CHINA CLIPPER

Evening Post, Volume CXXIV, Issue 59, 7 September 1937, Page 12

CHINA CLIPPER

THE LIFE ON BOARD ONE

DIVERSIONS OF PASSENGERS

REST AND COMFORT

- In the course of the sixty-odd round trips which the Pan-American flyingboats have now completed between the United States and the Philippines, a definite routine has been developed for passengers as well as crew,' writes Violet Haven in the "New York Times." Yet there is so much leeway within tne bounds of that routine that one might almost say the individuals' daily experiences vary as much as do the individuals themselves. If a passenger is a habitual worker, for instance— —one of those persons who even eats his meals with a serious book in one hand —he will find a library available with ample light, a table and opportunity to work ten hours a day in undisturbed peace. If he wants amusement, there is a collection of light fiction, or he can always find those to make up a bridge game. He can find talkative companions; he can ask—and the crew, members will answer—endless questions about aviation; or he can sleep the clock arouad, since six berths are made up at ail times, and judging by the experience of several of .us on a recent flight to China, he will have no trouble sleeping. We had difficulty arousing ourselves at high noon to get a muchbelated breakfast. ■ There is, in brief, as much leeway for enjoyment on a clipper ship making the long Pacific flight as one could ask, and the routine soon becomes a part of the whole experience. EARLY RISING. Routine, fcr instance, calls for early rising, breakfast before daylight and take-off at or just before dawn. Passengers accept this readily, and sometimes even ask the captain if they can't make an earlier getaway so they may have more hours of daylight at the other end of the day's flight. The customary take-off time is 6 a.m., and a definite schedule for rising is posted in the hotels at Midway, Wake, and Guam; but on one recent flight the passengers asked that the take-off be advanced to 4.30, so that they would have time to shop in Manila that aftarnoon. After the usual dawn take-off, some passengers are still so heavy-eyed that they go right back to bed until noon or even tea-time. Those, who have had a ■ good night's sleep ashore, however, usually prefer to see the sun rise and to partake of the usual 8.30 snack. There is something : about a sunrise from the air in mid-Pacific that is well worth staying up to see. Lunch comes at the modest hour of noon, since the crew and at least some of the passengers have been up since an hour before dawn. In the middle of the afternoon another canvass of appetites is made —which means that tea is served; appetites seem to fare extremely well on this trip. . On the first few flights to Manila there was no steward, and those aboard ship made out the best they could. Besides hot: water, thermos bottles, and can openers, there were few dietary conveniences; so everybody took along a bag of canned food, chocolate, and sandwiches, swapped them around like schoolboys, and made the most of what was really picnic fare. Now, however, the meals are prepared ateach air base on the mornjng of departure and are kept hot in thermos jugs. Stewards are in charge, and at meal, times the passenger is provided with a fat little pillow to go across the knees and hold' a spacious aluminium tray which serves nicely.as a table for complete meals, with all the trimmings. ' TAKEN FOR GRANTED. The speed, the altitude, and the endless vista, of cloud and sea, however, seldom rouse tne passengers' concern over their own safety. They take it for granted that when they take off! they will spend twelve, fourteen, or I twenty, hours aloft and arrive at the1 next stop quite safely. There are lifebelts under each seat, the passengers are told they are there, and there they remain. , Aloft, the passengers are free to roam, the lounge, the two passenger compartments, and the rear hatch. The only times they are requested to remain seated are during the take-off and landing and when the navigator occasionally wishes to take a sight requiring a perfectly steady ship. At other times they may even crowd to one side of the ship in unanimous admiration of some remote island or-of those beautiful reefs which lie between Honolulu and Midway. The activities of the crew, at least for the first day or so, are the focus of all eyes. The navigator appears to be the busiest of the crew, and each time he enters the lounge to drop a drift bomb from the window -to determine the angle and direction of drift the ship is taking, he has a full audience. It is the steward, however, who js omnipresent. He has endless routine duties and nobody relieves him. He feeds the crew and passengers. He is responsible for loading and unloading baggage at each station, and he is expected to have taxis waiting for these who want them at Manila, Honolulu, and Alameda. He must make up the jrienus and see that enough and appropriate food is put aboard each morning. It is also the stewards' duty to look after the entertainment of those who can't entertain themselves, and he provides cards, checkers; magazines, books, even ideas. He is, moreover, the clerk of the ship, obliged to see that all immigration forms and Customs declarations are properly made out before reaching Honolulu from Manila, and he makes sure that passports are within reach of forgetful passengers. He is custodian of cameras in restricted zones. He sees to it that the floral leis are discarded at Honolulu before the passengers board ship. A Department of Agriculture ruling forbids the transportation of flowers from one island to another. He even distributes chewing gum. Chewing gum is more than a mere frivolous commodity on a Pacific clipper flight; it is one of the flight essentials, and gum-chewing almost amounts to a compulsory vice. There are several reasons. In the first place, gum-chew-ing induces a saliva flow which is known considerably to lessen the possibilities of airsickness. In the second place, the motion of the jaws tends to equalise the pressure on the eardrums caused by prolonged flight at high altitudes. Some persons prefer to place cotton pads in their ears to ease the eardrum pressure, and the crew members use either method, depending on the state of fatigue of their jaw muscles. And finally, gum takes the mind of the smoker away from his forbidden cigarette. No smoking is allowed aboard the clippers, and while many habitual smokers admit that after their first day aloft they, do not feel deprived, occasionally one does meet an inveterate inhaler who declares at the end of a Pacific crossing that he has not only been deprived of cigarettes but that he has been virtually forced to chew his way through the air all the long miles of his journey. If there is any one set of muscles that feels lasting effects of that journey, it is the jaw muscles.