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Show NAVY WATCHES CANALTRANSIT BALBOA, C. Z., Jsn. 14 (INS) Ons of ths most Interesting and significant episodes in th naval history his-tory of th world was under way today tha transit of tha tremendous tremen-dous United States fleet through the Panama canal. With war raging in China and Spain, and tha constantly delicate relatione between major European power, a great queation concerning the United Statea i: If thla country should be attacked, at-tacked, either In tha Atlantic or Pacific, how quickly could the fleet be concentrated in the theater of war? Th answer to that, of course, dependa mainly on how apeedily American men-of-war which happened hap-pened to be in the wrong ocean could get through tha big ditch acroaa tha Isthmus of Panama into tha right ocean, or the on where wa,,Br iiiivBiaiivii, And in the day of a tendency by nation to attack first and talk afterward, the speed of a canal traneit by tha fleet might very well have a vital bearing on the ultimate ulti-mate victory or defeat of this country coun-try in a major war. Tha pereonnel of Unci Sam' Canal Zone and the mechanical end of th big ditch itself today were being driven at top speed and to th limit of their endurance to aea how fast the 126 fighting ahlp and their 66.000 officer and men can b pushed from th Pacific to th Atlantic. The first gray gun-studded lea warrior pushed ita nose from quiet Balboa harbor Into the canal yesterday yes-terday at 6 a. m. Th last Is expected to clear on the Atlantic id tomorrow at ( a. m. for a 46-hour 46-hour transit, a new record for handling han-dling the fleet. |