Plentywood herald., 1937-06-24

here and the next day passed
through the canal, which is about
80 miles In length There are three
pairs OF locks on both ends used to
raise and lower the boats. We en-
tered the locks on the Atlantic side
and were raised to the level of Ca
ton lake. This lake is the largest
man made lake in the world and we
sailed across 1t passing through
| enormous man made cuts in the
mountains. On reaching the Pacific
side we were lowered by means of
the locks to sea level. About eight
hours were required to transit the
canal. Another thing that interested
us in Panama was the vegetation.
There is so much moisture and the
ground is so fertile anything grows.
The jungle is so thick that one
can't pass through 1t without actu-
ally cutting his way. We were told
that trails and roads made in this
manner, II not used constantly
would soon close tighter than ever
After another stop at Balboa, Pana-
ma. We were off to San Francisco
The second day out we had Fire
and Man Overheard Drill" in the
morning. This being the first "man
loverboard drill" many believed 1t to
be the actual thing. That same af-
ternoOn, several hours later, the
imam overheard" signal was sound
ed and as we rushed out on deck,
people were hanging over the rail
screaming, man overheard" We
did not know at first whether this
was another drill but as the boat
turned we saw a head bobbing out
of the water and knew that this was
not false alarm. The life boat was
lowered by the crew and they start
ed after the person. AS the lifeboat
approached he swan away. At first
we could not figure out what was
wrong but soon we realized the per-
son was trying to avoid being res
cued. However, after six or seven
attempts, the crew finally ran him
down and dragged him into the
J boat and the rescue was completed.
The victim turned out to be SOL
dier who had suddenly become men
tally unbalanced. Captain Olsen told
} us little later that the soldier had
been very fortunate in getting back
in one piece because he had picked
out shark infested waters for his
jump.
With this incident over we were
again on our way. About three days
out of San Francisco, the land of
sunshine and flowers, it began to
get cold and the closer we got to
San Francisco the colder it became.
1t felt as though we were getting
right back to New York. Finally on
January % we passed through the
Golden Gate and entered San Fran
cisco harbor. Here we had stop
over of IL days, and were looking
forward to seeing the much talked
about city.
After II chilly but enjoyable days
in San Francisco we continued our
; journey westward, this time on
board the U. S. army transport u.
s. Grant. We had no sooner
cleared the Golden Gate than we
ran into rough weather which con-
tinued most of the way to Hawaii
This resulted In number of sea-
sick passengers some of whom had
less than three meals in the dining
room between San Francisco and
Honolulu.
We had been assigned a state
room on B deck which was the third
deck above the water line. The
we decided to leave the port hole
open bit as the storm had some
What subsidized My bunk was di-
rectly under the port hole. About
midnight l was awakened by rush
ing water and for a few seconds,
not realizing what was happening
Il had the sensation OF drowning
and was trying to swim for dear
life. After swallowing about one
quart of good salty sea water, /
realized where l was and discov-
cred that water was rushing in the
port hole. After another quart of
water / managed to stop the flow.
turned on the light and stood in the
middle of the room and surveyed
the results of the flood. There was
about one foot Of water on the floor
rushing from one side of the cabin
to the other with the roll Of the
boat. Shoes, rugs, suitcases and
clothes were floating around. I and
my bunk were completely soaked.
Although very disastrous. 1t was
very funny at the time and we have
had many good laughs about 1t
since. The next day we found out
that several others had had similar
misfortunes.
A few days later. February 3, we
arrived in Honolulu. We had only
about 20 hours here but when we
left we had decided that 1t was one
of the most beautiful places we had
ever seen. We were impressed with
the many beautiful flowers and
trees, with the Royal Hawaiian ho-
tel and Waikiki beach with its surf
board riders. AS we entered and
left the harbor, natives swan along
side the boat. diving for coins
thrown over by the passengers,
which when rescued were stored in
their mouths. The coins had to be
silver. they absolutely refused to
dive for pennies.
. Our next stop was the island Of
Guam. This Is naval base and al
| S,,osic- c<okfou for tho Chjpo