Evening star., 1937-03-28
Pacific Has No Monopoly
On Tropical Romance
Superior Noon, Picturesque Natives and Music All
Found in Nassau, Where Brttania and
Money Share the Rule.
Bv William A. Bell, T.

0D ~ nt11W n. DeIt, J.
Y WIDER the influence of Holly
wood, Nordhoff and Hall, the
press agentry of the Pacific
~ steamship lines and the Ter
ritory of Hawaii, good many million
average American minds are of the
belief that the South Sea Islands and
environs have virtual monopoly on
such natural delights as coral atolls,
palm-f -fringed beaches, rainboW-hued
tropical fish, picturesque natives, lus-
cious moons, turquoise waters and so
forth.
AS a matter of fact, the South Sea
"atmosphere' is obtainable in some
measure almost at our doors, so to
speak, in the Bahamas and West
Indies, and at the risk Of sound g
like paid propaganda agent for
British colonial interests off the coast
OF Florida I'm going to annoy the in
habitants of climatically uncomfort-
able latitudes with some recollections
OF sojourn in one of his Britannia
majesty's island possessions in the
Atlantic.
II I am heard to give hail to old
Nassau, 1 don't mean Princeton Uni
versity, but Nassau, New Providence,
Bahamas, British West Indies where
colors are to the orange and black of
the New Jersey institution of higher
learning as the costume of a drum
major is to the mourning garb of a
Victorian lady.
In the first place, let it be said that
Winter travel, 1887, is within the
reach Of all, or nearly all. Even news
paper reporters can DO it. For about
5000 any one can have a high old
time for two weeks and get ones self
adequately sunburned And thousands
are doing 1t. Trains southbound and
northbound were filled almost to
capacity.
The scenery of the Atlantic Coastal
Plain is not of such stuff as to cause
the heart to leap when it beholds.
Tobacco Road" vistas predominant un-
til you get in the Charleston vicinity,
where there are melancholy miles Of
swamp, with their bearded oaks and
cypress and here and there the young,
pink blossoms Of the swamp naples.
You can stick to your Sunday Star
or New York Times or reread the
time table and not miss much in the
way OF panorama. The rotogravure
sections are more exciting
MIAMI at in the morning Every
one on the train seems to be going
to the Pan-American Airport. said to
be among the most beautiful in the
world. The reputation could not be
exaggerated. Principal attraction
seems to be monster globe, which
revolves slowly in well in the center
OF the main floor. You stand there
and watch all the lands you've ever
dreamed of visiting go by in unin-
terrupted procession.
There is a veranda like a ships
deck, where you can watch the big
seaplanes take off for Havana Mas
sau and South America A metallic
voice comes through an amplifler,
which you look for but can't find.
1t is instructing all passengers for the
Havana Clipper to go to pier 8.
The plane takes off. With a Wag-
merriam laundering 1t flashes over the
green wavelets. tossing geysers of
spray; then rises like silver flying
fish, driving toward the sun with an
ever-diminishing roar until, little
fly against the blue backdrop of
heaven, 1t disappears
A few minutes later the Nassau
Clipper is of and see the skyline
OF Miami, the hotels, the Office build
ings and public buildings like ala
baster towers of some ancient city,
Nineveh or Tyre, rich and beauti-
ful, born OF the sea, welded to the
sea.
Green water. Blue water-blues so
exquisite they can't be named. Roget's
Thesaurus gives lapis lazuli, sapphire,
turquoise, indicolte, ultramarine, CO.
bait Prussian, indigo, azure, cerulean
midnight, navy, cadet, robins egg.
baby, aquamarine. They're all
there, in the waters between Florida
and the Bahamas. At one place the
sea is milkish blue, like washtub
water to which starch has been added.
Here it is shallow and you see the
clean, white sand bottom. Toward the
horizon and in patches here and there
the Atlantic is literally purple, purple
as the dye the ancient Greeks used
to derive from sea shells.
Two hours out of Miami the plane
steward points to long green strip
Of land lying to the right.
"NASSAU," he shouts into the COT
ton-stuffed ears Of his passengers.
A foamy surf Is curling over the
crescent reef off the eastern end of
the Island of New Providence. The
white triangles of sails are seen off
shore, A light house shoots past un-
derneath. Gardens, tennis courts,
pink houses We are down in the
harbor without bump The roar Of
four motors stops, and the plane drifts
idly in the astonishingly blue water
Black boys in trunks are swimming
near the pier, as black as the water
is blue. They are whining: Boss!
Boss! Give me chawnce, please,
'sboss; please, 's'boss!"
There was some significance in q
high hat on one divers kinky pate
The Nassau diving boys-persistent
little beggars-scorn anything less
than dime or a sixpence. Throw
coppers-American pennies or British
pennies and 'pennies-and they'll
leave them on the bottom. They've
even learned tn distinguish between
thr'pence and sixpence, although both
are silver coins.
His majesty's colonial customs Of
dcers are ever so polite and ever so
accommodating. They don't open
your luggage at adjust ask you If
you've anything except wearing ap-
parel and personal effects.
Being lover of pomp, circumstance
and official magnificence, the first