The Waterbury Democrat., 1941-03-21

For most or Us It was an experi' ence to complain about--cramped cold and inconvenient. But not fol the little Frenchman.
 "A month ago." he said, T would have called this heaven, A montf ago I was in a prison camp"
 Two minutes later he was asleep And so were most of the other pas sengers scattered over the berth' and floors of the big Pan- American air liner shooting southwestwarc across the ocean on 7,796-mile triE from Lisbon to New York.
 Three dfy ys and four continents
 A chaotic, warning Europe, sweltering African coast, a busy South American port on the Ama- zon, a palm studded West Indies island, and a shivering North Am erica.
 Three days and four continents Its like turning pages in travel book-three days from war and chaos and the dull eyes of hungry children to the busy pace of war conscious America.
 The three days begin on the brown waters of the river Tagus beneath the hills of Lisbon. We come from the centers of European war; from j the grim, bomb-buffered cities of England; from the soldier-filled blacked-out towns of Germany. Be- hind us lies fearful France and Spanish countryside where war and blockade have imposed severe re- strictlons on life's barest necessities
 Lisbon, stretched in pale pastels against rugged coast, Is bright and busy and well-fed, the gateway to another world
 Europe Soon Behind Ths clipper, nestllng In silver Gplendor at the end of her dock loads at sundown. Fifteen minutes later Europe is behind and ahead tc { the southwest Is the coast of West r Two white- -jacketed stewards pre-. pare the dinner tables in the com bination smoking and dining room while the steady hum of the big motors becomes familiar beat in your ears. The passengers must eat in relays. By the time we have fin- ished and some had a Scotch and soda, we must think of a place to sleep. There are not enough berths because the mall cargo is heavy in war time.
 At dawn you awake with a strange Seeling that your legs have been cut off at the knees. Your head is propped against the arm of a seat {. in the smoking room, your feet hang ing over the other arm, and your hands are entangled in blanket and overcoat.
 You tumble for cigaret. The flare of the match awakens another passenger In a similar position op- posite you. He stirs and you recog- nize Q continental cabinet minister His hair falls in stringy tangle over his eyes. His face twists into a grimace as he too tries to stretch his legs. At last you have some- thing in common with a cabinet minister.
 On the floor, under blanket and with a sleeping bandage over his eyes, Is the Round London represen- tative of @ great American concern his head pillowed on his brief case Tn Q chair by the door is tall, dark haired diplomatic courier whose long legs block the passage way. Down the corridor comes a pajama- -clad figure-a wealthy refugee-peerine into each sleeping face until he finds the softly snoring owner of French manufacturing company "You take my berth for the rest oi the night" he whispers. Two mer who could afford the royal suite al the finest hotel in Europe, but to- night they're 5000 feet above tho South Atlantic.
 1917 Miles from Lisbon
 Bolama is 1917 miles from Lis- bon by air and ten centuries from