1914-10-12ww

“Sharp at 9 o’clock this morning, starter J. M. Harris will fire the gun that will send about a dozen runners on their way around the Herald race course.”

Hamilton Herald    October 12, 1914.

Even though Monday, October 12, 1914 was a Thanksgiving day holiday, the Hamilton Herald published an edition nevertheless.

Thanksgiving day was a big day for the Herald, and everyone from the president,  J. M. Harris, down to the printing room staff were at work to help make that day Herald Around the Bay road a success.

Since its inception in 1894, the Herald road race had gained a continent-wide reputation. By October, 1914, interest in the race was very high. Some of the world’s best runners would be at the starting line in front of Herald office near King and James streets.

The course was 19 miles, 168 yards in length, taking runners all the way around Hamilton Bay :

“The course is one that permits of fast running, and, at the same time, pits the runners to a severe test.”¹

¹ “Speedy Field for the Herald Race : No Less Than Ten Will Start in the Big Classic This Morning”

Hamilton Herald.    October 12, 1914.

The Herald race was wildly popular among Hamilton sporting types, and not a few wagers were placed on its outcome.

 By 1914, the race had produced winners who had become extremely famous. Billy Sherring, Jack Caffery and Tom Longboat among others, had become celebrities after winning the Herald race.

The lead article on the 1914 race in the Herald’s sports section began as follows :

“Whether it be on the gridiron, the baseball field or in the running game, it’s Class that the man of today wants.

“And this is just what he will get today in the running of the Herald Printing Company’s twenty-first annual road race around Hamilton bay.

“It’s class that has made the Great Herald classic the biggest and best running event, second only to the Olympic Marathon, and the greatest runners of the past score years have run in it. In fact Herald trophies are scattered all over the Dominion of Canada and the United States. Men have come from Nova Scotia in the east and Calgary in the west in quest of honors, and all have pronounced the competition most keen and the race the best managed they have ever entered in.

“Many other races have come to life and died again since the Herald proprietors launched the big Herald race just twenty years ago, but none of them succeeded in creating the same interest that attends the local fixture.”²

² “Jamieson Favorite For Today’s Big Annual Herald Road Race”

Hamilton Herald.   October 12, 1914.

Of the starters, Arthur Jamieson was attracting the most amount bets :

“Jamieson, in view of his rapid rise to fame under the wing of Tommy Thompson, Hamilton’s successful trainer and his recent victories in the local Labor day race and the Toronto exhibition 15 mile affair, is the favorite.

“When Tom Longboat left the canning factory at Burlington to train for the Herald race he was unknown, but he later became the sensation of the athletic world. The same is liable to happen this morning.”²

It was a cloudy but warm morning as the starters lined up in front of the Herald. An immense crowd of people were on hand to see the runners off.:

“The interest taken in the race was surprisingly intense. Thousands lined the course from start to finish, and along the outlying districts, there were more persons out to see the duel than has been seen in many years.

“In front of the Herald office and on the main streets of the city through which the speed merchants pushed, the crowds were exceedingly large.”²

Shortly after the starter’s pistol had sounded, the sun burst forth and the temperature rose noticeably :

“The course was in excellent shape and conducive to record-breaking time, and altogether there was every reason to believe that if there was speed enough bottled up in the field, the record would be samshed.”¹

It was Arthur Jamieson who first crossed the finish line but he did not break the course record, posting a time of 1 hour, 52 minutes, 17 seconds, exactly six minutes and two seconds slower than the record set by Jimmy Duffy in 1913. In fact, it was the slowest time for a Herald race winner since 1902.

Arthur Jamieson, only 20 years of age, was of aboriginal descent and hailed originally from the Woodstock area, although by 1914 he was a resident of Hamilton, and ran the race under the colors of the Ramblers’ Bicycle club.

In describing how the 1914 race unfolded, the Herald writer analyzed it in the following manner :

“Jamieson could not do his best when so far in front and with no person to make him extend himself. Jamieson likes competition; of this there is no doubt. He has shown in his training trials that he must have some person opposed to him before he can show to best advantage, and there is no doubt that if he had been pushed his time would have been much better.

“Regardless of his time, however, the little Indian proved himself a running phenom and bids fair to follow in Duffy’s footsteps by winning for himself the title of king of long-distance runners.”²

Jamieson, coming along the stone road on the plains near Hendrie’s farm, suffered a severe stitch, causing him to slow his pace for a time until he was able to resume full speed. At the end of the race, Jamieson was two and a half minutes in front of the runner who finished in second place..

Later that day, between the first and second acts of the evening performance of Polly of the Circus at the Grand Opera House, Arthur Jamieson, along with representatives of the second and third place finishers, received their Herald silver cups on stage in front of a large audience.

D. B. Wood, president of the Hamilton Board of Trade, was chosen to present the winning trophies.

In his speech, he said:

“ ‘On a Christmas day 20 years ago, the Harris brothers, proprietors of the great Hamilton Herald, inaugurated this fine race, and they deserve the congratulations of Hamilton and Hamiltonians on the continued success of the affair. It has been great advertising for Hamilton.

“ ‘In this event have been developed some of the greatest runners in the world. A great Indian boy, Arthur Jamieson, has come to the front in today’s race. He comes of a race of which we are all proud. I come from Brant county, which is the home of this great race of Indians, and I have always admired it. His is the race that has produced General Brant, Oronhyatekha, also the wonderful Pauline Johnson.’ ”²

Arthur Jamieson was presented the cup for winning the race, but was too shy to attempt a speech. Nevertheless, he received continued applause:

“In closing Mr. Wood once again declared that Harris brothers and the Hamilton Herald deserved unlimited credit for the success that has been made of this great annual event in Hamilton’s life.”²