The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1919-06-22


Friday. May l6, on the Pacific-We
are off the coast Of Peru and within
one degree Of the equator. however
II has grown cooler every degree
southwark thanks TO the ocean current
from the South pole known as the
! "Humbolt," named after the man wht
! discovered 1t.
The sea has remained calm all the
way-no such swells as on the Gun
/ of Mexico and Caribbean sea. The
/ rock of the ship is less than passen
( ger train in the states. | walk the
! deck In the coat In which l left home
and am comfortable, although it was
| 100 warm there Tonight we shall
| sleep under blankets and on this side
of South America, the climate Is IKE
| this the year around. This thing call
ed climate Is peculiar indeed. On the
lsthmus it rains 1870 inches year
on the Atlantic side, while on the Pa
| ciflc side It rains 60. although the dis
| tance across from ocean to ocean is
but a. miles.
Never Rains-ISut Ii FOgs!
While on the coast of southern Peru
it never rains, but there is hanging
cloud or fog, at all times sufficient
to wei your clothes. Again northern
Chile is n dry desert but it rains in
southern Chile fourteen feet year.
We are warned TO have woolen clothes
and blankets when we land at Mollendo
pronounced "Moyando.O II taking the
sound of of y. the same as in VillaJ. But
knew this before / left home and
made provision, but three gold seekers
from Missouri gave their overdoata
away. They 80 my way as far as
La Paz, Bolivia. ! am sure SHOW
mo-" in Missouri style viii! be given
them by the time they reach Lake
Titcaca which is l2,500 feet high and
that lake is two miles high, which Is
equivalent to going some 5000 miles
north of the equator.
We have two priests aboard one
Spanish, the other Chilean. They
make themselves agreeable with the
passengers. The Spanish priest speaks
English also. lie told me that Card
inal Gibbons, arch bishop of Baltimore,
had ordained him. and then | showed
him letter from the great Prelate
Introducing me to- the Reverend clergy
Of Bolivia. Since then, he has become
real considerate and pleasant. For
five hours late today we have Travelled
some three to five miles along the
Peruvian shore. Oil derricks may be
seen all along. The land is barren.
Not a tree, plant, or shrub can be seen
anywhere, and | am told this is so
for many miles inland
At 7 p. m. we anchored in the ma
tural harbor of Paita more than a mile
from shore. Little boats could be
seen in the distance. When the ladder
was lowered the doctors and quaran-
tine officers came aboard to make in
spection. a lone passenger, a Scotch
man in the oil business took one of the
little boats and went ashore. These
little boats pulled alongside and held
to the ladder, the men called Fra
terios," and covered the deck in search
ashore. Then the ladder was covered
with Indians offering panama hats
for sale, having them rolled up and
pushed into sacks. These were offer
ed from s. to $25 each. Several were
purchased by passengers at from 81 to
So each after much noise and dicker-
ing. The ship did not receive its
clearance papers till after 10 o'clock
when it sailed around the most ives
terly point of South America, which
is a great oil field called Piara.
Wearing Overcoats Near Equator
Monday, May 19.-We are this morn
ing near the coast Of Salvemy some
nine degrees south of the equator and
we all wear warm clothes and cloaks
and overcoats on deck. The weather
is about like last March weather at
home while the winds We're blowing
from the South, although we are but
the same distance south, as the Pana-
ma canal is north of the equator. This
is the effect of the Humbot current.
The ship anchored here about IL
o'clock last night mile from shore
and will remain here till noon tomor-
row loading ''Azucar," or sugar made
here in large quantities by German
colonists, on irrigated lands.
The ship rolled during the three
hours preceding its arrival and then
all when worse when it was anchored
than while in motion which is a great
annoyance 10 one when trying to sleep.
y strange appearance is the sea all
around. 1t looks like the ship had
just sailed over a hill and is sailing
over another The ocean all along
appears higher than where the snip is
moving. Then again. upon approach
ing land the point where it and the
water meet appears to be the lowest
place.
one of the odd things about this
ship is that it carries chickens, tur-
keys, cows, and beef cattle which are
butchered from day to day. The first
morning out, Growing of the chickens
awoke me. 7 quickly arose to get
sight ot a real South American hen
house. When l asked one of the crew
if We had passed it he laughingly re.
piled, IT'S ON the upper deck" l went
up. say. Believe me, tl:ey need
better breed OF chickens. This lot was
a flock of Dung hills"
Canal Zone Afterthought
Some things not mentioned in for
mer letters, observed on the Canal
Zone, l shall mention here.
The custom when meeting on the
streets is to turn to the left. | found
this difficult when crossing the streets
to prevent colliding with vehicles.
As l stated in former letter. the
weather does not appear so hot as in