Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, December 26, 1909, Page 20

I could not keep my e (Copyright. 100, by Frank G. Carp HANGHAIL 190.— (Speciul Cc spondence of The Bee)—I have just returned from an interview with one of the richest and ablest men of all Asia. 1 re- for to Sheng Kung Pao, Plerpont Morgan of China, and I say the Rockefeller as well. § worth his tens of millions. pont Morgan, he started life rieh, and, ke him, he has multiplied his inherited fortune manyfold. All his life he has been the organizer of great enterprises and tc- day his financial fingers mixed up in every profitable undertaking on this side the globe. He owns rallroads. factorles, mines and steamships. He has o steel plant 600 miles up the Yangtz: Kiang, which is capltalized at $15,000,000. and has mountains of iron and great beds of ¢yl not far away. It was Sheng who had much do with organizing the telegraph for China. It was he who bullt the raiflroad from Hankow to Peking and he got the concesslon for the Amerleans to construct & road from Canton to Hankow. Sheng Kung Pao is one of the leading officials of this empire. He succeeded L Hung Chang as the government minister of commerce and he Is now the vice min- f#ter of the Imperial Board of Communica- tions. Vo is also a chief owner of the China Merehants Steamsh'p company and 15 largely interested in the Chinese Zm- perinl bank, He is by all odds the best financial authorlty among the celestials and his ldeas as to the present conditions are of great value, ter.) might heng is ke Pler- Sheng Kung Pao at Home. Tt was at Sheng Kung Pao's home that T met him. This Is in a section of Shang- hal where the land is so valuable that one has to almost blate it with silver to buy 1t Sheng's establishment consists of a half dozen great bulldings, any one of which would be a mansion in Washington Chicago. Tts grounds cover more than ten acres and are surrounded by walls ro high that you cannot see over them. Wide drives lead through the lawns and the whole Is kept llke a park. One of the bulldings, devoted to Sheng's business cf- fices, In as large as that of a government department Among the others are resi- dences, occupled by Sheng and his wife and his relatives and servants, All are beautifully furnished and some have a great framework in front of them, over ed off hys t_}and which matting ean be stretched In summer to shut out the suh. There is no sign of the poverty which we associate with the ordinary celestial. Sheng belongs to the rich and, like his class, he wears satins and velvets and entertains in great style, the « His butler always has champagne on tap, and among the dishes served at hix feasts are pigeon-egg stews, shark fins and birds- nest moup, the latter costing several dol- lars a plate. Ti was In the finest of his buildings that his excellency recelved me. It is a com- bination of Chinese and foreign architec- ture, bullt of gray brick, three stories high, and of vast extent. Passing throuxh a wide hall I came into a court, over which, on a framework of poles, matting was stretched. This was surrounded by rooms, most of which are Intended for receptions, The servants led us Into & large parlor, turnished in Chinese style. Heavy chairs of black wood, Inlaid with mother of pearl and wonderfully carved, stood against the walls. There was a divan at the back, and in the conter of this a low table, upon which two guests could rest their elbows as they wat and ohatted! There were Chinese paintings on the walld and here and there shone out a beautifullv written text of the Chinese classics. In the center of the room was a table. This was of carved teakwood. It had no cover, bul, with & view to my reception, it was set with refreshments of varlous kinds. There were cakes, fruits and candies, and other daintles were brought in during the au- dtenc: 1 was able to meet Sheng Kung Pao by an introduction from Dr. John €. Fergu- son, an American who is high in the con- fidence of the leading Chinese officlals. He was for a long time. and is now, one of the confidential foreign advisers of Shens, and he has been ussociated in a similar capacity with the viceroys of Nanking and Wuchang. He accompanicd me to the palace and performed the ceremony of in- troduction, after which he left me with Sheng and the interpreter. o Tete-asTete With a Millionaire, We had but a short time to wait. His excellency came in through a side door and as Dr, Ferguson presented me he reached out his hand and =ho mine in American fashion. He used (he right hand, glving me a strong grip with his long yellow fin- gers. As he did so he looked me stralght Sheng Kung Pa o, == the Pierpont Morgan of Chma in the face, and his bright black veemed to be searching my soul. Indeed his eyes were