The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1894-05-24
AROUND THE WORLD.
probability That the Journey VIII Soon he
Made In Forty Days.
Especial Correspondence.l

ever, two young American women beat
Phineas Fogg's imaginary record by
almost 10 days, and the play founded
upon Verne's romance now calls itself
Around the World In Sixty Days"
AS matter of fact, nobody has yet made
the journey in SO short time, but Grit
fiths, the English traveller, has done it
in about So days. and the prospect is
that before the close of the century the
trip may be made by ordinary means OF
transportation in less than 40 days
The journey round the world east.
ward from London Is now made easily
In rom 66 to ~ days This means thas
in the ordinary course of travel man
may leave London on the 1st of July.
and journeying eastward eat his dinner
ct London about the 4th or 9th of Sep.
TENDER. From London to Colombo, Cey-
Ion. is Is days; from Colombo to Hong.
Kong is Id days; thence, with proba.
BILE delay of one day. to Victoria, B. c.,
Is 81 days; across the continent to New
York is seven days, and across the At.
lantic, with possible half days delay.
by the swiftest ships, is six days This
foots up 671s days, and, if the possible
= days delay be eliminated. Sc days
There is always the possibility of some
gain in crossing the Pacific, as the ships
are oftener early than late SO that an or.
dinarily lucky voyage might be made as
low as &c days. All this presupposes
that the traveller takes ordinary means
of transportation and asks no special IA
vors. Should steamship companies and
governments cooperate tc forward him
he might accomplish the journey in two
or three days less The best known
tourist company sends travellers round
the world in from 65 10 70 days at an
expense of about 5000 This means ex.
actly 1866 for the round the world
ticket. $25 extra for sleeping car berths
and So per day for food and trifling ex.
tras The trip is thus made luxuriously
1t might be cheapened by an economical.
traveller
When the Transsiberian railway
shall have been completed to Vladivos-
tok, there will be az oil rail route
across Europe and Asia In connection
with this will be run swift steamships
70 the western coast of the American
continent The greater part of the Jour.
ney round the world car then be made
by rail instead of by water. and the
time may easily be reduced to less than
AZ days The journey from London to
ST Petersburg is now made in so hours.
The journey by rail across the Russian
empire 70 Nladlvostok can be made liz
not more than IA days. and the sea trip
from Vlaulvostok 20 the shores of
America ought tc be made il eight or
ten days while the trip across the Amer.
tcGn continent and the Atlantic need not
consume more than 3 CT | 4 days This
foots np almost 40ts days and taking
the shorter alternatives III two instances
~ days Special Co. operation of gov
ernments and transportation companies
could probably reduce it as low as So
days
All this presupposes 10 Improvement
III the speed of steamships and locomo
tive engines between thii and the close
OF the century but should the speed of
each De bettcred by some fraction of a
mile per hour tbs traveller of six years
hence may girdle the globe in less than
calenE : month With the Transsibe.
rian railway III first rate running order
and its attendant line Of steamships do.
Ing good service it is safe to say that
some adventurous traveller will under.
take TO dina III London on the first day
III any month between May and Novem.
Der. girdle the globe and dine again in
London on the last day of the same
month.
The journey round the world is still
perhaps serious undertaking but is
no longer an uncommon one All sorts
of persons are making it, and many
have gone round the world three or
four times. Englishmen employed in
China and Japan frequently make their
visits home to England by way of the
United States and return eastward from
England to their posts. Americans are
gradually becoming the great travellers
of the world. and it frequently happens
that an American S first trip abroad is
tour of the world. In making such a
journey at leisure the traveller cncoun
tiers fewer sudden and violent changes
OF climate than one might suppose
American travellers seem TO prefer the
westward journey round the world
Leaving home In early autumn ,hev
pass through Japan before the cod
weather sets i'll. see India in December
and January Egypt in February. south
ern Europe in the early spring and
England or France in the late spring
and carly summer The traveller east
ward from London ordinarily starts III
late autumn, passes the winter in the
tropics of Africa and Asia, reaches Japan
III the spring, crosses the American con
Gnent before the heats of midsummer
have come and reaches london IN Rho