The Sunday Oregonian., July 05, 1908, Magazine Section, Page 2, Image 44

THE SUNDAY OREGONIAN. PORTLAND, JULY 5, 1908.
'WHm THE BOYJ OF THE GRBAT' FtEET
WILL iSBDE IU E4WAI X -SAMOA' 3&E3'
FT. ' - -y.- , . -tHOSPITAIITY AND' BEAUTY,1 MANNERS AND, . 'L,; r T!L v
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III
paved: the Ijulldlngs are substantial and j
modern. Electricity Illumines the etreets
and the streetcars. Beautiful mansions
and costly villas are hidden among bow
ers of tropical trees and shrubs. Avenues
of tall royal palms way their generous i
fronds against the eky, and vistas 01
cocoanut palms lead the way to cottages
away from the thoroughfares. Artistical
ly trimmed lawns and hedges and well
kept gardens meet the eye at every turn.
Ornamental flower beds furnish the nec
essary color in the prodigality of tropical
green. Gorgeous hibiscus spangles the
hedgerows, and the pomegranate In irun
and bloom presents a novelty to unfamil
iar eyes from Northern latitudes J. he
churches have donned the hederal gowns
as in European countries. Deep, shady
verandas are ablaze with passion flowers
and convolulus. Banana plants sway their
massive leafage in every garden. The
banana is the Indispensable fruit of the
tropics. Palmettos rustle and acacias
quiver in every avenue, and our sailor lad
may lounge and chaff In the many well
kept parks under the snade of the mag
nolia and the breadfruit ree.
"
If one expects to find only a'ntittfiated,
ramshackle conveyances he will be sur
prised to see electric tramways In every
important street, and automobiles spin
ning in almost greater .numbers, and
about as recklessly as in any rity of the
same siie on the mainland. 'Within the
city and on the near-by seacoast are
first-class, well-kept and well-catered ho
tels. There will be no latk of sources of
amusement. The Hawaiian Opera-House
is a finely-appointed theater. There are
also several bands which play at ap
pointed times -in' various . places. The
.boys must not fall to visit Waikiki,
charming seasldle resort with beautiful
public grounds and a unique aquarium
containing marvelously colored fishes of
many kinds, not to be seen elsewhere in
the world. The magnificently appointed
Moana Hotel is at Waikiki. This lovely
retreat is only a ride of 29 minutes from
Honolulu, and lying at the base of "Dia-
reniains of the aboriginal conditions. They 1 mond Hea4." with its ;vast ancient crater.
will find everything up to date. The I An interesting museum containing many
streets Are regular, broad and well I products and objects peculiar to the
BY JAMES RICALiTON".
THEY will see a mid-Pacific paradise
peopled by a noble race whose hos
pitality 'is a proverb beautifully ex
pressed in their own charming word of
greeting. "Aloha in the Hawaiian Islands
and "Talofa" In the Samoans, signifying
"Love to you" in both languages. Our
"Alohas" and "Talofas" ("Howdies and
"Halloas") are formal and often hollow
and heartless, while those of the Kanakas
may be counted on as sincere and heart
felt. Not so much will the paradise con
cist in shaven lawns, castle homes and
pampered luxury In domestio life, as
rather in the simple homes of the natives,
in the charming villas of the foreigners
nestling in tropical luxuriance, and in a
climate of a 6oft variableness of only 10
degrees, never leaping from the rigors of
Antarctica to crucible calorics, as in the
temperate rones, which are,often not tem
Verate, but excessive in both heat and
cold. J
When the Navy lads enter the harbor of
Honolulu they will see to landward a sky
line ot peaks and craters,, come grim and
somber in a mail of ancient lava, others
fresh and green with a boskage produced
by an unstinted moisture and a tropical
warmth. Many of these peaks are extinct
craters whose fiery energies ceased in the
remote past and are now grazing lands
whose inner bounds are animated with
feeding flocks and herds. One of these,
known as the "Punchbowl," forms a
stable and lofty background for the beau-
tiful city spread out between it and the
sea. - But, alas! If there should be a
thirsty Jacky among all. the boys, this
crateriform punchbowl contains not even
so much as a "drop-of-the-crater" only
an occasional herder's cot, whose occu
pants, all unconscious of the bustling- city
not far away, are familiar with. the note
of the quail and the plover and the van
tshing song of the skylark.
