Rensselaer Union, Volume 8, Number 8, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 November 1875 — Remarkable Exploit on a Velocipede. [ARTICLE]

Remarkable Exploit on a Velocipede.

The most extraordinary feat of traveling, without the aid of steam or horse power, ever performed in this country (at least of which we have any record) was accomplished last Thursday, between this place and London, Madison County, by Mr. James M. Mascn, a young Irish gentleman who returned a few weeks ago from a visit to Europe, and brought with him an improved bicycle, or two-wheeled velocipede, of London manufacture, and it was upon this machine that he performed the extraordinary feat above referred to. Leaving this place at precisely six o’clock Thursday morning, he rode to London and returned to a point about seven miles north of Hillsboro, a distance of ninety-nine miles, in exactly eleven hours and forty minutes—being at the rate of a fraction less than eight and a half miles an hour —including a stoppage of thirty minutes in London and one of twenty minutes at Washington on his return. Besides these Stoppages he lost nearly half an hour between Washington and London on the up trip, by getting on the wrong road and being obliged to turn back, ana fully an hour more by having to travel on a freshly-graveled road be tween Washington and London, which greatly impeded his progress and increased the labor of propelling the bicycle. Deducting these losses, and fifteen minutes allowed him for unavoidable detention from other causes, amounting to two hours and thirty-five minutes lost time, and Mr. Mason’s actual running time for ninetynine miles was only nine hours and five minutes, or nearly eleven miles an hour! We venture to say that the fleetest horse could not have performed the same distance in the same time without causing his death or ln’-vring him beyond recovery. ' - We omitted to mention that in addition to the other causes of detention on the trip Mr. Mason was thrown from his bicycle between Washington and Loudon, spraining one of his legs so that he is still lame, lie remounted, however, and rode on as if nothing had happened. Mr. Mason is not a professional, but merely an amateur, and performed the feat more for amusement tfian anything qlse. The distance from here to London is fifty-three miles, making the round trip 106 miles, and this he undertook to run in twelve hours on a wager of SIOO. He failed to accomplish the undertaking, owing to the time lost, as stated, but is confident that he would have accomplished it easily if he had not been unexpectedly detained. We understand that a purse of SIOO is being made up by some of our young men to be presented to Mr. Mason if he should succeed in performing the feat on a second trial, which he has agreed to make as soon as he recovers entirely from the lameness caused by being thrown from his bicycle. —Highland ( Ohio) tftui.

—We have heard of a very distressing accident occurring in Jackson County, W. Va. It was at V “ heuse-raising.” Asjis customary on such occasions chickens had been killed by Chopping off their heads. Two little sons of the owner of the house to be raised saw the chickens thus guillotined, and during the day concluded to repeat the operation. It was just at a time when the men were lifting a heavy log into its place. The father, who was holding one end of the log,'casting his eyes toward the little fellows, one of whom had the ax raised to sever the neck of his brother, let go of the log to save the boy, and it fell, killing six men, two instantly, the others living only a few hours. The ax fell before the father could reach the scene, severing the neck of the son. Thus were seven persons suddenly hurled into eternity. —Middleport {Ohio) Newt. About midnight on a recent evening a well-dressed man went on board the Hoboken ferry-boat Ramsey, when she was lying at her slip in New York, and passed through to the bow. There he spoke to a passenger whq was standing near the guard-rail smoking, and said: “ I guess the river is pretty cold to-night.” “ I guess so, too,” the passenger replied, and the man replied: “ Well, I’ll know all about it in a minute or two.” The next moment he had mounted the guard-rail and jumped into the water. The passenger caught hold of his coattail, but the strain was too great for him, and he was obliged to let go. The man did not appear on the surface again, and all efforts to recover his body provbd unavailing. It is supposed that he loaded himself with weights so that he would sink immediately. His hat did not appear, and must have been fastened to his head so as to prevent any possible chance of identification,

We learn that Mr. Hardy, of Hardyville, Arizona, was at the southern outlet of the Tehachepa Valley on Thursday with a band of 2,000 graded and thoroughbred Angoras, which he had purchased in this State. The flock had been bought by Mr. Hardy for the purpose of stocking his ranche kt Hardyville. As the flock emerged from the ITehachepa Valley and entered the outskirts of the Mohave Desert, in the vicinityof Caliente, the animals took to the milk-weed, which grows there in abundance, with avidity. Up to within three or four days ago about 500 of the flock had succumbed to the deadly influence of the poison which the weed contains. The carcasses were scattered all over the plain, and the atmosphere was tainted for miles around by the stench which arose from them. There were some hopes that the remainder would survive.—San Francisco Bulletin.