A World's Tour.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13650, 18 July 1908, Page 3 (Supplement)

A World's Tour.

FIRST CAR IN SYRIA. Mr Charles J. Glidden, of Boston (Mass.), U.S.A., and Mis. Glidden have bien motoring round the world. Ihey began their great tour in London on a morning in June .'•even years ago, and they have ■'jiiiit' returned to town after a trip of; 46,528 miles, which lias .in-," eluded every .habitable country on the. globe except Norway, Russia, Portugal, Algeria, Tunis, the islands of Sicily, Cuba, and some of the islands of the -West Indies. : "These." said 'Mr Glidden to; a "Daily Chronicle " representative, " we are / reserving for next year, together with some parts of Germany and Austria which we have not, yet visited. I have motored in alnicsfc every country where motoring is possible, and up to now Mrs. Glidden and myself have driven in thirty-nine different countries. From the, motoring standpoint there is no question that England is the best- country, in the world to motor in; it is practically one grand park system. But if speed is wanted France is ' the best country on account of the better and longer roads." To make his drive of 46.523 miles in thirty-nine countries, Mr Glidden has motored 377 days, twice encircling the globe, crossing the Arctic circle in Swe-' den, and in New Zealand reaching the most' southerly road in the worh 1 But, even this •-extensive tour has not. satiated Mr Glidden with the wonders cf the world as seen in a leisurely drive" round it in a motor-car. " J shall .probably," he said, " do another 20,C0O« miles, and then, perhaps,, call; the trip down and devote myself to ballooning." FINNISH WOMAN'S MOTOR RIDE. ; At the Arctic circle crowds of Lapps and Finns greeted Mr. and Mrs. Glidden. A few miles from the circle they overtook an old Finnish woman plodding along at a pace equal to about half a miie an hour; " Where are you going ?" Mr Glidden asked through a native. interpreter. .. "To my daughter's," was the-' repV. '"How far is it?" • " Fifteen miles." "When do you expect to arrive?" "Tomorrow morning." "We took her into the tonneaiu" explained Mr Glidden, *' and in forty minutes fhe was at her daughter's home. "' God was good to put you in my way,' she spid, and, after permitting us. to photograph hei - , she said, .' I am dving for a r moke.' I supplied- her with tohacco, and as we drove away we could s-ne the smoke cm-ling out of the bowl of a large, wooden pipe." ,Tn the Fiji Islands Mr. Glidden had what he would call "a good time." He landed* at Suva, the capital and chief port, of the Fiji group, on the south coast of the Yiti Leva Island. His ear was the first seen on the island; and was welcomed with cheers and e'rUs' of rstonishment by the natives. "As we moved along the highway they•siood in amazement, and when we stopped, they surrounded the car ICO deep. ' Cannibal Tom,' who had participated in forty-eight feasts of human flesh, wr.s psrsuadad to take a s°nt in the car to b°. photographed, and he coolly, remarked that '1 would make good eating.' We had guests for drives., the most noted being the King and Princess of Fiji." "I was the first." said Mr Glidden, "to enter Syria and the Holy Land and the city of' Jerrsalem in a motor-car. T had three rpecial Tvrraiis from the Sultan of Turkey. We had a great reception at. Jerusn'em. Over 5.000 men and women, in their native eostuiws, filled the streets. Tfc impressed me very much that a modern tourist from Boston should visit this venerable city in an up-to-date motor-car and see the people exactly as they were 2.000 years atro. They had never seen a motor-car before, and that, seems strange, because there are over 800 automobiles in Eeyrit, which is only a twelve days' sail distant, and yet no one seems ever to have thought of taking a car to Syria. With the com-, pletion of about seventy-five miles of

roadJSirid the repair of..the/ roads"'already in existence,' Syria will -be-., a- delightful ■country to •motor in. I covered many historic points in eight hours, -which required two days- by diligence." AT THE GARDEN OF.GF.THSKMANE.

Nazareth,. Bethlehem, the. Garden of Gethseniane, Gana, the Mount of Olives, Damascus, and .'Lebanon ! It seems strange to hear of a traveller visiting these ancient and places in a 24 h.p. motor-car. 'Mr and'Aire.' Glidden saw them all in this way. At .the Garden of Gothsemane the car was driven clone to the entrance, but got no further owing to the narrowness of the gate. "Immediately," .said Mr Glidden, "we were surrounded by beggars, lepers, 1 the blind and .the lame, Ihe worst specimens of humanity we had seen, except, perhaps, the fakirs of India, whose condition is produced by self-mutilation. The -services of the. dragoman of the American Consul were necessary to- afford us protection and to prevent the hoardes of people, coming too near for our comfort and safety." Bethlehem gave, the travellers the greatest, reception they had in the course of their tour.

"We motored quietly into the city through the narrow streets: to the Church of the Nativity," said Br Glidden. " During our visit to the birthplace of Jesus, the square in front of. file church was packet! with people, mostly men, wearing the red fez. to return we found the narrow streets . lined with the women of Bethlehem, who had put on their b.st dresses with the peculiar white-pointed caps worn exclusively in this : place. It was a most picturesque and pretty sight." Cana, also, was visited, .and there photographs were taken of three men who had lived in the place all their lives, and might have .passed for the three wise men '• who came out of the East."

..Mr Glidden is having a balloon built in America to. be named the Boston, with a capacity of 40,000 cubic feet. '"And then," asked ..our representative, "will you give up motoring and confine yourself to ballooning?" "Well," war, the reply, "it would be excellent sport to balloon the world." ,