The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1905-03-11
THE GRIP OF
THE TROPICS
Returned Army OFFICER Tells
What Il IS Like.


i fear that my stay in the tropics has
made me useless said an army officer
who recently got New York harbor de-
tail after three years OF duty In the low
latltudes-one year in Honolulu and two
in the Philippines.
He was coming over to New York on
a ferry. and although the afternoon was
balmy and pleasant and many OF the
PASSENGERS were carrying their overcp3ts
on their arms he had his heavy u,slsr
buttoned tight. with the collar turnta up
about his ears, and his face looked
pinched and blue
"Br-r-r I'm freezing.' he went on.
And ] haven't been dccently warm
since the transport upon which ] re-
turned TO the United States got TWEEN
~ degrees above the line-which, by the
way, Is the devil Of service in the tro0-
les, saving your presence
NOW, ! weigh nearly 200 pounds. ard
I'm pretty well padded with flesh. /
was born and brought up in the Far
North, and before l went 10 the tropics
] could stand the bitterest sort Of cold
without being In the least bothered bv it.
i've served in Northwestern posts
where the temperature not infreQuently
got down 70 ~ degrees below zero. hut
the nipping cold OF these posts never
feazed me. And here ! am on an unusi-
ally balmy winter afternoon in New
York, with the thermometer hanging
somewhere around the 80 above mark
and with this heavy blanket on, and I'm
positively freezing. Br-r-r.
No. l had no fever down on the ISL
ands-not even a touch of it, NV health
was great all the time / was down
there, and l never had to report at sick
call even once. But | became used to
what the enlisted men cali the dopy
weather of the tropics, that's all
Inc medical men Will tell you that
the blood Of white men born IN the tenn
perate. zones becomes thinned out when
they live in the tropics for a SPELL and
that afterward it takes them a long time
70 acclimatize themselves again when
they return to the temperate zOnes-and
quite right the medical sharps are in
Anyhow, when the transport that
brought me up pulled into the harbor Of
san Francisco. l was so sold that ! AL
most shook my superstructure TO pieces
and yet the temperature Of San Fran
cisco when | got back there month o.
so ago was good deal higher than it is
here right now, and I've been hearing
men say all day to-day that the weather
here is excessively warm for the sea-
son: Br-r-r,
There is something peculiar about the
erect OF the tropics upon men from this
corner of the world | was enormously
fascinated with Honolulu and ali of the
Hawaiian islands, and l never wearied Of
my berth there.
Then when l went on down to Manila
where the climate and surroundings are
still entirely different from those Of
Hawaii, enjoyed the first year OF 1t
Immensely Then gradually began to
weary OF the tropics and everything
tropical
Il began to miss the procession Of the
seasons-the expansive glowing spring
the hot yet endurable summer, the hazy
and inspiriting autumn. and the sharp
cold and-yes, the snow even,--of the
north on the mainland.
Il began to hate the palmsl a year
ago last Christmas, for example how
willingly would I have EXCHANGED an Of
the gorgeous palms of the whole Philip
pine archipelago for the sight of even one
scraggly fir or spruce tree. or for the
glimpse of bit OF holly or mistletoe
growing, or even spread out invitingly on
a United States market stall
The lotus life began to prey upon me.
The succession of turquoise skies began
to make me sore when the season arrived
for the skies to become overcast with cop
perry snow clouds up here in the States.
The warm, very wet rains Of Manila made
me wrathful when | thought of the brittle
snow and the sleighbells up in the state
where / was raised.
THE inactivity Of the people. their
method Of taking things easy, their ever.
lasting manana--inferential If not spoken
their conscienceless procrastlnations-
their don't a-durnativeness, to put it
that way-began to get on my nerves as
the last year of my stay in Manila Wore
itself slowly away. ] longed to get back
to the lands where folks were stepping
out and doing something all the time
II %anted to mix up again with hustlini.
aggressive men. lively animated women
not dreamers, nor mere human sloths
Of the Land of the Always Afternooni
And ! wanted to get - move on fnyself ,
THE steamy, hot redolence OF the tropi-
cal flowers even. that had SO captivated
me when I first got into the low latitudes.
Lsgan 70 oppress me- |, wanted to see
strong. hardy. cold resisting chrysanthe-
NUNS, late American autumn roses that
bloom fragrantly right in the teeth al
most. of frosts-big window sill gerani-
ums apple blossoms hardy omen air
EIanr0C ae1l
Yes. 1 grew to despise the insistently
sensuous fragrance of the gorgeous tropi-
cal flowers, and ] longed for the
arrival Of the day when l should leave
them all behind.
Well we're nothing but disconnected
children grown up all right.
Here am back, with the holidays
Just over; tons Of holly and mistetoe still
kicking around the quarters, all of the
old sights and sounds of the temperate
zone all around rne-and yet / find my
self sneahly longing-twentv times an
hour-tO be back in the tropics
Il miss the splendor, the color OF the
Orient if you please-the world up here
seems commonplace And you are all too
internally busy, If you must have it, |
want my two hours nap in the middle OF
the day, and I can't get 1t. OF coursel l
want the languorous. spicy airs again;
and above an, want to get warm again.
Br-r-ri
"D'ye know where / should like to be
to-nght2 Well, | should like to be in
the front room of my little bungalOw-on-
stills in Manila stretched out in the big
bamboo easy chair that had moulded it.
self to my conformation; a gentle. warm
drizzle falling rythmically on the roof:
the plate OF mangoes and plantalns on
the table. the cheroots and pipes scat
tered about--I should like to be sprawled
out in that bamboo chair, in Jap silk
shirt white lounging trousers and Chr
nese straw slippers, reading an idiotic
novel or volume of Lafcadio Hearn's
japanese sketchesi
''Rotl How utterly useless the tropics
have made me-and how | long to be
back in the tropics. New York sun.