Star Reporter, on loo Cruise, 



Buffalo (and Some Passengers) Lose Appetites, 

 But Eagles Don't Mind It Rough 



Bearina oifts for South American zoos, Dr. William M. Mann, 

 dlre^ XNitumal Zoological Park, is en route to points n 

 Kra~il Argentine and Uruguay to collect birds, reptiles and am- 

 S ' IZTvioTon board his ship is ^Zlfam H ;r . 



mature writer of The Star staff, ivho here presents the first of a 

 series of articles about Dr. Mann's expedition. 



By W. H. SHIPPEN, Jr., 



Star Staff Correspondent. 



WILLIAM H. SHIPPEN, Jr. 



ABOARD THE 

 S. S. URUGUAY 

 (B y Airmail) . — 

 It's the second day 

 we've been head- 

 ing south. 



Already tropical 

 whites are appear- 

 ing on deck. The 

 ship's swimming 

 pool is filling up, 

 and the sun has 

 broken through 

 the chill, wind- 

 harried clouds 

 which prevailed 

 yesterday. 



The water, like 

 the sky, is bluer 

 and deeper. Any 

 time now we'll see 

 the flying fish that 

 skip on jeweled 

 wings through the 

 rainbow on the 

 *bow. 



Even Zoo Di- 

 rector William M. 

 Mann's buffalo, 



in their shaggy, blizzard-proof coats, j 

 seem glad to be getting south. j 

 Their crates are lashed on a work 

 deck forward. The wind was howl- 

 ing out there yesterday and the 

 spray had stinging force. 



Appetites Lost. 

 I'm certain the buffalo didn't like 

 it They're just yearlings— 18 months 

 | old— and they must have felt they 

 were a long way from home' in a 

 strange environment. Anyhow, they 

 had lost their appetites (like some 

 of the passengers) on a deck that 

 tilted to the shock of the waves that 

 run off Cape Hatteras. 



With the buffalo on deck are a pair 

 of red wolves from Texas, two big 

 American bald eagles, which still 

 acted pretty cocky after a rough 

 ride yesterday; a pair of Emperor 

 geese from Alaska, whose honking 

 is a source of great interest to the 

 crew, quartered nearby, and several 

 crates of prairie dogs. 



A few tropical specimens are m 

 the hold— a bear cat from the East 

 Indies, and several civet cats from 

 Sumatra and Africa, along with a 

 big monitor lizzard. Dr. Mann plans 

 to bring them on deck after the ship 

 has poked her nose into a milder 

 climate. 



The ship is settling down to her 

 routine. Passengers are getting ac- 

 quainted, oriented and accustomed 

 to the isolated little community 

 whose interests they will share, for 

 a brief time anyhow, with every 

 other member. One hears a bit of 

 gossip; characters and celebrities are 

 emerging, and little cliques forming. 

 Snake Rumor Spreads. 



Members of the crew have heard 



that one of Dr. 

 Mann's snakes is 

 loose below decks. 

 This, it seems, 

 originated with 

 the seaman who 

 got a glimpse of 

 the monitor liz- 

 zard. Dr. Mann, 

 however, brought 

 no snakes. 



"But why ruin 

 a good story with j 

 a little detail like 

 that?" asked Dr. 

 Mann. "When ani- 

 mals go on a boat 

 there's always a 

 snake story. The 

 captain of a ship 

 my wife and I re- 

 turned in from 

 Northern South 

 America started 

 a story himself— 

 just for fun. 



"One lady pas- 

 senger barricadeo 

 herself in he! 

 She put her steamer trunj 



cabin. 



across the door, but left her tran 

 som open. I'm sure the snake woul 

 have preferred this private en 

 trance—had there been a snake. I 

 "However, when we returned frorA 

 Sumatra in the fall of '37 there wa \ 

 some excuse for a snake story— five 

 excuses, as a matter of fact, 50 or 60 

 feet of excuses. A dealer had put j 

 over a faulty crate, and rough j 

 weather did the rest. It was m a 

 hold piled with hay and gram, and 

 not too well lighted. We caught all 

 the run-aways, but we had feeding 

 work to do down there while the 

 hunt, went on." 



Didn't Want It in Papers. 

 "That would have made a good 

 story. Why didn't you tell me— and 

 that other Washington reporter— 

 when we met your ship in Halifax 

 that year?" 



"Because," Dr. Mann said, "you 

 might have put it in the paper!" 



As we chatted, the noon whistle 

 went— one short blast. I started 

 aft to watch our wake stream away 

 to a flowless horizon. The hum 

 of the propellors I sensed rather 

 than felt through the soles of my 

 shoes. 



"Just think," said a passenger, "it 

 won't be long until our propellors 

 turn up the Southern Cross!" 



Strange new constellations over a 

 continent stranger and newer still . . . 

 to me anyhow! I'll have to confess 

 I get a pretty big kick out of the 

 idea! 



Tomorrow : A reporter tries water- 

 ing the buffalo. 



