ROUND-THE-WORLD RECORD.

Mataura Ensign, 26 September 1913, Page 5

ROUND-THE-WORLD RECORD.

21,066 MfLliS IN 32 DAYS. With the loss of only a toothbrush and a large fruit cake at Cleveland, Mr John Henry Mears, of the New York 'livening Sun,' last night completed' the fastest journey ever made round the world (stated 'The Daily Mail' of August--7).. His time, compared with the previous record of M. Andre Jager Schmidt in 1911, was—Mears: 32 days '2lhrs. 35min. -l-ssoc.; Jager Schmidt: 39 days 19hrs. 4'2min. 37 -l-ssec. Some delay, Mr Meat's explained to the 'Daily Mail' representative, was due to the enthusiasm of his friends at the Grand Central Station, who prevented him from taking a flying leap into the motor-ear in which he completed the journey to the 'Evening Sun' offices, "M. Jager Schmidt," he continued, "has told me he will lower my record, hut that will not be possible until aeroplanes can carry the intending recordfbroaker in safety from Fishguard to London, Dover and Ostend, and thence to Berlin and Moscow, thus enabling the voyage to take a. later steamer from Now York, and until the Russians have accelerated the. Siberian railway service."

As it was, Mr Mears, after crossing the Pacific in the fastest liner, availed himself of the. service of a waterplano to cross Puget Sound. The- only part of the journey of '21,060 miles that he traversed on foot w.is half a mile in Cleveland for the purpose of catching the Empire State express. It was in tli© course of that sprint that he lost his toothbrush and cake. "I was delayed eight hours," he said "when in the Mauretania by fog, audi lost 18 hours through u, washout on the Russian railway at Ekaterinburg. It was Mr Mikami, general passenger agent of the Japanese railways, who saved the record for me by running a special train through Corea, landing mo at Sliimonoseki in time to catch the Empress of India 'on Wednesday, July 23. Mr Moors arrived in London on* July 8 at 2.15 a.m. and left for Paris at 4.30 in. th© afternoon. During the interval he had a sleep,- received journalists, called on the American Ambassador, visited Westminster Abbey and the Roman Catholic Cathedral, saw Buckingham Palace and St. James Palace, called on the l/ord Mayor visited the Tower, the Monument and St. I anl s. had luncheon at the House of Commons and did some chopping in the Swaivi.