Scholarships for Adventure

In Paris one night last week, President Vincent Auriol of France sat down to a banquet of boeuf bouquetiere in honor of a special group of guests: 41 French schoolboys who had some tales to tell. A few months before, each boy had set out on a solitary journey of thousands of miles with about $45 for the whole trip. For these winners of France's oddest scholarships, dinner with M. Auriol was just one in a long series of adventures.

Road to Riches. The idea for the scholarships was born more than 45 years ago, in the mind of Jean Walter, a struggling young architect with a passion for travel. Each summer Walter would set out alone on a trip with enough money to get him far away from home, never enough to get him back. When his cash ran out, Walter was forced to learn to live by his industry and wits. He traveled in nine countries, worked as a farmhand, dishwasher, errand boy.

One day in French Morocco, Walter saw something that changed his whole life: traces of lead ore, which he recognized because he had seen the same ore around a big mine near Joplin, Mo., U.S.A. Against the advice of experts, Walter decided to start the Zellidja mine at the site. Within a few years he was getting rich.

He became a multimillionaire, with interests in big plantations in Morocco, a fine mansion in Paris. But Magnate Walter never forgot how he hit his first jackpot. In 1938, he decided to set up his special scholarships so that other boys might learn to get around and keep their eyes open. Since then, he has sent 950 boys on journeys of adventure -- always with just enough money to get far away from home.

Riding the Rods. Last week, this year's crop of winners had plenty to report. They had covered nine different countries, had slept in haylofts, ridden the rods, done everything but beg, borrow or steal to get along. One boy had thumbed his way to Sweden to study cellulose factories, had earned his bread by singing in the inns along the way.

Some boys got as far as the U.S. One worked his way across the Atlantic as a paint boy on a ship, traveled from New Orleans to Chicago, returned with a manuscript for a full-length book. Another boy cycled from Ontario to California, making his way by giving radio interviews. He was attacked by a bull, sideswiped by a car; he witnessed eight automobile accidents and saw a man shoot his wife in the streets of Reno.

Says Jean Walter, now 68 : "In my own travels, I was able to contrast the different types of architecture, and that brought me success in my building projects. I was able to study different methods of farming, and that helped me improve my colonial plantations. I was able to study mining methods, and that brought me success in Zellidja. The boys will do likewise."

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