Transcription

any flying fish. They had dark blue

bodies, 4 white, web-like wings and tail

and would be flying close to the water

and all of a sudden plunge into a crest

of another waver. They seemed to be from

4 to 8 inches in length. At 10 A.M.

the ship started to get ready to enter port.

The Captain and Executive Officer and Navigator

were all on the bridge; Lieut. Sheply was

on the forecastle with his gang of men

getting the anchor and other things ready.

Two sailors were on a platform on the port

side "flying the blue pigeon" and as the

hunk of lead flew around and around and

then went to the bottom, the one man

holding the line would sing out "by the mark

7" or "by the deep 6" meaning the water at

that place was 6 fathoms deep.

At 11 AM we were entering the breakwater

of the Canal Zone and just dead ahead

a couple of miles was the Atlantic end

of the Panama Canal and to the left

was Coco Solo, the submarine base, whence

we were bound to unload stores and

put off four Ensigns for duty there.

It was so interesing to see all of

the palm trees and red-roofed buildings

on shore. The day was bright and

the weather cool. Bill took the day's

duty at noon so I went ashore with Lt.

& Mrs. Bales of the Marine Corps, Mabeth &

Mrs. R. Took a bus and drove about

9 miles to Colon (25¢) I was so interested

in the Palm trees, banana trees and

so much other tropical foilage. The red

hibuscus were all around. The town of

Colon was something so new to me -- the

first impression was the side walks were

all under cover -- front porches of buildings

formed the cover -- suppose this was

as a protection from sun and rain. We

first went into a salon -- "The Tropicale"

and all had a drink. I took peach brandy

and slipped the glass it came in into my purse

as a souvenir. Then we hired a car and

drove all thru the streets of Colon and

Cristobal and then out to Gatun locks

of the Canal. I walked across the top of one

of the locks which was a dizzy heights of 86