Flying the Lindbergh Trail (1937)

Lindberg Trailblazer of the Skies w ad Emissary of a new and thrilling age of Discovery over the historic Trails of Columbus of Conquistador of Clippers ships of another age he was the first to Brave Uncharted Skies pioneers of a new generation follow the trails blazed by him that America's Commerce May once again be first upon the trade routes of the world today over a network of 40,000 M Pan-American Airways largest of the world's great Airways systems with a fleet of 150 clipper ships speeds men mail and merchandise to 40 different countries a thrilling Monument to the United States Air Mail Service across the vast Pacific in 60 flying hours to the Orient halfway around the world for just as the Pacific disappears on the right South America appears on the left and the roots of the flying Clippers ships speed Southward to Mexico Central America and across the Caribbean to circle the vast Southern continent starting our aerial cruise over the famous Lindberg Trail our first voyage takes us to Havana once days away aboard one of the giant clipper ships this gayest of Caribbean capitals is now but 130 minutes from Miami Eastern International Gateway between the Americas this port of the Clippers ships is the transfer point for the airliners from the north that speed thousands of passengers tons of mail and air Express for the Clippers to Wing Southward to another continent from the Atlantic Seaboard the middle west the coast Canada even Europe in the orient they pour by the thousands through panamerican Airways great terminal to take the high road to Rio Panama and far off buenos Iris on their way to points all over the globe more than 200,000 Sky Travelers have pass through here businessmen who find the aerial trade route swiftest pleasure Travelers in search of all the color and romance of far away places all come to travel in the Swift Sure Comfort of the giant flying clipper ships larger than the ship in which Columbus first crossed the Atlantic the these aerial Giants are great 21 ton airliners manned by veteran Crews of five flying officers they operate with meticulous precision and have a record for dependability unsurpassed by any form of transportation across the shimmering Waters of bisc bay the great engines more powerful than a locomotive Lift Us easily into the [Music] air [Music] in a moment we glanc down to see the terminal base passing below it's hard to believe we're aboard an airliner so large and roomy are the cabins so smooth and quiet its flight All Too Soon the shimmering blue of the Gulf Stream merges into the outline of Cuba's coast and we are over Havana a City close to the states yet one which has an entirely different atmosphere it is Cosmopolitan European Spanish but above all it is delightful it is now far removed from the days of pillaging and fighting along the Spanish main when Havana was a center of attacks from free booters and Pirates this Fortress which overlooks the Waterfront was built in 1774 and cost the unbelievable sum of $14 million the king of Spain when of the amount looked Westward across the Atlantic as he remarked that anything that cost that amount of money should be visible from any part of the [Music] world facing the Waterfront is a beautiful doed palace of the president with a palm lined walk running down to the ocean today sections of the old wall which at one time surrounded the entire city still stand the capital is among the most beautiful and expensive buildings of the world its great Dome dominates the city the pra where everyone promenad runs from the sea to the main Park which is surrounded by interesting [Music] buildings even this cigar store maintains the Spanish atmosphere with colorful TI depicting the life of Don kote this great old Cathedral and the surrounding buildings are among the original Spanish landmarks of Havana through to Spanish Architectural Traditions many buildings are built around a patio such as the city hall with its statue of Columbus outside the city of Havana we find rural Cuba most interesting and attractive at matonas a valley fringed with Royal Palms stretches down to the Sea and along the shores the coconut palms shade beaches where the warm Waters of the Caribbean beat softly upon the Coral [Music] Sands at the little village of San Diego de los BOS the terorist homes could be a hillside in the Pyrenees Cuba is really a land of everlasting summer and its extensive beaches are crowded the year round of course if one chooses he may escape from the bright Sun and sip iced drinks in the cool Spanish arched [Music] patios [Music] Cuba is always pleasure loving but at night life centers about Havana where beautiful women and handsome men gather or meet beneath the stars at [Applause] the second flying step down the Lindberg Trail spans all the West Indies in a single day Crossing Cuba the Clippers ship speed on over Haiti Santo Domingo and Puerto Rico then