Evening star., 1940-08-01
BY JOSEPH S. EDGERTON,
Star Aviation Editor.

Caribbean and to the defense of the
vital Panama Canal from the At
lantic, presents scenes of unusual
activity to the air traveller.
Here the United States is making
n determined effort to build up
defenses which will safeguard the
Panama Canal and the Caribbean
area and from which it may be
possible to move In either direction
against any aggressor attempting to
gain a foothold in the scattered
West Indies.
Puerto Rico offers something of
a climax to the air passenger who
has come up the long Brazilian
coast and through the Guianas.
Leaving behind him the tremendous
Amazon, across the mouth of which
the northbound Pan American Air
ways Clipper flies for two hours,
following a pre-dawn take-off from
Belem, the traveller crosses the
Equator and mile after mile of the
great jungle area. The jungle is
unbroken, with no sign of human
activity, almost up to the time of
arrival at CAYENNE, French Guiana,
the first stop beyond Belem.
Shores Wild and InhospitabIe.
Mud flats, great fiocks of red
flamingos and other tropical birds
fade below as the Clipper climbs
high out of Cayenne and passes
midway between the iIl-famed
French penal colony on Devils Is
land and the mainland marshes
and jungle in which most escaped
prisoners perish. The sea is dis
colored with mud from many rivers
and the shores are wild and inhos-
pitable along the coast to Para
maribo. Dutch Guiana Within a
short time the traveller finds the
language has changed from Portu-
guese to French and to Dutch.
Another brief flight and English is
the tongue. at Georgetown, British
Guiana, and again on the first
stepping stone up the Indies, at
Trinidad.
At Paramaribo the landing is
made across the hulk of a great
German steamer, scuttled in the
harbor by her Nazi master when
the Germans began their drive into
Holland. The steamer had been
lying in the Dutch colonial harbor,
safe from British naval patrols,
since early in the war. Gradually
her crew had left until only
handful of officers and men re-
manned aboard
Realizing that the ship would be
conflscated by the Dutch when Hol-
land was invaded, the German cap
tain slipped his chains and at
tempted to swing the vessel across
the channel to close the river. Sea-
cocks were opened and the vessel
went down on her beam ends, half
out of water, almost but not quite
sealing the upper harbor. There she
lies, monument to the Nazi policy
OF scuttling rather than fighting.
Orderly Fields of Cane.
After the wild, untamed jungles of
Northern Brazil and the two Eastern
Guianas, the trim, orderly fields of
sugar cane and other crops which
extend all along the coast of British
Guiana and as far inland as vision
through broken cloud overcast per-
mits, convey a feeling of industry
and progress. A railroad, paved high
ways, and the clean charm of
Georgetown add to the impression.
Along the coast out of Georgetown
there are the hulks of old ships, on
which trees and tropical vegetation
H1nU form Orpoo c}oro1lH
Near the corner of Venezuela the
Clipper swings out to sea, over waters
fading from yellow into live green
as the silt of the Orinoco begins to
settle. The British island of Trini-
dad is crossed through a wartime
lane set aside by the government
and landing is made in the ship
filled harbor of Port of Spain.
On the way from the harbor to the
Queens Park Hotel, the taxi driver
voices the opinion that the United
States should take over Trinidad and
other European Colonial possessions
to keep them out of totalitarian
clutches.
I'VE wonder why you haven't done
1t already" he says. Most people
here would welcome the change"
Guns Bark Along Coast.
That night there is blackout and
guns bark along the coast. One by
one the lights go out in the town
and along the roads. There are fines
for failure to comply with the black
out regulations and there are few
violations. Hotel guests have no
choice. Their lights are turned Off
and they are left to shift for them
selves.
Practice?
II don't think So" volunteers
British resident. The guns don't
60 of that way for practice. A
little while ago they had to fire
across the bows of ship to stop
1t here"
The amount of firing going on
tonight, however, should be enough
to stop q f1otilla, let alone single
ship. There is no answer to in
quiries, however; no one seems to
know just what is up. Soon the
guns stop, distant siren walls, the
lights 60 on. Life resumes its pace
a pace which for nothbound clipper
passengers is conditioned by knowl-
edge that they will be called at
am. for long day, which will be
further stretched by a change to
Eastern standard time.
There is no trace of dawn until
after takeoff today and then for
hours, as the light grows stronger
and the sun rises, there is nothing
but sea and clouds, behind which !
Grenada, the Barbados, st. Vincent
and st. Lucia, war-troubled Mar
Unique, Dominica, Guadeloupe and
the United States outposts, the
Virgin Islands, slip by unseen.
Harbor Alive With Destroyers.
The first landfall is the south
coast of Puerto Rico and we fly
up q PROSPEROUS coast where new