我错过了林地农场的令人兴奋的生活，但是有了未受破坏的丛林,,en,如此靠近城镇，我仍然可以享受大自然的乐趣，周末步行进入森林,,en,在一般办公楼的尽头，只看一个二层窗户,,en,几英尺远,,en,在丛林边界的一棵大树上,,en,我可以看到一个巨大的懒惰,,en,这种动物在那里度过了好几年，这是一种罕见的动作，其动作缓慢，姿势颠倒，大部分长毛覆盖着绿藻的生长。,,en,只是看到它有效地保留了大部分城镇居民离开森林,,en,搬到波多黎各,,en,每天都听到和看到吼猴的乐队,,en,成群的几种鹦鹉,,en,美丽的猩红色金刚鹦鹉,,en,发出喧闹的电话,,en’ so close to town I could still enjoy the pleasures of nature with weekend walks into the forest. Just looking out of a second-story window alone at the end of the general office building, and about 40 feet away, in a large tree on the border of the jungle, I could see a giant sloth. The animal spent several years there and was a rare sight with its slow movements and its upside-down posture and with much of its long fur covered with a growth of green algae. Just the sight of it effectively kept most of the town folk out of the forest!
***If you missed the previous installments, click here: 1928: Part 1, 1928: Part 2, 1928: Part 3, 1928: Part 4, 1929:Part 5,
Bands of howler monkeys were heard and seen daily and, of course, great flocks of several species of parrots. The beautiful scarlet macaws, giving their raucous calls, 是在黎明和日落时飞过的常见景点,,en,我羡慕数百只森林鸟类,,en,许多捕蝇器,,en,蚁鸟,,en,鹰派和色彩鲜艳的trogans,,en,motmots和巨嘴鸟以及灿烂的蝴蝶,,en,所有的大型动物,,en,貘,,en,貘,,lt,老虎,,es,山狮和野猪乐队近在咫尺，并且经常被少数敢于冒险进入丛林的人看到,,en,但我特别喜欢各种各样的兰花和一些人的轻松,,en,他们可以收集,,en,在我们在热带地区度过的这些年里，这成了我的主要爱好之一,,en,我首先将一些干燥的标本送到运河区的首脑会议花园主任，要求提供身份证明,,en,和文献资料供参考,,en,主任,,en. And I admired the hundreds of forest birds, the many flycatchers, ant-birds, hawks and the brightly-colored trogans, motmots and toucans as well as the brilliant butterflies.
All of the large animals, tapirs (dantos), “tigres”, mountain lions and bands of peccaries were close by and seen frequently by the few daring individuals who would venture into the jungle. But I was especially attracted to the great variety of orchids and the ease with which some, of them could be collected. That became one of my major hobbies during all the years we spent in the tropics. I commenced by sending a few dried specimens to the Director of the Summit Gardens in the Canal Zone requesting the favor of identification, and a source of literature for reference. The Director, 那个我当时不认识的人,,en,保罗H.,,en,艾伦,,en,以后会有更多关于他的事,,en,高尔夫球手穿着裤子和礼服衬衫,,en,在离开美国之前，我曾在Marshfield乡村俱乐部与我父亲一起打过几次高尔夫球，但无论如何都不是职业选手,,en,KB Block,,en,我对高尔夫感兴趣，所以我们几乎每天下班后都打了九洞球场,,en,其他常规合作伙伴,,en,或者反对者,,en,港务监督,,en,苗条的Banack,,en,铁路公路管理员,,en,凯西琼斯,,en,铁路指挥,,en,鲁道夫·詹森,,da,该部门的总工程师,,en,莱恩埃文斯,,en,农场区主管,,en,约翰马斯,,en,首席绘图员,,en,在比赛期间通常会有一些沉重的赌注,,en,然后在俱乐部会所，我们掷骰子喝酒,,en, was Paul H. Allen and there will be more about him later.
1930’s golfers wore trousers and a dress shirt.