o keen that tne remainder of his personality s thrown Into the background, and it was some time beforo I took in the details. Then I ohserved that the eyes belonged to an old Chinese, of me- dium height and stooping shoulders, They shone out of a sallow complexion, over high cheekbones and from a rather thin face. His excelloncy was dressed in a long black gown of blue sllk. He had a black sllk hat on his head, the rim of which was turned up all around and out of the back of which extended a broad waving feather. He wore a white turnover collar and his coat had buttons of gold. The great financier smiled as he greeted me. He led me across the room and mo- tioned me to sit down at the table giv iIng me a chalr at his left, which is the seat of honor in China. As we sat there, our elbows almost touching, rested his left hand on the table, and, as he became In- terested in the talk, now and then tapped the board with his nmails, As he did so I could not keep my eyes off his hand. The nalls on the last three fingers—that is, on all of the fingers except the in- dex finger—were at least three inches long, and the thumb nail stood out like a spoon. When not tapping his excelloncy's hand, resting on the nails, had the tips of the tingers ralsed above the table itself to the helght ot an ordinary glass tumbler, and the wrist was well up off the table. The finger. nalls were as white as ivory, and it struck me that it must be a trouble- some matter to keep them so clean. eyes a China's Steel Industry. The conversation opened with the dls- cussion of the Hanyang steel works, which 1 told his excellency I had just visited. I asked him how they were dolng. He replled that they were steadlly in- creasing In efficiency and In thelr ability to turn out modern ralls, structural steel and other such materials. He said that the company had already exported pig fron to America, and that It could, If it would, now sell iron there In competi- tion with the United States stoel trust at & profit. He said that the day would come when China , would produce all Its own steel, and that every province would even- tually uave its own factories and foundries. Sheng expects much from Japan as a pur- chaser of Chinese iron and steel, and he conslders our Pac const a legitimate tributary of the industrial China of the future 1 asked him as to his iron mines. He replied that the supply of ore iy ul- most {nexhaustible and s finer than that of most parts of the world. It is as pure as the famed iron of Sweden and is much more easlly won. The cosl he is now using makes fine coke, and China has been exporting coke to Japan. His cxcellency believes that China has all the materlals to make It a great manufacturing country and that its peoplo are naturally fitted to be the chisf Industrial nation of Asla China's Raflvead Era I here referred to the new railroads which China has projected and asked him it thelr construction would be pushed. He replied: “We intend to bulld mew rall- roads Just as fast as we can. We need thom and the Imperial government realizes that fact, and will do all it' can to aid In the construction. The first roads to bs bullt will be trunk lines, connecting the chief centers of population. We must have them on political grounds, as well as for business development. Rallroads are & mil- itary necessity to the new civilization, and to China’s holding the place she should have In the far east and the world. We need a strong central government, and to that end must be able to send troops from one part of the empire to another by rall on telegraphic notice, After we have onoe bullt our trunk limes, branch lines and toeders will rapidly follow, The traffic will be large, and the roads will soon be- como profitable. As soon as our peapls realize that monev can be made from railroad enterprises there will be no trouble in raising the capital necessary to carry them on. So far they are a new thing to us, and as we are a rvative people, We are cautious about embarking in them,” co Forelgn Capital for China. “Your excellency was among the first to advise the government that 1t should secure forelgn capital for bullding Its rail- roads not? “Yes. But that policy hecame unpopular The cry of ‘China for the Chinese, and for the Chinese only,’ was raised, and for awhile our people were inclined to bu.id everything with thelr own money and to wers you GoEcOvmd at Han-deg Shengs $16,000,000 Steel Plant accept no help from outside. The cost of raliroud building, bhowever, is so great, and our people understand it o little, that they hesitate to invest, and are now coming to favor foreign loans.” “And, indeed, T still loans for rallroad believe In forelgn builéing,” continued Sheng Kung Pao. “I think 1t will p us to horrow the money, and let . the roads earn the interest. The situation in regard to such loans has changed during recent years. In the past the roads wera mort- gaged as security for the bonds; but the government is now guaranteeing them, and the roads, to a certain extent, are free from such inoumbrances. A guarantes by the Chinese government is better than that of any raliroad. It has all China back of it, and the Interest is absolutely seeure.’ “But, I understand you want to borrow some millions of dollars to extend your steel works at Hanyang, and that you are asking the Chinese to put up the money. Why do you not go abroad for a loan of that kind?" “We do not think it advisable, obligations which we during recent years have caused interna- tional trouble. The men who borrow the money, In case of a dispute as to the settle- ment, are likely to call in the government to which they belohg to enable them to bring things ‘thelr way, and that without regard to jurtice or right. The mortgaging of private enterp and public works hes, In certaln cases, given the control of such wotks over (o the forelgners who made the loan, and that we cannot permi(. We feel that we Chiness should control our own mines, and that in the present conditions of affairs it not safe for us to go outside for capital so secured it New Banks, Similar have entered into n “Your excellency Iniperial Bank of € ment bank?" No. It is a commercial institution, with headquarters at Shanghal and branches at Hankow and Peking. It has a capital of 5,000,000 taels, over half of which 18 paid in. 1s conneccted ina? with the 13 that a govern Imperial Bank of China at §hanghay, The only government | bave Is the Hu Pu b bas its headquarters (n Peking and branches scattered here and there over the countr “Wwill China tional banking system Japan or the United States “Yes, I think so, although will probably be same time be fore It can be established. It ix one of the crving needs of the empire, and would be of enor- mous good, not only to the gov- ernment, but to all Industries.” Wil you ever have postal savings banks?' Not soon. But 1 Jike to see them established, and they are bound to come. They are invaluable in the teaching of thrift, and in making ® place for the small savings of the people. With a stable gov- ernment such Institutions will be very pop ular, and they would enormously increase our national wealth, They would make the richest people of the world, for our savings depositors would be millions in number. 1 should lke to sea Industrial banks, such as the Japanese have estab- lished in China, and shall probably have agricultural banks.” e New Mints and Banknote ever have a such it should your new colnage™” movement on foot to atand- ardise it. We are sadly in need of a uni- form colnage, and it is bound to come.™ “Will the unit be the silver dollar or the tael?” “Most probably the dollar. Many of our people have come to know that coin fairly well, and we like the decimal system upon which it is based. 1 think it ls better than the tae “Will China ever be on & gold basis?" “In time, yes; but not soon. 1 should like to see all our finances managed on the gola standard.” “How about the new bank notes which are being issued in so many parts of the empire? Are they properly secured?” “I think they are all right now,” re- plied the Chinese financler. “Such notes as are already In use are safe enough, and I have no doubt but that they wiil be safe for some time to come. I consider them a dangerous medium of exchange, however, and I can easily imagine condi- tlons which might arise in connection with them which would create great financlal disturbance and possible loss “How about ““There 1s & New B ation. “Your excellency wat among the origi- natork of the new education? You estak lisied the Nun Yang college at Shanghai, and the Chinese university at Tientsin, Has modern education come to stay?" owned bySheng. = - s0. The Chinese in training the mind as business matters they are ethical rather want the classics kept in our think the modern sciences should supplement them." training your own chfl Larjely Undoubtedly of great value but as far classics and soul concorned than practical, | schools, but T “How dver \ I have two hoys who are learning Eng lish. They are now golng to the college here, 'and 1 shall send them abroad, to Europe the United States, as soon as they are prepared to enter the universities of those countries are you Vhom do you think is of the most vaius to China, the man trained at home along the old lines or the one educated abroad? “I think both kinds of training are neces- sary. Th are both needed to make an all-around man, the man of business and the man of morals, and, in short, the best man for us' AP and Foot Bindin T Oplun At this moment the