Pedestrianism

“ WOODS WALKING WITH A PACK THERE is a certain trick in learning the technique of walking outdoors. Unless one takes up pedestrianism to make the most of it he is not apt to perfect himself in an art universally practised in a slip shod fashion and yet which is one of the simplest functions of the human body. Just this careful attention to details is what distinguishes the pedestrian from the mere stroller. Indeed one must walk with the head as well as with the feet, studying to eliminate the faults of gait. ”

“ Lay's achievements in pedestrianism, a mode of travel which he doubtless adopted partly because of the vigorous pleasure it afforded, partly because it was the only way in which to visit some sections of the country. A man who had walked from Fort Erie to Montreal, to say nothing of hundreds of miles done under pleasanter circumstances, would naturally take an interest in the pedestrian achievements of others. ”

“ A stern and pitiless prospect for the amateur pedestrian, to be sure; for devotees of the staff and pack have come to associate pedestrianism with the idyllic, and the idyllic nourishes only in a land of frequent showers. ”

“ Pedestrianism also depends on practice; for the citizen, whose excursions are limited to six or seven miles on a holiday, would be as much fatigued by a walk of double that distance, as a person in the country who is accustomed to travel, would be, by the accomplishment of a journey of fifty or sixty miles. ”

“ There is a general trend of interest in America today toward pedestrianism and many persons are eager for information as to where to go, what to take and how to take care of oneself so as to derive the greatest benefit—queries for which we should now find answer. ”

“ Should pedestrianism become universal the present generation would be far healthier and happier and their children would be sturdier and more beautiful. The old English habit of taking a constitutional walk every day speaks in no small measure for much of the strength and stability of the British character. ”

“ Many astonishing feats of pedestrianism have been accomplished during the last and present century; but it does not suit the limits of this work to record the whole of them, or even to enumerate all the exploits of every person who has been distinguished.—We can only relate the most conspicuous performances of those who have acquired celebrity by their general success, and whose matches, either against others, or against time, have attracted public attention. It would fill volumes to particularize every WALK or RACE [44] that exceeds the power of ordinary men ”

“ All this is very ingenious; and we know one tolerable pedestrian who is also a Pedometrist. But no Pedometrician will ever make a fortune in a mountainous island, like Great Britain, where pedestrianism is indigenous to the soil. A good walker is as regular in his going as clock-work. He has his different paces—three, three and a half—four, four and a half—five, five and a half—six miles an hour—toe and heel. ”

“ All these changes and ups and downs in pedestrianism for the last ten years have made the old books obsolete, and the publishers of the former Dime Book of Pedestrianism have determined to issue a new edition, fully up to the times in all respects. ”

“ Pedestrianism affords the best species of exercise, and may be said to include much that is valuable to mankind. Those distinguished persons, therefore, who by their example, have rendered this branch of the gymnastic art FASHIONABLE and GENERAL, deserve the highest praise. To Captain Barclay, Captain Agar, Captain Acres, Lieutenant Fairman, and many other gentlemen, this country is greatly indebted for their improvement of this art. ”

“ Early and constant practice gradually forms the pedestrian for the accomplishment of the greatest undertakings: but even in the common intercourse subsisting in society, facility of walking is requisite for individual conveniency and comfort. It should, therefore, be the study of people of all ranks, to adopt the best method of performing either short or long journies, by imitating the GAIT and MANNER of those celebrated men, who, of late years, have so eminently distinguished themselves in the annals of the sporting world. ”

“ Inflexible justice, however, forces us to say, that although the Doctor throws a fine philosophical light over the most general principles of walking, as they are involved in "that voluntary labour which goes by the name of exercise," yet he falls into frequent and fatal error when he descends into the particulars of the practice of pedestrianism. ”

“ I usually retire about 7.30, for there is almost no twilight, and very little inducement for sitting up by the dimness of candle or andon, and I have found these days of riding on slow, rolling, stumbling horses very severe, and if I were anything of a walker, should certainly prefer pedestrianism. ”