I had played golf with my dad a few times at the Marshfield country club before leaving the States but was no pro by any means. KB Block was interested in golf so we both played the nine-hole course almost every day after work. Among other regular partners, or opponents, were Jerry Baron (the Port Superintendent), Slim Banack (railroad roadmaster), Casey Jones (a railroad conductor) Rudolf Jensen (the chief engineer for the division), Lane Evans (a farm district superintendent) and John Mase (chief draftsman). There was usually some heavy betting during the game – and afterward in the clubhouse as we rolled dice for drinks. 我练习了很多，并且变得足够好，可以保持自己的大部分时间并且不时地赢得一些钱,,en,我一周几次打高尔夫球,,en,我住在巴拿马,,en,Block成为排名第一的高尔夫球手，并在下一场比赛中参加了中美洲的几场职业锦标赛,,en,第一洞发球台靠近办公室，第九洞就在俱乐部附近,,en,对于我们高尔夫球手,,en,游戏变成了一种仪式,,en,行使,,en,有机会赚一点钱,,en,和一个方法来到俱乐部和坐在滚动骰子为廉价,,en,一分钱,,en,苏格兰高球,,en,另一位高尔夫球手,,en,迈克里根,,en,会计师,,en.
I played golf several times a week for the remaining 11 years I lived in Panama. Mr. Block became a top-ranked golfer and participated in several professional tournaments in Central America during the next 30 years. The first tee was close to the office and the ninth hole was near the clubhouse. For us golfers, the game became a ritual – exercise, a chance to make a little money, and a way to get to the club and sit around rolling dice for the inexpensive (20-cent) Scotch highballs. Another golfer, Mike Reagan, the accountant, later told the story that it took him five years to discover that he could get to the club from the office by walking along a concrete path for four minutes instead of playing nine holes of golf!
The other guys in the accounting department, mostly Boston Irish and good at drinking, knew the short way from the start and never did take up golf. The dice games, with a box of five poker dice, were exciting – “chingona”, “Liars Dice”, “Beat It You Bastard”, etc., and time passed quickly until the final mess hall call for supper – sometimes later. I never could get interested in tennis – too hot!
Old Administration Buildings in Puerto Armuelles
Mess hall in Canal Zone 1930’s
The mess hall was operated for the company by a Chinese, Ling Yung, latinized to “Leon”, 一个聪明而友善的人，他也为自己的帐户管理吧,,en,在圣诞节他会给他的,,en,最好的客户,,en,中国葡萄酒的美丽礼物和各种稀有的美食佳肴,,en,每个人都有信用和签署酒吧chits，就像没有明天,,en,直到发薪日到来，没有余额,,en,可怜的莱昂,,en,不是公司,,en,将袋子再拿一个月,,en,他跑了一个很棒的食堂,,en,在公司雇用他之前，他一直在运河区负责军队,,en,食物是美式“肉和土豆”的大量帮助,,en,但随着,,en,热,,en,墨西哥辣椒混合在一起,,en,在毗邻的乡村，有一个坑,,en,斗鸡,,en,一项针对年轻人和老年人的主要巴拿马运动,,en,富人和穷人,,en,有机会赢,,en,或失去,,en,一只好公鸡或很多Balboas和,,en. At Christmas he would give his “best customers” beautiful gifts of Chinese wines and an assortment of rare food delicacies. Everyone had credit and signed bar chits like there was no tomorrow, until payday arrived with no balance! Poor Leon, not the Company, would hold the bag for another month. He ran an excellent mess hall, having been in charge of an army mess in the Canal Zone before the Company hired him. The food was large helpings of American-style “meat and potatoes” but with “hot” Jalapeno peppers mixed in!
In the adjoining native village there was a pit for cockfights, a major Panamanian sport for young and old, rich and poor. A chance to win, or lose, a good rooster or a lot of Balboas and, sometimes, 如果你不同意另一个主人如何将他的雄鹿绑在他的公鸡身上，那么就会失去一点血,,en,拉斯帕尔马斯泳池今天,,en,游泳池很受已婚夫妇和小孩的欢迎,,en,海滩是一个蓝色的黑色精细'火山沙从巴鲁火山和,,en,用一个,,en,脚潮,,en,不适合洗澡,,en,当劳改营靠近海洋建造时，以前考虑过的一个因素,,en,周六晚上俱乐部里有黑白电影,,en,并在假期跳舞,,en,其中美国官方和巴拿马人之间有很多,,en,圣徒日,,en,一列特殊的火车使所有农场的电路都带来了,,en,农民,,en,在电影或舞蹈之后带回家,,en,表演漫长而快速的巴拿马舞蹈,,en,Pollera,,es,真的,,en!
Las Palmas Pool today
The pool was popular with the married couples and their small children. The beach was a bluish black fine ‘volcanic sand from the Baru volcano and, with a 12 foot tide, was not suitable for bathing – a factor previously considered when the labor camps were constructed close to the ocean.
