STORY OF CIVILIZATION: THE OCEANS

[Music] is the seven seas of romance are now the seven seas of commerce here they are the north and south pacific the indian ocean the north and south atlantic the arctic ocean and the antarctic water enough to cover the entire surface of the land over a mile deep whether in calm or in the fury of the storm which tosses ships like chips of cork the sea with its magnitude and power has taught man to fear it yet the innocent child finds nothing to fear in the water taken young enough he can find pleasure in it what were his natural elements [Music] in this school young children are learning the first principles of the crawl swimming stroke land practice first in the proper motion of the hands and arms then the correct scissor-like motion of the legs now for a practical demonstration in the water notice the action of the hands and the quick side motion of the head to grab a breath of air then the face is turned under the water for it is easier to swim in that position the whole school follows their teacher striving to breathe and swim as she has taught them here at culver older boys demonstrate in slow motion the chain dive a game of their own devising [Music] champion johnny weissmuller gives us a demonstration of proper swimming methods [Music] also in slow motion the pancakes start to ensure a quick getaway watch the way the hands leave the water cut at a proper angle to avoid drag inhaling above exhaling below the water surface to avoid the awkward raised head motion and the clean angle with which he dips his hands into the water cutting the surface without a ripple before the powerful backward stroke now see how he turns with hardly a lost second [Music] watch him churn the water like a motorboat coordinated speed and power in the fastest hundred yards ever swung yet with even stroke see how he and martha narelia's women's champion swim tandem [Applause] returning with the graceful restful [Music] backstroke [Music] helen meany olympic champion will now demonstrate a graceful dive [Music] master of more types of diving than i can name and olympic champion as well demonstrates his ability on the [Music] springboard [Applause] many swimmers not in the expert or championship class find pleasant relaxation and no end of fun in underwater swimming [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] for those who have early learned mastery of the water have no fear but find in it a buoyancy which gives an added grace and beauty to every emotion and the feeling of exhilaration and of joy in sport so too the sea has its own creatures swimming with ease and grace as the water is their home see how they are fitted to live in it fins which better than any hands enable them to move a tail which like a rudder quickly steers them in any desired direction goggle eyes the better to see with underwater and panting gills instead of lungs which enable the fish to draw his oxygen from the water eels too find their home among the rocks or in the mud at the bottom of the water winding their snake-like way by means of the fin which like a ruffle adorns their back wide mouth fish which lazily lie close to a muddy bottom in order to gulp in small and wary passers-by in the deeper waters i found the sharks large and small with cruel teeth and voracious appetites yet they are not immune from tribute notice the smaller fish accompanying them sometimes even fastened to the shark these are the amora or sucker fish parasites which live off the shark remember them well for later on we shall see them close at hand on the surface of the water we see the playful porpoise harmless fellows friends of the sailors which will follow a ship for long distances sailors consider it bad luck to kill one of these so we shall not try to catch one but save our fishing for another day finally we run into a school of tuna fish bait is thrown out from the stern of the boat to entice the fish nearer and soon the fishing begins in earnest in their hunger and greed it is not even necessary to bait the hooks not even barbs are used as the fish are swung up from the sea and into our boat [Music] for several hours we stay there and soon have a full cargo of these delicious chickens of the sea ready for the calorie for the sea is one of the richest storehouses of man's food [Music] now a line is baited for a larger game [Music] and before long there is a terrific tug and the fight is on it is a giant sea bass much like the bass you catch in palm the river but many times as large if he gets off the hook you will not lose him for when he is brought from the sea's depths to the surface the differences in pressure cause his air sacs to expand and he cannot sink again he is a game fish and it is no easy task to land him as you can see [Music] our next hall is of a different character a fighting shark although he is a little fellow he warns us that larger companions are near and sure enough our next catch is a fighting plunging cruel man-eater it is a long job to get him over on the deck and even when tied he is still dangerous one blow from his muscular tail would break a man's leg [Music] now that he is safe on deck we inspect his tearing teeth and on his body find the ever-present sucker fish this parasite clings to his host by means of a sucker pad on the top of his head and when he is once fastened onto a shark he will hold on indefinitely traveling with the shark and living off him now we are at sea in the region where whales are found the whale is the largest mammal in the sea and valuable to man for many things therefore hunted a sharp lookout is kept there she blows is called as a whale is sighted the ship draws near the harpoon gun is loaded at the proper moment a shot is fired the harpoon finds its mark and the great whale strikes out in pain but he is no match for man and finally his huge carcass is brought alongside now we turn to calmer waters and shore here is a colony of seals and the source of one of the richest furs known to commerce [Music] but did you know that even a seal must learn to swim the baby seal remains close to its mother until it has learned and she is careful to teach the little one in shallow water if anything happens to the mother before the baby is able to care for itself it will drown [Music] [Applause] some members of the seal family grow to great size like this monster known as the sea elephant so the sea with its many forms of life furnishes men with limitless stores of meat and oil and fur like a barrier wall separating the east coast of the americas from the west separating the ships of europe from the rich orient lies the rockiest we call panama balboy in 1515 on foot was the first white man to cross this isthmus today his statue stands at panama facing the western ocean he thus discovered of the old city of panama once the richest and most important city in the western world nothing is left but ruined for the old town was plundered and