An Autobiography of an Ancient Athlete & Antiquarian

30 AUTOBIOGRAPHY antiquities, and specially on bells, whose acquaintance I had made some time before August. 1863, when I was buying will search stamps at the Stamp Office at Norwich. He was a very enthusiastic and hard working antiquary, and I worked with him for many years, but be came to hopeless grief through women and wine, and died in prison in I 877.l He taught me to read old writing by sending me 17th century deeds to copy, and then returning them with the copies corrected like a school exercise, til 1 I got the copy absolutely right, a plan by which I afterwards taught the Rev. Dr. J essopp. On the 28th September I got second in 2 miles walking handicap from scratch at Islington Sports, beating Griffith (48 sec.), Waddell (60). By the end of 1867 I had got my mile walking time down to 7.4½, and on the 7th December in conjuction with several members of the Thames Rowing Club started the first of the long series of "Thames Handicap Steeple– chases," and originated the Thames Hare and Hounds Club, the first English Paper Chase Club, which afterwards got me the nick-name of "Father of Paper Chasing." I took the idea from the " Barby Run" i!i Tom Brown's School Days. I little thought that such idea would pro– duce such enormous results, e.J;., in the May of 1916 there were 2,176 entries, of whom more than 1800 men ran at a Military Cross Country race at Gosforth Park, Newcastle, and there are now many hundreds of paper chase clubs all over England, which have provided very many recruits to the Army, and unluckily have lost many of their number in the :fighting. Some time that year (30th November), I only walked third from scratch in the memorable 2 milts walking handicap of the West London R.C. won by S. P. Smith, a comparative novice, who had 15 secs. from me, although I did 15.17 all the way in pouring rain. He was a very tall, strong man, and walked fairer than I ever saw a man before or since, and I took it for granted that my walking supremacy was a thing of the past. Next year, however, he 1 When he came to grief we got up quite a good subscription for his wife, and started her in business, but she was hopelessly incom– petent, and I lost a good deal by her. Her son we took into our office, but he rewarded us by robbing us and running away! / (_ l,. I,. 'ALTE Oly