Evening star., 1935-06-16

ST days, IL hours and 3 minutes
but without arousing much interest.
Trains record stood until 1901,
when Charles Fitznorris, erstwhile
chief of police Of Chicago. accom-
plished the feat In 90 days, Is hours
and 20 minutes.
j. Willis Sayre of Seattle was the
next to make the attempt. In 1908
he romped across the finish line In
81 days, hours and "a minutes
Then. q few months later, Henry
Frederick lowered this record to 81
days. hours and 2 minutes-not
much Of an improvement.
Uses Siberian Railway.
Col. Burnlay-Campbell, an English
man, then entered the contest, and
in 1907 reduced Frederickis record by
almost two weeks, checking In after
40 days, 10 hours and 30 minutes.
His trip was Of particular interest,
because until then all contestants had
made the journey via the Suez Canal
and around India, touched at Singa-
pore, continued along the China coast
to Japan, and from there crossed the
Pacific. Col. Campbell utilized the
Trans Siberia Railway, over which a
through service had been inaugurated
after the Russo-Japanese War, and
thus was able to save considerable
time.
Four years later Andre Jaegar-
Schmidt, an Alsatian, tried his hand
at the game, also using the Trans
Siberian. Backed by the Paris Ex-
celsior, he gave the world series OF
fascinating stories recounting his
thrilling adventures in lowering the
record to 80 days, 1e hours, a. min
utes and 38 seconds.
John Henry Mears, we'll known New
York theatrical producer and one Of
the two men ever to hold two records
for the feat, was the next candidate
for world-girdling honors:
At l2:43 am. July 2, 1918, Mears
dashed down the steps leading from
the Offices of the New York Sun,
caught the Mauretania by a narrow
margin and in due time left the vessel
at Fishguard, entrained for London,
then rushed on to Paris. Although
delayed by railway washouts crossing
Siberia, special facilities afforded by
the Japanese government enabled him
to reach Victoria, B. c., on schedule.
Airplane Enters Competition.
Mears few from Victoria to Seattle
(the first time an airplane had been
used in a round-the-worldr race, then
rushed across the country by train
He returned to the steps leading into
the Offices Of the New York Sun just
four-flfths of a minute later than he
had predicted he would arrives
days. 81 hours, SO minutes. 48 seconds
previously.
As the reader may have surmiSed
by this time, record-making globe
trotting is something of a disease II
afflicted me in its most virulent form
"a years ago when met John Henry
Mears as he was passing through
Manchuria. resolved then that some
day l would better Mears' record, but
1t was not until the Summer of 1926
that was able to attempt the task.
Accompanied by Edward s. Evans
OF Detroit, l set forth at am. June
Is. 1926-and % days, IA hours, SO
minutes, 5 seconds later returned to
my starting point. Without exag-
geration, it required ingenuity and
almost superhuman effort at times to
succeed. We were beset by more diff
f1culties than a shad has roe. Air
planes were employed over more than
half of the 10000 miles travelled, and
about the only portion Of the trip
I recall today with any degree of
pleasure was the 2,00O-mile flight from
Moscow to Omsk-the first in the his
tory Of the world.
For the most part, this flight was
made over forests and swamps, miles
from the nearest railroad. A forced
landing meant almost certain injury
and possible death. The Osoviakhim
Friends Of Aviation-a semi-oficial