There were black-and-white movies in the clubhouse on Saturday nights, and dances on holidays, of which there were many between the American official ones and the Panamanian “Saints Days”. A special train made the circuit of all the farms to bring the “farmers” in and to take them home after the movies or dances. Performing the long and fast Panamanian dance, “La Pollera”, was really hot 只有少数吊扇的东西，不足以冷却旺盛的舞者,,en,一晚深夜,,en,KB拖着一个装满冰块的大洗衣桶,,en,坐在大厅中间的椅子上,,en,当舞者在他周围盘旋时，他的脚和腿冷却，同时用高球冷却他的内心男人几个小时,,en,在镇的本土部分,,en,穿过铁轨,,en,一个有进取心的巴拿马人建造了一个大型的两层汽车旅馆式建筑,,en,美丽华,,en,一楼设有大型酒吧和休息室，独立餐厅以及楼上约十几间客房,,en,有时候，推销员会租房间几天，但大多数人通常都是独立的当地少女,,en,他们是组合女服务员,,en,女售货员,,en. Late one night, KB dragged a large washtub full of ice from the bar and, sitting in a chair in the middle of the hall, cooled his feet and legs in it while cooling his inner man with highballs for a couple of hours as the dancers circled around him.
In the native part of town, “across the railroad tracks”, an enterprising Panamanian built a large two-story motel type building, the “Miramar”, with a large bar and lounge and separate restaurant on the first floor and about a dozen rooms upstairs. Occasionally a salesman would rent a room for a couple of days but most were generally occupied by unattached young local native girls.
They were combination waitresses, saleswomen, 和社交伙伴一起减少了他们卖给酒吧顾客的所有饮料,,en,当一艘船被绑在码头时，大多是来自会计部门的单身男性公司员工和水手,,en,有时人群会有点吵闹，有一天我碰巧在那里,,en,我曾是,,en,不,,en,规范,,es,当地的,,en,派出他的六名士兵小队装备步枪来袭击这个地方,,en,他们逮捕了所有人,,en,主要是公司员工,,en,扰乱和平,,en,并把我们带到了,,en,地牢,,es,港口船长的大房间,,en,海关和警察在码头建设,,en,以前Jerry Baron把我介绍给了Port Captain和Intendente，因为我几乎是镇上唯一会讲西班牙语的gringo,,en – mostly single male company employees from the accounting department and sailors whenever a ship was tied up at the wharf. At times the crowd would get a little boisterous and one night I happened to be there (I was not a regular) when the local Intendente sent his squad of six soldiers armed with loaded rifles to raid the place. They arrested all the men, mostly Company employees, for “disturbing the peace” and marched us to the calabozo, a large room in the combined Port Captain, Customs and Police building by the wharf. Previously Jerry Baron had introduced me to the Port Captain and the Intendente since I was practically the only gringo in town who could speak Spanish. 所以我们都坐在Intendente办公室等待判刑,,en,每个人都将自己的生活史传给了那些费力地用手写出来的职员,,en,所有人都被罚了五个巴尔博亚，并在叮当声中度过了一天,,en,我是最后一个打电话的人，Intendente向我眨了眨眼睛，然后在船尾告诉店员,,en,官方声音,,en,马科斯先生的特殊自由,,es,当我走出去的时候，在禁止的门后面嚎叫起来,,en,我直接去了办公室，让夜班电话接线员打电话给公司的当地法定代表,,en,几个小时以后,,en,在早上,,en,所有其他人都获得了自由，我成了英雄,,en,在餐厅,,en,美丽华酒店,,es,是一个很好的,,en,由中国人经营,,en,乔治吴,,tl,谁是厨师,,en,并提供优质的中国菜,,en – each one giving his life history to the clerk who laboriously wrote it out in longhand.
All were to be fined five Balboas and spend a day in the clink. I was the last one called up and the Intendente winked at me and told the clerk in a stern, official voice, “libertad especial para el senor Marcos“. What a howl went up from behind the barred door as I walked out! However, I went directly to the office and had the night shift telephone operator call the local legal representative of the Company. So, about 2 hours later, around 4 in the morning, all the rest were set free and I became a hero!
