The legislative and maritime history of the U.S. Merchant Marine. Group of men gathered at a stream bed digging and panning for gold. Dramatization of a sailing ship leaving dock as gathered crowd of men, women, and children wave goodbye from dock during mid 1800's Gold Rush. Merchant Marine sailing ships underway at sea. Men working on a clipper ship. Views of tall sailing clipper ships at full sail and in storms with dramatization of crews battling to stay afloat during storm. Clipper ships round Cape Horn during the California Gold Rush of 1849 (dramatized). Fulton's steamship, the North River Steamboat, or Clermont, sails up the Hudson River. Smoke from the stacks of the steam ship. View of a steamship overtaking a sailing vessel at sea, as narrator describes the demise of the tall sailing ships after the arrival of the steamship. (World War II period).
Various buildings in Honolulu. The Capitol of Honolulu and formerly the Palace of Queen Liliukalani. Large building on square. The Judiciary Building houses the courts and department of education. Statue in front of the building. Man poses in front of the statue. Traffic on road. Pedestrians on the roadside, trees and buildings in the background. First portable house ever made for in 1819 it was shipped via Cape Horn from New England for the use of the early missionaries. White Frame House. Building with columned porch.
Chilean people gather in a pro-Allies, and anti-Axis rally and parade in Santiago, Chile during World War II. Demonstrating against the Chilean government's stance of neutrality, the people crowd in front of a building for demonstration against the Axis powers, and in favor of Chile joining with the Allies in World War 2. The people demand fulfillment of the Good Neighbor rule, affirmed in the conference at Rio de Janeiro. Buildings of a city squqre in the background. The demonstrators hold banners. A man on a platform speaks into a microphone. People listen to him and hold banners. People parade on streets holding flags of Chile, the United States and Britain. People cheer and show a sign of victory.
Natural disasters strike nations like Morocco, Chile, and Caribbean Islands in the year 1960. Moroccan rescue workers clear out pile of debris after the 1960 Agadir Earthquake. Demolished houses and broken roads in the city. Next scene shows aftermath of intense earthquakes in Chile that caused damage to property and loss of lives. An aircraft flies over a Chilean town damaged by the 1960 Valdivia earthquake. The bust sculpture of a Chilean leader is shown toppled and damaged by earthquake. A bridge road over water is shown buckled following an earthquake in Chile. Chileans attempt to cross the buckled bridge. Next seen shows Hurricane Donna striking shores of Caribbean Islands. Fast winds blowing palm trees and spraying tidal surf.
Two Ford tri-motor airplanes at airport. A plane has a sign on fuselage 'Grace-PAA' (Panagra airline) and other plane has 'Linea Aerea Nacional' (LAN-Chile airline). Passengers board the Ford Trimotor plane named "San Cristobal". People hug and shake hands. Aerial views of the airplane in flight. View of plane over snow covered Andes mountain. Aerial view of airport with large hangar with writing 'Iquique' (the airport of Iquique Chile) painted on roof of hangar. Aerial view of coastal city of Iquique Chile. Plane lands and taxis. Several people look at plane at airport. Men and women pose around the passenger airplane.
Lighthouses in the United States. Cape Ann Twin lighthouses. Lighthouse with buildings beside it. Another lighthouse. Gloucester Breakwater lighthouse. Cape Ann Twin lighthouse. Open harbor and small sailboats in harbor. Eastern Point lighthouse. Ten pound Island lighthouse. Name, "Harriet Lane", on stern of a boat. Building seen.