they can on u ten foot path
well covered with sawdust, one of whom,
the champion, is literally on his last legs,
and finally succumbs to utter physical ex-
haustion. But countless fours have walked
on tagged sidewalks, of ten feet, more or
less, since Broadway was first paved, and
nobody has taken their time, or sat or stood
by the hour to stare at them, or howled
with joy or disappointment as one or the
other gained upon the remainder, nor have
any but beggars and tramps-who, tech
nically considered, are not pedestrians-
peered curiously into their dining rooms to
see what they fed upon and how they ate 1t.
The meaning Of it all must be sought a
little deeper than the philosophers plum
met ever reaches. In spite Of the general
intellectual development of humanity and
the religious idea that the physical man is
sorry trash, there is latent in mankind On
irresistible sympathy for any one who ac-
complishes unusual physical feats, particu-
larly ii they are such as imply patient, self
denying training of the physique up to its
finest possibilities. It is not the step or
the time, for the moment, of either pedes-
trian that fixes the gaze Of visitors to the
great walk, for the professional stride and
swing is nowhere near as graceful as that of
many dignifed citizen on his way to
church or business, while almost any one
could run Flap" at the Garden as quickly as
either Of the professionals have cared to do.
Nor is it the physiques of the men, for
forms about as handsome may be seen in
any gymnasium, and without tiptoeing in
O mixed crowd, either. But each of the
four contestants for the Ashley belt had
impossible; he has already done more than
any of the spectators could imagine them
selves doing under any stress whatever,
and that quality of manhood out of which
hero worship springs asserts itself in the
spectators, perhaps unconsciously, but
with a force that is irresistible. Some
Americans have heard Of the venerable
English sage who happened to stroll medi-
tatively on tue banks of q river where boat
race was impending. The old gentleman
was college professor, reverend, d. d.
and an abjurer Of all unintellectual follies,
though in his callow days he had handled
an oar. Suddenly the boats and the crowd
approached; the dignified pundit eyed
them with condescending pity; then the
boats drew abreast of him and he dimly
recollected that he had seen something
of thu sort before. Suddenly the crowd
hurried by, rumpling the academic robe in
q most unseemly manner and carrying away
the old Professors well adjusted top ham
per. Then the old gentleman ran. too he
didn't know it, but he not only ran but he
yelled all sorts of unministerial encourage
ment to the crew Of the second boat Sud-
denly both boats approached bend where
dexterous steering was necessary; the cox
swain of the second boat blundered, and
moment later the perambulating Church
pillar was shouting advice in language that
caused the navvies and cads in the crowd
to sicken with envy. After oil there was
nothing going on-only two boats working
down stream with four men in each.
The failure of O'Leary will prove q deep
disappointment to the thousands who daily
and nightly thronged Gilmore's Garden to
see him take leading place in the contest.
Many of his admirers had witnessed his
triumphs in New York and were thrilled by
the news of his splendid victory in London.