CHAMPION TRAMP.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 93, 15 May 1909, Page 3

CHAMPION TRAMP.

Edward Payson Weston, the world's champion pedestrian, who is now celebrating his 6eventy-first birthday by walking from New York to San Francisco, a distance of 3400 miles, in 100 days, has travelled further afoot than any other man, living or dead. His authenticated distances, carefully totalled, aggregate very nearly 500,000 miles, while he himself claims to have tramped another odd 50,000 rnilcs in contests that have not been officially recorded, and while practising. BRANDED AS AN ADVERTISING DODGE.

He first came into prominence, in 1874, by walking 500 miles at Newark, New Jersey, in six days, with twentysix minutes to spare. This feat was then considered so remarkable over here (says an English paper) that nobody would believe it. It was branded as a "Yankee advertising dodge," and there were loud calls for him to come to England and repeat his performance—if he could.

Nothing daunted, the plucky American accepted the challenge, and, after one or two preliminary failures, he actually succeeded in covering, at the Agricultural Hall, Islington, 550 miles within the stipulated time. Thereupon the excitement and enthusiasm knew no bounds, and a "boom" in long-dis-tance pedestrianism set in that bit hold of all classes of tSe comtttunity.

MANY CHALLENGERS,

Weston's supremacy was, however, challenged by, amongst many others, a man called "Blower" Brown, who walked 553 miles over the Agricultural Hall track in six days, thereby beating his record best. He was also defeated in a fair and square hcol-and-toe contest by an Irishman named O'Lcary, who walked 520 inilc6 to the American's 510. Still tilie name of Weston continued to be one to conjure with, and lie "scooped in" huge sums in gate-money at Brighton. Manchester (where he walked 111 miles in 24 consecutive hours), and elsewhere. His last exploit in England was to walk 5000 milos in 100 days on teetotal principles, after only just failing in an attempt to cover 2000 miles in 1000 consecutive hours along the ordinary country roads.