Macon beacon., 1916-07-28
Letter From Mr.. HGddOn

1OTk ClLy COuIO nave mdu6 nOIe U
many things that would have been in
teresting topics for conversation will
my little girl friends in Macon. Wher
one visits a new city for tire first timt
its beauties and differences to othel
cities impress the visitor with mucf
more interest than they do the fire.
quent visitor. No one in New York
City knew me 30 l was not one bit EN-.
barrassed to get out in the middle Of
a street and count the height in stories
of the Flat Iron, the Woolworth, the
Equitable Life Insurance and other
tall buildings. l merely wanted tc
verify the pictures l have seen ir
magazines. My counts Tailed exactly
with the pictures so am satisfied. II
you are not, when you visit that city,
have the courage to do what l did anc
you will believe as l do. I walked 81
blocks up Broadway just to see if
could walk across the city. but along
towards night l asked policeman
whose smile made me class him as 8
kind hearted Irishman, how much
further to the end of the street. HI
looked at me and smiled and said
"Just 80 miles further" thought
perhaps he was telling the truth, so
gave up my proposed walk. My pas
sage to Rio de Janiero was pleasant
after the first two days out. These
two days | spent in my cabin-you see
cabin life was a novelty to me and
Just could nj resist the desire to live
quietly in it for awhile. l was so in
terested in the newness of everything
that did not care for one bit of food
for the whole of those two days, My
cabin mate, who is chief accountant for
the National City Bank of New York,
begged me to 60 up on deck and by all
means I should eat oranges and drink
some brandy. but I knew l was not
hungry and also knew the deck was
10 place for me. But cabin life is very
hard on one. think I lost ten pounds
in two days. Perhaps its the seclusion
and the violent exercise the ship sub
jects one to that is responsible. After
passing Cape Hattera 7eSe sea was not
rough any more, and the further south
we came the smoother the waters be-
came. The temperature did not rise
above S5 deg. any day and there was
always a good breeze. The nights
were very pleasant and always clear
But the Atlantic ocean is a thousand
times larger than l thought it. We
were going every hour, day and night,
for over eighteen days. We made but
one halt and that was when the ship
anchored ont in the bay of Bahia for
one hour. 1t is said to be the longest
trip without stop in the world. From
New York City to Rio de Janiero is
54O5 miles. The furnaces used nearly
$500 tons of coal during the 18 days.
We averaged about 13 mills per hour
during the trip. Our captain, Cap
tain Codogan, was extremely cautious
at night. No deck lights were on un-
til the entire deck was closely cur
tanned. All the port windows were
shaded before any cabin lights were
turned on. The ship carried no flag
yes, one, but not larger than 9xll,
until we were going into the harbor at
Rio. Capt. Codogan was captain of
the Van Dyke that the Germans cap
tured from the English nearly two
years ago. We received wireless
news daily until we were across the
equator line. No message could be
sent out from the ships station. The
stewards of the ship were young
Englishmen and they were all glad
when we received the news that par
lament had passed the conscription
measure. The wireless operators were
English. They have great faith in
their navy. Too much, it seems, for
they are slow to realize that they
must now be as strong on land as on
the sea.
shall not try to describe Rio, but l
will say that if there is any poetry,
any love for the beautiful in yourssoul.
lit cannot be dormant when you enter
the bay at Rio just at sunrise. We
had quite a number of paA sengers
aboard who have seen all of / lrope,
Is - and parts of Australia and Afri-
|ca, End they were unanimous in say
ling that Rio and its surroundings
make it the most picturesque city in
the world. 1t has water front of Is
miles and all of it laid out with granite
marble. The hotels are not so good as
ours but the ford is better and the
lost about the same. The speed law
pf the city for autos is very carefully
pbserved-the speed limit is the capa-
eity of the engine and every driver
kries to make his car the fastest. The
EARS are all European makes. did
not see but one Ford The driver,
kho. was doing his best to pass big
Swiss car and the last saw of the
.aao tho Ford aeemed To be holding its