The Goodland republic. [volume] (Goodland, Kan.) 1891-1907, 1905-09-08
) CHARLES F. SCOTT
5 WRITESOF OCEANTRIP

/ II II is filed with a great variety OF
interesting incidents; but in the re-
/ Prospect the period which seems
shortest is that which is made up OF
/ a long succession Of mOnotOnous days,
one exactly ike the other, without
/ episode OF incident The days on
shipbOard are mOtOny itself-and 50
they pass like a tale that IS told
! When we went on board at Honolulu
the nine or ten days that must elapse
before we could reach japan seemed
intermfnable, but fairly before we
knew it they giIded by and tomorrow
| IL no mishap befalls, We shall come
to anchor in the harbOr Of YOkaha-
ma-although IL seems but a few
hours since the bold headlands and
the steep green mountains Of Oahu
| faded from our view For the phen-
OmenaI good fortune that brought US
from San Francisco TO Hawaii with
hardly a suggestion Of either a roll
or a pitch has followed US all the way
| to the Asiatic coast Day after day
the same blue sea, dimpled and smfl-
| ing, some days for hours at a time
not even a white cap to be seen
one day not so much as a ripple to
break the smooth and glossy surface
two ships passed each other, less than
a thousand feet apart, the passeng-
ers on both crowded the decks, wav-
| in handkerchiefs and hats, and the
steamers themselves greeted each
| other with the usual saIutatiOn OF
three deafening blasts from the
whistles followed by one long wailing
shrek from the stern What wonder
full things chart and compass areI
Here were these two vessels starting
about the same time from ports 2,40O
miles apart and with eighty million
| square miles Of ocean to miss each
| other in steering so true course that
II one Of them had not steered OF
| they would have met, head on
Aside from the passing Of the ST.
| IBERIA the only incidents connected
with anything outside the ship have
| been the sightseeing of a school or
two OF POrpOise and dOIphins- The
! pOrpOises are quite large fish, two feet
long or more. Their bodies are broad
with a high curve from head 70 tail,
Of the long slow swells, so still that
| it seemed as if you could almost hear
| the ocean breathe. On such a day
| the sea lies like a great, great plain,
but for the color astOnishingly like
/ the plains Of western Kansas.
Sailing west from san Francisco,
we turn our watches back q half hour
/ each day, thus getting farther and
| farther behind until $50 degrees of
longitude is reached we drop a whole
day-sO as to start even again Thus
it happened that we got up at
/ o'clock on Tuesday morning, July Is,
/ and ate breakfast an hour later at
i o'clock on Wednesday morning the
/ 18th When one is in a hurry to
! reach his destination it seems to has
| ten it somehow TO drop out a day this
way.
On Thursday the most exciting in
cident Of the ocean voyage occurred
the meeting and passing of another
ship! 1t was the Siberia, another
ship Of this line, bound for Honolulu
and four days out Of Yokohama And
from the moment her smoke was
seen upon the western horizon until
she climbed the eastern hill and pass
ed over it, and out Of view, she was
an object Of keenest interest AS the
so that as they rise out Of the water
and plunge into it again they look
like a partly submerged wheel, re-
vOlving slowly and rising and falling
with the waves, making no splash
either when ii leaves the water or
when it re-enters it. The dolphin is
smaller and leaps from the water,
throwing spray a foot high, so that
when a dozen, Of them leap at once
it looks as if the sea had been struck
by a vOlley Of missiles. The dolphin
is beautifully cOIOred also, so that
when the sun strikes it as II rises
from the water il looks like a beam
from a rainbow. In general, how
ever, these waters are singularly de-
void OF life They are too deep, prob
ably, and too barren Of any kind Of
food
So far as the first class passengers
are concerned steamship is a great
modern hotel in which they are tran
spOrted, as speedily and comfortably |
as possible from one country to the !
other. On the ground floor, resting
upon the main deck, are the dining
room and kitchen and a row Of bed !
rooms. On the second floor, directly |
above the dining room, is the so |
ciaI Hail. a big parlor with a piano, |
cases OF books, writing desks and |
numerous easy chairs and lounges. /
A wide hall separates the Social Hall |
from the state rooms and bath and |
toilet This is what is called the /
bridge deck, and a narrow veranda |
runs around three sides Of it. The |
third floor is a sort Of a garden, a |
broad promenade deck, occupied only /
by a smoking room and the officers /
quarters, but leaving plenty OF out |
door space for two or three hundred /
people to make themselves comfort !
able in easy chairs or to stroll about, 1
taking exercise and viewing the seen /
cry The guests are not expected to /
step outside the verandas, but within /
their limits all reasonable freedom |
is allowed them, and they put in the /
time according to their several tastes |
and inclinatiOns. Some Of these smoke |
and play cards all day, some read |
perpetually. and there are always |
some at the writing desks. For the /
most part though. each one varies !
his program, walking, talking read /
ing writing, sleeping, as the mood I
takes him
With Yokohama in prospect for to- |
morrow there is a pIeasurable thrill |
Of excitement through the boat to |
day which makes IL somewhat hard /
er to write or read than on other |
days WardrObes are being overhaul |
ed and trunks packed for the five or /
six days Of land sOjOurning which are
ahead OF Us and there is much talk |
and many cOnjectures concerning the /
experiences that may await Us in the 4
land Of the rising sun It is under
stood that the MikadO is to receive /
US and tender US a luncheon at the ]
palace q most unusual If not rrnnre.- /