In Praise of Walking.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 29 August 1910, Page 4

In Praise of Walking.

A PLEA FOR A NEGLECTED

RECREATION

(By Albert Felix Florian.)

The man who in the present day refuses to accept things as they are, and utters maledictions on modern civilisation with the facilities fol speedy locomotion by sea and land 1 , is little heecled ; for the annihilation of distance which has been thereby brought about has tended greatly to the public weal. At the same time, there is a fear—and it is no fantastic one—that in these days of rapid and economic travel the art of walking may be lost to a large extent. A generation ago walking tours were far more popular than they are to-day, and it is a comparative rarity for the motorist or the motorbicyclist on our own or foreign highways to come across any pedestrians on tour, with the exception of professional tramps, many of whom thrive wonderfully upon their simple out-of-door life. It is a pity that walking tours should be falling into disuetude, foi there is no healthier, more exhilarating, or cheaper way of spending a holiday either in this country 01 abroad. The lonely man, who likes to go by himself, with his briar and his dog as his sole companions, or a group of congenial friends, it matters not, there is room and to spare for all. It is only necessary to map out the (itinerary in its broad outlines and to be off.

THE OUTFIT. The outfit is easily provided, all that is required being a useful ,easyfitting walking suit, strong boots, a change of flannel shirt and socks, and a few sundries in a neat knapsack to which a macintosh is attached, a soft hat with a big brim to keep off the solar rays and the wet, and a substantial stick. To be prepared to take "pot luck" en route and philosophically put up with either sunshine or rain, are the only other main requisites. The holiday pedestrian is not trammelled in tne same-waj;,,as the motorist, the bicyclist, or the equestrian. He can leave the bigh'Witys, branch off across country as ihe will, and thoroughly explore the district through which he is passing at his leisure, and arrange his daily course as he hkes. He muy "foot" twenty miles one day, and only half .a dozen the next, and can always keep sufficiently near to railways so' as to uss them for a while if he has dallied too long by the way. t Provided he has, besides his native language a smattering of I'reneh, all the more accessible parts of the Continent are open to him. He can take his ticket from home to Ins desired destination, and, once there, shake off civilisation and its conventions, and strapping has knapsack on his back, stride off on his route and allow the call of mountain va ley and wood to attract him and hold him captive for a few days. UNCERTAIN.

Half the charm is not to know where your next meal will .be taken, or where you will lay your head. In the course of by no means ambitioius walking tours in Europe I 'have had many delightful experiences in this way. Sometimes a midsummei midnight has surprised me far from habitations, and under an Italian sky I have slept in the open without an L ,°* P° Hce intervention. Ihe cheapest board and lodging that has ever come my way was in the little town of Chivasso, where i stopped while tramping from the Pass of the Grand St. Bernard to Milan. Our party of seven were dm-ected by a gendarme to a "modesto albergo," not far from the station, where we had a supper of fish meat, vegetables, soup, and wine, and a shake-down for the night all tor five francs. We thought that sum was per head, but it was the combined charge! Many a time, too, I have had money refused. Once while on a remote mountain side in the Jura 1 chanced on the hut of a goat-shep-herd who had seen no living person tor three weeks. He gave me a rare "feed" of the homely diet he lived , on, and would with difficulty accept even a plug of tobacco in return. On another occasion, while passing a night at a villa hotel on the banks of Lac Maieur, the proprietor supp'ornented the dinner with nil o lo ' oi B::ss: that brought the Ul(t Country very near indeed 1 I have ~-alked from the confines oi Lac Mfijour to ]he», via Domo c! Ossoln, over the Simplon Pass treating the famous Napoleonic roa in its In! extent. Wliat idea has the traveller who goes through the stupendous Simplon tunnel, of the glories far over his head, of tlie magnificent views to be seen from the pass, and of the delight Of sleep- £ » night at the hospice at the Joot of sublime glaciers and .imdei irS ( t;w f ? mOUntai,lSCapped - fc,l

AN ACCIDENT. «rL h ? end ' l l< wever, who &<L the same tramp had the misfortune to Scolf"" a ? reci P i F e and badly bruise himself an<l, as it was four hours before he was rescued, he is going by tram next time, for he hal h£ ° f i *<> m ™<*" 1 have also explored the beauties of the Lake oL Geneva Annecy, and Aix-les-Bains, al within the compass of less than twenty days, and once oh the scene pL?.f w f}, m ? expenditure has not averaged four francs a day. And wfiat a goodly store of reminiscences have been acquired in the pleasantest possible wayf I have been askd if it is not dangerous to get about country like this, wJien one hears of so manv unprovoked assaults and ;fche like I can only give my own experiences, and that is that I have never been molested, and have experienced; many f» o oi , cmi^ y- Once, certainly, 1 was chased by a fcnll on some -<.£ turea near the Faucille Pass, on the Jura, but a record sprint to covei left me safe, if breathless. My experience is that if one is courteous to others, and exchanges eaJiitat-ons with those one meets en route, oiid generally does not seek for trofubiP. one will not find it. fluman nature is pretty much the same the world orer, and the pedestrian *h» -rnspo-te himself and otfoera neod rear no unpleasant adventured, an-I when he returns home eventually .ond resumes, his usual hum-dnim K.fe he will think wistfully of the days when Ihe set out aac an dos, et joie an coeur," to cultivate "tVe simple life" of walking f. r a fe-.v days. To those who have never indulged /in the delights pJ a walking tour, my advice is, "Try it without you be etnplmg of seventeen Or septuagenarian, for its pleasures are not Hmr> *ge.~and it is equally open to rich and poor."