TRAVELLING ROUND THE WORLD ON ONE LEG

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 544, 22 December 1928, Page 24

TRAVELLING ROUND THE WORLD ON ONE LEG

Ellery Walter, Duabbed by Mms= solini as oi The Supreme Adventarer?? Interviews Von Hinden= burg and Lloyd George . . . Adventures in Fiji, Mexico, Alaska and the Orient » . .

*' RUSHING the gate of a 1 f world celebrity is a mere B ' * t .f- interlude in the exciting life of 22-year-old Ellery Walter, who has trav,s3lfiUieK2J elled more than 77,000 Bides —from the South Seas to the Straits of Dover—in the last few years, earning his way, and that oil 6na leg! • Those who hear him tell the thrills lie has experienced in strange lands during the years crammed with almost incredible adventure, when he walked, talked, and dined with royalty, statesmen, and world-famous celebrities, declare that with another foot he would probably have gone to Mars. Ellery, former president of the class fe£ 1928" at the University of Washington. has had some hair-frizzling escapes from death, apart from the serious illness brought on by a foot infection. which eventually cost him one log. and which is still causing him considerable pain and trouble. He narrowly escaped being murdered early in liis career when he was working in the Tampico oilfields of Mexico, and was captured by a gang of Pancbo [Villa's bandits, getting away finally with three knife wounds in two different fights. Eater he was nearlykilled in an automobile accident, when his car turned over at - Death Curve," on the Apache Trail in Southern Arizona. In Alaska he was almost drowned When some comrades ‘‘hog-tied’’ him pnd threw him into a freezing river. But now should come a brief exDlauation as to why a boy with one leg should want to circle the globe. Eirst, he was born for adventure, that is certain, but the unhappy circumstances of his early life helped to shape his career. At the age of 14 he was left an orphan. Because of lack of funds, the youth had to work his way through high school and college. His experiences during the summer vacations between school terms included work in a logging camp In the North-west, “pitching” fish in an Alaskan fish cannery, serving as a cook and quartermaster on a cannery tender in Alaskan waters, and acting as quartermaster on a ship plying between Seattle and the Orient. In Honolulu the fates dealt the first hand against the brave lad. The infection in his left leg spread, and he was told that his foot had to be amputated. But let Ellery Walter tell his story:—■

“From Honolulu r jumped by way of the Fiji Islands to Australia, still on crutches, and there was another operation at Melbourne. I was too sick at that time return to Seattle, and. besides, I decided that I would never again have such an opportunity to see the world. So I just kept going. On the boat on the way to Australia, When I was suffering intensely with the Infected leg, shipmate friends. Sir William Vicars, of Sydney, Mr. FyfeSSmitb, of Vancouver, and the Hon. W. L. Ballieu, of Melbourne, were wonderfully kind to me.” The red-letter 'ay, the blazing, glittering day on Ellery’s alwayscrowded calendar, occurred one Friday *-not a jinx day for him —in Rome,

when he managed to procure two appointments. one for a private audience with the Pope in the morning, and one with Mussolini for later in the day.

“I was met In an ante-chamber by two guards in red silk costumes. Then another met me in black silk and knickers. I had memorised a speech in French in the third person that I intended to deliver to his Holiness, and I went over this and kept turning over in my hand some small articles I wanted to have blessed for friends. 1 was w-onderfully elated, realising that the hoped-for interview had not crashed, and that I was really on my way to meet the Pope. We w-ent

through seven long rooms filled with guards with clanking swords and waving plumes. My crutches thumped loudly as I followed my guide down the long, impressive corridors, with whispering attaches standing around talking in subdued tones. ‘‘Finally we reached the throne room. A man came out dressed in a black silk robe, and with a heavy purple cord around his waist. I was led in. I faced the Pope, a small man dressed all in white, with a small white cap on his head, and a heavy gold cord around his waist. He put his hand on my shoulder and said: ‘Welcome.’ He spoke gently, and I thought his face looked tired. But there was a twinkle in his eye, and he talked in a friendly fashion. “I returned to my hotel and changed into a grey suit for the meeting with Mussolini. It was a glorious interview. Ino sooner arrived than I was told that the Premier would see me, and I was astonished at his punctuality. I was led into a large room in the palace. There was a large oak table that dominated the room, and from behind it a small man stepped briskly as soon as I entered the room. At first I thought this was a secretary. The Duce’s stature is not impressive. But his eyes! They were dark and penetrating, and revealed a man of power. His manner was brisk, and he answered questions rapidly. First I began to speak to him in French, but he soon changed to English.

"I sat near him at his desk and placed beside me a list of notes as reminders to myself during the interview. The Premier picked up the paper. At the top was ‘Remember to thank Mussolini for interview-.’ Lie scanned the / paper swiftly, and repeated the first line, then snapped: ‘Thanks not necessary.’ And, to my embarrassment, he read the other remarks, which w-ere sketchy, and not intended for his eyes, making comments as he read. I explained that they were my own notes, and he then tossed them back, saying that if l w-ould write out a list of questions and send them to him he would answer them and return the list to me. This promise he kept later, and sent me a large autographed photograph of himself, inscribed ‘From Mussolini to Ellery Walter, the Supreme Adventurer.’’

With these tw-o world-famous men scratched off the slate, Ellery Walter set off for Berlin and von Hindenburg. He was the most difficult celebrity to land, too, for Ellery was told at the American Embassy, through w-hich he tried to arrange the interview-, that, several well-known Americans had come to see von Hindenburg, and had failed.

“Ever since I was a small boy I had admired von Hindenburg.” said the adventurer, telling about his meeting, “so I was jubilant that day at twelve o’clock when, accompanied by Ambassador Schurman, I went to call. Never will I forget that moment when I saw President von Hindenburg Rathe first time. He is 6ft oin tall, a magnificent figure of a man. “As he stood there in the doorway, with the light from a window directly behind him, he looked like a hugeframed portrait. He wore a grey suit. His hair is snow-white. He is 81 years of age, but what a man! So kindly and sympathetic.” Ellery then returned to London, had more trouble with his leg, and flew to Paris for an operation. After many delays he finally met Lloyd George, with whom he had dinner at C'riccieth, in North “Wales. “I told him I had met von Hindenburg, and how much I liked him. “Lloyd George replied that von Hindenburg was a sensible man. and a great influence in Germany. He said he had asked Foch during the w-ar what he thought of Ludendorff and von Hindenburg, and Foch had replied: ‘Ludendorff is a great soldier, but von Hindenburg is a great patriot.' ”

The active, courageous youth who worked his way around the world on crutches, stopping only for such emergencies as meetings with celebrities and operations on his leg, is also an author and lecturer. He has written and had published by Putnam’s a book called “The World on One Leg.”