The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1918-02-23
SEEING SOUTH AMERICA.

SEEING SOUTH AMERICA.
Letter from Louisiana Boy ON One
of Uncle Sans War Ships.
A loyal young Louisianian from one
of the parishes of the Attakapas sec
ton of the state, who enlisted in the
navy before the passage of the select
i've draft law and was assigned to SER
vice on the admiral's flagship of a
squadron OF United States war YES
sells, has written to a relative an en-
tertaining account of his first trip
across the, equator to South America,
and the Chief is pleased to have the
privilege of quoting the following ex-
tracts from the interesting letter,
which is dated Somewhere at Sea,
Sunday, December 20, 1917"
81 can tell you now something of
the places we have visited on our
South American cruise. Leaving
Colon, we were steaming sixteen days
and our first stop was June 10, when
Neptune Rex and his court took pos
session of the ship to hold sway for a
day as we went through his domain
and crossed the equator. It was one
of the greatest days in the American
navy when between 600 and 700 were
initiated into the solemn mysteries of
the Ancient Order of the Deep. Nep-
tunes court was dressed in costumes
made by each member for himself
and wish you could have seen them.
have some pictures that were taken
that day and will send you some as
soon as can get q chance.
"On the forecastle was constructed
a big tank made Of canvas and filled
with sea water, and platform just
back of it large enough to hold the
whole court except the bears, and
they were in the tank. The officers
were first up, the initiates being taken
in the order of their rank and senior
ity. Commander Briggs being first,
was charged with rank cowardice for
having been in the service twenty-five
years and never crossed the line.
He was fined SIS, but complained that
the fine was awful steep and was
promptly fined $40 for talking back
to the judge, and so on down the line.
1t would take too long for me to ten
you what each man was accused of,
and then it doesn't have as much hu
NOR to it unless you knew the parties.
"After the officers came the creR.
You came upon the platform, your
name was checked off and you were
reported to the judge if a charge was
preferred against you, and you had to
take the verdict and report to the
court dentist, who squirted solution
of soap, water, oil and black pepper
into your mouth. Next the court doc
tor gave you a pill of grease and
bread, then for the court barber.
You sat in chair balanced upon a
rod. If your hair was little long;
they cut big chunk out Of the mid
die. Then for the lather for the
shave they slapped you in the face
with a brush full Of soap, oil, lamp
black, flour and water and gave you a
push. The chair tilted over back
wards and then you were in the hands
of the bears, and they kept you feet
up and head under water until you
seemed to have drunk half the salt
water in the tank, then for luck as
you were crawling over the side of lhe
tank they gave you rap with club
for good measure. No one was ex-
cused except those on the sick list,
and we sure did have a good tine
that day.
ssThe first port we put into was
Bahai, Brazil. It is one of the first
towns built by the Portuguese when
Brazil was first settled. Though it is
in the heart Of the sugar district it
has never developed much and is one
Of the dirtiest places have ever
visited. It is lovely place to look
at from the bay, but once in the town
YOU soon see all there is to see and
are ready to leave. I was only
ashore there from 1890 on a Sunday
morning to 4:30 that afternoon. /
don't know how it is back in the in
terror, but a two-hour auto ride
through the city and you have seen
all there is worth seeing. We were
there several days, but the wind was
so high it was unsafe to send boats
ashore.
Leaving there we came on down
to Rio de Janeiro, the most pic
turesque town. / have ever seen.
There you find almost anything there
is to be found anywhere in the world.
There are all sorts of sightseeing trips
to be made and all are fine, such as to.
Sugar Loaf, massive hill Of rock
that commands the entrance to the
harbor and is reached via aerial
tramway. It should always be taken
first, as the trip up Corcovada noun
tain by cog-rail surpasses it SO much
that it loses nearly all it's beauty by
comparison. The trip up Corcovada,
as I have said, is made by electric
drawn cog engines, and from the sum-
NIT you can see vast extent of the
surrounding country and all of Rio.
Before / made the trip was always
getting mixed up in my directions in
Rio, but after that / could go any
where. We were in Rio SO long ] be-
lieve I know it better than New Or
leans. The trip by auto for five
hours takes you through the most
wonderful scenery you ever want to
see. I have heard people who have
travelled through Switzerland say
that the scenery in Rio passes it
by far. The only thing that bothers
us here is the language, which is all