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You may be sure I did not wait to ask himif he
was hurt, I swung myself up, dashed for the gang-
plank, rushed down the plank to the ‘ground, and
5 _ hundred yards before me I caught sight of the two
mi, lynxes scampering for the woods, evidently as badly
scared as I was, and as much relieved to get away
from the vessel. me * °
_ I gained my room at the hotel without being seen.
I was not sorry to escape notice, for the front of my
coat and «waistcoat was filled with broken glass
| where [ had fallen on the lantern; my hands were
bord cut and bleeding, and there was a big bump where
fy ray head had struck the deck-beam.
— ‘Next morning I scttled with the landlord for his
pr lantern and left town by the early stage. After-
Te watd I heard that the old watchman had reported
that he had hada great struggle with a thief, with
{so bloodhounds, who was trying to rob the vessel,
hive his own son who had reached the mature age of
OS twelve, after an early career marked by
made my way through the yard for the road, A-
‘CHUMS. -
THE: WORLD'S LONG: DISTANCE
CHAMPION WALKER,
Mr. J. Butler Talks to “ Chums.”
my ERE must be few Chums who have not heard of
Mr. J. Butler, whose astonishing feats on the
road and the track have won for him the reputation
of being the finest long-distance walker‘ the world
has ever seen. .
How shall we describe this extraordinary athlete ?
As the human express locomotive? Todo so would
not be amiss, for once he has steam up and has~—
resolved to smash a record to smithereens—his fav-
ourite amusement—there is no stopping him, The
statement may seem incredible, but it is a fact that
Mr. Butler can cover a hundred miles without giv-
ing his legs a second’s rest. At all distances from
fourteen to fifty miles he is a champion, and readers
‘of “ Cuums’? may remember that he recently walked
fifty miles in the amazingly short time of 7 hours,
52 minutes 27 seconds, breaking the world’s record.
* pure enjoyment.
115
at the Orystal Palace last year. I had kept so closely
to business that I couldn't do myself justice and I
finished at thirty miles. ~ .
‘Now, in explanation of my defeat everybody
declared that I had walked too fast; I held the con-
trary opinion, and that my view was justified is
proved by the circumstance that I gained the fifty
miles championship this year.. You see I am in the
happy position, owing to the experience I have had,
¢ being able to gauge exactly what I am capable of
oing.” . .
“ How do you train for these colossal journeys?”
« Well, I and other members of the Surrey Walk-
ing Club spend one day a week in the country.
We tramp from twenty to thirty-five miles. ‘his is
Then I generally put in some fast
work on the track twice a week. I am never on the
track for more than six minutes, however. My
strict traininy lasts for about three weeks.”
“You must have been frightfully stiff after cap-
turing the fifty miles’ championship.
‘No, I waso't stiff, but my knees and arms ached,
which, by the bye, they would not have done had I
been able to have a nice warm bath after
~ many wild and mischieyous pranks.
» His restless nature had made him some-
thing of a nuisance to his schoolmaster at
times, and one afternoon not long ago he
kept him in after the other pupils were
dismissed, and had a serious talk with
him, * Perhaps he was a little afraid that
his admonitions were falling on stony
: ground, Anyway, he finally said: ~~
pes “I certainly shall have to ask your
an ~ father to come and see me.” a :
: { Don’t you do it!’’ said the boy.
: The master thought he had made an
i impression. ‘ Yes,’”’ he repeated, ‘I must
a send for your father.” ,
. “You'd better not!” said the boy, ’
“Why not ?” inquired the master.
- “Because he charges half a guinea a
visit !”? said the young scamp. *
on : 3
Le ee ‘Warned. .
y “A porpvzar doctor tells this story of a bright boy
j
a Learned from Nature.
,Onr of the most bewildering tricks played
‘by the famous jugglers of India is that
‘of ‘making a boy disappear before the
. eyes of the spectators. One moment the
‘youngster is in plain view, dancing about
with his bright red or green garments
tHe fluttering wildly; the next instant he
j . ‘fades away, and though there is abso-
lh: lutely no place in which he could hide,
i : nobody can see him anywhere, ‘
The trick has been borrowed by the
“jugglers from an Indian butterfly. The
: utterfly has such gorgeous blue and red
a wings that it is almost dazzling, and when
4 ‘it fits through the jungle even the dullest
i’ and most careless eye is attracted by it.
- Yet the moment it settles on a twig it
‘disappears utterly, and those who are not
: ‘aware of its secret may scarch for quite a
: long time without finding it. :
“38S: ee
the race.”
“I suppose that in these important
events a lot of head work as well as leg
work is needed.” :
“There is no doubt as to that,’ Mr:
Butler replied emphatically.- ‘There aro
moments in a long race when you would
throw up the sponge if you didn’t use
your head. A bad time comes to every
competitor. You are seized with an over-
whelming desire to sit down on tho spot
—anywhere. But this fecling can bo
overcome by proper feeding.”
“Tell me about some of your more not-
able achievements, Mr. Butler.”
