Man's Superiority.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIC, Issue 13397, 21 September 1907, Page 3 (Supplement)

Man's Superiority.

INTERESTING ATHLETIC FEATS. In a short distance race (anything up to 67 or 70 miles) between a man and a horse, says a -writer in the Grand Magazine, the man would certainly ba vanquished. But as the distance increases the man's chances would become greater. Man's running recard for 60 miks is 7h. 30m. 335., a record which a. good horse could beat. Bat how manv horses would equal man's running record for 100 miles, viz.: 13h. 26m. -osf And. supposing a horse were found capable of accomplishing this feat, could cuch an animal continue moving, as the man did, till he had covered 150 milas in 22h. 28m. Nor did this particular man, Charles Roweil. of Cambridge, cease work even at 150 miles. On the contrary, he put up ■a record for 380 miks in 79h. 4Ctn. 2Es More than one horse, I imagine, would have b;en needed to cover such a distance in such a time. Yet Rowell's feat by no means represents the limit of this particular form of human endurance. P. Fitzgerald, of New York, covered 500 mSes in 109 h. 18m. 205.. and George Littiewood, of Sheffield. 623| mil.* in 14h. 57m. 30s. Where, then, would your horse be in a really long race? One of the greatest difficulties to b»> overcome in the performance of feats in this description is the doing, more or Less, without sleep. In this particular trying form of endurance a man holds records that no living creature—with the exception of th» salmon or goldfish—could ever hope 10 equal- , In October, 1803, Captain Barclay, ot U,rr. made a, match for 1000 guineas with Mr Wodderh-nra Webster to walk 1000 miles in 10C0 consecutive hours—one mile in each separate- hoar. The start was mafe on Jtnw lit. 1809. at Newmarket Heath, nnd the course was a public road. Captain Barclay was 26 yearn old at the time and weighed at the- outlet 13 stone 4 pounds. Th-> feat was ike-msd impossible, but t!ie captain displayed euch pluck and .endurance- that after a- time odds cf two to one were laid on his accomplishing it. Before th- finish these rose In 100 to one. The tart mi!v w.ik concluded r.n July 12 at 3.«T p.m. and match won. Captain Barclay's feat, which only a human being could haw accomplished. r< ■ niaincd unequalled, in spite of many attempts to- perform it, until the appearanc?

on the scene of a pedestrian marvel named William Hale, who. in September and <>c-tob.-r. 1377. walked 1500 miles in ICCO houu-:. «:u'h mile ami a-lialf walk to lie started at the commencement of the hour. Th-' present writer saw the finish of thatgigantic task. Gale, who was 45 years of age. appealed to he thoioughly done up. Ik tile last walk but one it seemed as if he could never fini>h. Then, to eveiyone's amazement he pulled himself together and positively sprinted the- final journey, amid the frantic elders of the onlonkeis. Tlie two last-mentioned achievement have put our four-legged friend-;' completely out of court, hut even they do not represent tha fnll extent of man's powers in this direction.

Starting on Thursday. -May and concluding on the evening of .lune 6. W. Buckler, of Newport. Monmouthshire, walked' 4CCO quarter miles iei 4CCO consecutive periods of 9.1 minutes each, commencing at the beginning of each period. The majority of animals know how to swim by instinct. They have not to acquire the art, as man has, and' yet, coinpaved to man. how feeble they appsar for the most part'. On land it k admitted that a man in a short distance contest, must play second fiddle. In the water—save as regards creature" wli&ie natural habitat itis—3 different story has to be told. Dogs swim well and fast, but where is the dog who could " live with" Joseph Nuttall, or any other first-class man over the length of a bath, or a hundred yards? If it conus to endurance, again does anyone believ- theie is a quadruped in existence — except the hippopotamus, who would be poisoned by the rait water —that could swim the Channel? Yet Captain Webb did this, while Montagu Holbein and others have made, valient attempts that have deserved, H they have not achieved, success. Drop a good swimming man and a dog in ihe> water two or three miles from land —which would' have the better chance of life? The man, beyond a. doubt. If you take a man from the street and set him to leap a bar waist high, he will probably fail to clear it. Yet at the interuniversity eporU of 1876 Marshall Erooks walked under the bar with his cap on, and then cleared it, tha jump being 6feet 2£- inches—still the 'varsity record. But in jumping as now practised the honours go to Ireland. M. F. Sweeney has? cleared 6 feet 5J inches in the high jump, and P. O'Connor, 24 fset 11J inches in the wide jump—both world's records. Jumping with weighU as the old-time professionals used to do. John Howard, .of Bradford, cleared 29 feet 1 inches on the racecourse at Chester on May 8, 1854. Hs used five-pound dmnbells and " took off" from a block of wood raised four inches above the ground. The distanol. covered was within the longest known jump by; a hcrse—the 37ft of Chandler, on Warwick .racecourse, March 22, 1847. Curiously Chandler's great 'leap was made in taking a hurdle.

John Howard also gained fame by leaping a full-sized billiard table lengthways—a feat requiring pluck as well as leaping powers. Judging by the. way he cleared Butler's leap at Rugby, anrl by the fact that he could' do 22ft wide as well as over 6ft high it is probable that Brooks the Oxonian, would also have been successful in this back-risking effort had he e: caved it;

A man—Shrubb —has run ten miles in 50 minntes 40 seconds; another' man— Hutchens —has run 300 yard's in 30 seconds; another man —George—has run a : mil? in 4 minutes 12J" seconds. On all running recoi-dis this last appears most unapprcachab'.e, and it seems likely to stand 1 for a very long time. Men like Shrub, Bacon, and " Deerfoot," who have covered very close to twelve .miles in the hour, * could certainly hold their own with most carriage horses over a good road'; if the gait chosen were walking instead of ..running, the; quadruped would be badly worsted.