champagne wes brought In, and with it came the red viait- ing cards of some Chinese officials. In high society here the entrance of the wine always means the closs of an interview, and when your host asks you to drink you know that the time has come for you to depart. For this reason my last questions were rapldly put “What your excellency think of the new constitution? Are the Chiness prepared for 1t “Not now, perhaps, but they will be by the time it goes into effect. We are to have clght years of cducation, and at the end we shall have a new China." “Will you be able to wipe out the opium evil?” “Yes. But Its abolition must be gradual. The confirmed smoker cannot give up the hubit at the wink of an eye. Some may be able to stop, but others will hold on till their death. Tt is only from the young that we can expect much as to the aboll- ton of oplum. The custom is already considered disgraceful, and if we can keep it so, we can get rid of the evil. “How about foot bindin “That will go, The better class women have stopped binding the fest of their children. The custom begins to be unpopular 1 have no bound feet in my household, and I am glad to say that the day ome for the bound foot to go. At this point we had already taken three sips of champagne. There was a crowd of Chinese callers walting outside, and I knew it high time to leave, As I rose, his excellency again gave me his hand, saying he regretted he had not had to ask some questions of me, and whole conversation had been with hig answers to queries of FRANK G. CARPENTER. does has was a cha that taken mine. our up ‘Exciting Adventures Incident Dec. 10.—If Balboa had recelved the same treatment from the Pacific ocean that fell to my lot on the last day of October I fear the king .of occans would wear a less title. It that stout pathfinder had been obliged to crawl on hands and knees for a quarter of a mlle with alligators pattering along In the mud close behind him perhaps school chlidren would now have another idea of the great water he brought to the notice of the modern world. No doubt he had troubles enough of his own. But I belleve 1 would ther have had to blaze the way through the Indlans and the mosquitoes across the Isthmus than to go through what T did This is what actually took place within the sound of the blasting on Culebra hill, where Uncle SBam is fast bringing to a reality the dream of centurics The Camieto river is one of those little streams which run down from the nental divide Into the sca all along shcres of the narrow strip which we bent on cutting In twain. It rises in of the last spur of the Veragua taing, where those high peaks taper down toward the pass where Culebra has so long stood sentinel —e Mountains are High. Tt is not often realized that these moun- tains are higher than the highest of the Alleghenies. Indecd, ono of the Chirlqui range near by is 11000 teot high. It is certainly a strange perversion of fact to regard Panama as a land of low lylng jungle and morass, as one of the geograph- ical encyeloppediaes in my library has it It 18 really almost as mountainous as Switserland. From any hil along the shore of elther ocean one can sec the sharp outline of mountain after mountain up agalnst the bright tropleal sky, and only the wide horlzon of dassling water on every hand shows ofe that he i3 not in Colorado or New Hampshire It is these mountains which help to make Central America such & condenser of the ocean vapors as to be smong the bost watered parts of the globe. The steaming water laden atmosphere J6 blown up from Atlantie and Pacific agalnst the cool peaks which lower the lemperature to the point of precipitation and send down cver the land three times as much water as falls'on New Jersay or South Carolina. The annual rainfell at Colon on the At- lantic side is 137.63 luches, mean; that for Panama s TLN0. Dut for the stiff clay soll and the heavy opical vegetation this great rainfall might ANAMA, flattering conti- the are one moun- begin to iarane o e e long ago have saved us our $400,00000 job and have cut the isthmus all to pieces by itself. All the little rivers along the coast have brought down as much soil as the clay und the rank growth allowed, and in consgquence thelr, mouths are full of mud. — Advantage of the Mud. In most cases this sedinientary deposit is not sandy, as the soil of the country is unusually defictent In siliclous material. Tt consists largely of the fine silt produced by the erosion of red and blue clay, and it is one of the most treacherous and the stigklest beach foundations to be found anywhere. Happlly it Is ngt what a purely sandy sediment might be,'almost bottom- less and shifting. It packs down at the bottom, and that fact is what Colonel Goethals Is relying on for some of his