South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1915-05-28
PANAMA CANAL
LIKE TWO LAKES
Everything Seems to Happen
BY Magic -CuIebTa Cut is
Still Difficult Of Passage
Says Gibson Gardner.


sailing through two moderate sized
beautiful artificial lakes. one is about
is miles long: the other about nine
miles. The waters are placid. the
shores are indented and covered
with wonderfully variegated tropical
growth. Sometimes they are distant
and sometimes few feet from the
steamer. When close. a bird chorus,
as of hundreds OF little canaries. is
heard. There are swampy looking
flats. and later quite respectable hills
all very picturesque and pleasing
Snags and the bare skeletons Of dead
trees. killed by the rising waters, mar
the beauty in places; but these are
rapidly rotting and dropping into the
water.
OF course there are locks. like stair
wavs at each end OF the lake-~at first
three big steps TO get into the first
big lake, S5 feet above the Atlantic;
then two steps down 10 get into the
smaller lake. and then three steps
down 10 the sea level canal. Order
illness is the keystone OF the locks.
All moves like clOthwOrk. The big
ship slips into the cement tank. the
gates close behind without jolt or
TAR, the water wells up mysteriOusly
from beneath. and the happy looking
Negroes carrying the hawser line lock
up and smile. Nobody seems TO be
doing anything. Everything happens
By magic. Of its own accord. The
mother whose husband is a canal en-
plOye comes down with the baby in
her arms and watches the ship
through, much as the country dweller
goes 20 the station TO see the evening
accommodation arrive and depart.
The baby wave at the passengers
. L .,f IA Mt
home and wave back.
The Culebra cut is still difficult OF
passage. The dredgeTs and blasters
were at work when we went through
and there were five minutes when the
Finland was on the bottom and pas
Sengers wondered whether il would
get of. The captains one idea after
leaving New York was TO get past
the point of a possible block by slides.
SO at Panama balboa and Ancon)
we anchored for a night and day,
and the passengers went ashore and
bought Panama hats. pOngee silk.
Palm Beach suits. and things to eat
Some stopped at the government no.
tel the TivOH and are willing 70 give
a testimonial TO Uncle Sam as hotel
keeper. II was clean, cool. cOmforta-
BILE, well appointed with good food at
reasonable rates.
The heat at the canal zone was
actually less than before arriving and
after leaving there. Soon after Ieav-
ing New YORK blankets and wraps
are discarded and for many days the
weather is tropical. OFF the gulf the
ocean water was Sc Fahrenheit and
the air much hotter
Before these trips are a complete
success from the point Of view OF the
pleasure seeker Ca majority Of our
passengers were such) several things
will have 20 be done. There must be
more stops and more time at the stop
ping places. a stop at Jamaica will
no doubt be found to be desirable and
at least day and night in the canal
zone, giving time to see the interest
ing city of Panama and the ruins of
old Panama. Opportunity to have
laundry done should be included. The
journey up the Pacific coast would
well be broken by a stop somewhere.
or at least II might he made near
enough 10 land to permit the passen-
gers to see shore. one of the earlier
boats did take the shore route and
passengers booked for the Finland
were shown an enthusiastic letter
from one OF the passengers on that
snip telling Of the attractions of the
coast BY some coincidence the same
letter was read at the steamship Of
nces in Boston New York and Wash
ingtOn. But the Finland never got
closer than 80 miles TO this interest
ing shore and most OF the time no
land was visible
Shortly before leaving Panama Sat
urday afternoon word came that the
Lusitania had been tOrpedoed. Wheth-
er or not the report was true. or what
was the loss OF life was unknown UNI
Ill the folio wing Friday morning when
the wireless brought an answer TO a
IN hn ny NreeNe
(TeXas) station. For nearly a week
while sailing up the Pacific coats of
Central America and Mexico the wire
less had no land stations with which
TO work. The wireless apparatus is
less effective in the tropics. What Is
called static" settles down I'm the hot
moist air and seems 20 mudle the
ether waves a machine which under
favoring conditions Will send and re-
ceive 5000 miles can reach hardly
more than so. The high volcanic
mountains such as those along the
Mexican and Central American coast.
also act as barrier against stations
on the other side of them. So the
operators say.
What the ancients would have re-
garded as q ''portent" was viewed by
the passengers OF the Finland sunday
evening. May 2. Suddenly the eastern
heavens were lighted up with a glow
as IL a rocket, a hundred times bright
er then any human rocket. had burst
behind a thin tropical cloud Then
from behind the cloud a ribbon of fire
seemed 10 be let down toward the
earth and at the end a glowing ball
as OF molten metal. hung suspended
for what seemed a full second and
then fell 20 the sea.
In the Southern Pacific waters the
ship encounters many sea- going tur-
ties. big brown fellows swimming
along so miles from shore with backs
and heads out OF water. Some are
three and four feet I'm length. There
are occasional schools OF porpoiscs
and dolphins. and a small fish which
looks like the herring but leaps from
the water ike the dolphin. Little fy-
Ing FISH. blue and resembling hum
ming birds are aroused by the ships
prov and go skimminE over the
waves. One evening in southern
waters. while the Finland was out OF