.
When the boys go ashore and into this
mid-ocean metropolis they will find few
Islands may be-visited. There are field
sports and aquatic, hunting and horse rac
ing; there are clubs belonging to me sev
eral nationalities and an excellent public
library. A tourists- office has been es
tablished and splendidly equipped, at
which the boys will be able to obtain all
necessary information about places and
things.
They should not fail to sample, the na
tional dish called, poi. a favorite comesti
ble curiously made and partaken of with
great seat at the Hawaiian "Luan," or
feast. Pol is made from the bulb of a
water plant called taro by the natives;
it is a plant of the arum family, .resem
bling the call lUy; it has an oblong
root, -which when baked and mashed
forms a glutinous paste without much
taste, except to an educated poi palate;
however. Jack must try the poi.
. -
And I am sure before he gets clear
of the landing-place to enter the city
he will witness the flower sellers who
work: special kinds of flowers into va
rious fantastic decorative ornaments,
such as wreaths asd hatbands. The
Kanakas are a musical and flower-loving
people; and the boys will not be
many hours in the insular capital be
fore they have evidence of their musi
cal bent and at least a commercial love
of flowers. They will be also reminded
how different peoples by some circum
stance or fortuity are led into a pecu
liar personal habit of decoration, the
Japanese and Manchurian women into
giving chief attention fantastic and
elaborate coiffure, the Chinese to "lily
feet;" the women of other nations into
loading their arms and ankles with
bracelets and anltlets. others again in
to trimming the ears and nose with
rings. One of the decorative fads of
the Kanaka seems to be in the matter
of ornamental hatbands hatbands ot
flowers, hatbands of shells, and hat
bands of the tips of peacock feathers,
etc., etc
But surely our lads of the fleet will
not confine their meanderings ito the
streets of Honolulu. They must go
afield to see how the various tropical
products are cultivated and also to wit
ness natural phenomena for which the
islands are noted. The world-famous
Kllanea on the island of Hawaii has
the distinction of being the greatest
and most wonderful aotlve volcano on
the globe, and. if the boys can secure
the necessary leave of absence, the fa
cilities for reaching this marvelous tar
tarean earth-chimney are easy and in
every way excellent; but if not privi
leged to visit Kllanea, they surely will
not fall to obtain a view of what is
recognized as one of the most magnifi
cent and commanding panoramas in the
world, at the "Bali," which is only a
pleasant carriage ride- from Honolulu.
Kice fields may be familiar to boys
from some of our Southern states, but
they will be a novelty to those from
the North who know rice only in rice
pudding; the sugar-cane plantation will
, recall the fields of fodder corn on the
Northern home-farm. Instead of the
chestnuts, beechnuts and butternuts of
a Northerner's boyhood he .will find
chiefly huge clumps of ponderous co
coanuts, far up overhead among the
swaying fronds of the cocoanut palm,
beneath which it is not wise long to
tarry if the preservation of his own
"cocoanut" be a matter of any moment.
If the boy from the fleet cannot find
his accustomed muskmelon with which
to slake a tropical thirst, he may find
an excellent substitute in the succu
lent and well-pepslnized paw-paw, a
wonderfully wholesome and refreshing
tree-fruit, plantations of which he will
see in the immediate .suburbs of Hono
lulu. He must not look for apples
a native product, but in lieu thereof he
may indulge his frugiverous instincts
on oransres. mangoes, pomegranates.
ruavas. and the finest pine-apples in
the world, some of Which exceed ten
pounds in weight. He should visit the
great . pine-apple plantations a few
miles out of tue city. .
Some may incline to visit our terri
torial legislature, embracing a Senate
and House of Representatives, when
they can listen to animated debate by
native members ana memDers oi ainer
ent nationalities.
Beretanla avenue is one o the most
important thoroughfares in Honolulu:
on this may be seen the residence of
ex-queen Lilliuokalani, named Wash
ington Place.
Having mentioned a few of the many in-
teresting places and things that the boys
of the fleet may see in this delightful
mid-ocean territory, let us pass on to
another. When they take leave of Hono
lulu they will have a sail of 2270 miles a
little west of south, before they will be
greeted by the "talofas" of our most
southern wards In the South Pacific, the
natives of the Samoan Islands. These isl
ands are nearly , one thousand miles south
of the equator, and I do not recall that
we can claim a foot of territory in the
Southern hemisphere, barring the Island
of Tutulla and its insular appendages.
