The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-12-30
WALKING WITH WESTON

l boys out walking in clean collars and their biggest and brightest bow ties-a quiet. homelike day, when one would ex- pect to find an old gentleman of s9 sur
 rounded by his respectful and solicitous descendantsand all the comforts of home. 1 This weary dld gentlemen was alone in a chilly hotel bedroom, in shabby hotel
 bed, with shabby clothing and with dusty
 baggage filtered about and chamber
 maid peeking through the keyhole of the
 door. But Weston was more than satis-
 fled with himself. He had done more
 than a thousand miles in 23 days Chi cago was within striking distance, he
 was perfectly fit and he was on the eve
 of his greatest day.
 'Who suggested this walk?" he said. | Edward Pnyson Weston suggested it.. l This country leads the world in every | thing else. Well, I wanted to show that l 1t leads in 69-year-old athletes, tool I've 1 been wanting to do 1t for 10 years, but 1 of course the significance of this year Is
 that it's the 10th anniversary of my l other walk.
 trained but once-that was for a week in 1
 lieve in a man living temperately and sen-
 sibly-ought to be in training all the time. | l walk from Forty-second street down to | Wall street every morning of my life. I m | not teetotaler-I like some claret with 1 plenty of ice in it with my dinner in the summer-but I seldom drink spirits You've got to depend on your own strength in 8 thing like this You might l as well learn that first as last Why, the l first week out I thought l was going to have pneumonia one night-rd been walk ing all day in the rain-and I certainly was tempted to take a good long pull of whisky when I came in that night. But l didn't and the next day 1 walked 1t off You can walk almost anything off
 walk off colds and dyspepsia and blisters on your feet. My friend'-here MT. | Weston began to stir his feet under the covers-'if you'll pardon my indelicacy and if I do say it myself, there's a pair of feet mans got right to be proud
 of" The feet emerged from under the blankets. They were, indeed, very excel lent feet. Not an abrasion or blister, nothing but smooth callous and muscle; as practicable implements almost as good pair of hoofs.
 1 Shortly before midnight that Sunday night this old gentleman climbed out of his red flannel nightshirt and into walk
 ing clothes and ate hearty supper. He
 started to walk at 10 minute after 12 ] and walked for 10 hours and 20 minutes 1 thereafter without food or rest until he lay down in another hotel room at South Bend, A miles away
 was about 9:30 o'clock when I joined tine procession, little to the east of place called Mishawaka, whither I had taken train in the evening before. Weston had come nearly 40 miles and
 he was in high spirits. Lovely townl"
 he cried. Just look at those houses! This is like Euclid avenue in Cleve- land! Look at that little porch up there. What beautiful place to sit on sum mer evening" Now, If I'd gone on to Goshen Saturday night I'd missed this. Too bad you can't come through all Ahe | towns in the daytinfep
 Every few rods a menber of the 'I- seen -him-forty-y -years-ago club" ran and
 
 quite different frane of mind than that in which he entered Kendallvile, shook hands with some, and he lifted his cap
 and said, Thank youl" to everyboda i Your hair wasn't so gray 40 years ago. | yelled one man. Tt was dyedn' piped | Weston, and then threw back his head
 and let loose one of the strangest cack- | ling boots ever emitted from human | throat. He accomplished this hoot every
 block or so; apparently sort of profess
 sional business" to amuse the crowd and
 convince them he was feeling fresh. | You'll make it all right" shouted 9
 man. All you want Is nerve!"
 l "No," squawked the old gentleman.
 What I want Is the hind leg of
 mule I'm hungryw And then he would
 take out little whistle, which he car
 ried in his back pocket and blow for | the boy George and impress upon | George the importance of having some
 vegetable soup ready when he got to came a sort of obsession as the day went on. George failed to provide it at South Bend, and the old man kept thinking of it all afternoon, and after
 dark, as he began to get tired and irritable. he would whip out the | whistle every minute or so, call up one I of his wholly irresponsible boys, want
 to know what on earth they thought
 they were paid for. and if by jing,
 when he got to Laporte he wasn't to | find that vegetable soup.,
 l I had wretched cold that day, and the last 10 miles to Laporte were one
 continuous sneeze. Otherwise I was fit | enough, and yet. after 33 miles the
 more piercing shrieks of my system | for exercise certainly began to be hushed. Weston had covered 72 miles | when he reached Laporte. At o'clock he was out in the cold and off again,
 and he was pounding on toward Chi | cago hours after the writer of these lines had sunk into ignoble sleep. They sent him several miles on wrong | road, but before he would finally lie down he had put himself more than
 20 miles nearer his journeys end. Since
 the preceding midnight he had covered
 s5 miles. And this was done, not as a
 detached and supreme stunt" but aft
 CT walking continuously for 21 days
 at an average rate of 50 miles a day.
 Besides the courage that will drive a 1 lone old man in one day over 95 miles