Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-06-14


mathematical faculty. 1t has confused
me right up to the point of actual ex-
perience. Yet, having faith in the tes-
stimony Of the navigating officers, who
had discussed the matter with me in
advance, I felt qualified to challenge
Chairman Johns the other day when
hs declared that the day-by-day set
ting back Of our watches amply suf-
feed to take up the slack In the calen-
sdar due to the crossing Of the meridian.
Not until he saw the captains mandate
;on the bulletin board did he yield from
this interesting hypothesis.
Sudden Change of Sea. :
That the old saying that one never
knows what the crossing of the 180th
meridian means until the bump Is felt
has had somewhat of justification in
q sudden change of sea yesterday a
few hours after. we had crossed, the
.line. 1t had been oily and smooth, un-
,oanny in its calm, almost from Honolulu,
80 placid was 1t that on Friday eve
ming at sunset the rays of the sun cast
.prismatic colors upon the unbroken sur.
face, gently rising and falling under the
:inf1uence of the great swell. There
were iridescent hues in the troughs of
these broad, billowlike rollers, hues
that suggested the plumage of birds.
Then came a veritable canary tone to
.the entire surface, as the sun dropped
below the fringe of clouds lowering over
the western horizon. For few
minutes the Pacific was a golden plain,
all around the ship, for countless miles.
:. Yesterday word spread rapidly
Through the ship that Capt Arakida had
received q radio message from Japan
that q storm was prevailing between
our position and the Islands. Some
of the passengers, not realizing that
we were then some 1900 miles from
land, became q bit alarmed lest we
run into violent disturbance. And
during the evening, in the course of
the stewards entertainment, of which
II will write later, when the ship began
to pitch somewhat sharply there was
q quick spread of distress lest the
storm was at hand. Then came the
Thought that perhaps this was merely
the bump" of the meridian, few
hours behind time.
& Storm Is Escaped.
!. II there was q storm between us and
the shore it has either fiattened out or
moved along, for this morning the sea
was smooth again, not CLASSY, as for
ssome days, but merely pleasantly rip
piled by wavelets, scarcely big enough
to do credit to the Potomac. Yet the
temperature has dropped somewhat, and
.overcoatS were again in evidence this
morning, and sweaters have reappeared
For we have been steadily climbing back
northward ever since leaving Honolulu
reaching our most southerly point as
we swung around the headland of the
western side Of Oahu.
Several days ago meeting was held
IN the winter garden" of the ship for
the formation OF. the usual deck-games
committee. It was an international or
ganization, when finally effected, headed
by our own chairman. Immediately
notices began to appear on the walls
proclaiming numerous events" en-
trance in which was solicited from all
the passengers. I signed up for eight
of them, In none of which I had the
slightest chance. These sports ranged
through deck Quoits and shuffie board
to deck golf, somewhat complicated
combination Of Switchboard and tiddle-
winks and golf, In which the japanese
are highly proficient
At this writing have discharged all
of my obligations In the competitions
but one, having been promptly elm
mated in every sport in the first round
save that of shuttle board, in which my
partner and managed to survive to
the second series. The sole contest
.still to be played Is that of bridge, in
which have as partner Herbert
Matthews Of the New York Times.
When another dawn comes that, too,
will probably be recorded, with other
names than ours in the lead.
Deck games are chiefly worth while
for the mixing up Of passengers en-