Daily Kennebec journal., 1922-03-04
Letter from Local
Boy on Tennessee

Mrs. William Heath of IS Water
street. Mr.. Heath was for many
years shoemaker in Johnson Bros.
Shoe Mani, Co.. of this city. Mrs.
Heath died several years ago and
shortly after her death Walter, who
was then in the grammar school,
left eis studies and went to Ave with
his sister. Ina. who was. married and
lived in Windsor, VT, and he worked
for some time in a munition factory
there during the war. Later enlist
ing in the navy where ne now is.
Walter, always called Mrs. Runnells
"Auntie" as showr in the letter. He
is only IS ami since being in the
navy he has studied hard to complete
the education which was interrupt
ed whc lie lett school here short
ly afto: his mctter's death.
United States Ship Tennessee
San Francisco, Calf.
February %, 1922.
. Dear Auntie:
You will no doubt think I am
long way from home when you re-
ceive this letter. from California,
where / am now stationed.
The first thing that I want to
know is.--how are all you people
in HaIlowell. Hope you are all well.
Suppose the boys are with you.
Have been in the best of health
myself since ! have been in the
navy, so you see / have a whole lot
70 be thankful for. Some strange
ttat I don't grow any taller or big
ger, but guess l wasn't meant to be
big ever as I weigh just about the
same as when T enlisted. which is
about 12O pounds. There is n lot or
hard work in this outfit and many
places where the air is not of the
best, on a large ship like the Ten
nessee. When we came over on this
coast, I was transferred from the
\ machine shop to the boiler repair
crew as assistant in charge and
have been on this station ever since.
When on duty, I am nearly always
down in the bottom of the ship where
the air is at it's worst, despite the
! fact that there is a very good ven-
! tllating system.
While we were in the Tropics last
summer and on our way here. the
heat was% very intense. You may
hardly believe it. but for nearly
week at one time, the temperature
was up to lGo degrees in some parts
OF this ship. Many of the engineers
had to stand there watches with
nothing put pair of tights on, and
n.cny were overcome by the heat. 1t
was certainly q relief to get out of
the tropics at that time.
After we had our speed trials off
the coast of Maine last May, we,
! were "all set" to so west and join
! the Pacific feet. We left New York
/ for the last time on the morning of
May 18th, our destination. being
San Pedro, California. We had
beautiful trip despite the intense
heat going through the tropics.
| The first sight of land five days
after leaving New York was San Sal
/ vador the island which Columbus
discovered first, as u part of the new
! land of America. We struck the
| beautiful Gulf Stream many miles off
the coast of Virginia. 1t is a body
of water noted for its beauty. it be-
ing u rich blue, much like blucinS
which is used in clothes. The Gulf
Stream is very warm, with lots of
beautiful scawecd and also the flying
fish.
1t may be real chilly in Virginia
but about q hundred miles off the
coast when you strike the Gulf
stream it seems like the warmest day
in summer. 1t is surely i wonder
full change of climate to experience In
such q short time. After We get into
the Gulf stream we see many great
water spouts, which spell disaster to
the ship that is hit by one. Several
times we were obliged to change the
course of the ship to escape these.
They may be broken up by large
guns, and there were two gun crews
standing by to shoot into them if nee
eSSary.
AS we pass around Cuba and
through the islands, we enter the
Caribbean Sea otherwise known as
the Spanish Main. What would the
old pirates think, could they but see
us: What would they have thougki
of such q ship?
We dropped anchor in Colon, at the
entrance of the canal about eight
days from New York. Here we stay
ed two days for recreation, and a
chance to see the country of Panama.
We entered the canal seven o'clock
in the morning and were in the Pa
citic by seven in the evening.
The Panama canal is one of the
greatest engineering feats that l have |
ever seen, and to my mind of all the |
wonders of the world it is the great |,
est. You would hardly believe your
own eyes at first sight, of the canal, |
that such q large ship as the Tenes |
see could possibly squeeze through. |
1t looks like a crack at a distance but
as We entered it, we saw that we only |
cleared the banks by few feet. and
in some places we could almost jump J
ashore. The canal is very deep.
The most amazing parts of the can
al are the three sets of locks, and the
Culebra Cut. The way they lift
giant ship in the locks is almost In
believable. unless you are there and
see just how it is done. We are lifted
up into the Gatan Lake by these
great locks for the lake is about 200
fet above sea level. After We leave
the lake, We sail through a small
mountain, known as Culebra Cut, and
we are then lowered into the Pacific
Ocean. by two sets of locks.
From the canal TO join the fleet in