The Washington herald., 1915-08-15
LOOPING NORTH AMERICA
HIN the Crack Between the Two Continents

round up a basket q mangoes. however
| ana after experimenting with one In
duced unsuspecting people to try them.
Now a mango looks as pretty as II
sounds and to the ignorant promtSsi
well 1t is about as big as q big pear
egg shaped and daintily colored witt
blended reds and ysllows. That's where
its attractiveness stops To be thorough
ly ENJOYED a mango should be looked Al
and not eaten. Inside there Is large
poisonous looking seed. The sorgeously
colored outside skin 10 like leather. Be
tween them is a yellowish mush thai
people fain would eat. 1t has a sick
ish-sweet flavor all its own. It's likely
to stay all its own, too. / don't believe
any other fruit is envious Of II. 1t would
be right enough IL that was all, but the
adventurous explorer in mansoes hndi
with the first bite that II isn't all. This
mush has carefully concealed In It's
Shiny recesses about 13S short cotton
strings which are fastened to the big
seed and tied in hard knots to each other
The expert mango artist sucks the mush
on these strings and lies about liking It.
The amateur let's some Of the strings &c,
down his throat and gags and nearly
chokes to death.
And when you get through" said Bes.
sic, even the most particular woman
will find her face mussed UP from ear to
ear. Mango lunches should always be
held in bathrooms
Continuing the description of the trip
through the canal. I might sum 1t UP b..
saying we just went Rather. We just
barely went. We didn't went fast enough
to make a rifle in the sosgy air or a
ripple In the sluggish. yellow water. II
was SO 900 worth of elaboration. II moth
ing else. Everybody tried to get In the
bow to watch II. A good many did and
got SO eunburned they will probably Keep
peeling skin of till their bones show.
We were shut in a lock. slowly fioated
up thirty or forty feet, dragged along by
the electric mules-which are the most
powerful engines " the world-and then
did the same thing over again. When
at last We ran out Of locks on the Gatun
side We sloughed across the lake and
along to the colony OF locks on the Pa
cific side. where we went through it all
again with the reverse English on and
sank down to the Pacific level. At Gu
Zebra Cut. a lanEuid-acting tug took hold
of our hand and guided US gently under
the steep and gloomy precipice that is
causing SO much trouble, and through
water so muddy and thick it would be
no miracle to walk on it. No ship eyer
made a more hesitatinE or timid prog
ress. 1t was so cautious that only very
close watcher could tell that We were
moving at all
marked with precision and an utter dis
regard Of the value of time. And so We
came out on the Pacific waters and lett
in our wake the long lines Of the canal
lights glowing under their odd and awk-
uard-looking shades of solid cement.
At one OF the locks came aboard Sena-
tor Ben "Pitchfork" TiIlman, with a cane
and a cuss word and the ships company
took notice. The veteran Senator had
been on the isthmus for a week or so
making an investigation as q committee
Of one at his own expense. He was I'M
pressed and enthusiastic. The future OF
the canal looms big to him.
We should have 1900 to 1900 troops
down here all the time said the Sena-
tor, as We lazliy discussed everything
from cabbages 20 kings. IT so happened
that his deck chair was placed EeXt
mine. The military authorities hcie tell
me that We are, or will be, 1hen the
Notifications are completed, we'll defend
ed at both ends of the canal. That six
teen-inch gun has not yet been mounted.
but the emplacement for ii is all ready.
The ends are safe. but we snouli have
is the only weak spot where an encinS
could tap us. No. sir, don't think there
reed be much to fear from sirahips They
don't seem to be very effective in blow
ing up things. Their terror lis in the
killing and manning of women and chill
dren.
we should he very considerable Of the
small army trat is needed heie to guard
the dividing line between North and
South America. Send & s6ilier dow n
acre and you are sim ply sending him into
exile It's a very trying and hard post.
Everything possible should be done TO
furnish them amusement and comfort
and ameliorate as far Al may be the un-
pleasantness of the detail"
II was night when we sliled past the
lights OF Panama, sparkling In clusters
around the black shapes, past the BUSH
nesslike wharfs Of Balboa, which 10 the
Pacific end of the canal and where trans
commerce seems inclined to
make its headquarters, past a long
black passenger steamer all aclow with
lights. waiting for the daylight to pass
through the big cut and gut to where
the long swell Of the Pacific sUrged
against our bows. We slowed down as
the pilot scrambled over the side. dror-
ped into his bobbinE boat and with three
hoarse good-by blasts from the whistle
turned our nose up toward San Fran
cisco. eleven days away.
This excursion steamboat" as Buck
calls it. is now on the second and long
leg Of the $500 mile trip. We are not
lonesome or homesick. There is no time.
Ones attention 10 too completely monop-
olized hopping up perspiration to give
heed even to the glorious full moon and
its broad silver pathway across the dark
ocean or the four twinkling stars called
the Southern Gloss in the lower sky. De-
spite electric fans in all the rooms. half
the passengers, clad In all sorts of
desha billie, picturesque and otherwise,
seek htful sleep on deck chairs or hatch
covers wherever a breath OF air moves
The hot throb of the engines and the
surge Of the ship are their lullaby. The
decks look like an emergency ward In q
hospital. Everybody is too hot and Ian
guild to be shocked or indulge In false
modesty After one walk along the deck
I knew all about how women look after
they had retired. had no idea there
so many varieties of ''nighties" in the
world. The sailors who wash down the
decks in the early morning are promptly
on their job-but they linger over It.
Copyright. 1881