Another sterling good man, who was a contemporary of Chinnery's, was Sydenham Dixon, of the Civil Service. Dixon, although a lighter weight, had, we think, greater pace than Chinnery, but the latter could outstay the Civil Service runner. From 1868 to 1871 inclusive, Dixon won the Civil Service Mile, his usual pace-maker being C. J. Michod, the best steeplechaser of the time. Michod, with great regularity, would make the pace year after year, only to be cut down by Dixon at the end; but in 1873 Dixon found the tables turned upon him by G. F. Congreve, who played him exactly the same trick, and just managed to shoot him upon the post, amidst the wild indignation of the crowd, who thought Dixon had acquired a vested interest in the race after so many wins from year to year. Scott would, we think, have done a fine performance at ten miles, but in his day four miles was the utmost limit ever run by amateurs, and at this distance he made, in the championship of 1871, a very fine time (20 min. 38 sec), which was never beaten until the famous match in 1875, between Walter Slade and J. Gibb. In the Four Mile Race, Scott was running quite alone, and winning with inconceivable ease, so that it is most likely he was capable of very great things.

The same remark applies to the celebrated Oxonian, J. H. Morgan, who (as the historians say) 'flourished' circa 1868-1870. No one could ever get near him in the three miles race at the Inter-'Varsity sports, and in one of his races he trotted in 200 yards in front of the next man, in 15 min. 20 sec. Morgan was a short strong man, a light weight with a good deep chest - the best type of runner for long distances.

When Chinnery had retired from the path Scott was not left for long in undisturbed possession of the field. In the summer of 1872, a tall strong healthy-looking lad who had not long since left Tonbridge School began to astonish the handi-cappers by the number of races he was winning. However far Walter Slade was put back he always managed to win, so rapidly was he improving, until one fine day at some sports of the Thames Hare and Hounds, at Wandsworth, it was discovered that Slade, who had fifty yards or thereabouts from Scott in a handicap mile, had come in considerably more than fifty yards in front of him. This at once settled Slade's position as a 'crack.' As Scott soon afterwards left the path we do not think the pair ever met level at a mile, but from this time onwards until he left the path in 1877 Slade was never beaten at the mile.

Slade, as we have said before, was a tall man, about six feet in height and weighing over eleven stone when in strict training, and he ran heavily, crunching the cinders as he sped over the path. In 1874 he lowered the amateur mile record to 4 min. 26 sec. when he won from scratch the Open Mile at the Civil Service Sports in this time. The Strangers' Open Mile at these sports has always, indeed, been one of the classic handicaps of the year. In 1868 Chinnery won this race in 4 min. 29 sec, then a record; after Slade's time W. G. George, the now famous professional, won the same race from scratch in 4 min. 19 2/5 sec, and the year afterwards W. Snook won the same race from scratch in 4 min. 20 sec. In 1875 Slade eclipsed his previous performance by covering his mile in 4 min. 24 1/2 sec. at a meeting of the L.A.C. at Stamford Bridge in a celebrated race when he met H. A. Bryden and L. U. Burt, both the others being, like himself, tall men. Bryden, who ran in beautiful style, had, however, little dash, or he might, perhaps, have lowered Slade's colours; while L. U. Burt was too tall and heavy to hold his own in such company, unless very highly trained.

On this occasion of lowering the record, all three covered the distance within 4 min. 30 sec. at Widnes, the meeting was postponed on account of wet weather, and at the adjourned meeting Slade was unable to be present. Another fine miler, in the years 1876 and 1877, was E. R. J. Nicolls, of Christ Church, Oxford, who won the Inter-'Varsity Mile in 1876 in 4 min. 28 sec. Nicolls was in even better form in the succeeding year, but a family bereavement prevented his taking part in the Inter-'Varsity and championship sports of that year. Unlike most runners, Nicolls seemed to delight in running as a pastime, but to have little ambition to take part in a big race, although this was certainly not from nervousness, as his performances were chiefly due to dogged perseverance and pluck and most careful training.

Another contemporary of Slade's deserves notice for his mile performances. This was W. H. Seary, who, at the time of his zenith on the path, was an Oxford scout, and if report be true, used to utilise, for training purposes, his journeys across 'Tom' and 'Peck' quads, and stride across the gravel in great style. Any way he was a superb runner, with a long stride and light of foot. His entry was, we believe, refused at the championship meetings and in London, but he often figured at the provincial gatherings, and had he met Slade would have had a good deal of money put on him by the Northern enthusiasts. On the only occasion when he and Slade were entered together.

Slade was beaten in the Four Mile Championship of 1875 by James Gibb, a pretty runner with a short stride and of light weight, who was seen at his best in longer distances than a mile. A match was afterwards made at four miles between Slade and Gibb, which came off at Lillie Bridge on the evening of April 26 of that year in presence of a large crowd, nearly the whole of the Stock Exchange (or at any rate the younger members of that institution) turning out to support Slade. After a close and magnificent race, Slade, who hung at his opponent's shoulder all the way, rushed past and won in 20 min. 22 sec, Scott's old record being disposed of by this performance. Besides Gibb, however, Slade had several famous contemporaries at longer distances, chief of whom was James (better known as 'Choppy') Warburton, a North-countryman of much the same build as Slade, whose weight and style of running made hirn more successful over a grass course than over cinders. War-burton, as the hero of a hundred fights on the running path, reaped a large harvest of prizes, and, after the manner of his kind, became a Boniface, and used to exhibit himself in costume, together with his trophies, for a small fee to an admiring public.