A LONG TRAMP.

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LVIII, Issue 10356, 17 April 1930, Page 2

A LONG TRAMP.

KOl'M) THE WORLD ON FOOT. Maurice Vancam, known as the ‘‘King of Tramps,*” from Vancouver, 8.C., Canada, who is on his second tramping tour around the world for a wager of £7OOO, arrived in Tauranga yesterday from TeJPuke. He originally started out in 1911, and walked the number of miles stipulated in the agreement, but returned home ten weeks behind schedule and failed to .collect his money. Not to be beaten, .however, he started out again on the second attempt in 1925, and is well ahead of time and very confident of success. Counting the mileage on both trips, the Ulysses pedestrian has walked 93,700 miles, and has worn out 147 pairs of boots. He has still a little over 6000 miles to walk in New Zealand and . South Africa to complete the tour. In the course of an interview, Mr Vancam informed us that he in Greece during the 1912 Balkan Wav, and in Mexico at the time of the rebellion in igi3. When the World’s War broke out he was a prisoner in German East Africa for 17 weeks before he managed t 0 escape. Again, in 1917, he traversed a great deal of Northern China during the revolution, and was in Japan when the pneumonic ’uu epidemic ravaged that country. His worst experience however, was in Siberia during the Bolshevik upheaval. There he was locked. up on 17 different occasions, putting altogether, nine months in Bolshevik prisons, and this delay caused him ,to return late as before stated. At each town visited this unique traveller has to obtain the Seal of the Council to verify his - -visit. He also procured the signature of the -leading places of business. He has 117 books containing 70,587 municipal seals and over 263,000 signatures. The books 'in themselves arc a revelation in handwritinir and endorsements. He resumes his travels tomorrow. makinv to Thames, On his first tour, Mr. Vancam visited Tauranga in November, 1923.