Democratic Sentinel, Volume 2, Number 40, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 November 1878 — THE WHEELBARROW MAN. [ARTICLE]

THE WHEELBARROW MAN.

What They Think of the Peripatetic Potter in San Francisco. (From the San FraneißCO Chronicle.] The long-protracted agony is over, and the genuine wheelbarrow circus has arrived. The celebrated pedestrian was met in the suburbs yesterday about noon by a band of music and escorted doxvn Mission street to Woodward’s Gardens, where an eager crowd of from 12,000 to 45,000 people xvere gathered, all on the qui vix r e to catch a glimpse of the famous tramp. A Chronicle reporter sought an interview with the peripatetic traveler immediately after his arrival and was introduced to a mildappearing, blue-eyed, tired-looking individual dressed in a gray-worsted jacket, dark pants, rusty army shoes and a travel-stained helmet. His beard is sandy and voluminous, his hair long and curly. His name is R. Lyman Potter, and he resides in Albany, N. Y., where he has carried on the upholstering business at 103 Dox r e street for many years. He is a widower, xvith two children, and dependent on his trade for a livelihood. The idea of this novel journey xvas first broached in a store in Albany, where were congregated several persons, among them Mr. Potter. The topic of conversation was the recent pedestrian feats of O’Leary. Mr. Potter hazarded the remark that he could equal O’Leary in endurance. Some one facetiously suggested that he walk from Albany to San Francisco as a test. Mr. Potter immediately offered to undertake the task, and, "furthermore, agreed to wheel a barrow tho entire distance. What started in a joke began to be seriously considered, and, before the party separated, a purse of SI,OOO had been subscribed, a contract xvas draxvn up, and all preliminaries arranged. He left Albany on tli§ 10th of last April and commenced liisweary journey. Hemet with courteous treatment until he reached Omaha, of w’hich he entertains a most unfavorable opinion. At Big Springs, Neb., a desperado called “Asliliollow Bill ” put a pistol-ball through the barrow in lieu of his card. Mr. Potter was also shot at in Sacramento, and did not tarry long in that city. He also relates that somewhere along the road he xvas presented xvith a bottle of beer, and that after drinking it he became alarmingly ill, and did not recover for several days. He ascribes these persecutions to the agency of individuals who have bets pending and desired his failure. He has averaged txventy-six miles per day since he started, and is far ahead of the schedule time. According to his contract, xvliicli calls for 4,085 miles, he is obliged to walk an additional ninetysix miles. The wheelbarrow, which appears to be of light construction for so rough a journey, is a rather small affair, weighing about seventy-five pounds, is box-shaped, and covered with business cards and tags collected at different places along his route. These cards have been a considerable source of revenue to Mr. Potter, as lie charged a certain amount for every one tacked on bis barrow. He has also acted as a mail-carrier, and charged 25 cents for every letter delivered. He has about thirty letters for residents of this city. Mr. Potter has paid his oxvn expenses, xvliicli amount is about S4OO, and xvill receive the check for SI,OOO as soon as he completes his journey. He is in good health at present, having gained txx r elve pounds since his departure from Albany—weighing at present 146 pounds. He xvas sunstruck txvice on tlie plains, and obliged to rest a few j days. He complains of the bitter and ; sarcastic comments of the Eastern ; press, but says lie is becoming accustomed to hear himself called a fool and a lunatic. There is some method in his madness, for he xvill probably realize a snug sum before he is relegated back to the privacy of life in Albany.