Man Walks Around the World Twice with a 30-pound Book on His Back

1920

"America is the best country in the world," declares Joseph F. Mikulec.

Joseph ought to know. He's walked entirely around the land portions of the globe twice, visiting twenty-six countries. Since 1901 he has been tramping the world and doesn't expect to call his journey ended until December 31, 1921.

Clad in blue overalls, a several-day growth of pale whiskers curling like a mantle over his weather-beaten features, Joseph visited the Blade office a few days ago when he went through Chicago. On his back he carried his most previous treasure — a thirty-pound book in which are the signatures of President Wilson, Mr. Roosevelt, the king of England, the former czar of Russia and notables from many other lands.

"I left Croatia, the country in which I was born, in 1901," says Mikulec, "and I've been walking ever since. When I first reached America I was so delighted with the country that I became a citizen. It's the best in the world. When I end my travels next year I expect to write a book about it."

Asked what his most remarkable adventure was, Mikulec told of an experience in New Zealand.

"To-Mika, an old Maori chief, asked me to marry one of his daughters. I was the first white man that he had seen and he offered 3,000 cows if I would wed the girl. But not wishing to take up life in the jungles as a savage, I refused."

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Feb. 28, 1920, p. 1.