most important work at the Pacific en- trance to the canal. But the packing at the bottom and not on top, as T found to my great discomfort. For it was In this mud at the mouth of Camioto that there befell me a more dis- agreeable and possibly dangerous expe ence than ever caught me in Central Asi: Although the little river is not more than twenty-five miles long it spreads out haif a mile wide where It rushes from the hills into the Bay of Panama. It has been bullding up a sort of delta on which a few trees Iitt thelr heads mbove the soft muck about their roots, while it has also lined its sides for a few miles with layers of the fine silt in which the mangrove has taken hold and completely established itself This mangrove, by the way, s & valu- able timber, rioch in pyroligneous acld and tannin, and one varlety furnishes good tim- ber, Locally it Is used for the most highly prized firewood, being &8 inflammable as pine, as well as for distilling pitch for the cances and sallboats, It s also largely used to convert into charcoal, for which Panama supplies a heavy demand. These mangrove jungles are partly in- undated by the tides, which are some- times extraordinary high on this coast. Owing to the narrow funnol shaped val- leys of these little mountain rivers the force of the tide s it is compressed into the channels Is tremendous. Immense waves are often produced, traveling up- stream with astonishing velocity and & force resistiess save to the rocky rem- parts of the cordiliera which'jut out into the streams and send long spurs into the ocean e’ Natives of Fanama. Camieto, however, has kept & clear chan- nel through this coze about Its mouth, and this fact has made the place a good nat- ural harbor and caused the aggregation of villages on each side. of these, on the eastern side, 1s called Narrancho, that on the western shore being Puerto Chorrera, as it is the port for the Iniand town of Chorrera, five miles up Camieto Valley These scttiements are so typlcal of one side of Central American life that per- Laps a word about them would not be amiss. As one approaches them from sea or land, there 13 no evidence of human hab- itation until the huts are right at hand They are completely hidden in the t and surrounding vegetation, The houses are bulit on sand dunes above high tide, and each one has appro- priated a dune to itself without consider ation of order or symmetry. In Narrancho there are about & dozen of these huts on ten acres of land. You cannot see one hut from the door of another though the place is regarded as a town and has a sort of intendant. Of course there are no streets tralls through grass and brush lead beach is the only common highway from one dwelling to another, and Thege huts are distinetly African in the type of thelr architecture, though the in habitants may be largely Indlan in blood But one who has raveled much in the in- terior of Africa can easily see that Atrican type of culture to all sorts has prevalled over the Indian, where, as prac- tically everywhere in Central America, there has been a mingling of the two races The huts are generally square in shape, like those of my old friends, the Bakuba and the Baschilele. The walls are of up- right sticks, with as many cracks as sticks. The roof is made of palm leaves. Under the eaves Is @ loft in which the residents ep, while below is the kitchen and liv- ing room There is a doorway, and rarely door In it. But no one seems thieves here—it is the most honest country I ever saw. 1 sometimes wonder how long this happy condition will last after ‘he American influence has become entirely dominant One a es a secure to fear Inside the Houses. In these houses are the usual primitive belongings of & rude and simple people. One or more large wooden mortars, in which Is pounded out the rice or corn; big, heavy, deuble-headed pesties, which give the women arms like a feminine Herculos; earthen water jars, tin cans galore, muz- wle-londing shotguns, splendid machetos, the oné thing whose quality is above proach; fishnets and lines, deer and alli- gator hides, heron plumes and feathers, a few piates, cups and other utensils; some pictures of the Madonna flanking ‘*he clgarette girls; a bench or two and a rough table, wooden saudals, strings over to a Day's Work of the fireplace on whch jerked mdat smoking, piles of the shells of clams, ters and crabs, and & box or two for the bright colored cloths which come out for the flestas and funerals—such are the fur- nishings, with dogs, pigs, chickens ducks pottering about In the midst of it DI any one sec a negro's homo without ducks? The dogs are mongrel to the last degree; in a land where deer hunt- ing might be indulged to the heart's con- tent 1 have not yet scen a deerhound, and in a country