Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1914-04-22
COUNTRY EDITOR ON
A TOUR TO panama
Some of the Experiences of
Ocean Voyage.
Down the Atlantic Coast With Stops
at Some Important Points
of Interest.

Lion D. McWethy. New York State edi-
tor is writing for The Herald series OF
letters concerning a trip he is making 60
Panama. This is the first of the SERIES.
King Solomon may or may not have
been the original Photographer, but
be that as it may he is credited with
a few good ones-some excellent.
He even had that rare quality, ex
ercised by few, of admitting that
there were things he could not I'M
derstand, and among them the ways
of a ship at sea.
Solomon has been dead these many
years but his perplexities in this re-
gard still obtain.
The way of a four funnel twin
screw is just as mysterious today as
were those of the ancient barques
which the men of Tyre guided over
the Aegean sea in Solomon's time.
But if we don't understand the way
of ship we can at least grasp the
why of ship. This ship of ours
is going to sea because away to the
south of us men are tearing into the
spine of a continent and they need
more supplies to assist in the final
operation. In removing the verte-
brae of hemisphere many accessories
are required, and it is by the ships of
the sea that these are supplied. This
ship of ours is loaded with provisions
and supplies for the army of 40, 900
who have labored long and we'll at
Panama.
Stored away below the matches are
thousands OF tons of freight, some
for Panama and some for the island
peoples of the tropics. Whisked
from the dock by the spidery arms
of the steam winch and dropped be-
low as gently as eggs in basket
go the boxes and bales, an endless
array of packages, till one wonders
where they manage to store them.
This ship of ours, while staunch and
true and ably manned, is by no means
a large ship as ships of today are
measured, but it is nevertheless some
baby of the seas; holding below her
matches about the same tonnage as
contained in a loaded freight train
one hundred cars in length.
The part of the cargo which inter-
ested me the most was the cold stor-
age department where the food was
kept for the table. l inquired of the
captain whether he was sure he had
enough to last and he said he thought
so. Two days later sent him word
by my bedroom steward that he might
as we'll throw it overheard as /
wouldn't need it. He sent back that
l was doing very we'll Tightening cargo
and he thought he could carry the
rest.
The most interesting part of a
boats cargo is the human cargo. AS
we journey towards Panama those
who follow this series will find, if
they find interest at all, that it pays
to get acquainted with the passengers
as we'll as the places along the route,
and l will take this opportunity to
look over the passenger list. There
are several booked for ''the cruise"
that is from New York, sticking to
the boat and landing as occasion
permits. The points they visit will
be Santiago, Cuba; Kingston,
Jamaica; Colon, Port Limon, Costa
Rico, back to Colon and home via
Kingston, where cargo of fruit is
taken on. Among the cruisers we
find an editor of one of New York 8
large dailies, accompanied by his
wife and daughter. A party from
Massachusetts, among them young
lady from Lynn, who entered con-
test to win. She won it you bet,
and caught in her net, the hearts of
all of the men.
Bound for Cuba was a travelling
man from Boston and a young
Englishman who was locating on a
large sugar plantation. For Kings
ton, a couple of young men from
Pittsburg, on sightseeing bent, and
couple of tired business men from
Springfield, Mass, on a rest eXcur
sion, which they took playing golf
under a tropic sun, 100 proof. Also
for Kingston was a Hamburg Ameri-
can marine engineer whose special
hobby was the construction of dry
docks, and a mechanical engineer
from Omaha, whose mission was the
construction of an immense starch
plant in the north part of the island.
This particular starch is derived from
the casava plant. 1t is a new in
dustry for the island and an expert
ment. The starch is used in the calico
and cotton print industry, and the
starch hitherto employed comes en-