The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1882-03-10
Six Hundred Miles In Six Days.

SIX hundred miles in six davS has ssvs the
n Y World of Sunday. been an long looKed
unon as the ultimate goal Of "gO- aS-vou-
please" foot races that u seems ne IL there
were nothing left to he run for. II is nm
likely, ut anv rate, that anv fOOt-racp for
wears to come will attract 50 much interest
which means so much gate money as that
which ended Yesterday in HaZae's victory
The record has been raised nearly 4 hunt
drpd miles since the first Of the po-as Won
pleaGe races. hut It is impossible to'Say tina.
the limit of human endurance has been
reached. Although there is no reaenn To hr-
Heve that there Is horse in the world which
could have poualIpd HaZaeI's performances
IL is clear that It could have been Pasilv ex-
cellpd nv HaZael himself if he had hpan
pushed, and edualled bv the SECOND if not bv
the third man in the race If there had hepn
ANYTHING for either of them to "a in hv eouaI-
ling it, The old performances Of Captain
Barclay and the other pedestrians nt an ear
liPr generation become unite insipnifcant
alongside Of such feats ne this race. in which
the last man heat the hast recorded perfor-
nance nf five or six years AGO. Each of the
men who finished the race receives what he
would consider vpTv handsome nav for q
weeks work, even tremendous weeks
work as be has undergone The winner
gets between $50 o0o and S25, 900 and the
second man some 81 900. which Is aSsuredIv
hundred times as much as there is any
reason To sunpnSe that either of them cnuId
earn in anv other vocation than pedestrian.
ism. As long as the Cate-mOrpY to provide
sums like these is forthcoming from n siuoIe
public 1t IS hkelv that ooas vou-nIease
matches will continue tn he made and run.
Mr. Buckle. i'm one of those messages of his
history which show most delightfully."- his in
capacity tn draw nerfectlv ohviouS courlu-
sinns, sets forth that an opera singer and an
opera dancer receive large sums nv vyav Of
compensation for the disrpnute of their sew
eral vocati0ns. Mr. Buckle MIGHT have IL
"accountPd'' on = similar hvnnthesis for the
L. -.
six-da, walk. hut his hvnnthesis would omit
the obvious fact that while, as the annstle
observes, all run and only one obtains the
prize those who run and get nothing must
be at least as diSrpnutahle as the one who
wins, even as the corVphees IRE not presuma-
hly pursuing a more laudable calling than
the Donna dssollitd who gets q hundred
times as much money. IT wauld be hard to
show that the pedestrian who pavs s., 900 for
the privilege Of running himself to Standstill
and getting nothing whatever hut his aches
for his pains, stands higher IN public esteem
than the pedestrian who pockets 500. 600 as
the price Of his infamv. On the contrary,
in the only public which tho pedestrians
practically know ANYTHING ahnut the winner
of six-day match is mlrh more anvied
being than the authority of "HiStarv of
Civilization in England - while man hope
lesslv beaten is described as a "duffaT"
which is an enthet analogous IN that Of
"pr'g" and ''pedant" which some have be-
stowe upon philosnphic historians
1t is to he honed however, that now that
six hundred miles have been run in six davs
with something to spare. some pedestrian
contest will be devised which does not af-
ford so cruel test Of endurance. A mar
cannot walk hmfef to death, hut he NAV
very possibly run himself to death, as ROwell
came near doing in the present race and at
anv rate IL is not likely that any Of the men
who take part in such a contest will ever he
as sound after the race as they were before.
This seems to be indicated nv the fact that
two OF the pedestrians in this race were at
tackled by rheumatism while the race was in
progress. The only test of human endur.
ance which. can be commended is one which
a man in proper condition can endure with
out permanent injury. and 1t seems clear
that s'Xdavs' "go-as-y0u please" race Is
Aot such test.