along the tropical aisles of the Caribbean to Port of Spain [Music] Trinidad [Music] flying over oceans to new lands is a new [Music] thrill as our Skyliner speeds across the blue Caribbean we pass over Cape Haitian at the tip of the fascinating island of Haiti it was here that Kristof the black Emperor made famous the stories of Emperor Jones and black Majesty built his mighty Citadel at top of 3,000 ft mountain peak by means of Manpower such as must have been employed in the building of the pyramids of Egypt the huge blocks of stone and galleries of cannons were dragged up the almost inaccessibly steep sides of the mountain many are the stories of this brutal achievement one that a group of men almost at the point of exhaustion while trying to pull up one of the heavy cannons complained they could not do it alone and pleaded for more men to help them kristo ordered every 10th man shot as a warning the ones remaining then struggling to preserve their own lives did the job alone across the island at the end of a Long Bay of Deep Blue Water we come to the city of Porto Prince capital of Haiti along the Waterfront the fishing fleet anchors and the fishermen bter their goods to the people from the mountains for staple products which their life at sea prevents them from [Music] Raising in some of the picturesque Villages around Porto Prince the little thatched roofed houses are very attractive and the people most friendly even the women enjoy smoking pipes here in the center of the city the marketplace is a scene of constant activity from very early morning till Nightfall all manner of goods are traded from old shoes to firewood many of these natives travel for as much as 2 days on foot carrying great packs of produce on their heads to the marketplace the more affluent ones use these little burs for transporting their Wares and if there's room they climb aboard [Music] too not far away the imposing Cathedral overlooks the restlessness of the market while nearby in a large Square in the center of the town is the beautiful white Palace of the president great Bowers of brilliant ban vilia add their note to this victorial canvas already charged with the color of Haiti boarding our flying clipper ship again the motors Roar The Checkered Flag signals all is clear ahead and off we go to add more thrilling experiences to our trip in the islands of the [Music] Caribbean Puerto Rico meaning Rich Port is the largest American possession in the Caribbean San Juan Central Square is dedicated to Columbus who discovered Puerto Rico the Spanish Club Fountain of lions is a copy of the one in the alhamra in Spain and in the seclusion of this patio we find this inviting Swimming Pool the original White House of pron Deon who discovered Florida in his search for a fountain of youth stands above the heavy stone walls of the original fortifications of Puerto [Music] Rico elmoro the impregnable never in its colorful history successfully attacked from the sea still Jets out into the blue Caribbean a monument to Spain's onetime Mighty hold on the new [Music] world from a Sentry box in the walls where Spain kept a constant watch on Pirates and enemies a Sentinel mysteriously disappeared one night and with the setting of the Sun the wash of waves and cool night breezes it is filled with Ghostly whisperings and is called The Haunted Sentry box blue oceans and cocoa Palms are symbols of all the fascinating tropical aises of the Caribbean Fort def France the chief city of French martinque was the birthplace of Josephine who through her marriage to Napoleon became Empress of primes [Music] in 192 a tragedy stunned the world Mount pey quiescent now erupted not as a flow of lava but is a huge cloud of intensely hot Cinders and Ashes This Cloud rolled down the mountain over the 30,000 inhabitants of the city of San Pierre in 4 minutes there was not a soul Left Alive in the city except one man a convict in this cell the walls were so thick and the openings so small that he alone [Music] survived Wings speed us again across the lovely AES of the blue Caribbean basking in the mild Sunshine of the tropics and we're in Trinidad with its Blue Waters and palm fringed chores cocoa or chocolate is raised here in abundance the beans are found inside these fruits which grow on the main branches of the trees outside of the Cities the little thatched roof homes are extremely picturesque to keep the houses is cool the native people do their cooking outside in mud ovens this girl is drying cocoa beans in the sun there are many Hindus in Trinidad and their mosques or temples add a bizarre note to the Caribbean [Music] architecture in the courtyard of of the mosques to the rhythm of native music a ceremonial dance is in progress no women can take part in these dances so their parts are taken by men adorned in costumes of dancing women all Hindu dances are ritualistic and are based on some old [Music] Legend thus in a little chain