The Oakley herald. [volume] (Oakley, Idaho) 1908-1961, 1924-08-01

Lear II OlhS.
For all the short letters and card
] have written while away and tn
promises not yet fulfilled of longe
cnes, ! am going to make them al
mp in one attempted description 0
the Panama canal and its surround
ings This will not be from an en-
gineer's point of view, but merel.
the mentioning of a few places o
interest as a traveller and touris
sees them with his meager know
ledge of human history and affairs
Please do not come to the conclu
sion that all the facts and asser
tions. historical or otherwise. there
in referred to are correct. for mos
of my information was received
from the ships crew and fellow pas
sengers. and of course, as is usually
the case, all did not tell the sams
story
-Four days at sea rom Havana, Gu
ba, brought us to the entrance O.
the canal, where we anchored inside
the breakwater projections aboft
three a. m, waiting for seven-thirty
which is the earliest hour that yes
sells are allowed to enter Even in
the early gray light of the morning
everyone was on deck, for this jour
ney through mans great handiwork
was the main feature of this entire
voyage OF over five thousand miles
1t certainly adds to ones pleasure
to have read history and to appreci-
ate the picturesque. or as the light
grew brighter and the jungle-cover-
ed mountains ever clothed in eter-
nal green looked clearer and clearer
until among the foliage the city OF
Colon stood out with its white hou-
ses and great long screened porches.
causing one to think of the past
when a very different aspect would
have confronted a travellers gaze.
AS l looked across the expanse of
ocean separating us from the main
land and pictured TO myself tho
steady drum of the surf upon the
shore, | could not help thinking kof
the four centuries of wild and
bloody romance, mixed with abiect
sGualor and suffering, which has
made up the history of the Isthmus
until within the last twenty-one
Years. In fancy I could see he early
Spanish explorers and foremost
among them Columbus who visited
his country in 1902, at which time
he great navigator was putting
orth every effort to find strait
eading through to the East Indies
thus the sorrowful tales and stories
= the now-severed Isthmus began
nd it has played a part in the pages
history ever since. Considerable
tiles of Spanish foundation rose
here while our own jamestown and
'lymouth were still unimagined.
he industrious, relentless and cruet
paniardrs were building massive
'alls and masonry churches and
onstructing roads there in the Jun
les long before the palisades and
e huts of our early Pilgrim Faith
RS rose on the sandy shores of Cane
cd bay. Even today in the old city
Panama, about six miles along
le coast from the present city now
caring that name, the ruins of o..
tthedrals and arched bridges date
lck to 1910, we were told by our
lide. These landmarks of ormer ,
'andeur loom up beside tie low i
'ass-thatched huts of the natives /,
no live in the most squalid ana ,
retched condition imaginable. II
My mind also followed farther 5
ong the train of events in the ear !,
history Of the westerns hemis- =
ere and | saw Vasea Nunez De L
llboa in the new world as one of !.
e leaders in many an expedition.
Nv, about in 1910, because OF :.
arrels among the explorers. Bal ID,
a found himself in command and o
@'@.N%NS A4fD hAciAt oPOhCu dlOuS Win -.
her heroes in the annals OF Spain. :,
at once began TO conquer the sur il
lnding country. Because of his a!
avery, courtesy, kindness of heart u
d Just dealings, he gained the y.
of several native chiefs. II
was upon one of his excursions ca
1t he heard for the firstti me OF q
mighty ocean on the other side =.
the mountains and of the gold in
ru. 1t was about this time that III
king of Spain was losing faith rc
Balboa, and the latter determined th
attempt some great enterprise the -
cess of which he trusted would n
ciliate his sovereign. In Septem- e1
=, 1913, re set forth with com q
~ OF Spaniards (Francesca Pear ~
among them) and good number -
natives. 1t was during this jour =
=, to be exact on the twenty-fofth