Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1918-07-24
GuARDINc TBr PANAMA CANAL

GUARDING TBr PANAMA CANAL
IBy Harry BLYTHE. 7th Areo Squadron. L. 5.
Army. CristObal. Ca.,al zene. Panama. June
%, 1881
ent I soldering in Panama. as an engine
mechanic with the 18th Areo Squadron. U. S.
Army. The duty of this organization Is 10
discover and destroy or retard. and report TO
our other means of defense any enemy f1rces
Of any nature Whatsoever that may approach
this vicinity"
/ was placed in the fourth class by my lcc'l
board lin Sarycuse, New fcrk, because Of in
dustrial reasons. for yeu the Franki't
Automobile Company where / was employed
were making parts for the government avia-
ton engines, 50 doubt If I would have been in
the army yet if had not gotten a release card
from my local board and voluntarily enlisted.
eElis.ing, | wss sent TO Rich Field, Waco. Tex
as. Was there three months when I vas as
Camp Merritt, New Jersey. where We stayed
awhile and then came down here We were
on the ocean ten DAYS and much water
almost decided I'd never ever care to drink
any more of il.
/ am getting on fine with my soldier duties.
and believe my previous service in the Wiscon-
SIN National Guard made il much easier for
me to ht into my pace in the army life. I hope
we are eventually sent 70 France. for our duties
here guarding the entrance Of the canal end
pairoling the sea hard would have
''over there" and there is far less glory for US
because far removed from actual hos
tiiities. Ships from practically all over the
NVFiN kO through mere On various MISSIONS SO
Il quite ar Interest," g place in some ways.
This surely is very different place te live
in than the L. S.--rather hot sN the time. In
fact the range 0f temperature is from "a 10 N6
degrees, and regular cloud bursts Of rain nearly
every day. ] sure also that this Is the
native home of all insects, reptiles and crep-
ing things known to man. At lesst, il seems
that way when you have 20 inspect your shoes
and clothing for most any kind if inhahi-
taHt every time you have them away over
aipht. The tropical vegetation is dense
everywhere that the atmosphere is loaded viii,
pangen; odor of growing things
The negroes and people deriNftIve from them
al shades Of color from black 20 nearly
white, and 0utnumber the whites by a large
margin. These people all speak the Spanish
language, or some sort Of veTEaculaT found
ed the old Spanish Of Cortez and his time.
There are lots Of white people living here
besides n large number of soldiers and sailors,
and they are government employees and live in
cities and villages apart from the native in
habtants.
The Panama people are not progressive
but practice the old crude Ways of making
e living and doing their work. They haul
their sugar cane and fruit TO market on great
clumsy twO-wheeied carts that in themselves
too much of load for the small d0nkeys
and oxen they have, or else they carry stuff
balanced on their heads that We would hate to
try and carry heads. l could write
pages and pages about the canal, but like
"Deutch list verbaten" by the military au-
thOrities.
the chief amusements are cOek-dghting, bull
lighting, prize fighting and other sanEuinary
sports peculiar to these sem-Spanish people.
These affairs held regularly and attended
with the same enthusiasm our ball games
in the states.
Must close now. Write to me often. Let
'crs are worth more than bank notes 10 a sob
der in a strange land.