Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1879-05-15
gentleman adroitly turned the conver-
sation in a political channel.
GREATEST WALK ON RECORD.
A CoLoRED MINISTER At WASHING
TON TELLS THE STORY.

TON TELLS THE STORY.
Brother Bells, of the Colored Bethel
Congregation, a few nights since, at n
prayer meeting, took occasion, in the
course of an exhortation upon the du-
ties of life, to fire passing shot mt
the walking mania, now so prevalent,
and developed some facts in relation
to pedestrianism feats that seems hith-
erto to have escaped notice. He said |:
my beloved bredrcn and sisters,
dar is one ting I'm bound to say to
you befo' | close de exercizes dis mite,
and dat il, don't you take no stock in
dis here walkin' business. Let dem
white tramps men and wimmin, alone
don't you spen' your money or your
prcshus time runnin' round artcr
dem aud for de Lords sake an your
own, don't you try TO make fools oh
yourselves by trying to do likewise.
You men viii find plenty of exercize
in attending to your work, and you
wimmen enuf to do ober your wash
tubs and nussin' your babies, instead
OF trampin' roun' an roun' de sawdust,
day on and day OIL, Jess to please a
passcl oh fools and ruin your own
hcf Besides, my beloved frens, all
de braggin' dey duz about dere long
walks, long times and what dey calls
filAiklc ondoorinse amt wuth shucks
when YOU comes to compare dem wld
one pufIormance dat TUX place thou
sands of years ago, and de reason dey
don't mention it is bcka,c none of desc
sportin' folks ebcr reads dere Bibles.
Well, I'll tell you what it waz, and
its de greatest sporiin' match, as doy
calls it, dat ever come off on dc face
ob dis yearE None Of your hippy-
drum bisne,s heah. No, sab . No,
sab Fair hcel-au toe walkin', Judges
appinted. track measured, time KEEP,
accordin to dc Skripturs, an rec
kord made-ycs, and rce-kord dat
can't be denied, cause here it is--ycs,
here it is, in dis preshus book! Now,
jess turn obcr your Bibles, my frcus,
and look ut de fifth chapter oh Gene
sis, twenty-sccoud vass, an what do
you fin? Why you fin dat Enoch--
walked -wid-God!-iaftcr he begat-
ted Meefoosaly) - three - hundred
years! observation-disclosures Dar
war walk for you. jess shut your
eyes an fleet on it Three-hundred
years! Besides, de rec-kord says
dat when dc ole man made dat match,
an had dat chile lwho KEEP on living
until he was nine hundred and sixty
nine years old-monsus good stuff in
dat family D-I say, when de old man
made dat match, and had dis chile, he
was sixty-fve years oh age, an den
walked-thrce-hundred y ars!
Talk bout yo' fzziklc ondoorinse
arter dat! Talk bout yo' pluck
and grit arter dat Why. dc ole
man has done laid out all oh desc
nowadays blowers as flat n n dead
shad! SO much for dis strordinary
puformancc.' But dat amt all ob it.
Dere's mo- yet. If you'll jess look at
dc twenty-fo'rth vass oh de same
chapter YOU will fin, my beloved frens,
what n orful warning Is in dat vass to
pO' foolish crecturs who has de con.
ceit to make sich onekcl matches. Did
any good come OBJ de ole man Enoch's
walk? Did he make anything outcn
it? No! my bredrcn an sisters. MOI
no! He loses by it--loss eberyting
by it-neber 'pear'd in de ring agin--
in fack, he went up. jess read de
vuss: An - EuOch-walked-wid
--God--an'-he-wuz-not' - dat is,
he warnt nowhat--' for-God-tuck
him God tuck him /" To be
shuah he tuck him. He was bound
to be tuck lie held out for a long
time, de ole man did; he was game to
de last he wuz doin' his level best,
but Ole Master wuz too long in de
stride, an too sound in de wind for
him, an tuck him on dc last round.
Yes, my beloved irens, an he'll take
anybody dat tries dat game on him,
an hist him 'higher'n kite, Jess rs
he did Ole Boss Enoch. So take
warniu' by dis orful lesson; let all dis
kind of foolishness alone, an tend to
yo' proper callin's like good Christ
shuns. An now let Us pray