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LEAVING DOCK AT NEW YORK Some Random Observations ona Irip to Panama THE UBIQUITOUS BRITISH TRAMP Ny HE exodus to Panama at present : : is world wide, but it is naturally from the United States that the stream of humanity is greatest. 'zone today combines a pleasant outing with the most tremendous constructive spectacle to be seen in the world. Tourists are pouring into Colon by the ship load almost every day, and with the way they are shot across the Isthmus and through the dining room of the Hotel Tivoli and back again to the boat is a caution to be- hold. They get a glimpse of the canal where is is crossed by the Pan- ama railroad or is contiguous to it, and that's about all. The only way to see the canal is to spend a week or ten days in doing nothing else. The real way to see: it is to walk through the great Culebra eut and through the -giant locks, their culverts and laterals. Here will be found plenty of elbow room; a railway train could be driven through culverts in the side and center walls and an automobile could travel through the laterals quite easily. The Panama Railroad Steamship Line, which is owned by the Isthmian canal commission, operates a fleet of six excellent steamers between New York and Colon, carrying supplies and provisions to the zone. They have. accommodations for a _ limited number of first-class passengers and take very good care of them indeed. The two most popular boats with the passengers are the Ancon and Cristobal, formerly the Shawmut and Tremont, of the Boston Towboat Co.'s fleet. These vessels were built purely as freight carriers by the Maryland Steel Co. in 1902, for. the Boston Steamship Co., and were put in ser- vice between Tacoma and the Orient. Two years later it was found advan- tageous to incorporate passenger ac- The canal - commodations into them and the work was done by the Moran Bros. Co., Seattle, Wash. In altering them the pilot house was built on top of the original wheel house, the wheel house in turn being fitted up as quarters for the captain. His original quarters were transferred into passenger ac- commodations. There are two sets of quarters for the first-class passengers on _ these steamers, one in the forward house under the wheel house and surrounded by. the bridge decks; the other in the midship house. In the forward pas- senger quarters is located the social hall. «The dining room is. located in the extreme after part of the mid- ship house and extends full width of the promenade deck, having light on three sides. The staterooms are quite spacious and airy, special atten- tion being given to lighting, ventila- tion and accessibility of baths. These two steamers are 505 ft. over all, 488 {t. between perpendiculars, 58 ft. beam molded, 22 ft. depth molded to main deck, and 32 ft. to upper deck. | At the low draught of 27 ft. their dis- placement is 16,950 tons and they are very steady ships in a seaway. They make the run from New York to Colon in seven days. The vessel in the fleet, however, that a sailor and one fond of the water would be fondest of is the Advance. She is an iron ship built by John Roach, at Chester, .Pa.,. in 1883, for the Brazilian Navigation Co., and as vessels go nowadays, is a little bit of a thing only 295 ft. long, 38 ft. beam and 23 ft. deep, and of 2,605 tons gross register. She is the same ship today that she was when John Roach turned her out except in minor machinery installations, such as the substitution of a piston valve in place of the sliding valve on the high pres- sure cylinder, doing away with the riding cut-off and unnecessary friction, and also internal lubrication. These alterations were made by P. H. O'Day & Son, 253 South street, New York. About four months ago a new pro- peller shaft and wheel were also in- stalled on her. Her engines are com- pound, 37. and 66 in. diameter by 54 in. stroke, supplied with steam from two Scotch boilers, 10 ft. 3 in. long and 15 ft. diameter, fitted with six furnaces and Howden forced draft, allowed 100 lb. steam pressure. The Advance rides the water like a duck. In a moderate sea and wind she heels slightly like a sailing ship, but never rolls and she will go through fairly heavy weather as dry as a bone. She rarely ships a sea and is an uncom- monly delightful ship to sail on, if one does not mind an easy movement in a fore and aft directon. The chief engineer of the Advance, L. Nickl, has had a varied career in all parts of the world... He was born in Germany and left. home when 12 years old to seek his fortune. His first employment was in a machine shop in Nauoetting, Bavaria, where he served an apprenticeship. He came to the United States when 16 years old, working in machine shops for a while, and then returned to Germany, finding employment in Munich. He began his sailing career when 19 years of age in English vessels trading to the East Indies. He returned to tlie United States in 1890 and_ shipped as fireman on the steamer City of Washington of the Ward Line, quit- ting that job later to go as fireman on the steamer Louisiana of the Croni- well Line. He then returned to the Ward Line as oiler and watertender on the steamer Summit: He _ oab- tained his license in 1899 and went as assistant engineer on the steamer Satatoga, of the Ward Line