THE WALK OF MADAME ANDERSON

Globe, Volume XX, Issue 1595, 31 March 1879, Page 3

THE WALK OF MADAME ANDERSON

Madame Anderson recently completed in Brooklyn the remarkab e feat of walking 2700 quarter-iuile3 in 2700 quarter-hours Madame Anderson is an Eanlish lady p-des-trian whose record on the other side of the water is said to embrace a similar feat, performed some time ago, but so little attention did the alleged performance in England attract that it was not known in America, and the story was not at first believed here. Now, however, that she has succeeded beyond a doubt and the publicity of her last walk, as well as the careful watch kept throughout the entire time, preclude the possibility of a doubt, she has unquestionably achieved the reputation she says she has worked for all htr life. Feats of the same nature have been, as is well known, often att mp'ed before, walking 1000 miles in 1000 hours having been done several times, but no woman heretofore has been succ safnl in any great feat of the I- ind. Captain Barclay, an En dish ollicer, in 180 S, walked lOi'O miles 'in 1000 hours. Searles, "the champion of the world," walked, in 1825, lOOOquarter-milesin as many quarterhours, and last year G>le, the well-known English pedestrian, walked 4000 quartermiles in 4000 quarter-hours. Excepting this last feat, which was done by a man, no effort as ambitious as Madame Anderson's has been succ s-ful, so far as the record shows. Madame Anderson wai at different times during her earlier life a concert singer, an actress, a manager, and a clown in a circus. She was by no means unsuccessful in her different attempts, but did not gain the fame for which she strove f=o persistently, and about two years a o, being told by Gale the pedestrian that he thought she was adapted, physically, for feats of endurance, she made an attempt to walk 1000 miles in 1000 hours. Much to the surprise of the sporting fraternity, she succeeded. Since then she is said to have walked 1250 miles in 1000 hou-s, 1500 miles in 1000 hours, 2000 half - miles in 2000 half-hours, and 2(!SS quarter-qunrter-miles in 26SS quarter-hours The record of this last feat, however, which was performed (if the report be true), at Peterb rnigh, England, was, unfortunately, n«t above suspicion and was not generally credited. About three months ago i-he came to America, and a month ago made an arrangement with Captain A. R. Samuells, of Mozart Garden, in Brooklyn, to walk in his place No money was staked on the performance of the feat, excepting in outside bets, but by the arrangement between Captain and Mr W. H. Webb, the lady's manager, she was to receive one-third of the gate money. This has been duly paid to her, and amounts to the handsome sum of 8000 dollars in round numbers. Mozart Garden has been for some time a well-known vari"tv place, and the preparations neces<ary for the walk were easily made. A track certified to be exactly one-twenty-eighth of a mil ■ long was laid out on thy wooden floor and was covered with tan bark. o'i the stage was the table used by the timekeepers, and to the right of the stage a room wa3 set apart for the pedestrienne's private use. The walk, before its commencement, attracted comparatively little attention, partly, it is probable, on account of a suspicion of humbug. Few spectators saw her start, when on December 16th, IS7S, she walked her first quarter at 8 p.m. Not until nearly the end of the year did it come to be generally believed that the attempt was f>n honest one, and that t u e work was honctly done. When the arrangement* for keeping the score came to be known, however, there was no longer any doubt that the performance was "square." A double score-sheet was kept from the first, so that the keeper of one c uld always check the other, and excepting for short absences at meals two men were contimnlly keeping thi tally. This work was begun by Messrs Hazletop, Force, and Coles, all well-known men in Brooklyn, and on theseond day, Mr Edward Fox and Mr Henderson were ad'ed to the lish. Another journalist began the work, but shortly relinquished it. Some changes were made on this staff, but the number was not reduced, and no question has been raised as to the accuracy of the record. Th»re were also a number of persons continually on guard in the place, watching in th" interests »f those whose was pitted against the performance of the feat, and any trickery or failure could hardly have escaped detection. There were, it is true, stories circulated at one time tb.it a twin sister of the pedestrienne was walking for her at night, but that such stories were absurd was abundantly shown by the testimony of the physicians Dr. Rosman, Dr. Whinple, Dr. Watts and others, who attended her throughout the walk, watching her closely and having free access at all times to her room.

At the banning of her walk, Madame Anderson offered a reward of 100 dollars to any cne who shonld find her off the trick three minutes aftrr the beginning of anv quarter of an hour, and once during the walk this was claimed, for the terms of the match were that each quarter mile should be walked at the beginning "f the quarter hour. The score sheets show that on this occasion she appeared on he trad: three minutes and fifteen seconds after the beginning of th« quarter-hour, but it was impossible to decide whether this was correct or not, as an angle of the stage projected between the scorers' table and the door of her room, and her attendant declared that she stood for about thirty seconds on the track, bub out of sight of the scorers. The money was claimed, but the claim was n >t allowed bv the par'ies to whom it was referred. Whether the score was correct or not in this part : cular, there is no doubt that the quarter-mile was covered in the quarter-hour, After snme three weeks of the walk, the public attention was fairly gained, and *he ladies of Brooklyn especially seemed wonderfully interested in the plucky woman's attempt. Bouquets and presents, many of them very valuable, were showered upon her. and words of encouragement w r ere given in no scant measure. Many ladies, some of them well known in society or on the stage, walked with her for a few laps, but few succeeded in keeping up with her when she would laughingly qnicken her stride. The soene at the close of the walk on the last night was one of tremendous excitement. The garden was thronged with people until no more could get within the doors, and as the last quarter was walked in two minutes thirty-seven and three-quarter seco-ds, cheer after nheer aro-e, and the walker was loudly called on f»r a s eech. After speakinnr a few pleasant words she was taken to Dr Shepherd's Turkish bath establishment on Columbia Heights, where sha will remain for treatment until she recovers from the tremendous strain to which she has subjected herself. The following table shows the fastest and slowest quarter and mile during the walk : Hour. Day. Qrt. Time. Fastest quarter 0:15:8.'! Dec. 16 6 2:46 Slowest ~ 4:15:45 Dec. 30 1252 10:00 Fastest mile 12:47:50 Dec. 17 17 10:17 Slowest ~ 3:56:26 Jan. 13 656 32:00?, ——■— ——— ——fl