Show ra chamia 10 ns RP k 4 0 1 a X rr ute E 44 S OM irm t a R ZE fi 4 1 E Q 0 W g q t 94 1 av yav W lie N q ot 1 4 T 0 i as A N ta awl 7 cai ans Conis fc by ELMO SCOTT WATSON ILL the decade of be written down by the of 0 the future ai a th the roar mar athon era in amerlean american history it may very well be if sonic some one ever takes thi the trouble e to count up all the endurance ce co contests a tests and races for freak championships which v aich have tak taken en place during the last ten years una which if a visitor from hars were to judge by the lu terest shown lind and um ule amount of newspaper space devoted to them hr h might regard as typically topically american if not actually deserving to be listed among our major activities perhaps the marathon raar athon era should include the years from 1910 1010 to 1920 alp alo for it was in 1010 1910 that sallie hope a ri egress of kansas city mo alo decided to set a new gastronomic ani record so she st stowed q wed nay away 15 lani 1 l items of haril hardware ware including 4 3 nails 42 screws 0 9 bolts 6 5 spoons 5 thimbles 63 buttons safety pins hairpins hair pins common pins 52 fa carpet tacks 57 needles 85 pebbles pel lIes n four foot string of heads bends and a nail flip file of course it killed her hut but slie she had proved that the so human race could compete successfully with ostriches ind and goats fonts for variety in its memo when lt it clidge it was wag not until 1 utter after 1020 1620 however that the st i stride on november 23 1023 1 jolin john hinsin of new york clo it val menges in a hot dog contest by consuming 53 on november 24 of fit that year dan ne henderson of coneg jone boro ga completed CO hours of scendy chewin 9 oo 00 n a quid of tobacco on december 0 1025 1925 C S carter carier of groton S D ate rl 51 flapjacks flap thip jacks hut but loft atie ahe chal championship plon ship the next nest day to W 11 I 1 G tl meyers eyers who ate 43 but ills gap flap jacks men measured two ino inches diore more in diameter cot commendable amendable as were these enter arises it remained for 1114 alma cummungs a dance instructor Instruct gr in new york city to start an endurance con tesi teat which was desil destined ned to become tile the latest craze and to sweep tile the country gome time in 1023 she noticed in an item in the papers about a French rVan dancing continuously for 17 hours she decided that americans could do better than that and to prove it aie she danced for 27 hours and that started staked a week she had to lance dance for BO 50 hours to hold her title and three days later her record was brok w m fc D I 1 gante st suni chew awin irto oft champion ton 1 A contest held in los log anodes angeles calif calic to determine who should be crowned queen of sweepers 2 A fourteen year old entry in a maryland flag pole sitting contest en ather Aari dancers cers in other cities tools took u up p the fad and on with the dance dincel 1 became the watchword of tile the hour prom from GO 00 hours the record went to 00 9 then to 73 then to SO 80 90 and out in california viola pompey and horace rn lee dunn started at los angeles and danced eight miles down the highway to ocean paric they kept up their dancing for lb hours and then of course theres nag flag pole sitting A good way to rest up after a dance inar athon la Is to climb aup up on a flag pole ind and just sit and flig flag pole sitting was a close second to dancing in endurance popularity liy in 1027 shipwreck nelly kelly a sailor went aloft on a 11 40 foot pole in newark N J and stayed there for 12 days dais not to he be outdone by this exhibition hibi tion of civic supremacy other cities staged similar contests and many of the burghers of those got permanent cricks in their necks from pernin permanent nent nag flag pole sitters if 1820 Is nee famous for ciny anything else it will be famous for some new ani unusual championships consider for instance ajl of Ilo hondo fido texas who rolled a PL peanut nut with his nosi nobe over the 22 mile route to tile the summit of I 1 hilkea peak it took tonk him dim 30 10 days to do it and he got I 1 plus a large amount of newspaper c alty fly inspired by his example L H R rose hose of rule hule texas started from galveston Ga heston to knock a croquet bull ball all the wity way to deiy new york and H P wll started rolling d a little littia iron hoop 0 1 for the same destination the so called billed weaker sex BOX Is not tat fat behind the other in their bids for fame last summer any number of cities held rolling pin throwing contests and husband calling contests in which housewives showed both their strength of arm end and voice and cham laal pulan n ill III to la the home of mrs ti 11 it schmidt who claims the worlds cham chain 11 ain ah plon ship for or rocking she having spent hours in a rocking chair swaying back and forth yes doing it including the children chil last summer cummer the grevl jusli mentioned shipwreck kell gave a 23 day exhibition in baltimore the result ns a pole sitting epidemic among the children of that city avon IV foreman started it by staying on top lop a 17 foot pole for 10 days 10 hours 10 minutes and 10 seconds when he be descended he was praised by the mayor of baltimore for or the old pioneer spirit and acclaimed med worlds champion fifteen year old flagpole sitter ills his record was brokon broken by twelve year old willie went borth however who stayed up nearly it a month breaking even shipwrecks record by starting young perhaps some one will break the record which hns has stood for 1478 years it was made and by still sim eon con tea the syrian shepherd boy who became a monk and who to prove his devotion to christianity in the days when martyrdom was popular mounted to the top of a nine foot column chained himself thie there and OP cc coupled his timea la in prayer he stayed there 80 30 years yea re yes the children are showing themselves worthy sons and daughters of if their fathers in this matter of thinking up new tents feats in which to vie fur for the championship dut but they will have to be original indeed to match the merchants of belle dinine town lown who thought that a contest to decide who had the most flea bitten dug dog in four counties would be a good attraction tion for their annual fall fail festival they offered a prize of and it was alsi w ti by james parks of bette belle plagne tile tbt judges counted leas fleas on an ills hla 41 dog authors note the list of chum chaill in this article does not pre tend to he be a complete one and of the records in some events may have been broken since tile article was written but does it matter |