The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1882-09-15
4 Four Hundred Niles Walk BY Six
Girls.

Girls.
To-day the party Of six girls who
started about the first of the month to
walk all over North Carolina arrived at
Laurenburg, where their walk ends.
They are all well and in good spirits,
and. though much sunburned. are Is
comely set of lady pedestrians as ever
q long tramp. They started
in the neighborhood of Hendersonville
nearly month ago upon what was re-
garded BY their friends as foolish
scheme to walk over North Carolina
and see the principal points of interest
in the State, and to pay special attention
to the mountains. Three OF the girls
were at school when the project was
first agreed upon. and the other three
who agreed'to join them were friends.
They made all their arrangements for
the proposed journey as quietly as pos
sible, for they knew attempts would be
made to dissuade them from the under
taking. Their friends were taken COM
pletefy by surprise when they were told
but day or two before the commence
ment of the walk of the intention to
tramp over the State without any es-
cort. To the suggestions that going
alone and with no one to protect them
they would subject themselves to insult,
they replied that they were willing to
make the attempt, and they averred to-
day that from first to last they had
never received one rude word or rough
Jest from any one, their only grievances
being that once or twice some persons
of their sex attempted toprevent them
from continuing their walk by charac-
terizing such an undertaking as immod-
est and unladylike. One old lady Of
fered to be their chaperone if they per-
sisted in their purpose, but the would
be chaperone wanted to go in q buggy.
and when she learned that they expect
ed to tramp over mountains where there
were no roads, she backed out, al
though they mischievously gave her
an invitation to join. On the first
week of their trip they suffered much
from exhaustion, and the youngest and
frailest of the party, Miss Murdoch,
had to stop and rest by reason OF
severely blistered feet. 1t was feared
that she would have to abandon the
trip, but she pushed on nobly, and after
the eighth day she began to gain
strength, and is now one of the health
lest Of the fair tramps. Her weight
when she started was but ninety-two
pounds, and she turned the scales to-
day at 1O3 pounds. All save two of the
walkers fattened after the first week.
while two who were inclined to obesity
were pulled down twelve and eighteen
pounds. Their record shows that they
made APO miles. They started out with
the expectation Of making between 500
and 600. Each walker wore pair OF
red-leather walking-shoes, and wore
short walkingdresses. and carried
strong stats in their hands and KNAPP.
sacks upon their shoulders, in which
were packed hammocks and Other
necessary articles. They also wore
very broad brimmed hats, which, how
ever, do not seem to have protected
their compilations, for they are al
burned brown. Two of the partie:
carried pistols to protect them from &C.
cidental incursions of wildcats anG
bears. Much of the time they slept ir
the open air in their hammocks under
canvas coverlets, which were used te
shield them from heavy dews and rain.
One night, ten days ago, experimenting
a severe storm, they camped in a grave
yard and slept between the graves
Another night, in the mountains, they
were thrown into CONSERVATION by thu
appearance of bear, but the beast be
ing as frightened as they were, fec
Without offering to modest them
In the mountains they were
in great terror of rattle-snakes
but did not encounter any o
the reptiles. Along their route the.
were treated kindly, many of the hos
pitable farmers entertaining them, bu
they stunned notoriety and avoided al
the towns and villages, frequently goins
some distance out of their way rathe
than meet crowds. A novel feature o
their undertaking was the keeping o
what they called their log-book. Ii
this the record of their impressions ant
adventures were kept, each, taking he
turn. The book contains l, 246 closely
written pages Although frequent!
offered vehicles, they always declined
saying that they started with the deter
mination of walking. They spent tire,
days in exploring the celebrated Balt
Mountains whose mysterious rumbling
some years ago created so much excite
ment. They not only made the Difficult
ascent to the top, but went into one o
the crevices. which they examined mi
nutely, with the aim of discovering
what caused the strange sounds in thu
interior. The novel "Trip of the 81,
young ladies has been much talked
about, but as they had avoided tn
crowded thoroughfares they were igno
rant of the interest taken in them, ant
were much astonished and slightly in
suited when they learned that bets hat
been made by certain sporting mel
that they would not make four hundred
miles in the month. The parties ar
modest and shun notoriety. They ave
they end the trip now because three o
their number will begin their schoo
days early in September, but they asser
their determination to walk over tn
UNEMPLOYED portion of the State mex
summer. They leave tomorrow by raj
for their homes, near Hendersonvilie.-
Monroe IN. CO. Cor. Chicago Times.
Representatives of the most fash