Evening star., 1925-04-26

Traditional ability >of the Navy to
surmount any obstacle was displayed
by Comdr. J. II. Hoover and 123
officers and bluejackets of the Subma-
rine Division s, comprising the U
boats, when, marooned in the interior
of Ecuador, they travelled through
jungles. over trails which had not
been in use for 80 years, withstood
the onslaught of vermin, lost horses
over precipices, but came back to the
ships on time. A report of the trip
reached the Navy Department yes
terday.
They were royaIy treated and enter
tanned by the officials and the popu-
lace of the South American republic,
and were given every assistance.
After the ships had been anchored
at the port of Guayaquil, arrange
ments were made to take the liberty
party to Quito by special train. Even
this train carries a special work crew
to remove powders and rocks con-
stantly falling on the right of way.
But when the party reached Quito
the torrential rains wiped a large
part of the railroad out. There was
nothing left for the American sea-
men to do but follow the old trails
back
Encounter Many Hardships.
The minister of war" said Comdr.
Hoover. in his report. got his mill
| tary zone chief at a city called Rio
bamba, half way to Guayaquil, to
handle the situation, and he promised
to get us through some way.
THE trip over the trails comprises
about so miles at attitudes from IA 900
to 500 feet, zigzagging over mountains
whose sides were so degrees to the
horizontal, through jungles and
swamps with mud two and three feet
deep miles of it), over trails long in
disuse, blocked every mile or so by
mud and rock slides, very dangerous
to the animals. fording streams, cross
| ing native bridges which had to be
rebuilt every three days, encountering
the tropical rains, the cold at high
attitudes, living at night in native
huts infested with the most voracious
vermin which I have ever seen, and
eating the native cooking which was
| so filthy and unpalatable that 1t does
not bear any description.
ION the morning of March %, we
| left Quito on special train for
Riobamba, and arrived there that
night. The men had each been loaned
one or two blankets by the Military
Cadets
After stopping at this town for a
!
and clothing for the trip and to permit
| the Ecuadorean military to get more
| horses. as we'll as to instruct the mer
what to do on the trip, the party pro
ceeded, the report explaining as fol
| lows:
AT am, March "a, we made a
short ride in the train and disem
| barked at Cajabamba where the trail
commences. Here we found 80 horses
and mules, only about 80 of which
were At to travel, which fact we found
out the first day. The baggage was
carried on the backs of so Indians
who were guarded by soldiers, one tc
each three Indians. Such officers and
men as were detailed mounted the
animals, the others proceeded on foot
and about am. we started up the
trail. This part of Ecuador is very
sparsely settled, and there are practi
cally no villages along the way, there
| fore, when at about pm. we came
to farmhouse and church. we decided
| to spend the night. We had made 6
distance of about II miles.
"The men and officers slept on the
floor of the church; the army officer
with us commandeered all the chick
| ems, eggs, etc, in the valley, and g