Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1910-04-06

remain here until the tide comes in
again, and if not ready to sail out
to sea tie the boats by ropes to
keep them there until the tide goes
out again. Here the tide has a
range of 20 to % feet. so that the
water is sufficiently deep when the
high tide comes in for them to sail
close up to the wall.
In the central part of old Panama
is the oldest church on the Ameri-
can continent, built in 1858. 1t is
a quaint old structure, the walls
reaching nearly to the roof without
a window. Just under the roof is
an interior balcony, and in this
church the people used to gather
when the city was attacked by pill
layers and pirates, being protected
from invasion and attack by the
thick stone walls and the heavy dou-
BILE doors. The National Theatre is
a beautiful structure near the sea
shore, built of marble. In this
structure are also the government
Offices of the Republic of Panama.
We visited the only Methodist
church in Panama, erected on the
old sea-wall. Also the famous Chi
riqui Prison, an old Spanish struc-
ture, surrounded by thick walls,
having cells or dungeons under
ground. Here is the old wall before
which for centuries the criminals
have stood up and been shot to
death. The wall shows the bullet
marks in many places. There are
14O prisoners in the prison at this
time, which is guarded much the
same as our penitentiaries.
We also visited the ruins of the
Sacred Heart of Jesus church, where
the famous ''flat-arch," known to
scientists the world over, is located.
1t is an arch of brick probably rs
feet across, is nearly fiat, instead of
circular as most arches are made.
and has no keystone to support it.
1t is said to be the only one of its
kind in the world, and the fact that
it has stood there for two or three
centuries, while the rest of the
church is in ruins, is the best evil
dence that this section has never
been visited by severe earthquakes.
which many have feared would be
4 disastrous to the canal project. In
fact, there have never been earth
quakes in Panama except occasiOnai'
slight trembling of the earth, which
has been of no consequence and
caused no damage. At this church
we met Father Anton Marie San
Quien, second to the Bishop of Pana-
ma and secured an excellent snap
shot of him.
An old Chinese church was also
an interesting sight. This is two
story building, filled with beautiful
hand carvings, brass, copper and
gold images and objects of rare
beauty and workmanship, and an
elaborate altar which contains a
statue of Confucius. The audience
chamber is small room on the
ground floor and the upper floor
contains the statues and carvings
above noted, where the Chinese go
to worship, usually alone. Coming
out of the church, we encountered
veritable Chinatown" with Chi
nese orchestras playing their wierd
music on balconies. and all ages of
: Chinese in all sorts of trades and
pastimes along the streets.
Although much of our time was
spent in seeing the canal and the
cities along it's route, yet the matter
of entertainment and amusement
; was not neglected. One evening af-
ter dinner we were met by a COM
mittee representing the Independent
Order of Panamanian Kangaroos.
) who escorted the gentlemen of our
) party by special train to Empire.
| where a grand reception had been
; prepared for us. The KangarOOs of
: Panama is an organization similar
to the Elks of the United States.
, They have we'll appointed club
houses and meet regularly. At En-
, pire the club house was handsome
: ly decorated, and upon our arrival
; we found it we'll filled with Ameri-
; cans, and a most delightful evening
followed, with stirring speeches. re-
J freshments and a general good time.
returning to our hotel about mid
night. Another rare treat was an
! early morning alligator hunt, up the
coast from Panama, which had its
exciting incidents. A school of about
} fifteen alligators was encountered.
but only one killed, a small animal
about ten feet long, which was
brought home as souvenir of the
trip. A few days later, while at
Almirante Bay, parrot hunt was
organized at night. This proved to
be very similar to the famous
"snipe-shooting expeditions" of this
section, and one poor novitiate from