Johnstown High School - Spectator Yearbook (Johnstown, PA)

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SPECTATOR 17 Interior View of the Locks, Sault St. Marie there, who, as soon as the boat entered the locks, shouldered their guns and paraded up and down the clock. They were not in the least formidable, however, indeed, they looked more like soldiers drilling in some musical comedy. Superior, the largest of the Great Lakes, was then be- fore usg and this it took a day and a half to cross. In this, there was very little of anything habitable, and for hours at a time we saw nothing but water and probably a ship or two skirting the distant horizon. VVe neared Duluth, Minnesota, about ten o'clock one evening and for several hours we sat on the lookout, the very top of the boat, and watched the scintillating lights of the approaching city. These, seen at first only by the cap- tain with his glass, grew steadily brighter and brighter, and seemed to impart to me something of the joy and thankful- ness with which sailors must approach their homeland after long and dangerous voyages. The next morning we were anchored at Duluth. A large grain-elevator was the first object to engage my atten- tion, and it was much easier there to remember that Minne-

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16 SPECTATOR J View taken while approaching the Locks, Sault St. Marie ' The iirst day on board was passed in asking questions -the captain was very kind-and getting acquainted with the ship and its people. Erie was the first lake to be crossedg beyond this were the Detroit River and Lake St. Clair. Everything I saw was very interesting, but I was particu- larly impressed by the appearance in Lake St. Clair of sev- eral villages built, as Venice is, far out in the water. Each contained attractive homes and churches, everything, in fact, that a modern town requires but land. These villages were laid out as any other town is, except that they had canals for streets, and boats were used for all purposes of com- munication and transportation. After crossing Lake Huron, we came to Sault Ste. Marie. The water there was so shallow that locks had to be built, two on the United States' side and one on the Canadian. Between these two are the rapids which we see so often in pictures. Indians with canoes were there willing to take travellers over them. VVe were not permitted to set foot on the Canadian shore, for a group of Canadian guardsmen were stationed

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18 SPECTATOR sota produces grain than it was when I studied geography. Duluth lies between a mountain and the lake, so that it is but one-half mile wide, and twenty-live miles in length. It is larger than Johnstown and has a great number of ex- ceptionally beautiful homes, most of which follow the shore line with a frontage on the lake. A day or two spent there proves very interesting to travellers from the East. On the return trip, the water was much rougher than on the trip up, and for one whole day and night the fog was so dense that often we could not see the rear end of the boat. Fog horns sounded about us every few minutesg and they have a very weird and uncanny sound. Then from some place in the distance would come back the answer of an- other boat. By the time we reached Lakel-Iuron, a wind storm had cleared the fog and the waves were rolling ten or more feet high. The wind and water roared and lashed against the boat with great force, making it rock just enough to give us an exciting experience which added much to the trip. A l must say a little about the captain. He was a jolly old man, just like one in fiction, and he has sailed for years and years and touched on every country on the globe. His tales of thrilling rescues and his ever-present humor pro- vided excellent entertainment and kept everybody laughing. The best has been saved until last, the moonlight. As I cannot paint a picture of it or write a poem about it, I can merely say that the full moon on the water to me pre- sents a picture more beautiful than any other I have seen. As I looked up into the mo0n's face, it appeared so much larger and nearer than ever before. It almost seemed to be human. And then its background, those myriads of starsg and the big golden clouds silhouetted against itg and the gleaming rays which shown down over the rolling waves, made a scene of rare beauty and ethereal harmony.