PEDESTRIANISM.

Westport Times, Volume V, Issue 858, 7 September 1871, Page 2

PEDESTRIANISM.

P. 8. SEWITT V. TIME. (Prom the Christchurch " Press.") For some time past the above match has created a considerable amount of interest, not only in sporting circles, but also in the city generally. It will bo recollected that the match was made between Hewitt and a sporting gentleman some short time previous to the departure of i Harris and Hewitt to Dunedin. The terms of tho match were that Hewitt was to run half a mile on a cart road iA 4£ sees inside two minutes, or in 1 min 55| sees, the backers of the old "scythe-

bearer" staking £SO to Hewitt's £2jl on the event. The money was duljl staked on both sides, and on llewStt'»l return from Dunedin he removed JkhM head-quarters to the Plough Inn J Riecarton, and went into active traiu'l ing tor the event. 1 To give an idea of the arduous! nature of the feat we may here men 4] tion that " Bell's Life in London," i n | recording Nuttall's match againtfj time, when he accomplished the half! mile in 1 min 55£ sees, speaks of this as the fastest time on record in the annals of pedestrianism. The trial spins taken by Hewitt prior to the match taking place, all warranted the belief that he would do the distance and have a second or so to spare, and his friends were exceed*] ingly sweet on him throughout. The] only difficulty in the way of the event! coming off satisfactorily was that of I obtaining a straight half-mile piece of road sufficiently level and good to give Hewitt a fair chance of doing it, and | up to the very day of the match the exact locality was undecided. How ever, after careful consideration, a piece of the Riecarton road, from the Plough to a point above the Northern railway line, was selected. And taken altogether a better piece of road could not have been obtained, being level and free from large stones, though some* what dusty. One noticeable feature throughout the whole of the preliminaries of this match was that the outside public, despite the unfavorable impression created by Bird, being like that heathen Chinee, somewhat addicted to ways, that were vain, had full confi* dencein Hewitt doing his best to win, and that he would run straightly and honestly. This impression was fully justified by the result, for a fairer of gamer race Was never run on this side of the Line.

The actual trysting'place and hour of start were only known to a few yesterday, but despite that intelligence was soon passed round, and as the hour approached for the start, numbers of pedestrians, horsemen, and traps o all kinds flocked along the Eiccarton road, reminding one somewhat of a race during "the good old times," when the iron horse was not. The number of spectators increased until there could not be fewer than 800 or 900 persons present, a number which would have been doubled had the place of meeting been more generally known. The road had beun carefully swept and prepared, and shortly after one o'clock the ground was chained over and marked off.

The arrangements as to timing had been confided to Messrs H. Cohn and F. J. Smith, and those gentlemen discharged their delicate and responsible duties in a manner deserving every commendation, and which gave the utmost satisfaction. The way in which the timing was managed was as follows: —Both gentlemen had stop watches of the most approved make; which had been for some days compared with each other. Mr Smith was posted at the start, and Mr Cohn at the finish. At the moment of Hewitt leaving the scratch, Mr Smith stopped his watch, Mr Conn's being stopped on Hewitt's arrival at the winning post, the difference of time between the two watches being the time occupied by Hewitt in doing the distance.

As we have before stated, the quickest time for half-a-mile on record, previously, was Nuttall, in Imin. This was done in a match between Nuttall and Fleet, of Manchester, on Copenhagen grounds in that town, for £SO a-side, Nuttall conceding ten yards start. Hewitt has also run Nuttall on two occasion a quarter-of-a-mile spin; in the first one he got four yards start, and in the latter he started level, winning both events. He then walked over for a 500 yards match with the same man, Nuttall declining to show. Twelve o'clock was the hour first appointed for the start, but it was past one before all the preliminaries were arranged, and Hewitt came to the scratch. On stripping he showed in splendid form, being as fine as a star, not an ounce of superfluous flesh, and looking winning all over. Harris also showed, intending to run the last quarter of a mile with him. Shortly before two o'clock Mr S. P. Andrews, the starter, having placed Hewitt at the scratch, gave the signal, , and Hewitt went away on the instant/getting a splendid start. The first quar. ter of a mile was run over magnifi- j cently, being done in Hewitt doing his work easily, but running with an enormous stride, and at a pace which, if kept up, augured well for his chance of winning, with a second or so to the good. Entering on the second quarter of a mile, Harris joiriei Hewitt, and a pretty race ensued, although, of course, the pace was not j nearly so hot as the first quarter, the 3 time for this being 62} sees. When j near the winning post, some drunken j aspirant to pedestrian honors, fired I with a desire to run with Hewitt, I floundered on in front of him for the last five or six yards; fortunately, however, he did not interfere with his chance of winning. The excitement, as he neared the winning-post wm j tremendous, the crowd, which through- j out evinced the greatest desire to see | every fair advantage given to Tloff '* I and keep a clear course without anj trouble, surging backward and for wards, cheer after cheer ringing from 1 them as he p ssed the winning poet a j victor, with 2f sees to spare, thus making the fastest time for half*a-o:ile yet made in the world. The official time keepers having compared their watches, and the time was announced

as being 1 min. 53£ sees., which was received with loud cheers. Notwithstanding the severe exertions, Hewitt, thanks to his good training, did not seem to be very much distressed, recovering himself some two or three minutes after the conclusion of the run, and looking almost ns fresh aswhen he started. We may mention that Mr Redwood, who timed the race, made the time 1 min. 53f sec., or a quarter of a second longer than the official time. Several of the police under Mr Inspector Pender were on the ground, but their services vVere not required in any way. In the evening, the stakes were paid over at Tattersall's, whence several bottles of "sparkling" were emptied in driuking *' success to Messrs Hewitt and Harris.