The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1923-05-22
FREAK CONTESTANTS IN
L|MEL|GHT CONSTANTLY
NONSTOP DANCE MARATHON
AND OTHER cRAZES BEING
CONDUCTED BY MANY.
THE GERM SEEMS CONTAGIOUS
Champion Pie Eater Has Rival in
Man Who Ate 81 Feet of Sausage
And Girl Who Washed Dishes for
81 Consecutive Hours.

81 Consecutive Hours.
The desire for fame" which
brought about many freak endurance
tests in Europe during the last few
months, is now sweeping the United
States like wildfre, and all sorts of
unusual stunts are being recorded.
Perhaps the most prevalent craze is
that of the nonstop dance attempts.
This fad has spread so far and wide
that many city officials are banning
| such tests.
| Began in Paris.
The nonstop dances began in Paris
when a young man set the record
with Is hours An Englishman then
danced for Is hours. A Frenchman
returned with a l7-hour record Miss
Alma Cummings, dance teacher in a
small New York city hail. read the
press dispatches and began mara
thon of her own. She danced for "a
hours without stopping.
Records have since gone jumping
81 hours, Sc, SO, 100. 107, 167-and
the end is not yet. The marathon
| dance craze continues, and inter-city
contests are now suggested, and dur
ing these attempts will be made to
lower the distance record travelled by
the dancers during a. certain period of
time.
A Few Championships.
In addition to the dance grinds,
Americans hold these championships:
staying under water, piano playing,
beefsteak, pancake, crawfish, sausage,
egg, pie and banana eating, skating,
dish washing and walking. The dane
ing craze, the latest, will die of itself
when no more spectators can be in
terested sufficiently to pay the admis-
sion Then a new fad will probably
spring into being
A unique endurance test was the
recent perambulator race in England,
when five English mothers set out to
race from London to Brighton, 81
miles, pushing perambulators IN
which were their babies. They suffer-
ed greatly from their exertions but
l'kept on, Mrs. Lily Groom winning
the race in II hours and 20 minutes.
Bowls 211z Tons.
When Bob Wilson, bowler, of
Cleveland, Ohio, heard of the dance
competitions he adapted the endur-
ance idea to his own favorite sport-and
made record which he claims enti-
ties hims to the nonstop bowling
honors. He bowled 1876 games in Is
hours, averaging 155 a game, and lift
ing total of 2111 tons of balls during
the bowling.
In the national gallery of limelight
grabbers prominent place will have
to be given to champion eaters. Last
August H. B. Chase, of New Orleans,
La, was crowned champion craw-
fish eater of the world" after winning
over nine other contestants by eating
FIVE bucketfuls, 90 pounds in the
shells, Of this species OF seafood
Champion Sausage Eater.
At West Hammond Chicago sub
urb, an enterprising promoter put on
a sausage-eating contest in which it is
thought all records for consuming
linked ground meat were broken. John
Bongo put away u feet of pork sau-
sages, five pounds of raw beefsteak,
one gallon of home brew
D. EAl l. d., q
contest kept the sporting population
in suspense. George w. Brown won
by getting away with "a in the rec
ord time OF ten minutes Another hero
of the table was Herbert Sibert, 10
years old, of Knoxville, Tenn, who
ate 81 soft-boiled eggs at one sitting.
The feat inspired another young man
of the same city to seek fame for
himself, and he consumed 10 cans of
potted ham without stopping.
Skates for so Hours.
Leo Hartman, of Houston, Texas.
won the roller skating record of the
world, when he went 50 hours with
out stopping. Another Houston man,
T. J. Kennedy, jr., made a new
worlds record of 90 hours and %
minutes continuous piano playing.
The former record was % hours, and
was held by Howard Roth, of Tole-
do, Ohio.
Marathon dancers will also step
aside and permit Susie Hetnock, of
Covode, Pa to absorb little lime
light. Susie p years old and employ
ed as a domestic in hotel, washed
one helped her, she did not use a
for one moments rest, and sang
through the entire performance. She
washed all the dishes used at BAN
quet with 400 diners and demurred at
resting after her feat.
Other Seekers of Fame.
A mayor of New York city, Rob-
ert A. Van Wyck, won champion
ship for eating beefsteak. A Hoboken
1ongshoreman ate 81 mince pies. Ed
ward Payson Weston walked 1887
miles in 1000 consecutive hours. Dam
Goldsmith, New York city pianist,
played ragtime 48 consecutive hours;
without missing a note.
One kind of tournament as yer. I'M
known in this country is the rooster
Growing competition, form OF sport
popular in certain parts of Belgium.
Every year loud voiced chandeliers
are pitted against others of treir kindl
at Bracket
The lure of the dance marathon,.
gastronomic championships, and 9TH
er freak contests seems to- be wholly
one of recognition and newspaper no.
toriety. Few of the contestants ever