WESTON OUTDONE BY THREE ENGLISHMEN.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 69, 11 July 1876, Page 2

WESTON OUTDONE BY THREE ENGLISHMEN.

Weston's claim to be ranked first J living pedestrians has been challengedjj a manner very creditable to British and pluck. Out - of" a vast number $ walking men whose ambition them to enter into a contest against tfo American's time, 14 competitors of capacity were chosen f by the promoters q a genuine English match-;' and at 9 o'clock on Monday night, Bth May, these started to. walk for 24 hours on a neiii. laid cinder path, seven laps of Tvhj c i round the inner area of the Agriculw Halt, make exactly a mile. Weston', performance, it will be 109 miles in 24 hours, he having starts with the purpose of doing 115. Out i the 14 English pedestrians who attempt to beat this grand effort of strength, speed and endurance, three have one of these three has surpassed the A% rican athlete's great feat by so immense i distance that he will undoubtedly be lookej upon for the moment as a wonder and i paragon. This disciple of " WaUL Stewart" is named Vaughan; lie is a his 29th year ; he comes from Ghesta, and he is said to- be an amateur. jjj, quarter to nine o'clock last night lie hj; covered, since nine on the previous even ing, 120 miles. Not only has this -neta been done before, but, as the crowd ij sporting men who looked on and cheerej at the 'finish were generally agreed injJ claring it had never been dreamt of. 1V 9 ton had been invited to contend, and j 1 had been made a contingent of his assent 1 ing to the proposal that the prizes shoal be doubled. But he did not respoa favourably ; and was not present, vre m told, at any time of the match. At afa minutes before four o'clock on the eveoiaj of the 7th May, or, to speak exactly, Ifi 51min. 35secs., he had performed the 4 tance, which is authentically said to hii been done by O'Leary, in America, in II 53min. 40secs., the fastest walk of i hundred miles that had ever been chr® cled. Yaughan's completion of this di tance was hailed with immense cheeria from all parts of the crowded hall. Jtj after six o'clock Vaughan surpass Weston's twenty-four hours" distance (1{ miles 3 furlong 3 172 yards), having nea three hours in hand. On the fact bei made known, such a burst of applaa filled the great space of heated and das atmosphere that the music of a band 4 tioned on the centre platform was renda quite inaudible. Capital performs!) Avere those also of Howse and -Grosslji the former of whom finished his 100 ni in nineteen hours forty-three minutest . second, and the latter in twenty In forty-two minutes. At three mini before 7 —that is, with two good In before him—Howse had beaten. Westi distance ; and at five minutes to 8 Cn land had accomplished the same great li By 8 o'clock the throng inside the \ was vei-y great, and many hundreds f loitering outside the doors. , Howse, and Crossland rej>4te cheered to the echo. NeiVwafi, an pedestrian, was walking steadily and it He took long rests ; and when on I

track kept a great pace, always unattenl and never once ceasing to smile in us cheery and satisfied manner. Thougl doubt as to the result had long been 01 the excitement among the spectators creased every minute. At eight mini past 8 Vaughan, having put on agi spurt, came striding firmly along, andi passing the table where the judges when ho staggered, and was caught bjt of them, and prevented from sinking the ground. ' He had then done 119 b and live laps, and the sudden failure oi powers showed too plainly that he had or taxed them to a cruel extent. He wasba out on the back oi! an attendant, and wis after an interval of 12 minutes, he cams the track again, his lithe, sinewy form I enveloped in a loose coat. He had mined, it appeared, to walk the two-sevs of in order to complete the s over a hundred. At a painfully alowj* and with labored steps, he crawled ni than walked 011 c lap and twenty-five JH and then again stopped from sheer p tration. This time he was carried to room by four men ; but he emerged 0 more in a dreadfully feeble state fro® retirement, and literally hobbled and i gered round the hall, finishing the sevS lap, and with it the 120 th mile, a® deafening roar. It wanted now S» minutes of nine o'clock, and there 1 still a quarter of an hour to be used the other competitors before pistol-s Howse was in a state more deplorable f that that of Vaughan, though the s® man si 10wed his distress in a less« manner. The two or three attendants) walked with Howse fanned him cot® ally, or his failing steps would have W 1 altogether. As it was, they were rw catch him, if lie fainted ; but he kept ! deaf, as it seemed, to the thunders of l plause, and wholly insensible to thing but the bull-dog determination 1 to give in. When the pistol was fired, 1 o'clock, Howss had covered the distanjj 116 miles five and three-quarter lapsa® yards, or very nearly 117 miles, in hours. Grassland,.-who had walked® nificently, no sdoner heard the pi s j than he seized a hat and began to lujj! round.' He had done 113. miles a®; laps less fifty yards. Thus Vanffi Howse, and Crossland all did far .than'Weston for the space of a nig"' , '"af day, Newman walked 101 five laps less fifty yards, and wjll ce not be allowed to go unrewia&ted. first prize is the sum in money o'-*, the second £lO, and the third £7 1® 3, . addition £lO was promised to head®, scription for the man or men Weston's distance in the time,* and a. • ther prize was to have been given & man completing the task in •As.there was no chance of Newman 8 ® j|ourse was ovej®