of islands East Meets West we have found bits of Spain France Britain and a black Republic truly an exotic combination of life and interest in this romantic adventure through the [Music] Caribbean from Port of Spain the Clippers ships cruise over the jungle empires of the three guanas to the equator and BM parah in Brazil then up the great Amazon River to manow a transatlantic steamship Terminal A th000 miles from the [Music] sea soaring swiftly through southern Skies our flying Clippers ship speeds us on to the [Music] ganas we arrive at Georgetown the capital of Great Britain's only possession in South America as the pontoons of our ship gently skim over the water it becomes an exciting realization that at last in one of the few countries whose innermost regions are not completely explored and where even the beaten paths remain unexploited Georgetown itself is a sturdy clean British City almost on the equator for natives of India England Africa and the Aborigines of South America congregate and trade on its many streets and [Music] marketplaces outside the city Palm fringed canals lead the way to plantations of sugar cane then through vast rice [Music] fields native women labor under the Hot Tropical Sun and up to their knees in mud planting [Music] rice British Guana is a network of rivers which wind their way through great jungles in a voyage up one of the Great Rivers to kitur Falls the unexplored jungle Shores are alive with animals which peek at us from the underbrush and trees we are heading for kitur the most talked of waterfall in the world and practically inaccessible up to a few years ago situated in the heart of a South American jungle it is now waiting for the tourist explorer who wants to visit the Lesser known parts of the world to see the more rugged side of nature on this great continent of romantic Legend and brave Discovery and here we are kour Falls 5 a huge River piercing the heart of the Jungle Forest is hurled into space to a point nearly 800 ft below a spectacle which even a our Indian guides and a spectacle which no words can adequately [Music] describe as an our own Grand Canyon everything in this Mighty Panorama is on such a huge scale that one loses his correct perceptions of size however when one realizes that the entire Woolworth or Chrysler buildings could be placed beneath the falls with still room to spare an idea of its great magnitude may be [Music] achieved exploring Rivers deeper into the center of the Jungle we find a people whose African ancestors escaped or were left by the slave tra traders of over a century ago as their ships made port in the ganas going into the interior they now live as their forefathers lived in the African jungles Untouched by the modern world a harmless uncivilized race of people hiding in the dense jungles from the eyes of the outer [Music] world [Music] in Netherlands Guana pararo is the Quint Seaport capital in government Square the atmosphere is most Colonial with the court of justice building and government house in front of which stands the Monument of Queen belh helmina of [Music] palen the Creoles in Paramaribo have their own dress kado Missi so called and any event is good cause for a dance this day it is for the benefit of their own Governor the man with all the braid not an official Governor to be sure but the most socially prominent man in their own Circle and probably the only man in town with a complete uniform and lots of gold [Music] [Music] braid this Roomba shimmy Charleston combination is hot stuff in pararo Harlem and so we come to the end of a chapter on those little known but tremendously interesting countries the [Music] ganas near the mouth of the mighty Amazon River is the city of BM par Brazil this tropical city lies practically on the equator yet over the Lindberg Trail it is but three flying days from New York City BM is the center of activity for the jungle towns and plantations for hundreds of miles around so its busy Waterfront is always filled with picturesque sailing boats the cathedral is one of the old landmarks of parah as is its opera house which was built in the prosperous days of the rubber boom across the red tiled rooftops one could see the edge of the great jungles which are wild and in many parts [Music] unexplored due to the fact that there are no railroads or highways in this section of Brazil this city has has a modern Harbor constantly filled with ships from all over the [Music] world by plane we speed over the dense jungles of the Amazon 180 Mi wide at its [Music] mouth in a few hours we're flying over manaos 1,000 Mi up the amazon Brazil's great Metropolis in the center of the Jungle manow was the first city in South America to have a street car Imagine This Magnificent million dooll opera house with its blue and gold tiled roof brought from SP jungles and and this beautiful cathedral 1900s when manow was the center of the world's rubber market and when money