ROUND THE WORLD ON MOTOR CYCLES.

Shannon News, 23 August 1927, Page 4

ROUND THE WORLD ON MOTOR CYCLES.

TWO ENGLISHMEN ENGAGED IN DARING VENTURE. The world motor-cycle tourists, Messrs B. H. Catheriek and J. P. Castiley, who passed through Levin on their way north on Wednesday, have had as many adventures as the most daring could wi3h for. They have been imprisoned, shot at, and caught in a devastating fire in which many lives were : lost. In the Balkans they were suspected of being Hungarian spies, fol- , lowing their taking of a photograph of a bridge, and they were thrown into a prison in consequence. 35,000-MILE TEIP. At the end of August last year the tourists set out from London, their object being to ride round the world and cover a distance of approximately 35,000 miles. Already they have covered about 20,000 miles, going through about 20 countries. They will tour New Zealand very thoroughly and will sail from Auckland about the end of August for South America en route for South Africa. The two riders who have made' this Avonderful trip-are all-round sportsmen and they seem to regard their experiences as part and parcel of the tour, and some of these certainly make thrilling reading. ADVENTURE IN THE BALKANS. While in the Balkans Messrs Catheriek and Castley innocently took a photograph of a bridge, copies of which were being sold in the town by local stationers for about a penny. They were arrested at Zemum as .suspected Hungarian spies. Late at night they were conveyed to prison by two hysterical detectives, who dramatically switched off the lights of the ear while passing the -same bridge. Called on by the sentries to stop, the driver of the car evidently mistook the command and hurried on, with the result that a shower of bullets was fired over their heads, but they luckily ducked them. Brought to Belgrade, the motor cyclists were not allowed to see the British Consul and they were kept in prison for the night but released in the morning. One of the. cloest shaves that "the tourists hod was at Rangoon, where a huge fire broke out, in which 2000 natives were burned. In assisting to rescue some of the inmates of bungalows which were on fire, the Englishmen narrowly escaped being suffocated.

On another occasion, while the pair were going through a railway tunnel, a fast train was following them, and only skilful driving with their fast outfits enabled them to escape with their lives. TOUR THROUGH SOUTHERN EUROPE. The machines chosen to represent the British motor cycle industry in this world . test of reliability are colonial models of the 9.86 h.p. B.S.A. In the selection of the two riders to undertake this great trade mission, it was necessary to choose two men of considerable experience, and Mr J. P. Castley, of the staff of the "Motor Cycle," and Mr B. 11. Cathrick, of the B.S.A. Company, were ultimately chosen The expedition left the Royal Automobile Club, London, on 30th August, 1926, and embarked at Newhaven for Dieppe. Paris was reached on September Ist. The routo c.'os'sed France diagonally from north-east to south-west, and Spain was entered at San Sebastian. The riders travelled the length of Portugal, passing through Oporto and Lisbon, then Spain was re-entered, and at Seville, the route turned north to Madrid. From the capital the route crossed the Sierras and then dropped down to Barcelona and re-entered France. The Riviera was reached in early October, and from Marseilles the riders followed the coast to Genoa. Next Milan, then historic Trieste, and Italy were left behind for the 550-miles pilgrimage to Bohemian Prague. Five days after entering Prague the little British expedition was due at Vienna, and Budapest on October 31st From the twin capitals of Hungary the Danube route was followed ithrough Belgrade and Sofia to Constantinople. There, on November 20th, finished the European, the least important, section of the world tour. ASIA MINOR TO INDIA.

After crossing into Asia Minor the ridea's were faced with GSO miles of extraordinary difficulty terminating at Alexandretta. A further distance of 350 miles had then been covered before the expedition entered Jerusalem. After this, the towns on the ■ route became more and more widely spaced. Owing to political differences between the French and roaming tribes, a precarious journey was made across the vast sands of the Syrian desert to Baghdad. Teheran, Persia's capital, was eight days distant from Baghdad. The route after Baghdad was cut by a mountain range "peaking" 15,000 feet, but fortunately the intrepid riders found it was not necessary to climb much more than 6000 feet to cross this range. From Teheran, under, the shadow of the Elburrz mountains, the route went south, through Yezd in the foothills. Quetta, in Northern Baluchistan, was the first point reached in India, and the expedition then made for the coast, passing through Karachi, the port of the fertile Punjab, on January 26th, 1927. Bombay, another 1200 miles, was made on February 16th. The next section of the route consisted of crossing India to Calcutta a distance of 1140 miles. Here, it was necessary to make a seavoyage to Penang, as the seaboard of the Bay of Bengal and the coast of Burma was almost impenetrable. From Penang a pleasant run was made over the splendidly engineered roads of ths Malay Peninsula to Singapore. Another sea voyage was broken at Batavia (Java) on April 26th, and from Sourabaya, 540 miles away at the other end of the island, another steamer was taken to Fremantle, Western Australia. The riders then crossed the Commonwealth by way of Perth, Adelaide, Ballarat, Melbourne and Sydney. From the last-named city they took passage for New Zealand, arriving at Wellington on August 2nd.

The riders are not out to smash re- | cords, but their task has been an arduous and adventurous one. One stunt which they are attempting is very difficult, to cross the Andes from Valparaiso to Buenos Ayres, 820 miles, a trip which probably no car, and certainly no motor cycle, has ever done before.