Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1879-06-12
Three Successful Efforts.

Three notable feats of human effort
and endurance have Just been brought To
successful issue. The first was of ques-
tionable utility in spite Of the possible
| advantage of knowing the maximum
capacity OF the human frame for long
continued and severe exertion. In the
six days walking and running match, In
London, the winners score was 552
miles, beating by twenty-one miles the
best previous record in similar contest.
During the first three days the winner,
Brown, made 300 miles, feat never be-
fore achieved. 1t Is said that he left the
track at the close in. excellent physical
condition.
The second achievement was also of
doubtful utility. As means of advcr-
tising his already sufficiently advertised
swimming suit. designed for life saving
in case of disaster at sea, Captain Paul
Boyton undertook last winter the terri
bile task of floating and padding from
Pittsburg to New Orleans. The Ohio
was full of ice when he started, and the
ycnturesomc swimmer was often in i'm
mincnt peril from being crushed in the
ice flocs ~ well rs frozen By the intense
cold. The voyage Of 2,332 miles was
completed in eighty days. the yoyagcl'
being reduced almost Ia u skeleton by
the severity of his sclf-imposcd task.
OF very different nature was the
splendid feat of the Sugar Notch coal
miners. who, To rescue seven comrades
six men and a boy-buricd in mine
accomplished the great work of driving
and timber1ng passage way of 1900
cet through rock and coal, mostly rock
the brief space of four days and
sights. The imprisoned mincIs were
-ntfnI pltpg unI tp.ff n4fNHtf d So 4 Ia.
their confinement of five and n half
days. The party hnd been shut in by
the falling of some acres of mine roof,
caused, ii j. said. by reckless stripping
of the supporting pillars Of coal; and
luckily the door boy. who had gone in to
warn the miners of their danger when
the roof began to give WAY. ruar mule,
which the men killed and ate after thoy
found they could not got out. There
was plenty of pure water I'm the mine
and, though gas accumulated somewhat
in pnccs, - spot was found where the
mir was fairly good and it was safe to
build small fire for cooking their mule
meat II must not be- forgotten that the
noble band of rcscucrs tnilcd with -lcn-
der hope Of finding their buried com
radcs alive. If the latter had not been
crushed by the falling roof or drowned
by water, there was q strong probability
that they had pcrishcd by the fire which
broke out in the mine when the roof
fell. or hal been smothcrcd hy the libcr-
atcd gases of the coal. Yet the bare pos
sihilty of saving life urged the generous
toilcr' on, and happily their efforts were
rewarded by TIA" highest success.
The men who planned and cut the re-
lief drift were not surrounded in their
lnbors by admiring crowds, like the con-
tc-tnuts for pedestrian honor- they had
not the almost daily " grand receptions. "
ovations. and the like which gave tho
river swimmer an abundance Of noisy
notoricty and substantial encourage
mcnt. They were probably unconscious
Of doing anything specially commonda-
BILE: anything more than miner would
do for a comradc in distress Yet who
will say that the achievement Of Brown
or Boyton, however Plucky or enduring.
were not trivil in comparison. .-- Scientific
ImcrtodH