The Leavenworth echo. [volume] (Leavenworth, Wash.) 1904-current, 1918-03-01
u. S. S. Great Northern, New York
Feb. 10, 1918

u. S. S. Great Northern, New YORK
Feb. 10, 1918
We are long way from home,
just finished the voyage of 25 days,
a very nice trip. Leaving Seattle
we put in at Frisco for few days
then down the Coast to Balboa. Saw
many interesting sights, such as fly
ing fish and most every kind of
tropical bird
Balboa is the Government city at
Panama. We made a party of nine
and had two machines to tour Pan
anna City. 1t is a wild place. Streets
narrow and everything wide open.
Our ships liberty was half of the
ships company, which is 2,s40 men,
so just think of 1400 men in town
where they could buy liquor.
There is no control of the city's
streets and evryone goes as fast
as he can. Only two machines
can run on one street at a time.
After an hour or so of such risks
in order to visit the Cathedrals
which are wonderful with their
wealth of silver ornaments, we left
Panama City for the old city of
Spanish Panama This is the place
where the U. S. army captured
great stone wall wrecks of what was
once a fort or a Spanish mansion.
We passed lot of brown tanned
American soldiers at Milaflores
Locks. We met quite a number of
white women, wives of men en-
ployed on the canal. They did not
look overjoyed at being in such
country. So dreadfully hot you al
most suffocate. That night in Pan
anna, was however the widest that
I have yer seen in my life. The
next day we were on our way once
more thru the canal, which is a Won
derful piece of work. After leav-
ing Colon City, the eastern port Of
Panama, we put out to sea, which
was very rough. Our next landing
was at Charleston, S. c., On enter
ing the harbor here you pass the
old Fort Sumpter of Civil war fame.
Charleston is not much of city.
About a 100000 population, sixty
per cent of which are colored. Went
to military ball there and had
very nice time. The next day -''e
were on the sea again. c.
weather to Cape Hatteras, the
snow, ice and wind. A week az
we would have given almost any
thing for a pail of ice water.
Will have to write later of New
York, Have not had chance to
go ashore yet.
Ewing Boyle.
It may be of some interest to
people of this town to learn that
this soldier boy was born in Lea
venworth.-Ed.
The Chelan News contained the
following letter from one of their
bows who is learning to fly:
"As you know I have been receiv-
ing regular instructions in flying.
That means that every morning
go up with an instructor and learn
all the ways to control a machine.
After so many hours of instruction
you are turned loose and must fly
by yourself. Of course you under
stand the machines are double con-
troll so that the instructor can as
sumo control at any time. The in
struction generally lasts about five
hours lin periods of thirty minutes.
When the instructor thinks you
are good enough to turn loose he
gets out and ties a white flag to the
tail of the machine and tells you to
take it around the field alone.
That is "take-off" fyaround the
field (about a miles) and land.
You may take my word for it, you
will never know a thrill or tense
moment until you try it. You see
while the instructor is with you he
is always taking the control away
from you and even when YOU have
them you know if anything happens
he will get you out of it. You also
realize when you start out alone,
that you don't know much about it.
Well you square the ship around
and see that no other ships are in
the way, look to see that your all
oron (or flaps on the end of the
wings that control the lateral sta
bility) are in neutral. Fix yourself
in your seat and open the throttle
and start. The tendency of ship
in taking off is to go in every di-
rection but straight ahead. II is
kept from doing that by the dudder,
which is back on the tail of the ma
chine and which you control by a
bar on which you feet rest. Tell
father It steers like a Ford with a
radius rod bent. Then the tail must
be raised with the elevators (alsO
on the tail and controlled by push
inQ the wbee1 awav from 1,ou or