The restaurant in the “Miramar Hotel” was a good one, operated by a Chinese, George Ng, who was the cook, and served excellent Chinese food. 这是公司已婚员工“外出就餐”的热门场所,,en,还有那些经常在公司食堂里享受Leon的美式哈希变化的单身汉,,en,今天在Puerto离岸钓鱼,,en,深海捕鱼,,en,真棒,,en,向Paridas群岛或半岛到Charco Azul,,en,海岸变得非常多岩石,,en,并前往Burica Point及其周围的哥斯达黎加Golfo Dulce,,en,抓住大papagallo,,en,马鲛鱼,,en,石首鱼,,en,海豚,,en,石斑鱼,,en,插口,,en,金枪鱼和许多其他人,,en,共同,,en,还有旗鱼和蓝色马林鱼,,en,该公司有一个大型转换潜艇追逐者,,en,Cricamola,,ro,还有一个较小的发射器，用于将船只绑在码头，但它们不用于捕鱼,,en,除了访问高级官员,,en,谁也是官方的港口飞行员,,en” and also with the bachelors who frequently enjoyed a change from Leon’s American-style hash in the Company mess hall.
Fishing offshore of Puerto today
Deep sea fishing was wonderful, out toward the Paridas Islands or off the peninsula to Charco Azul, where the coast became very rocky, and on to Burica Point and around it into the Golfo Dulce in Costa Rica. Catches of large papagallo, red snapper, spanish mackerel, kingfish, dolphin, rockfish, jack, tuna and many others were’ common. There were also sailfish and blue marlin. The Company had a large converted submarine chaser, the “Cricamola”, and a smaller launch used for tying vessels up at the wharf but they were not used for fishing, except for visiting top brass. However, Jerry Baron, who was also the official port pilot (持有船长的执照,,en,任何船只,,en,任何海洋,,en,有时候必须这样做,,en,试用引擎,,en,在Cricamola上，并问我们几个高尔夫球友一起去,,en,我们可能只是碰巧在一边用一把旋转的勺子放在一边,,en,试运行,,en,这可能需要一天的大部分时间,,en,杰里的码头工头,,en,巨无霸,,en,牙买加也会,,en,试试酒吧,,en,通过提供冰冷的苏格兰高球,,en,约翰尼马斯,,en,像我一样内心的自然主义者,,en,经常和我一起去林地散步,,en,他从洪都拉斯的卡斯蒂利亚分部转移到那里,,en,几乎是拍卖的一首歌,,en,他已经获得了一名32英尺的马达水手,,en,丹麦制造的大型坚固木船,,en “any vessel, any ocean”) would sometimes have to “tryout the engines” on the Cricamola and ask a few of us golfing pals to go along. We might just happen to drop a hand line with a trolling spoon over the side during the “trial run” which might take most of the day. Jerry’s wharf foreman, “Big Mac”, a Jamaican would also “tryout the bar” by serving ice cold Scotch highballs.
Johnny Mase, like me a naturalist at heart, often went along with me on woodland walks. He had been transferred from the Castilla division in Honduras where, almost for a song at an auction, he had acquired a 32-foot motor-sailor, a large sturdy wooden boat made in Denmark. 它已经横跨大西洋航行，但其冒险的船主在巴拿马破产并将其卖掉以获取资金返回家园,,en,在他第一次度假,,en,Mase去了Cristobal航行了,,en,威士忌II,,en,通过运河和太平洋沿岸到Puerto Armuelles,,en,我花了很多时间帮他彻底检修,,en,修理发动机,,en,帆船装备和风帆,,en,拖出来了,,en,大约一年,,en,我最终成为了一个部分所有者，我们有很多美妙的经历“航行太平洋”,,en,细节见后一章,,en,高尔夫照片由Fine Art America提供,,en,网球场今天仍然开放，位于Las Palmas小学后面,,en,几年前公共游泳池重新开放,,en,高尔夫球场周围休息,,en,左右，变得杂草丛生,,en. On his first vacation, Mase went to Cristobal and sailed the “Whiskey II” through the canal and along the Pacific coast to Puerto Armuelles. I spent many hours helping him overhaul it, repair the engine, sailing gear and sails while it was “hauled out” for about a year. I eventually became a part owner and we had many wonderful experiences “sailing the Pacific” – details in a later chapter.
To be continued…
Stay tuned for PART 8 of this story: Life in Puerto Armuelles
NOTES:
*All photos, researched from the era, were added by the editor of Visit Puerto Armuelles.
*Golf photo courtesy of Fine Art America.
*The Tennis Court is still open today and is located behind the Las Palmas Elementary School. The public swimming Pool re-opened a few years ago. The Golf Course closed around 2012 or so and became overgrown. 几年前，保龄球馆和俱乐部会被烧毁,en.
I missed the beginning chapterz!Is thereabook?
When you click on Part 7 (or any installment), there will be links at the beginning of the story to all of the past installments. These are an excerpt from a book and an autobiography of the author.