Gunnison news-champion., 1918-01-11
SEVERAL LETTERS CONDENS-
ED FROM ORVILLE FRENCH
Balboa, c. Z.
December 18th.

4
December 4th.
Drar folks
Well. am this much closer to the
good old L. S. A anyway, and # We
havc good luck, we should get to Nor
fol- Virginia by Christmas or New
Year. We do not know when we will
| leayo here for the States.
have just completed the most
wonderful trip of my life. II you can
have patience to follow me l will give
you an idea of where l have been the
last six months
On April Goth. I was transferred
from Goat Island to Frisco to the
Crusier Maryland (now the Fred
erick). and the following morning we
let Frisco and anchored in San Diego
ha rbor the day after.
We had shore liberty every day, but
befo~e We left, We got a wireless that
TIL L. S. S. Brutus was on the rocks
al Ccrros Island. which is about 800
mies south Of San Diego. We went
to her rescue and after five days of
ha ri work We got the collier afoat
ana towed her back to San Diego.
Our next stop after leaving San
Diego again was San Jose, Guatamau-
la We anchored there for four days
WI the admiral went to Guatamula
cit on official business.
H'Nt, we arrived in Balboa, Canal
Ion and went in dry dock, and after
tn painting, and scraping had been
completed. we left Balboa and went
thu The Panama Canal. Now, right
he, is one of the most interesting
thing | saw on my cruise. When one
Sc for himself the work that has
be- arcomplished by the men and ma
CT merry, it makes him wonder if there
IS anything that is impossible to mas
ter The work of opening the Culebra
Cut must have been an awfully diff
culr task, but today our biggest battle
sh p- can pass in safety. Then there
is ,h.. work of Gatun-the building of
tn dam to form the artificial lake of
Ga,un and the spillway.
Words cannot describe the wonder
fulne~s Of the whole canal and one
car only appreciate it by making the
try, and it is certainly worth going
mil TO see. So much for the canal.
Ar leaving Colon, on the Atlantic
sid Of Panama, we steamed south and
or June 10th we crossed the equator.
and four days later, we anchored in
III" harbor of Bahia, Brazil. We didn't
stay long here, for we left the next
morning bound for Rio Janerio and
arrived in Rio Jauerio three days later.
w got shore leave as soon as we an
chored, and | might say right here,
that | never expect to see a city equal
to Rio Janerio in beauty. 1t is a mod
ern city in almost every respect, and
because of the tropical surroundings
it is the most beautiful city in the
whole world. We spent Fourth of July
in Rio and had parade ashore of
French, British, Brazilian, and Ameri-
can sailors. Our next port was Mont
evedio. Uruguay. The people of
Montevedio certainly treated US roy
ally, and it is a pretty city.
Our next trip was up the Platte riv
or to Buenos Aires, Argentina, and as
this is the largest city in South Ameri-
ca, most of US had a most enjoyable
time. Caruso was in Buenos Aires at
this time and l went and heard him in
opera. He is certainly all that people
say he is and then some.
After ten days of mighty fine time
in B. A., we left and went to sea. Our
official visits were complete and we
had to take our turn at running down
German raiders, SO we were out at sea
fourteen days and came into Rio
again. After shore leave every other
day for fourteen days, we hauled up
anchor and put to sea for another
patrol cruise and after seventeen days
we came into Bahia, and left Bahia for
another cruise after two weeks in that
port. We ended up in Rio again and
laid in harbor for quite q while. Next
we left for Montevedio and stayed in
there for a month. Then we came
back to Rio again.
After q few days here, we started
out Of the harbor on our homeward
bound trip, but the pilot run the ship
across . rock and we had to turn back
and sent divers down to see how badly
we were damaged. They decided we
could make it back to the States o. K.
50 we once more headed out of the
harbor for Norfolk, via Panama, and
here am back thru the canal again.
We are going to dry dock and then to
Hampton Roads.
Well boys, don't you wish you had
been with me on that 25,000 mile
cruise? / must close for now. l re-
ceived mail to-day. The Avant So
ciety sent me a box of candy and l en-
joyed it SO much as it is the first
American made candy I've had in six
months. Write soon and often. Give
my regards to all. With love,
ORVILLE FRENCH.
Dec. %. at Norfolk, Va.