Rock Island daily Argus., 1888-11-15
FIVE HUNDRED MILES.
A FAMILY TAKE A TRAMP THROUGH
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND.

Chat with the Heroine of the Latest Re
markabIe Pedestrian Feat-Six Children,
the Eldest Twelve Years Old-Baby's
Enjoyment-The Outfit
Mrs Adams Acton of Sunnyside, St. Johns
wood, and Ormidale, Arran, is the heroine of
the latest remarkable pedestrian feat-a
walk of 500 miles in England and Scotland,
beginning at London and ending in Glasgow,
and performed, not alone, but in the com
pany of her whole family of six children, the
eldest of whom is IL years and the youngest
l2 months. The latter, it need hardly be
said, did not walk the whole distance, being
wheeled in fact, together with his feeding
bottle and appurtenances thereto belonging,
in perambulator
With pleasure was Mrs. Acton's cheer
ful response to the request for particulars of
her remarkable walk
TO begin with, of whom did your party
consist?n
There were the six children, the youngest
in our famous perambuIator, which has been,
oh, thousands of miles on the continent and
in England and Scotland, and my husband
| anu Sell anu lNO lluluS--tti III I'LL
LIGHT OUTFIT.
What was your outfitn
"When we started from Sunnyside oui
house in st. Johns Wood, we each took q
small black bag in our hands, but we soor
had to give those up. Afterward We had alb
solutely nothing but a nightgown and :
macintosh each. There was one brush anC
one comb for myself and all the children
| We really couldn't carry more than the leas
possible quantity of luggage, you know. Tei
my husband is so fond of a good cup o
| tea-so we carried our tea all the way from
| London; and we had kettle, too, one o
those fat ones to boil over spirit lamp, an
the spirit lamp itself And, of course, tn
baby, being young baby and fed on th
bottle, obliged US to carry tin can of milk.
How did you managed And, by the way
what was your fare"
I'VE had very light fare. As soon as W
got into the north of England we alway
had porridge for breakfast. We never ha
much meat. On the only two occasion
when we had a really good dinner we foun
we could not walk afterwards. We had egg
and milk and bread and butter to an
amount The meat We had was almost el
tirely timed meat, which we bought, wit
bread, in the town or village in mornin:
and carried with us till We came to a sui
| able place for dinner We had dinner in IL
open air always. Then for tea We had ju
to call at a cottage and get kettle of wat,
and the use of tea things which they We
+ always glad to supply us with for shilling
PREVENTING SORE FEFT.
''Of course the trouble was boots Mr.
Acton continued. I'VE were recommend
all sorts Of 'hvgieuic soles' and everythin
and We tried everything, and we had to gi'
: them all up We gave up boots altogeth
?. and took to sand shoes'-canvas shoes wi
| india rubber sales. Those allow the feet
go anyhow they like; there is no pressur
and we found them admirable. We nev
got blisters or sore feet or anything. v
used to soap our toes and heels and the
sides of our stockings before We starte
that is a very good thing Then as TO was
ing, we could not possibly stop to have ever
thing washed at the inns and places, so t
way We managed our washing was to ha
one thing washed each night. We found
could always get one thing washed a
quickly got up. and so we had clean thin
without the trouble of carrying any with
I'VE carried No umbrellas. A city man
Reighbor Of ours in London, asked me befc
we started: How many umbrellas are Y
going to take:' and when | replied, y
one he was perfectly horrified; it made h
quite i'll. But, though the weather was We
bad in England, we did very well witho
In the first part of the time We walked In {
= mackintoshes and hats that the rain wo,
not hurt. OF course, it was very mudt
- and, what with the mud and the rain a
the sun, our dress got into such a state
were quite ashamed of ourselves; and
Saturday nights we had to stop somewh
and buy flowers or some little frilling
something to brighten up our hats to go
church in mex; morning But We never /
colds, in spite of having no umbrellas, 6
though we had a great deal of gray c
weather that people complained Of, we for
it splendid weather for walking"
=, And the bahyr
'Oh, baby got quite Ike gypsy; he q,
enjoyed it First thing in the morning
used to say, 'Tite ready; tite ready to gor
AVERAGE PER DAY.
What distance did you cover in day
the averageT'
1--WE walked sixteen and eighteen, and
day twenty miles, but the average
twelve. We made it rule to go TIVE
miles day. Sundays we rested. We alw
felt very afYectionately disposed toward
milestones Here's another delightful m
stone the children would say. And that
one matter in which we saw most rems
able difference between Scotland
England Directly we got over the boz
there were neither milestones nor direct
J posts. We did find some near Ayr, but
y broken, not the slightest use; while
England they were all so well kept
couldn't go wrong"
What was your plan of walkingm
made it a rule to start by 1880, after br,
fast We walked few hours and then re
during the heat of the day, and walked az
- in the afternoon. Having so many child
with us, the anxiety was to get into S
III place for stopping at before dark-by