The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1922-12-21
CRUISING AROUND rHE wRoLD
rs Leslie Rowland Aboard the ;. ;.
"I.aconia

"Iaconias
There Is 80 much % tell about our
marvellous cruise 70 San Francisco
that my pen. or rather typewriter
hesitatos where 70 begin. had
made several false starts when
CHANGED TO oyerhear one Of the most
yiyacious young ladies aboard re
counting with great spirit her Inn
pressions Of the tropics. She told the
story so much better than could
that listened In on the conversation
with delight when | heard that the
young lady had written home letter
about the cruise. Immediately beg
ged TO see H. And 50 with the lady's
permission will quote from its
pages her charming description OF
our world cruise. merely emitting
names and personal references The
letter which In part follows has a
charm and piquancy all its own.
THE hardest thing 10 do at sea is
TO write. One hates to leave the de-
lightful decks and IL you write In
your steamer chair there are delight
full interruptions every few minutes.
Wen, let's begin at Havana. II
Is the funniest place imaginable, with
very narrow streets and only one
way traffir The sidewalks are only
wide enough for one person. and as
you 20 through these streets odors
of garlic meet you at almost every
door. Almost all Of the people are Of
dark complexion We went for ride
about the city and enjoyed seeing the
beautiful homes and the historic
MORO Castle The place itself is not
particularly impressive. but IL is only
because II is so different from what
we are accustomed to that II is inter
esting.
eve had lunch at the Sevilla Hotel
20 the accompaniment of as good a
jazz band as have ever heard. In
the afternoon we took another ride
to the great cigar factory which man
ufactures famous brand. Here
seated at long tables, were long rows
Of men rolling cigars. while a man
in the middle of the room read tc
them from book. Each OF the
workers contributes 20 cents week
TO compensate the reader.
After the sightseeing, which wal
over by 4 O'Clock, several of US paid
visit to Sloppy Joe's' the most IA
nous bartender in Havana. The bal
is right out in the street, like al
orange drink place at home. and yot
can get anything you want. Just be
cause could get'a real drink, ! tool
a pineapple juice, which was delic
ious. In the evening we dined at thu
! Cafe de Paris. which reminded me o
familiar resort In Greenwich VII
, Iage. After dinner, we went TO th'
Casino TO watch them gamble. l
Z was fascinating. and | don't know
: what would have happened to me
Il had had money enough TO play
We took the tender TO the Laconii
. at IL that night and left Havana
, Harbor at the next morning. whiel
was Sunday.
eve had lovely weather iron
: Havana on, although rather warn
? until Wednesday when we passe'
through the Panama Canal. tn
locks are not unlike those we wen
through on a trip on the Great Lakes
I especially enjoyed Balboa and Pan
, ANA. Ny first trip ashore was yisl
3 TO the swimming club at Balboa
! Here | saw all kinds Of swimmin
p races, particularly those by very smal
$ children, from four years up. The
are trained by a Mr.. crabbe, "a
nous instructor Both Balboa an
Panama are extremely picturesqu
old towns and show a strong SPANS
! influence. We visited the old sectio
OF Panama, where the Spanish sett
r ed 900 years ago, and saw beautifl
y old homes, rich in historic associa
ton.
"To American eyes II Is curious
Gee the streets filled with small chi
dren who wore no clothes The
. brown skin made them look
/ though they we're made 81 chocolate