The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-03-15
MAGELLAN CLAIMS PEOPLES INTEREST Evans Cruise Focuses Atten-
 ton on Channel BETWEEN THE OCEANS Something of the People That lnhabit the Southern Extremity of the
 Western Hemisphere-Man-
 nee and Customs.
BE EfWEEN THE OCEANS

A year ago there were few people who could tell offhand where the Strait or Magellan was. Now that the United States fleet is in that waterway the ma jority of the American people is on terms of almost contemptuous familiarity with the name and location of the passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
 Names like Patagonia, Tierra del Fueso, Punta Arenas and half dozen others even now represent little to the citizens at home, but they take on an interest never before accorded them since ships under "Ffghting Bob" started on their long cruise.
 According to the map. the course of the straits connecting the two oceans is between the southern coast of the main land of South America and the archi- pelago of which Terra del Fuego is the largest island and Cape Horn the best known point. The land on both sides be- longs to Chile
 Ever since Ferdinand Magellan. the in- trepid Portuguese explorer. discovered the straits in 1920 this short cut has been a bugbear to mariners of both steam ships and sailing ships. As a rule the latter craft never attempted a passage. preferring to risk rounding the Horn." in spite of the danger and difficulty, for they considered 1t far less perilous than a journey through the straits.
 They had reason to fear it. Head winds, cross currents, rocks. shoals, narrows and the lack in earlier days of lights or buoys prohibited any but the smallest and quickest working sailing vessels from making the trip. Steamships are the only vessels in which 1t is advisable to navigate the straits, and while many have done so no such armada as that now nearing the passage has ever gone through.
 As the fleet approaches the Strait of Magellan the lookout on the leading yes sel will first sight Cape Virgins, which marks the eastern entrance. The name is an abbreviation of Cape of Eleven Thousand Virgins which Magellan called it as he sighted the headland on October IS, 1920, the date being the saints day.
 A deep-sea skipper who has command ed a number of ships owned by a New York firm and has been through the strait some 50 times describes the route as follows:
 ''The Virgins are the east entrance to the straits, which run east and west. It is 120 miles from the Virgins to Punta Arenas and 200 miles from Arenas to T straits. So the entire distance Is 320 miles.
 Upon approaching Cape Virgins from sea the land appears like the coast of England-white clay cliffs perhaps 100 or so feet high, and covered with short grass There are no trees. It is good grazing land and on the hills you will see thousands of sheep The water is good and wide. and not difficult to nav igate This grazing land extends as far east as Punta Arenas. The course from the east entrance runs westward five miles to Cape Possession, where you en- ter the First Narrows. These narrows are two miles wide. and the current runs through at rate of from six to eight knots, which, let me tell you, is mighty swift
 After clearing the First Narrows, which are ten miles long, you have a clear run of 9 miles to the Second Mar rows. These are three miles wide and 15 miles long. The current is not so strong as in the First Narrows, but 1t is strong enough.
 Passing out of the Second Narrows, the boat enters Famine Reach. where, after steaming 30 miles, Punta Arenas is made. This is the southernmost town in the world. It has about 10000 inhabi- tants, and is a depot for the sheep sta tions near by. It Is lighted with elec- tricity There are stores and theatre Altogether I do not think the jaclSies will be bored while the fleet is coaling there.
 Putting out from Punta Arenas, one sees the aspect of the country change from Famine Reach before they get to Froward Reach. This reach is 30 miles long. and then comes Crooked Reach, 15 miles long. There is then straight run of 100 miles through Long Reach and Sea Reach in Cape Pillar. Upon passing this you are out of the straits.
 Beyond Cape Froward, west of Punta Arenas. the climatic conditions change with the topography. East of Punta Arenas the weather is clear and dry, but immediately upon passing Froward one finds the ehange-rain and generally dis agreeable weather from there until the Pacific is reached.
 "As to trouble for the fleet in making the passage, I look for none at all. While thel tights are not any too freuent. such the lights are not any too frequent, such aright. There are lights-to name them all--at Cape Virgin, at Cape Possession, at Delgada Point, at the Magdelene Is- lands, at Punta Arenas, at San Isidro, at Felix Point, and at Evangelist Rock, which are 20 miles west of Cape Pillar"
 These lights are all of the first class that is. visible for 20 miles or over.
 Another captain. man who has com manded old Black Ball packets and mod ern transatlantic liners, who has been called upon to pilot United States naval vessels through hidden passages in China-perhaps the greatest American authority upon the merchant marine was not inclined to regard the passage so nonchalantly as was the first skipper
 NOW" he said "I doubt if any of those navy chaps have ever been through the straits. I should say that the straits are a place where local knowledge is of value. If Admiral Evans has obtained a man of such knowledge, whether this man was of the army transport, the mer- chant or any other service, then Admi- ral Evans has given proof thereby that he Is a careful and sensible commander.
 "No doubt Admiral Evans reasoned this way: Here, we can take these ships through the straits as well as any pilot in the world, but nevertheless, we want you here on the bridge of the leading as you please, and we will listen and do what you say. While the admiral, if he gets pilot, will not do an absolutely es- sential thing, he will at least be doing an eminently wise thing, and you may be sure that a careful, sensible English ad- miral or any other admiral would do likewise.
 Now you have heard a lot of gam mon about the straits being safe and all that. Well, they are to a good navigator, whether he has ever made the passage or not. And yet, accidents will happen. I have had under my own care six or seven vessels, which have had sections of their bottoms ripped out in the straits, and have been lowed here for repairs. One boat, I remember, tore out a part of her bottom and was brought here