It is claimed that the Samoans are the
finest native race In the world. The
boys of the fleet saw a fine type of an
aboriginal In the Kanaka of the Hawaii
ans, and here again they will see another
branch of the same racial tree: but it is
difficult sometimes to reconcile all the
theories as to origins of primal races; it
has been claimed also that the aborigines
of Australia came from Sumatra. The
Australian, the lowest aboriginal known.
and the Samoan the highest, both from
the same parent stock about the same
time. It appears a little awkward his
torically. We will leave that matter with
the ethnologist. Our sailors will see for
themselves that the typical Samoan is
generally a fine specimen of physical de
velopment and possesses also some pleas
ing moral qualities.
Most people will remember how the isl
and of Tutulla came into the possession
of the United States in 1399 with some' un
important surrounding islets; and will
recall also the International squabble in
volving England, Germany and the United
States, as to whether Mataafa or Malle
toa Laupepa should be King. England
withdrew and the home government com
promised on an agreement that the isl
ands Bhould be divided between Germany
and the United States, the latter taking
over the island of Tutulla, which contains
the small. , but fine harbor of Pago-Pago.
The island of . Tutuila Is M miles in
length and three or four in width; and
the' inlet constituting the harbor of Pago
Pago is about two miles In length and a
half mile in i width, surrounded by heavily
wooded mountains. It is perfectly snei
tered from wind and sea, but the anchor
age capacity will be well tested in ac
commodating the greai neet..'
. The Government continues to Im
prove the harbor as a naval station; it
is surrounded by a scattered 'native
nrtnulation and a few European shops.
A few cocoanut plantations fringe the
lower slopes.
. ThA phnii.n rt Samoa bv Stevenson as
a health home has done much to bring''
a knowledge of these islands to tne notice
of the world, and .some authors have
even called the group "Stevenson's
Samoa." but Stevenson's home was on
the island of Upola the middle one of
the. three important members, ana not
far. from Afla. the capital of the German
portion of the group, which is aDout,
75 miles from Pago Pago.
The native people with warm, brown
skin, their house without any enclosing
walls and with palm-thatched roofs, will
most attract the attention of the naval
lad. The typical Samoan must not be
Judged by the "beach" types who are
generally menialized by contact witn
travelers and sea-faring men. The true
characteristics of the Samoan, as in other
parts of the world, must be sought among
the rural folks, ana tnis can oniy oe
done during a prolonged sojourn. A for
eigner need have no fear in penetrating
the interior; he will be quite safe and
even welcomed with a sincere "talofa."
The tapo or belle of the. village will kindly
receive him, and most likely present him
with a cup of their favorite beverage
called kava. Pot, as already mentioned.
Is a national dish with the Kanaka, which
I advised the fleet boys to sample; at
Pago Pago they may try the Samoan na
tional drink. Although the Tapo be fair
as fairness goes In Samoa, and also the
daughter of a chief or family of high
rank as she usually Is. and although.
womanhood generally is here of a vigor
ous order, I , fear the well known gal
lantry of over sea-warriors will hardly
be equal toa cup of the refreshing kava
after I have related the process of manu
facture kava is made from the root of
the plant piper methysticum, and Its
chemistry involves a rather unusual
manipulation,' or I should rather say,
mastication. The prettiest maids are selected-
for kava making, they are seated
around a huge wooden bowl, the green
or dry kava root is cut into small pieces
and. after the girls have been required
to rinse cut their mouths, they all pro
ceed to chew the sliced root. As fast
as thoroughly chewed it i stored up in
their cheeks, chipmunk fashion, until the
fullness becomes burdensome, when they
disgorge into the wooden bowl until suf
ficient has been chewed for the company
present. This finely comminuted pulp
is diluted with water and stirred with
a bunch ' of roots and delivered in a
cocoanut cup. first to the most important
guest, who drinks and spins the empty
cup back to be refilled for the next in
point of rank, and so on. Will there
be a boy in the fleet polite enough, gal
lant enough, brave enough, to drink kava
with the Samoan lassies? Talofa Samoa!
4