destroyed by the buccaneer henry morgan in the year 1671 tourists come from all parts of the world to view its crumbling church tower and its vine covered walls and arches [Music] what tales of riches of revelry and of human anguish these stones could tell of gold and silver from the mines of mexico and peru of slaves newly brought from africa of spanish doubloons and of stately caravals gathered from all the seven seas [Music] the new city built to replace the old is a city of many races and nationalities as befits its position at the crossroads of the hemispheres so while in the surrounding country there is an humbler people so these descendants of spanish settlers and native indians live a simple life unmindful of the glories of old panama so panama lay in quiet indolence while ships sailed thousands of extra miles to circumvent its land barrier and then one day in 1904 the greatest engineering feat of modern times was undertaken first sanitary engineers had to drain the country and combat the yellow fever-carrying mosquitoes then from the united states came thousands of workers and giant steam shovels and trains and dredges to dig and blow away through the backbone of america and across the isthmus at panama 240 million cubic yards of soil were removed by the power of water under great pressure hills were torn down and washed away more tons of concrete were poured than would be required to build the great pyramid finally the last barrier was blown away [Music] thus the oceans met and the test begun by president theodore roosevelt in 1904 was finally completed so today while the statue of balboa stands at panama looking toward the pacific the pacific comes to him ships coming from the west as well as from the east he might have been puzzled indeed but what would he have thought of ships which sailed uphill and climbed over the divide it works like this [Music] [Applause] [Music] the sea itself is made to do the work when a ship presents itself an engineer on the stage opens the gate by means of electricity he touches the button and although he cannot see the gates himself a model shows him just what is [Music] happening the passage is too narrow for the ship to enter under her own power so it is towed in by electric mules one ahead and one behind [Music] once it is in the lock the engineer closes the gates again [Music] then water is let into the lock and the ship is floated to a higher level that makes it possible to open the next pair of gates and to move it on to the next lock [Music] of course it takes time but just to give you the idea suppose we do it all very quickly into the lock fill it up open the gates fill again and there we are [Music] one way to go into the mountains and to the seashore at the same time as we sail without leaving our ship past the tropic beauties of what was once the backbone of two continents we realized the great service the united states has rendered to the commerce of the world in accomplishing this the greatest of all achievements in both sanitation and engineering skill [Music] [Applause] [Music] the protective chain is lowered thus we pass from the last lock into the pacific ocean [Music] is [Music] the ocean is not only a highway for travel and commerce it acts as a barrier to separate people and ideas as well at newfoundland america is about 1500 miles from europe at its nearest point and the laying of a deep sea cable to unite these two continents is therefore of great importance to business to culture to civilization roberts bay at the outermost point of newfoundland toward the azores was lately the scene of the start to lay such a cable for the western union one end belongs to america but where does the other go out to sea apparently but on floats that is a strange way for a submarine cable to go awkwardly the good ship cyrus field seems unimpressive but stored in her hole was the first section of the cable the beginning of the cable is to be laid from robert's bay out to sea it passes out of a hauser hole in the ball unwinding over a rolling spool to keep the tension even as the cable comes up from the hole [Music] out to sea a boy will be attached to the cable and there it will be picked up by a crew singing old time see song [Music] on [Music] i'm so early in the morning [Music] this is the dominica largest cable lane ship in the world [Music] after testing the sure length of cable is spliced carefully to the supply which is to be laid on the floor of the ocean and soon all is ready to begin the greater job [Music] so [Music] the cable this time is laid from the stern the payoff machinery controls the speed with which the cable reaches the ocean bottom [Music] every moment day and night men are on duty here helping to unwind the slippery hissing snake-like cargo where a kink might mean disaster [Music] engineers constantly measure the depth of the ocean bottom by means of the echo depth finder a sound transmitter is attached to the keel of the ship and when a blow is struck there it sounds through the water to the bottom of the sea the elapsed time it takes for the sound to go to the bottom and the echo to return tells the engineer the distance [Music] even more important are the constant tests of the cable itself signals being sent at frequent intervals to the cable station left behind at newfoundland and back again one of the greatest hazards to be feared came in mid-ocean no wonder the captain is concerned for it was in such a storm that the first atlantic cable broke while it was being laid a seaman is sent to call all hands on deck [Music] town give me some time [Music] i'm a flying fish sailor and a hail from hong kong [Music] and down when the grog is built out [Music] each man in the crew has hastened to his post to make all fast before the opening rush of a mile a minute cyclone the helmsman finds his hands full to keep the ships pro on her course below decks the engines are throttled down to keep the propellers from racing as the heavy seas sweep them out of the water the usual humdrum routine of laying cable becomes a hazardous nightmare during such a storm the rising and falling of the ship increases the strain on the cable to the point where it may break and slip to the bottom of the sea the hungry combers snatch at the cable and try to tear it from the ship so [Music] the storm rises higher and higher and the strain on the cable which now hangs suspended between ship and ocean bed for 20 miles is [Music] [Applause] terrific yet the ship plows on without sun moon or stars for guidance hours later when the sun shows itself we find the ship has held a true course and the cable still remains safe and secure as we near the port at harter in the azor island [Music] my here the cable is fastened to a buoy while the shore section is floated into the shore channel prepared to receive it [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so ends our test [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign