"Hitch-Hiking" Around the World

Radio Record, Volume V, Issue 30, 5 February 1932, Page 1

"Hitch-Hiking" Around the World

Everyone at some time or other wants to travel — to see new countries and strange people-but because of the lack of opportunities or of the will to make them, very few do. Not so- Mr. Arthur Cone, who is at present "hitch-hiking’’ through New Zealand. Though only twenty years old he has travelled through two continents, and intends to devote another six years to seeing the rest of the world. He has delivered \ y several talks on his adventures from 1 and 2YA, and will complete the series in the near future from 3 and 4YA. In the following article he outlines his wanderings from the time he set out from New York, nearly two years ago.

QO" May 27, 1930, I started out from New York with 30 dollars in my pocket, intending to cover every country in the world. A trip of 125,000 miles was what I had planned. My transport was to be by the method of "hitch-hiking," or walk-

ing and getting rides in motor-cats-mostly getting rides in motor-cars. Starting from New York, I hitch-hiked across the Continent to Seattle, travelling through many States and exploring such well-known national reserves as Yellowstone Park and Glacier National Park on the way. In Seattle I tried to get a job on a ship bound for Alaska, but was unable to do so, and continued on to Vancouver. ‘There I was lucky, for I made the acquaintance of Mr. Keeley. manaver of the

Canadian National Steamship Line, who became interested in what I was doing, and instead of having to work my way, he gave me a free passage to Skagway, Alaska. The trip was quite pleasant because we weat through what is known as the inland passase. a route passine

anjong thousands of islands along the coasts ofBritish Columbia and Southern Alaska. { When we reached Skagway I had only 2 ‘dollars and 25 cents left, I had planned to proceed on to Whitehorse by railway, and so went to the head of the Railway Company and asked for a free passage. He said that he was sorry, but since I had only 2 dollars 25 cents left, he was afraid I could not get past the Canadian authorities at the border, and they could not take the responsibility of taking me through. I asked if there was any means of communication between the border and his office, and on being told ~«fhere was a telephone, I repeated my request Yor a free passage on the train, on condition, however, that I walked to the border to ascertain if I would be permitted through, After walking the 20 miles up the railway,

track to the border I found in charge there 2 member of the Royal Cane adian Mounted Police. He was very friendly, and not only gave rN, permission to go through, but asked me to stop there and spend the night with him. Needless to say, I accepted. On the following morning he called Skagway, and said he wad letting me through. They then advised him that when the train came he could put me on board. When I reached Whitehorse I still had my, 2 doliars 25 cents, but this doesn’t carry one very far, so I went to the Mounted Police Barracks and asked for permission to stop there for that night and perhaps the next. They not only agreed ¢o this, bet asked me to have my meals with them as well. After remaining two days, I was given permission to work my way down the Yukon River in a river steamer bound for Dawson City. Is was one of those flat-bottomed boats, with a big stern paddle wheel about half as large as the boat itself. My job was to help load wood as fuel for the boat’s engine. As we were going down stream it took us only about 36 hours to reach Dawson City-a distance of nearly 500 miles, There I again went to the Mounted Police Barracks-I still had my 2 dollars 25 cents-and here I was given a job washing dishes and peeling potatoes. The man whose regular job this was wanted to take our days off to celebrate his twenty-first birthday. While he was recovering I had the job. After four days, during which I accumulated the sum of 17 dollars, the man came back, and I had to be moving, The question was, where to go and how to go there?

FINALLY decided to travel dow) the Yukon river, so I invested 10

dollars of my scanty money in a boat which, I discovered when it wan too late, leaked so much that it was useless. So I decided to travel on the trail from Dawson City to Eagle, Alaska. When I mentioned this,

people in Dawson City warned me I would be passing through the beat country. In Yellowstone I had come in contact with bears, so I wasn’t very much afraid of them. This I mentioned, biét they told me that these bears were nothing like those in Yellowstone-in the Yukosi they were very fierce, especially the griza= lies, and the greatest danger lay in meeting a mother bear with cubs. Since it was the berry season, the bears would be out with their cubs eating berries, fattening up fox the winter hibernation. I didn’t have enough money to buy the rifle they advised me to take with me, so had to think of some other protection. When in Yellowstone Park I had often heard the rangers tell people that if the bears bothered them in any way, (Concluded overleag,)i

. -_ khe best thing to do to frighten them away was to carry something that rattled. I decided to try this, so when I started out I went along rattling a tittle tin of pebbles. The first day out I saw no bears, but on the second as I was going along quite peacefully around a bend in the ¢tail I saw suddenly, not fifteen yards from me, a big brown bear standing on ‘hig hind legs in the midst of a berry patch, He had probably heard me coming, and was sniffing the air to find out what it was. I was really very much frightened, but I thought it would be useless to turn round and run beganse the bear would be after me, and af I climbed a tree-well-he could probably climb faster than I, So we oth stood there and looked at each other, Since the bear didn’t move i thought somebody had to, so very slowty I started rattling the little tin can. At the first sound the bear sank down on all fours, and I thought he was coming for me, but instead he walked off wery slowly in the opposite direction, as if to show his great contempt. At that I gathered courage and rattled the fin very hard, so hard -that it fell out ef my hand to the ground with a clatter. At the sound the bear gave a start d went down the hill just as fast as he could go, That night when I reached a mining gamp.and told them about it they told me that the bear probably thought that & was chasing him. Another experience I had with an animal up there was when I was starting over a big divide. When I was within 500 feet of the top, a big caribou an animal very much like a reindeer only larger-came over the top and atood motionless for a time looking straight down at me. Then he put his head down with his antlers pointing for me and came down the hill with @ rush. I didn’t wait for him, but turned round and ran, At the first movement he seemed to see me for the first time, for he whirled to the side and galloped down the hill in another direction. That night, when I reached another mining camp, I told them about that, and they said that the caribou probably couldn’t scent me, and, being @ very curious animal, was coming down to see what I was. It took me eleven days to reach Hagle, @nd there I got another job-this time sawing wood. I worked for four days and made 20 dollars, or about £4. The game warden and the game _ executive came up the Yukon River in @ small boat with an outboard motor, and when they went down took me back with them 180 miles down the viver to Circle City. There I struck the highway connectfng the Yukon River and the sea, and X hitch-hiked to Fairbanks and then

to Valdez on the coast. There I found ‘that the steamer "Aleutian" wis in on its way to Seward, before returuing to Seattle. I thought I had very liitle hope of a job on board, as they had refused to allow me to work my way up to the north, and I was very surprised when I was taken on. The next seven days saw me stevedvring. At Seattle I was paid off, my work on the boat earning me 11 dollars 25 cents. — Soon after I was on the road to San Francisco. On the way down I was given a ride in a motor-car by a man who became interested in what. I was doing. He gave me his card and told me to call on him when I reached San Francisco, remarking that he would help me. to get on a ship. Three days after I‘reached my destination I went to his office and nine days later he had mé on the Ventura working as deck boy bound for Sydney. The whole twelve days I spent in San Francisco, however, I remained there without any money. ‘The way I lived was by haying my meals at a fire station, sleeping for several nights on a fire boat along the waterfront, and for the rest on board some ships that were in port. It would take too long to relate the devious means by which I managed to live, but I succeeded in getting through all right. However, the Ventura left San Francisco on September 12, 19380, taking me for the first time in my life away from the American continent. We travelled for Sydney via Honolulu, Pago Pago, Samoa, and Suva, Fiji. In Sydney I

was given lettérs of introduction to people in Brisbane and to someone on a station nears Longreach. I hitchhiked up to Brisbane, and then out to this station, where I worked as a jackeroo for two weeks. Irom Longreach I wandered down to Brisbane again, then to Sydney, from there tu Melbourne, and then on actoss' to Burnie, in Tasmania. After visiting Launceston and Hobart, I returned once more to Sydney by boat, and then started up north for Brisbane through the New Wngland tableland. After that I hitch-hiked along the coast through Rockhampton, Townsville and Cairns, finally reaching Mareeba. I had a letter of introduction to a station owner near there and it was my intention to buy a horse from. him. However, he insisted upon giving me one, an ‘old grey mare, and I must say it was a case of "The old grey mare, she ain’t what she used to be." She was over 20 years old and had lost one eye. , I stopped at this station for a couple of weeks, and then, taking advantage of a droving plant which was returning to Cape York Peninsula, I went north with it. The white man who had come down with the droving plant remained in Mareeba and I went. back in his place, so my travelling companions consisted of three full-blooded aborigines and one halfcaste. I travelled with them nearly all the way up Cape York Peninsula to Port Stewart, and then inland to Coen. ~~

In the evenings, when we had made a fire, the blacks would come in from the bush-they were wild, but fairly friendly-and I would sing to them. I can’t sing, but they used -to like it, anyhow. Their favourite song was "Oh, By Jingo!’ and whenever I would sing it they would just go wild and break out into howls of laughtér. They would also dance for me, and held several corroborees, which were very entertaining. From Coen I travelled with a man who was driving a dray through to the Batavia goldfield. With him I travelled as far as the Mein telegraph station, and there I made connection with a droving plant which was taking eattle up to a place called Red Island, some thirteen miles from Cape York itself. There they slaughtered cattle for meat for Thursday Island. I, trayélled with these drovers as far.as the; Moreton telegraph station-the tel graph line runs all the way up tr Cape peninsulu-and from there I tra pe elled with drovers who met us to take the cattle to Red Island. My next move was to Thursday Island, in a launch which called fox the meat. There I was lucky enough to make the acquaintance of a plantér from Papua, who offered to take me to his plantation in his cutter. Ne took me with him to Daru, then to Port Moresby, back to the mouth of the Fly River, then 80 miles up the river to his plantation, and thenee back to Thutsday Island. Yrom there I travelled by boat to Cairns, down the coast to Brisbane, through the New Hngland tableland to Sydney, where I caught the Maunganui for New Zealand. In New Zealand I have already travelled from Auckland to Wellington, from Wellington to Napier, then to Taupo, to Rotorua, back again to Auckland, and up to Whangarel and Kaitaia. South once again to Auckland, and then to Dargaville, through +o the Waipou Forest, where [I spent two days with the rangers, and then back to Auckland and down once more to Wellington. I want to travel for about six more years, and as I am now 20 I won’t be more than about 26 when I am through. Then I hope to return to America and travel about the United States, writing and lecturing about for about three or four years, after which I hope to get a yacht of my own and travel through the world in that, writing, lecturing, and exploring.