The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1917-12-23

1OTelOck TO the spanish nag at uaWH
! 1t was inconvenient and confusing,
but no one could complain of a lack
! of variety in life.
QuNA Shifting of Allegiance.
| Then Che British, who have a neat
habit of getting between beligerents
| and in settling a quarrel and obtain
| ing the cause of it, captured Pensa
cola for their own and made it the
capital of the British West Indies.
The inhabitants we're beginning to
believe that the Union Jack was their
honest to goodness symbol when
| Galvez, the governor of Spanish
again for Spain.
| dip his finger into this international
mince pie. and falling into the his
| torical habit he dipped it in, not once
| but twice. First, he drove ont the
British, who again were profting by
| the lax Spanish rule to incite the In
dams against the brand new United
States up North: then with Yankee
impartiality he turned about and dis
ciplined the Spaniards for doing the
same thing. And finally, when Flor
ida was coded to the United States in
1921 Pensacola became the seat
of the provisional military govern
=
| her checkered career in a blaze of
rather temporary but dazzling glory.
| Is it any wonder that excitement
and novelty have become a habit
| Pensacolians like to dance. they like
to play golf, sail, swim and fish; they
| ike to fiirt and to go up In airplanes.
| The women are well dressed. for
heaven knows there is an audience
for them. | was dazzled on going to
dinner at the San Carlos to see or
namentab ladies slippered in silver
and gold, diaphanous with tulle.
coiffed with Imagination, and bearing
no single earnark of the provincial.
They were brides, most of them, ar
my and navy brides. Their red
checked, clean cut young husbands
were either attached to thc submarine
| f1otilla stationed at Fort Pickens or
| in training at the Naval Aeronautic
| Station
| The author describes her visit to
i the navy yard and the old Civil War
ruins, Barrancas, the brick walls of
which rise steeply from the gray rem
nants of the old Media de Luna. the
haldf-lnoon fort built by d'Ariola in
| 1896, strange contrast with the
governments present day fortress,
barracks, warsll.ps in the harbor and
( G.
In the hangers were Curtiss school
machines, Thomas airplanes and var
/ ious types of seaplanes.
| | was allowed to go close to the
| beautiful monsters while they were
being "curried" by mechanics, and |
even to put my hand on their polished
sides and to touch the tips of their
| outspread wings. Each had its |
record" This one had always been
Jonah" that one had made an al |
i titude record, this one, with Lieuten-
ant McIlyaine, had been lost in the1
fog the day before and for nine hours
had drifted like lame duck, on Pen
sacola Bay.
| With an aviator, who had witness ,
ed the spectacle more times than he
could remember we stood in the hot
sun more than an hour to watch u
long line of machines, suddenly shak-
en- by astounding explosions. leap
away from shore, skim the surface
of the water for few hundred yards
and then rise steadily higher and
| higher in the sky.
! Like Great Bumblebees.
! They shot away from the beach
one after the other until the sky was
full of dipping, wheeling monsters
They poked their blunt noses straight
at the sun, climbing until the throb-
bling of their engines came to us faint
as pulse beat. They passed and re-
passed each other across the face of
the blazing sky. They coasted down
!: to the water again with subdued
: huns like heavy bumblebees swollen
to nightmarish proportions.
The aviator took me over to see the
dirigible. 1t had just arrived and
; had. been tied up in it's kennel, look
nj vyar Il, 10 III
, dachshund. The =dirigibles kennel, to
tell the truth. was more impressive
"a great floating hangar truly mag
nificent in proportion. which can be
towed out to sea and so turned with |
the wind that the dirigible is able |
to leave its shelter and to reenter it |
with the umost facility.
Then came the authors visit to a |
great battle ship, where she and Mr. |
@Cram were the guests of the admiral |
at luncheon. The trip aboard was !
made in motor barge and they saw
submarine. detached from the other |
vessels in the harbor, and found the /
situation one full of thrills.
At lunch there was very little talk |
of war. We did not know that while.E
we were enjoying the unaffected and |
delightful hospitality of the Columbia |
word had flashed all over the United ;
States that Germany intended to car |
ry on her submarine war. The admiral |
and every one at the luncheon table /
but ourselves knew that the war |
cloud had rolled up over the horizon |
and had spread like menacing /
shadow over America. They knew |
that the dramatic spectacle of SUBJ |
marines, seaplanes and warships all !
about us was soon destined to become |
something more than a dramat.c.
pageant. Yet our talk dealt pleas !
antly with other things. It was not /
until We got hack To Pensacola late