flowed into the city as rapidly as the Amazon flows past its door today it has but a shadow of its former Grandeur but to us it is the starting point of a thrilling adventure in the great interior of the Amazon basin traveling up some of the smaller Rivers tributaries of the Amazon we get our first intimate glimpse of real jungles in order to see some of the larger birds and animals of this country we leave our boats for a trek through the jungles this St likee fellow with the bulgy neck is a species of the many kinds of waiting Birds which inhabit the equatorial L [Music] lands these Condors are among the largest flying birds in the world and as they are carnivorous they feed on the animals and snakes in the jungles to them and other vultures Falls the job of keeping the forests Clean and Free from decaying animal matter armadillos that queer combination of tortoise and Hedgehog in the underbrush we come upon a most curious animal the ante eater equipped with a long snout he can burrow into anthills and often uses his stiff bristly tail to sweep over the ground and brush the ants into a [Music] pile upon the Trunks and branches of jungle trees trees are found gorgeous orchids of almost every color and variety growing [Music] wild many of the orchids are so delicately patterned that they look not unlike lovely butterflies [Music] deep into the mroo section of Brazil the river takes us to the Magnificent Gua [Music] Falls [Music] this Great River rushes through narrow impassible chasms on its way to the Sea a spectacular climax to our unus jungle [Music] Adventure south of bmara the Southern Cross replaces the North Star in the heavens and in a single day the clipp ship span half the coast of vast Brazil on the high road to Rio De [Music] Janeiro flying down to Rio capital of Brazil the world's most beautiful city is magnificent from the air Gliding Over the city we get a glimpse of its rugged mountainous background it's lovely Boulevard skirting the blue [Music] beaches and Rio Harbor the finest Harbor in the world and for which it is justly famous as we hear the speed of the four Motors of our giant Clippers slacken we can't help but thrill to the fact that we're arriving at the gayest city of the Western Hemisphere the Paris of the Americas the main section of Rio is located on the avenita Rio Bronco the architecture of the older buildings is very European in design Rio's opera house is copied after the one in Paris an oriental touch in architecture is found on one of the narrow side streets which are crowded during the busy hours of the [Music] day many of the new buildings are most modernistic in design with the old and the new mixed together in Perfect Harmony along the main drive to the many beaches are lovely Public Gardens and fountains and always the Sugarloaf is in the background sailing is a popular sport Rio is a city of color so it is no surprise to see many red sailboats decorating the Brilliant Blue Waters of its many [Applause] bays ever Apparent from all angles of the city is the famous landmark of Rio the Sugarloaf Rising abruptly from the sea to a height of 1100 ft it stands like a great Sentinel guarding the harbor one may take a cable car to the top of the Sugar Loaf by day or by night in the daytime the Panorama of the city lies below at night it is equally interesting to look down upon the thousands of Lights in the Magic City on the way up the car is suspended in space and the countryside is spread out far [Music] beneath [Music] arriving at the top we realize how high we are for the whole section of the country is visible as far as the eye can see and the large buildings of the city look like toy blocks below a panorama of great interest as it shows the fine beaches of kopok Cabana and iima stretching away up the coastline the residential City itself winding its way among the hills up the valleys and around B foga [Music] Bay korada is the highest of the many Hills and on its top is a huge statue of Christ visible day and night from all parts of the city for dreamers of Splendid Landscapes of natural marvels of Sunny Seaside places with sandy beaches and Crystal Blue Waters no other place can be compared to [Music] Rio kopo Cabana the most popular of Rio's beaches is always crowded with swimmers and sun worshippers Carnival arrives for months everyone waits for this event and for 5 days and nights no work is done it is just one great gay [Music] holiday everyone costumes himself for the event some fantastic some beautiful some comical and some mildly insane but all for one purpose everything is sacrificed to Joy special Carnival songs are written each year for this event and the crowd sing and move to their Temple through the crowded streets an entire city of nearly 2 million people all costumed and happy give up all thought of past or future it is Carnival and only Carnival [Music] counts [Music] [Music] let know [Applause] [Music] [Music] you [Music] at