“ This celebrated pedestrian was born in the year 1736, at Horsforth, near Leeds, in Yorkshire. He was bred to the profession of the law, and was clerk to an attorney in New Inn, London. He was beat by West of Windsor, in walking forty miles on the western road, for a wager of forty guineas. He was, however, [48] a first-rate walker for either a long or a short journey; and his stature was no more than five feet eight inches; but his legs and thighs were stout, and well calculated for performances of this kind. ”

“ Edward Millen, in July the previous year, accomplished the same distance in twenty-three hours and twenty-five minutes.—But we shall have occasion afterwards to record more difficult performances than these; [56] and, in the meantime, shall take notice of the feats of such pedestrians as have evinced uncommon strength and agility, and who have been distinguished by walking a long distance in a short time.
In September this year (1812) , Jonathan Waring, a Lancashire pedestrian, performed one hundred and thirty-six miles in thirty-four hours, for a wager of one hundred guineas. ”

“ When the human frame is thus capable of being altered and renovated, it is not surprising that the art of training should be carried to a degree of perfection almost incredible; and that by certain processes, the BREATH, strength, and courage of man, should be so greatly improved as to enable him to perform the most laborious undertakings. That such effects have been produced is unquestionable, [227] being fully exemplified in the astonishing exploits of our most celebrated pedestrians, which are the infallible results of preparatory discipline. ”

“ He started from the Angel Inn at Macclesfield, at twelve o’clock on Wednesday night, and arrived at the Swan with Two Necks, Ladlane, London, at twenty minutes past one on Saturday morning. This performance is remarkable from the age of the pedestrian, who walked at the rate of three miles, three furlongs, thirty-five perches, and 11/74ths feet per hour.
Long journies have been frequently performed at the rate of from fifty to eighty miles a day, for four, six, eight, ten, or more successive days, which have evinced the great strength and perseverance of the pedestrians. ”

“ The extraordinary exploits of modern pedestrians have been generally encouraged by the patronage of men of fortune and rank; and FOOT-MATCHES being made the subject of discussion, a difference of opinion gives occasion for wagers. Although it was maintained by Sir Charles Banbury, and some other eminent sportsmen, that a bet should not be taken on a FOOT-RACE ”

“ When the object in view is the accomplishment of a pedestrian match, his regular exercise may be from twenty to twenty-four miles a day. He must rise at five in the morning, run half a mile at the top of his speed up-hill, and then walk six miles at a moderate pace, coming in about seven to breakfast, which should consist of beef-steaks or mutton-chops under-done, with stale bread and old beer. ”

“ But feats more astonishing than those performed by the Indians, or any other nation, have been accomplished of late years in Britain. Captain Barclay walked one hundred and ten miles in nineteen hours and twenty-seven minutes; and Glanville went a hundred and forty-two miles in twenty-nine hours. In the pages of this volume, we have recorded many examples of the almost incredible strength, agility, and perseverance of modern pedestrians. ”

“ Let us, in future, therefore, exert all our powers and faculties for the good of our fellow creatures, according to our situation and circumstances; and, if necessity require, let us cheerfully earn our bread by the sweat of our brow ”

“ Such is the nature of our physical and intellectual faculties, that they can be improved only by calling them into action, or what is the same thing, they can only be invigorated by the resistance they offer to the pressure of difficulties, and acquire power, therefore, in proportion to the obstacles which they have to overcome. ”

“ Homer distinguishes Achilles by the epithet “swift of foot;” and, whether as conducive to health, useful in the affairs of life, or important in the operations of war, pedestrian exercises must be considered as of the utmost consequence to mankind. The human frame is peculiarly calculated for activity and exertion; and it should be remembered, that it is by Exercise and Labour that man is enabled to preserve his health, increase his strength, improve the faculties of his mind, and procure his subsistence.
Among the ancient Greeks and Romans, [31] there were runners of great celebrity ”

