Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-11-23
The Late Foot Race.

1t is unusual to give a foot race prominence;
that is professional foot race, but there are
features about the recent race between Peter
Priddy and E. e. McClelland that are worth a
few words. There is safety in dealing with
the contest in question because l am person
ally aware that 'squarer' race was never
run. never knew two men toe the mark with
greater determination to defeat each other, and
when L say this well remember the feeling
between Buttery and Walsh when the former
made his famous quarter of mile record. In
the local race don't think that either Priddy
or McClelland cared whether they won
1000 or one cent as long as they had the
glory of victory. This feature, of course is
seldom seen. at least it has Tor some time been
seldom seen in professional foot races. and
depend upon it that the more it Is found the
more popular will professional foot racing be-
come. The public desire to see good foot
race is not dead; il is the desire to fixed
event that is dead, and the attendance at the
Priddy- y-McClelland race showed that what
say is true. That the better man won we are
all forced to admit, but l question
whether another man can be found
to make the race with Priddy that
McClelland did. 1t was only natures fault that
the latter did not WIN. He was Struggling
against man much stronger and speedier than
himself, certainly no gamer" as far as the
meaning of that word goes, and under these
circumstances it certainly was no dscredit to
McClelland that he was beaten. Should they
ever run again, the race will certainly be worth
seeing because Priddy has comparatively little
to spare, and if ever he, when out OF his best
condition, contests against McClelland he will
get beaten as he did in Boston some time ago.
But there were features in the race that NAV be
remarked upon. have always failed to see the
necessity of so many friends running at the
side of contestants in long-distance
race. In the race under discussion, both
contestants were hardly ever clear of some
body running alongside of them and pattering
something into their cars. Certainly con-
testant needs an attendant and sometimes two
who can give words of encouragement now and
then If nothing else, but there can be no good
resulting from several enthusiasts bothering
the runner. Another 1 observed. 1t seemed
to me that Priddy's advisers nearly made a
tatal mistake in calling upon their man TO
make his effort too soon. He was running l
may say, quite comfortably at the heels of Nc
Clelland and could have Kept there as long as
he liked. But about 500 yards from the finish
Prlddy was urged to the front. He re-
sponded nobly, no doubt, but McClelland
although 10 or Is yards in the rear after the
squirt was made, forced Priddy to keep his ef-
fort up right round a track of a quarter of a
mile of very sticky travelling. Everybody knew
that Priddy was very much the better sprinter
at any stage, and then l ask would it not have
just been as easy and certainly safer to have
hnIsh7 As is was, Priddy received an awful
drubbng before he got home. But he won,
and all's well that ends well, and see no reason
why his hackers should not hold him against
either Fredericks or Myers.