night the Milling singing crowd scarcely make room for the many colorful floats which add their touch in making this event so [Music] spectacular [Music] night and day this fantastic Carnival continues just one of the many reasons why Rio is the city no one can ever forget not many miles Beyond Brazil's gay capital lies the peaceful city of Sao Paulo World capital of the coffee industry one of the most beautiful cities on the southern continent sa Paulo's broad Avenues lined with burant Trees lead to the impressive new monument commemorating the independence of [Music] Brazil an epic Masterpiece in bronze it tempies the greatness of This Magnificent country [Music] the Landscapes and buildings of the ianga museum with its Gardens and fountains remind one of [Music] Versa most interesting of sa pao's many sites is the Snake Farm where poisonous snakes are raised for study and for making vaccines to combat the poisons of their [Music] bites [Music] familiarity certainly breeds contempt for this man pays no attention to the many vicious Rattlers around [Music] him he teases them to get them in a mood for [Music] striking he and the doctor by careful manipulation Force the Rattler into giving up the deadly poison from its cruy fanged mouth a dangerous business I'd [Music] say to the land of the Argentine on the River of silver the Clippers ship soar on down the coast over lovely south Brazil to Mono then up the river of silver itself to the giant city of the Southern Hemisphere buenos [Music] [Music] ciris and so on to Uruguay we speed in this flying clipper ship [Music] imagine eating a full course dinner while flying at nearly 200 mph 8,000 ft in the air a fascinating thrill for even the most season Traveler Mont Vio from the top of this hill overlooking the entire city the last remaining Cannon reminds us that this was once a Spanish stronghold in Spain's conquest of the new world the capital of uguay is a busy modern city with a splendid Harbor the main part of town is bustling and Cosmopolitan courteous and cultured heavily trafficked streets remind us of our busy thoroughfares back home true to all the capitals of South America the buildings of montoo hold their own in architectural Beauty a brush Peddler with his top hated donkey adds a picturesque note to these modern surroundings [Music] flying along the coast of South America on route to Buenos Iris we pass over many picturesque old Spanish cities their red tile roofs contrasting with the Blue Waters of the Atlantic [Music] [Applause] [Music] when Osiris is the biggest business city in South America and the third largest city in the western hemisphere in a huge square is the Palace of Justice which faces the theater cologne buenos ciris Opera [Music] House a very modern 32-story apartment house Rises next to one of the many parks the boulevards are extremely wide and flanked by beautiful buildings some Modern in design and others of old French and European architecture and everywhere parks and statues the capital is adorned with huge Bronze Statues and fountains and is at one end of Buenos ciris Main Avenue the aen de Mayo at the opposite end is the coral colored government house beautifully situated across a park in the entrance day and night there is always a guard dressed in the uniform of s Martin the big Resort of Buenos iris is Mar del Plata on the ocean a gay place with huge casinos Pavilions for dancing theaters avenues for promenaders and of course marvelous beaches and swimming pools no summer is a success to the people of Buenos Iris without at least a few weeks of M del Plata Sun la near the beginning of the Andes mountains in the western part of Argentina has found a valley carved out with fantastic Ally shaped Earth and rock formations it is rightly named the enchanted Valley the big shaft of stone is called the Finger of [Applause] God [Music] from Lakes Na wppi and mascardi one sees the mighty tronador one of the most beautiful of the Andes mountains and snow Capa the year round many of the people in this section of the country still use oxen as beasts of [Music] Burden Iguazu Falls on the border between Brazil and Argentina is one of the most all inspiring spectacles in the whole world in the midst of a subtropical virgin Forest a vast volume of water pours endlessly over a total width of nearly 3 mil to drop 300 ft to a Roaring River below close up the water is brownish in color due to its flowing over the decayed vegetation of the immense jungles through which it [Music] passes the force of the water sends up clouds of vapor and gives rise to rainbows [Music] everywhere [Music] between each Falls is a heavy growth of tall hardwood trees of the mahogany family mixed in with palms and tree [Music] ferns [Music] [Applause] this Great Falls is a fitting climax to our jaunt through Argentina a great country foresighted enough to preserve all of its natural beauties for Generations yet to [Music] come