“ Strains of the Bicycler's Song:
[THE SILENT WHEEL.]
Good-morning, good Pedestrian—I'm glad to see you out;
The day is full of healthfulness, the birds are all about;
There is a quiet breeziness in all the pleasant air—
I hope this happy exercise will drive away your care.
For I am a pedestrian—
A very good pedestrian—
And all the glowing benefit of walking I can share;
Although I tread the atmosphere, and do not touch the ground,
I greet you as a brother, sir, wherever you are bound. ”

“ From the fact that he was walking in that land where the distances are such that men most commonly ride, and from the many marks that environment and training leave upon us all, it was evident that the pedestrian was a stranger. He was a man in the prime of young manhood—tall and exceedingly well proportioned—and as he went forward along the dusty road he bore himself with the unconscious air of one more accustomed to crowded streets than to that rude and unpaved highway. ”

“ The difficulties of locomotion kept the pedestrian’s eyes upon the ground, and the inconveniences, in making calls, of crossing ditches and stiles, and walking alternately upon grass and pavement, and striking across fields to reach a street, were more noticeable than the noble trees that lined the avenues. ”

“ Also keep your toes nearly straight when walking and expand the chest. In crossing a street, always look both ways, especially in a crowded thoroughfare, before attempting to cross. Most of the accidents to pedestrians are caused by people in a hurry, or impatient, and not obeying the traffic laws. When one is mindful of law one is always protected and safe. Now I wonder how many of you know the meaning of the coloured lights on the street lamps, or other places? How many girls are familiar with the signals of policemen, particularly the traffic squad? ”

“ In any other street in the world you catch the eye of the passer-by. In the Strand, no man sees another except as a solid body, whose contact is to be avoided. You are safe nowhere on the pavement without all the vigilance of your senses. Omnibuses and cabs, drays, carriages, wheelbarrows, and porters, beset the street. Newspaper-hawkers, pickpockets, shop-boys, coal-heavers, and a perpetual and selfish crowd dispute the sidewalk. If you venture to look at a print in a shop-window, you arrest the tide of passengers, who immediately walk over you ”

“ This is a spectacle to be viewed seriously; to be mocked at only by the flippant, though the moving pedestrian mass on the sidewalk is gayer of colour, more sentient—more companionable, more understandably human. ”

“ The street elects a king and queen, plasters itself with bunting, arches itself with electric lights, lines its curbs with temporary booths, fills its corners with shows, sells confetti until the pedestrian swims in it—and then whoops it up for a week. ”

“ You must know, reader, that King street is our Boulevard of fashion; and though not the handsomest street in the world, nor the widest, nor the best paved, nor the most celebrated for fine edifices, we so cherish its age and dignity that we would not for the world change its provincial name, or molest one of the hundred old tottering buildings that daily threaten a dissolution upon its pavement, or permit a wench of doubtful blood to show her head on the "north sidewalk" during promenade hours. We are, you see, curiously nice in matters of color, and we should be. ”

“ The etiquette of walking, however, is the same for short as for long distances, and I shall at this point give a few of the many rules for correct behavior among pedestrians.
In the first place, it is always customary in a city for a young lady, either accompanied or unaccompanied, to walk on the sidewalk. A young “miss” who persists in walking in the gutters is more apt to lose than to make friends among the socially “worth while.”
Gentlemen, either with or without ladies, are never seen walking after dark in the sewers or along the elevated, tracks. ”

“ That is, the pedestrian should be conscious that he is going in the direction in which he desires to go, and is not making a detour for the simple purpose of following the walk. Convenience should be the first thing to be considered. ”

“ But we have got a long way from the street where we saw the engine dashing down through the traffic, and we must come back again. All the bustle and the fuss that we have been talking of is on the roadway. What about the pavements? The pavement is often just as crowded, and though policemen don't hold up their hands to prevent people walking there, yet it is often quite a long time before you can get through, especially outside a gay shop window, where all the women want to stand and stare. ”