where cattle is the ose reliance 1 have yet to find a collfe. Narrancho also boasts a flock of turkeys, but the guinea is consplcuous by Its absence, The population is what was Spanish of the Indian, and what brought over of the negro and what produced by the mix up of all three, the Indlan In the straight negro In the thick lips and the the Sometimes Indian, 15 and cver left by the was was You halr, Spaniard it is all lardly ever aquiline nose. negro, sometimes all all Spaniard. Pride of the Spaniard. The do not live with the except by indirection. Hut all Cas- tillan enoush—Santo Domingo is the mayor the main boat-bullder, Juan the heaviest tppler, Federico an expert char- :cal burner, Catalina a lucky fisherman, orge, an Engilsi-speaking Jamaican who dritted into the old Canal company’s service and was never able to get away, a mighty hunter. If they heve any surnames I have yet been able to discover them 1t is sometimes concelved that these peo- ple are degenerate despcradoes, ripe for revolution, ready for any desperate deed. a matter of fact, they are a doelle, simple, inoffensive class of men, and what evil they do in times of rlot and confusion s from instigation of rum. The revolu ticrists are the work of designing and un- crupulous politicians and these lower classes are often more the victims than the producers of the revolutions. It Is Interesting to hear these people talk about the fact that now since the Ameri- cans are In evidence on the isthmus there are to be no more revolutions. Whatever may be the attitude of some of the wealthier men In Colombla, it Is emphati- cally true that in Panama the bulk of the people are delighted to have a government which 15 not lMkely to have to call them to arms every few months. Just above Narrancho le a red hill, on tp of which are piles of stones which were the breastworks for the defense of the harbor in the last revolution. There were several thousand head of cattle on the adjolning haclenda and the government troops ate them all up. As the government then was Colombla, and the revelution la vest, the names are Eduardo no com which succeeded came so heels of that which failed the owner never has obtained any indenmity. This condi- tion obtalned all over Panama. The truth is that It has been the very doellity and simplicity of these peon people which has led to the possibllity of these frequent poli- tical disturbances. Lhis digression quickly on the popped In in spite of List resoives, just as the tide rolled my boat in spite of fwenty years' experi- ence with paddle and oar. Having letters of Importance (o get off by the first mail, and reilsiing the ride bit of canoeing, 1 decided to bo my own mes- senger and to take them down to Puerto Chorrera myself from my headquarters neay the terminus of the canal At Narracncho I found the use except one small one about twelve foet long. The tide was then out und the river calm. The distance Is about a mile. There was nothing to disturb the trip going over, and the lotters were duly put Into the hands of § Filipo Torre to be sent to Pan- ama early next morning on the sailboat which carried the mall between Chorrera and the capital I did not tarry, as the tide was turning, and I wished to hgve its help sgaindt the current of Camietd as 1 went back np stream. There was & gentle breeze blowing from the sea s I stepped into the eanoe, while the tide had set In. When I had gone A few hundred yards the wind in- creased to a light gale. It also threw he boat into the trough of the waves. I did not like this, as the boat was small and the river was twenty feet deep. 1. could swim across the river there, but with botn alligators and sharks in these waters it was not a pleasant prospect for swimming. I turned the boat in the direction of the mangrove swamp nad pulled away. The gale increased, the tide came in as If by magic, the seernec o threaten to overwhelm the canoe ever; minute, At last 1 drew near the first mangrove tree, not much more than a bush, on the edge of the river 1 tried to dodge it, %o as to get into shal- water. Then came a big wave and a wtrong puff of wind and threw the gock- leshell of u craft against the tree as if it were @ feather, Over it went b Treed in the Swamp, With that instinctive mechanieal intultion which is almost Instantaneous with those who haye roughed it in dangerous places, I had thrown my gun into my armpit and grasped- the paddle with the left hand, und a8 the boat went over I threw myself Into the water and immediately turned over, throwing the free arm over the bottom of the boat. Then, fIghting the tossing waves with every breath, 1 slid along the bout ov some and a canoes all in W waves lower a Panama Pioneer to the anchor rope, grasped it and male @ plunge for the tree It had & fork about a foot below water and I wrapped the line around the trunk and then pulled at the bout to get it ‘nto the fork. Then I twisted a leg around the tree_and tried to turn the boat over, hay- Ing broken a branch and thrown the gun strap over it. The paddie 1 had wrapped with the rope. But I might as well have tried to overturn Gatun dam as to get that boat over with the waves beating me at every life. Finally I steadied myself the fork of the tree and took a survey the situation It was far from was now coming in in fu water marks told me that would afford no permanent the was at my walst and creeping up with fateful certainty was a taller mangrove some thirty vards away which seemed only chance, but between my perch and that tree was tempest of waves and possibly both sharks and alligators But there was nothing else to Under ordinary clréumstances swim would be child's play condition, but made disliked more. 1 the gunstrap « my back and let go boots leggins and all One does not get such things easily and I did wish to gun had my faithful thousands miles almost as soon gave me a sho tree and went of The tido and tha little tree Already it There encouraging. force this roost water wa my a be done. such a when I am in a plunge I er here The for had fate not been of lose them. companion Africa and I hand. Stil got taller an. alacrity such had to act while n a ana 1 up it with as only one can know who cver In such a case. Then I and took another survey to the breathed a Long Wait on the It was certaln that np be venturing out In that would hours noon, moon o'clock. I must nearly midnight the mud if I eral hundred yards not dare to try to when th tide had ebbed enough for fo get at It, 85 then the aligators swarm, going out of the swamp with the tide. It is not cold in this latitude and alti- tude at any time, but I was cold with that drenching and then as sdon as the wind had dried my clothes it began to raln and I got pelted for two hours, Fearinz that I might fall asleep I fastened myself to the tree with my gunstrap. I became terri- bly drowsy and d1a actually doze would The tide for five in the after- until 10 that perch until then wade through wade at all, for towing the boat strike the boat boatman wale not be out esuin at least 4 o'clock woutd It was then not rise stay and could Bev- 1 did Just me once and by tumbled the beit Then 1 thought T had better not risk suck a thing again and I began to sing to keep myself awake. Training in singing three bables to sleep stood me in good stead this time, but what the alligators and the cranes and herons thought of it is & matter for imagination. Sometimes a great white heron would fly along until he espled me on his perch, then he would glve a short cry of astonishment and veer off abruptly i another direction Then of course us the sun went down there arrived a new diversion. The mos- quitoes came, not in single file, but in hordes and whole divisions. I broke & branch of the tree and quit singing, There no danger of sleeping now. Fortu nately the thick khaki and heavy leggings protected me everywhere but in the face and the hands, and I to work to them off. Kor three long hours I up the battle, whlle tho fishes Jeaped the below and the alligators splushed about and the frogs on shore croaked dismally and an somewhere his sympathy off the tree, to be held up was on set Keep, kept in water owl hooted Nice to Think About. king at it from the safe and comfort- ) a former governor of write this sceount of it the experlence does not seem so dan- gerous as 1t did when going through it, wis never a bit pleasant. I had no of telling how high the tide might 1 watched it ¢ Ing on until dark and then began to throw down bits of the limbs of the mangrove Into the water which was strongly phosphorescent and which when disturbed gleamed and shone #0 as to Indicate how high it was, In this way 1 managed at last to be sure that it had began to recede. Then I Kot & long limb with which to SO\ and when the water was about & foot decp I decided to venturé down. Be- fore leaving the tree I tried & shot with the gun in the direction of where I had left the boat, 80 a% to frighten away any prowling alligatorss Then 1 started to wade\over to the boat, sinking sbove my knees at every step. To my diwmay the boat had: sunk face downward Into the soft mud, and when 1 tried to Jift it 1 immediately sank up to my waist in the slime, and was sinking; deeper when 1 made a strong pull on the boat and extricated myself, It was ovi dent that the boat must be abandoned. This meant that I should have to walk through the swamp to the edge of the river and then along its bank up to where 1 would be opposite the huts at Narrep- able Panama in haciendn which 1 but it (Continued on Page Four.)