ROUND WORLD ON FOOT

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 190, 1 November 1927, Page 9

ROUND WORLD ON FOOT

AUSTRIAN WHO HAS TRAMPED FIVE CONTINENTS LEFT VIENNA IN 1923 At Jl o’clock on July 28, IS2S, Herr Alexander Geisslcr must be back in 'Vienna. He is another of those round-the-icorld-on-foot enthusiasts, and arrived in Hew Zealand from. Australia this morning by the Ulimaroa. TN 1923 the International AssociaA tion of Sporting Bodies threw out a challenge to anyone covering 50,000 kilometres oil foot in four and a-half years and touching live continents. Two men from each of three countries took up the challenge to walk round the world in the time allotted —two each from England, Holland and Austria. Herr Geissler is the only one left. The companion who set out from Vienna in 1923 with him died of malaria on the journey from the Cape to Cairo, the two Dutchmen were killed in India two ago, and the two Englishmen reached Buenos Aires, where they were ottered good jobs and accepted them. Herr Geissler is still plodding away and hopes to win the prize—s,ooo dollars and 200 shillings a week pension, he said this morning. His English is not good, hut he can make himself understood. *Herr Geissler has had some amazing adventures during his long walk of 45,000 kilometres, which he reached at Melbourne. AN ADVENTUROUS TIME While plodding through Morocco lie was captured by the Riffs and kept in captivity tor some time. At. Algiers he was arrested as a spy and was forced into the Foreign Degion, where he served for some months until the French were assured that he was not there to gather information. On the tramp through Russia he met Trotsky and several of the other Communist leaders, who wrote in his book for him. This book is a most interesting relic. It contains the officials’ seals of hundreds of towns and cities and the signatures of hundreds of interesting people. On his travels Herr Geissler has met many famous people, including ex-Empress Zita, Mussolini, the King of Spain and Pope Pius XI. He is an accomplished man, only 32 years of age, and speaks English, German, Russian, Italian. Chinese. Turkish, Persian, Afghanistan and several Balkan dialects. In his spare time he writes articles for Austrian, German and Italian newspapers. Before Herr Geissler began to walk the world he was a journalist in Vienna. From New Zealand he will go to South America and then hack to Vienna, which he hopes to reach in time to win the prize.