“Iron Man”: why Harry Bensley walked 2,400 miles in a helmet
People have always argued and made bets to prove which of them was right. And some of these challenges were fun. For example, Harry Bensley walked 2,400 miles wearing an iron helmet. All along the way, for a moment, 3,862.4 kilometers, he pushed a baby carriage in front of him. So why did he do it?
How it all started
Harry Bensley was a self-proclaimed London playboy; he was about thirty. In 1907, he visited the National Athletic Club in the West End and accidentally overheard an animated conversation between two gentlemen. He became curious about what the interlocutors were arguing about, so he came closer. It turned out that the conversation was conducted by the American financier John Pierpont Morgan and the fifth Earl of Lonsdale, Hugh Cecil Lowther.
The dispute revolved around an interesting assumption: can a person move around different cities and countries on foot, pushing a baby carriage in front of him so that no one would guess who he is? The conversation continued for a long time but did not lead to a compromise or at least some kind of solution. Then, the participants in the dispute offered to make a bet to see if what they had assumed was possible. Harry decided to become the one who would go on a trip, as a sudden adventure would help him solve his financial problems, especially if it turned out to be successful.
Terms of the bet
The bet terms are strange and, in some ways, funny. Bensley, who decided to go on the road, could receive one pound, about thirteen thousand rubles at the current exchange rate, as a starting capital. He had to wear an iron helmet whenever he left the house and could be seen by other people so that he would not be recognized. He also needed to push the baby carriage in front of him along the way and have an escort.
The main goal set for Harry was to go through one hundred and sixty-nine cities and towns in the UK, as well as one hundred and twenty-five cities in other countries. To prove his feat, Bensley received signatures from the mayors and other officials of each area he visited. If the idea had succeeded, he could have hit a big jackpot — about one hundred thousand dollars at the old exchange rate, which today can be estimated at almost thirty-two and a half billion rubles.
How was the trip?
Although no one suspected it was him, Bensley embarked on a journey on January 1, 1908. He appeared on the streets of London wearing an iron mask and pushing a baby carriage in front of him, which greatly shocked and amused the townspeople. The journey began in England; then, the man went to Scotland, Canada, Japan, etc. Visit. A F R I N I K .C O M . For the full article. Information about his trip appeared in the newspapers and made much noise. Wherever Harry appeared, a curious crowd gathered. Some people were so impressed by his image that they were happy to purchase photographs, postcards, and brochures with the image of “Iron Man,” which Bensley’s assistant, Mr. Allen, sold.
They cost only one penny, but business was brisk: they sold six to eight hundred souvenirs at some stops, which helped pay for food and shelter. The baby carriage served as a place for them to store their inventory. People spoke quite warmly about the man in the iron mask. For example, a reporter for The Cornishman newspaper wrote after he arrived in Penzance: “The arrival of such a strangely equipped man in the city aroused considerable interest.
The owner of the Golden Lion Hotel, where the traveler was staying, cared for his amenities. This person’s conversation shows that he is cultured and well-educated.” Of course, it was not without its inconveniences: the helmet worn by Bensley weighed about two kilograms, which was very burdensome. He took it off for eating, but only if he was eating alone or in the company of his assistant.
However, the most significant danger to Harry’s unrecognizability was the law. One day, he sold a postcard to a curious child in Bexleyheath, not thinking about the fact that in the area where he was located, it was forbidden to trade on the street without a license. He was taken to the judge, told his story, and allowed to keep his mask on during the arraignment.
At the end of 1908, Bensley calculated how far he had managed to walk. He traveled sixteen kilometers a day on average, which helped him achieve significant results. He even found a wife during his camping trip — she joined and traveled with him. He planned to go to Scotland to continue his adventure, but he knew it would take years to visit all the planned countries. While some newspapers wrote about the man in the iron mask with interest and delight, others considered his story too strange to treat it with special sincerity. And in the end, they were right.
A lie that has been talked about a lot
In January 1909, Bensley began to elaborate on what some had suspected. There was no bet in the West End club, nor was there a significant jackpot he could have won. It was all just a trick. Harry was serving time in prison for bigamy and, at that time, read Alexandre Dumas’ book “The Man in the Iron Mask.” Bensley had never been as rich as the image of a man he created when communicating with other people, so he came up with a bet to visit different cities and earn extra money by selling souvenirs.
Even his marriage was nothing more than a way to brighten the news headlines. He already had a wife and intended to get her to join the journey when he could provide suitable transportation. In addition, Iron Man was able to attract investors for his scheme—thanks to their money, he printed postcards and bought a helmet at a theatrical costume store.
It is unclear how long Bensley planned to continue his scam. But he revealed why he ended the journey after ten months. He said, “The stress that accompanied me daily affected my health. My eyes hurt, as did my head. I fainted on the side of the road several times, and sometimes I couldn’t get out of bed for two or three days in a row.” The daily miles-long walks exhausted Harry to the limit, and he changed his mind about his fictional bet. But still, he later reappeared to claim that he had traveled up to 1914 and had almost reached the thirty-thousand-mile mark.
However, his journey was interrupted by the First World War, so he received not a full but a consolation prize from John Morgan – four thousand pounds. The only problem is that Morgan died in March 1913, so he couldn’t pay off the bet. Perhaps by telling this story, Bensley hoped that people would forget about the exposure he had suffered years earlier. Surprisingly, this happened. Subsequent stories about Harry, right up to his death at the age of eighty, repeated the general features of his “bet” and an international walk.
His descendants shared their version of events, which the man told them shortly before his death. They noted that there was a bet, but it was not voluntary. According to them, Bensley lost much money in poker and was forced to travel to pay off the debt. But this version doesn’t seem the most plausible either. Harry may never have left England, and there are doubts about whether he dated the men who made the bet. Most likely, it is the story of deception that is the very truth that the residents of the cities who managed to see him on the street were waiting for. But despite the lies, such a long journey on foot is worthy of respect.
