Morgan County Democrat. (McConnelsville, Ohio) 1886-1943, 1931-04-23

coins from the pockets of some of
our Fellow passengers. These birds
are small, even when quite old, but
natives sell them to tourists as
young parrots just, learning to talk.
When the captain saw the birds
by 1.-THE passengers, he
gave a big laugh and passed off
some wise sayings: Young par.
rotsr', he calculated "Say, those
birds are. at least a hundred years
old. Look at their gnarled legs il
you don't believe it," And such
was the case. Parakeets and other
parrots are noted for longevity,
some attaining, as is supposed, an
age Of 500 years. a4ui9
Corinto is the port of, Nicaragua.
Here we landed on the 22nd. We
little thought as we visited the
town that within six weeks it
would be the scene of a frantic exc
dus to escape one of the most dev-
astating and death dealing earth
quakes of modern times Manag,la,
the capital of Nicaragua, located
rs miles inland from Corinto. was
completely destroyed, and 1000 of
its inhabitants killed. Afterwards,
El Viejo, a volcano near Corinto,
which we saw, became active, for
the first time in so years. 'foe
On the 23rd we skirted the coast
of Nicaragua and Costa Rica. The
sea was quite rough and some Of
the passengers suffered sea sick
ness. But this did not dampen our
interest in the inspiring scenery
along the shore, which included a
number of active volcanoes. On
the oath we landed at Puntarenas.
, the port of Costa Rica, and the
western terminus of a continental
railroad that spans the country
, Arrive At Balboa
! From Puntarenas we continued
on to Balboa. arriving Feb. 25
The harbor was filled with the
ships of many nations. Among
these was the entire Pacific fleet of
the United States Navy. together
with German warship and the
British battleship Renown, said to be
the largest afioat. In all there
were 1877 ships. not counting shore
boats, in the harbor.
In the course of our stay we Wis
tied the United States battleships
Texas and California and also H.
M. S. Nelson. Many courtesies
were shown to us by the officers of
both navies. As we inspected these
huge and expensive fighting units,
we could not help thinking how
powerless they would be against
warfare Waged by airplanes
Balboa is strictly a United States
government town, maintained for
federal employees only. Tourists CT
other translents are not permitted
even to lodge in the city without of
fclal sanction. The only hotel is
operated by the Y. NJ G. A. for the
benefit of those who may be strand
ed for a few hours in the port. All
others must lodge outside the
Canal Zone. On the west coast
this happens to be the old and in
terestingi city of Panama. H.a
! ~iu Modern City or Panama taI
flnThe modern city Of Panama is
the successor of the original town
bof Panama, which was laid waste
by the pirate Morgan in 1871. It
hn1nfifDl nif in nyin d
ting. under the protection Of the
United States, and subject to the
sanitary regulations of the United
States department OF health. va 9th
erwise it is part of the republic of
Panama, and the capital thereof.
Romance eenters about Panama!
The east coast was first visited by
Christopher Columbus on his fourth
voyage. Had the great discoverer
been able to sail on west through
the isthmus he would indeed have
reached India by the shortest and
most direct route from western
Europe, There was nothing at
tractiye about the isthmus when
Columbus saw it. The isle Of Man
camilla. on which he landed. is the
site Of the modern city of Cristobel,
but in the time of Columbus and
until the United States undertook
the building of the canal, it was a
marshy island covered with a dense
growth of poisonous trees, inhab-
tied by aliigators and other huge
reptiles, and exuding miasmic va
pors. After Columbus, the Spanish
continued to visit the isthmus, but
it was not until 1913 that Balboa
succeeded in forcing his way
through the tropical jungle that
covered the land, and discovered
the Pacific ocean The point Of his
discovery was about 120 miles east
Of the western end Of the present
canal. Four years later Balboa
was beheaded at the instigation of
rivals, while he was preparing an
expedition for the conquest of Peru.
His body was buried along the wa
ters of the great ocean which he
was privileged to discover t-. f"-
Panama City The Original
In 1919 the original city of Pan
anna was founded. From here in
1881 Pizarro started on his re-
nowned conquest of Peru. Soon the.
gold OF. the, Incas, valued at mil
Lions, was pouring into Panama and
over the isthmus to the Atlantic
where itswas laden into galleohs
and taken to Spain Panama cityI
passed quickly from a group of in
significant huuts ut to a great metropo-1
lis, A road. known as the Goid't