“The year before last I walked for
the Rest of England against Lancashire
from Manchester to Blackpool. Fifty one
anda quarter miles separate the two towns,
and I passed the winning post thirty-five
minutes ahead of the second man. - ‘There
were fifteen of us on cach side. Doubtless
you are aware that I hold the eight hours
world’s record, so I needn’t refer to that.
Of course I have footed it to Brighton and
back, and, by the way, I intend to repeat
this walk this month, when I hope to
beat tho record.”
“Vow often do you stop when you aro
on these expeditions?”
‘*That depends. Very often there is
no occasion to stop at all. I am prepared
to walk a hundred miles without a single
halt.’ “There is one man who has dono
this, and I am confident that I can do it,
In tho fifty miles championship race I had
to leave the track four times, and in con-
sequence I lost very nearly four laps. It
is not wise to come to a standstill if you
can avoid doing so. Sometimes when you
pull up you can’t get going again. Tho
muscles become set. I daresay you've
{| The secret is that the underside of thoso
. gorgeous wings is not gorgeous at all, but
is the exact colour and shape of withered
leaves, so the moment the insect folds its
wings its glowing colours vanish, and it looks
exactly like any one of the thousands of leaves,
~The trick of the jugglers is managed by the same
simplo means, ‘The brilliant clothing of the dancing
. boy hasa reverse side that is pure white, At the
be proper moment the boy flutters his garments wildly,
‘ reverses them, and squats close to a white wall or
: against a group of white-clad jugglers. At the
‘} : same moment he rubs white- powder over his face,
and by this simple trick he deceives tho sharpest
sight. se :
“yo. First Scnootroy: “Yah! You're an idiot.”
i Second Schoolboy: “Say that again, and I'll
: knock you down.” . :
’ First Schoolboy: “ Consider it said again.”
Second Schoolboy; ‘Consider yourself knocked
down, then.”
i 66 Wat a methodical fellow vou are, Dobbs,” said
4 Smith, minor, who had stepped into Dobbs’s study
k during the latter's absence.
Why, what do you mean?” asked Dobbs.
: : To think that-you should lock all your drawers
eo up when you are only going out for five minutes.
‘ . ‘Tisn’t likely that anybody would meddle with your
‘ things.” .
‘t _“ Of course not,” replied Dobbs; ‘ but how di
‘ Oo you find out that the drawers were locked?” :
- Fos - /
a— .
MR, J, BUTLER COMPETING IN A LONG DISTANCE RACE,
(Photo: Jacks & Co., Glasshouse Street, IV.)
There is nothing in Mr. Butler's appearance to
indicate that he possesses exceptional powers of en-
durance, He is loosely built and tall—his height is
6 ft, 1 in—and when stripped he weighs only 12 st.,
but he has very long and. muscular legs—truly a
noticed this when cycling.”
“Can you honestly say that you enjoy
these awful spells of fatigue ?”
“Most decidély I can. Walking keeps a man fit,
and 1 can affirm unhesitatingly that racing has made
aman‘of me, When I was eighteen I was 50 weak
that my people thought that I wasan early candidate”
for the cemetery. A long walk leaves me quite fit.
‘After changing my clothes I have a cup of tea and
mighty pai © is dingly
tough. A few days ago I went down to West Nor-
wood to have a chat with this wonderful pedestrian
(writes a representative).
“When did you start these prodigious walks of
yours, Mr, Butler? ’’ I inquired by way of a begin-
ning. :
‘When I was -nincteen,” the champion replied.
“Shortly before I attained my nineteenth birthday
I made an attempt to walk from West Norwood to
Brighton and back, but the effort was unsuccessful,
I reached Brighton safe and sound, but on the return
trip I was so done up when I arrived at Redhill that
I was compelled to relinquish the task. My failuro
was duo to inexperience—to ignorance of what pace
to go at and what my diet should be.”
“To be able to take long walks at racing pace you
roquire years of experience, and in order to obtain
the necessary knowledge you must participate in
numbers of races." Firstly, it is imperative that you
should ascertain what to eat and when to eat, and
secondly, you must determine what pace to travel at,
and whether you can stay the course. Iam talking
now of a race like a fifty mile one. I lost this event
some bread and butter, and I'm as right as rain,
Yes, the next day usually finds me at business,””
~é What about your fect ? They must be pretty
tender and swollen after pounding the ground for
eight hours at a stretch.” .
“There is nothing wrong with them. Now and
then, but extremely seldom, I may have a blister.
You oughtn’t to suffer from bad feet if you wear
decent-fitting shoes.” :
“How many pounds’ weight does a man lose on a
fifty-mile walk?”
“From six to seven pounds—so it is said—but I
intend to find out for mysclf on the next occasion
that I walk fifty miles.”’ .
“Now, Mr. Butler, will you oblige with a few
hints for Chums,”
-The most useful thing that I can say is—
acquire a good style of walking. In ‘the matter of
style my views are opposed to those of the majority,
who, as perhaps you aro aware, advocate that the
arms should be drawn across the chest. I maintain
-that this attitude. if radically wrong. It is un-
natural, You never see a pedestrian in the street