Fifty Years of Progress 1880-1930

WALKING distance. He is reputed to have walked I 50 yards in I 5 sec., to have walked 7 miles in something just under 54 min., and to have walked 2 r miles in 3 hours in a match against time over a measured mile on ew– market Heath. The 7-mile record led to a heated dispute as to the fair– ness of Westhall's style, and the 2I-miles record is notable for the fact that Westhall made use of a wind-shield. The weather was stormy, and to save him from the wind a waggon was fitted up with a canvas shield and driven in front of the walker-thus anticipating the devices practised by various cyclists of later days. Westhall was a man of parts, and pub– lished a book on training which is now, alas, out of print, to the great loss of the present-day walkers. Subsequently, many attempts were made to equal, or beat, this record of Westhall's, but all of them failed-one, by Jemmy Miles, of Brixton, being only 5 sec. short, and that under the most strict supervision. Later on, when judging appears to have been very lax, and the standard of toe and heel had degenerated considerably, Miles is said to have done all sorts of astonishing times over all sorts of distances, but the critical gentle– man who recorded these things in the columns of Bell's Life did not give them much credit. Subsequently, there came along two men called Spooner and Topley. The judges of the period seem to have passed their performances, but the public were sceptical, and one can more or less ignore the " records" credited to them. Round about I 870 quite a number of notable walkers appeared upon the scene, and professional pedestrianism rose to its zenith. There was George Davidson, who walked approximately 2r ¾ miles in 3 hours ; Stockwell, who in a match with Davidson, walked 6 miles at the rate of 8 miles an hour ; and a little later, Perkins, Howes and Thatcher, who, at their best, were walkers of the highest class. At the beginning of their careers no fault could have been found with their style, but it must be confessed that in later years, chiefly due to careless performances in exhibi– tion walks, their style degenerated considerably. Perkins came into prominence in 1874 when, in a match with Stockwell over 3 miles, he is credited with the following figures : I mile, 6 min. 23 sec. ; 2 miles, I 3 min. 30 sec.; 3 miles, 20 min. 47 sec.; and was hailed as the fairest as well as the fastest of walkers. After this match Perkins had three shots at walking 8 miles in the hour. The first time he failed, the second time he forfeited, and the third time he succeeded. He covered 4 miles in 28 min. 59 sec. and the 8 miles in 59 min. 5 sec., which is probably as good as anything that has ever been done since, even considering Larner's 8 miles 438 yards in the hour in 1905. Finally, in a contest with Howes in 1877, Perkins set up fresh records from 9 miles to 22 in a 3-hours' match. Perkins's time for I 5 miles was I hour 56 min. I 3 sec., and from this point Howes hunted him home, the scores at the finish being Perkins 22 miles 218 yards and Howes 22 miles 20 yards. This appears to have been the only occasion in which 22 miles, or more, in the 3 hours has been walked by two men in the same race. Two years later, Perkins's II9