ROUND THE WORLD

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 59, 31 August 1911, Page 7

ROUND THE WORLD

IN FORTY DAYS. Regarding the cablegram that Ml Schmidt, a French journalist, circled the. world, via Siberia, Japan ami Canada, in 39 days 19 hours and 43 minutes, the Dominion says: There is nothing particularly wonderful about the attc7iipt of M. .lagerSchmidt to halve Jules Verne's period of 80 days for a trip round the world. M. Jagcr-Schmidt is not even taking the Jules Verne route, but secures an immense advantage in time-saving by the aid of the railway across Siberia. With regard to the statement that this Parisian traveller hopes to beat M. Gaston Stiegler's record of 03 days, Mr. Cecil Gray, managing editor of "Great Britain in the Coronation Year," claims a better record. "In 1900," Mr. Gray told a London Daily News' representative on July 20, "I journeyed from London to London, via Japan and America, in 55 days, just beating the then record of 57 days held by Mr. George Griffith, who accomplished that feat on behalf of a London weekly paper. At that time, you will remember, there was no Siberian railway. ''M. Jager-Schmidt's trip is really only round the North Pole. It cannot be called seriously 'round the world.' Anybody could do it in 36 or 37 days, 'if you start from Victoria at 8 o'clock tonight say, you can be in Yokohama at 6 o'clock on the morning of Sunday fortnight; and you're halfway round then. But you have never really touched the tropics. "On my trip I got the 'ordinary connections of train and steamer, but, no doubt, I saved a little over Mr. Griffith's time by knowing my way about in certain places better than he. Nowadays, of course, you could improve on that record. The journey across the Atlantic then took eight days; now it can be done in five days. You can get from Vancouver to New Y x ork, too, in 4 1 / 2 days, instead of six." Here is Mr. Gray's time-table for 1900: Jan. 22—Left Victoria station, 8 p.m. Jan. 24—Loft Brindisi. Jan. 27—Left Port Said. Jan. 28—Left Suez. Feb. I—Left Aden., Feb. 7—Left Colombo. Feb. 11—Left Penang. Feb. 12— Ijcft Singapore. Feb. 16—Left Hongkong. March 4—Left Vancouver. March 10—Left New York. March 18—Southampton. Mr. Gray was quite clear about his dates, but some doubt was thrown at Messrs Cook's upon the seventeen days allotted to the journey between Hongkong and Vancouver—which, according to the travel experts, could scarcely have been done in less than 22 days. 'With ordinary luck," it was said, "the Frenchman should be able to complete his tour in 39 days. Anybody could do it, with the assistance of our time-tables."