Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1910-03-16

IiCuldT1y dHAlOuS W REPEAT.
About eight o'clock Tuesday
morning we passed close to the
western shore of Cuba, within three
or four miles of land, so that we had
good view of the shore land of
this beautiful tropical island which
has been so much in the public eye
in America for a number of years.
Wednesday morning We passed in
sight of Swan Island, where the
ship company has wireless tele-
graph and watering station and
Thursday morning we passed Old
Providence Island, where were the
headquarters of Henry Morgan, the
famous English Buccaneer, whose
pirate escapades about 1870, among
them the raiding of the Isthmus of
Panama and the burning of the an
cient city of Panama, are familiar
to readers of history. Barren rocky
mountains extend their peaks into
Ihc Gal c1nu luC iCiduu oCCLlS ~ DC
by nature suited to just such oc-
cupancy. 1t is said to be inhabited
now by Spaniards and Indians, as
we'll as few Germans.
From this on until we arrived at
Colon, Panama, there was little to
relieve the monotony of the trip,
save the watching of the flying fish
over the waves, the sea gulls in the
air, and occasional schools of por-
poises which Topped their tails and
bodies above the water, seemingly
at play, and time began to drag on
our hands, especially those of us
who had not eaten anything for
three or four days; so that when on
Friday morning we sighted land, the
beautiful shore line of Colon, Pana-
ma, with the waves breaking against
the rocks at the foot Of immense
cocoanut palm trees, there were ex-
pressions of delight, and rush to
ship come into port. We were de-
tanned only a few moments by the
quarantine officials, who soon pro-
nounced the party all sufficiently
we'll to land.
Landing at Colon, at the Atlantic
entrance to the Panama Canal we
found awaiting us special train,
and as soon as we were ready it
transported us over the Panama
Railroad to the city of Panama, on
the Pacific side. 1t was our first
transcontinental trip, on the only
transcontinental railroad in the
world, and it seemed queer to go
from ocean to ocean in little over
two hours. This special train was
but the first of a continuous pro-
gram of courtesies extended the edi-
torial party during our stay on the
isthmus. Col. Cocktails, chief en-
gineer of the canal commission, and
his corps of engineers and assistants
practically gave up the week to our
entertainment, and each day spent
as much time as possible with us,
answering our thousands of ques-
tions readily and showing Us every
part of the canal, taking Us each day
to some different portion via spe-
cial train, setting aside the work
where necessary to give us every
possible opportunity to see as much
as possible during our stay, and it
was said on every hand that no one
had ever visited the canal who had
better opportunity to see it in its
entirety than the ediors. 1t was
just at the opportune time in its
construction, when every man and
every machine was working at it's
fullest capacity, the weather ideal,
and the work progressed JUST far
enough so that we were able readily
to grasp every detail in the develop
ment and construction of the canal
The ride across the isthmus, along
the line of the canal practically the
entire distance of AZ miles, gave
us a general idea of the topography
of the country, the route of the
catal, and the general scheme of
it's construction, as well as our first
glimpse of the dense tropical jungles
that we were to see so much of dur
the next few days, the great ferns,
the swamps, the immense trees, the
palms of all kinds, and the huts of
the natives, built of bamboo poles,
with high peaked matched roofs
made from palm leaves, and the ma
tives, barefoot and oftentimes al
most naked, especially the children,
many of whom were entirely devoid
of clothing.
Arriving at Panama, we had our
first ride in one of the hundreds
of carriages which take the place
of street cars here. They are two
seated carriages, drawn by little
horses or ponies of prodiguous
strength, weighing not over 700