The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1865-05-20
Editorial Correspondence.
San Francisco, April

doubtless reported TO you the arrival OF the Comet at
this port on the Goth Of April, as she passed us out
aide the bar, about two and q half miles distant from
US. Our only regret was that we were not near
enough to put on board OF her the letters which we
had ready for Honolulu.
Excepting the first day out, when we were be-
Gained in sight Of Diamond Head, we had q pleasant
passage out. During the afternoon Of that day a
light breeze from the eastward sprang up. We
worked our bark easily through the Molokai chan
mel, and commenced our voyage with a North course.
AT shutdown we were almost off Kaneohe, aud through
the gap Of Nuuanu Pail the rays of the setting
sun were ~peeping from under the bank Of clouds that
o~verhung the mountains, and with IA glass we could
almost spy travellers going up and down the road. In
the morning no land was in sight, our wind hauled
to South east, and our course improved. A South
wind soon after set in, and took us to latitude 30,
when, after two days of calm, westerly winds carried
us On and into port. We did not have so much as
an hour of head wind, and arrived here in less than
seventeen days from Market Wharf
But few Of the passengers were i'll, and those most
~ during the first two days out, after which all were
as hearty and cheerful as on shore. Although many
thought we should be overcrowded on the passage,
we found the company just large enough to be pleas
ant, and Il more cheerful one, or n pleasanter voyage,
II u my tcEtuhe II ENJOY. Nhpt tndSe,
though comparatively a stranger on the route, man.
aged his bark and served his passengers so as to en-
list the good will Of all on board. Batting two or
three sharp and rather spicy discussions with " IN
Gle Jim -" on the state of our unhappy country
and " this cruel war, it was a pleasure trip. These,
however, continued only for the first few days at sea.
and resulted in good, and in demonstrating that our
country was cafe and her cause triumphant. They
were invariably followed by the Star Span
gled Banner Uncle Sans Farm or John
Brown sung by the young ladies and gentlemen,
who entertained IA with music throughout the pas
sage, and added much to the pleasure of the trip.
BY the pilot, who boarded us off the Farralones,
we received papers draped in mourning, announcing
the assassination of President Lincoln and the at
tempted murder of Mr.. Seward. 1t fell like a thun-
der clap on US, rs it must have fallen on you. The
first emotions were keen and unutterable sorrow,
followed by q righteous Indignation and hatred against
the traitors and treason that inspired the act-bot
only the rebels of the South, but the fouler and more
black hearted traitors Of the North, known as /" Cop
perheads :" or " peace men, without whose aid,
sympathy and support. the rebellion would long ago
have been suppressed. Nor is the indignation less
against those Europeans who have aided and abetted
the rebels, and helped to plunge the whole land into
mourning. If ever there was a holy anger or hate
which God approves, it IS that which has now seized
the American people, and is inspiring them TO extin-
guish this treason, whether at home or abroad.
Whatever may have been the power Of the American
people heretofore, it will be ten-fold augmented, and
in their majesty they will rise and decree the rebel
lion stopped, traitors and treason suppressed, the
rebel leaders hung or banished for life, and the sway
of the National Government restored to its legitimate
limits. The heart of the North now beats as that of
a mighty giant, and with such a leader as Andrew
Johnson, firm, unyieldiug and severe, even to q fanlt,
the rebel leaders can expect no sympathy or mercy.
What q spectacle was presented to US as we landed
from the Comet-a city literally clothed in mourn
ing. Such a sight as San Francisco now presents
has probably never been witnessed in any other coun-
try. Almost every building is draped with black
aud white cloth intertwined, and hung around the
windows, doors, balustrades and columns. Inside
as well as out, these emblems everywhere meet the
eye. Not less than ten thousand flags, some on stats,
over dwellings, some hung from windows. or sus-
pended across the streets, all more or less draped in
black-everywhere you look, q hundred mourning
flags meet the eye. Churches, theaters and all pub
lie places are profusely draped.
The funeral procession took place before our ar
rival, and You will already have received an account
Of that. Between sixteen and twenty thousand per-
SOuS NSEt III - WHY IA I0uOEtd SIGCI8-
tors lined the streets. 1t must have been one Of the
greatest, as it was one Of the most solemn, displays
ever made in any city. All stores were closed and
public business suspended. The same took place
throughout the State.
You may have noticed the destruction of the type
Of the three or four copperhead papers printed here.
1t was done by about one hundred and fifty Of the
most RESP ectable and influential mea in the city,
who. in broad daylight, quietly marched into the
offices aud did the work. The papers have not
been revived and probably will not be. The Echo
Gu Pacific came very near sharing the same fate.
and only escaped by General Mcdowell appearing on
the ground and ~pledging to do what the people de-
il. I hear that the French Consul
has become personally responsible for the conduct Of
the Echo hereafter, and If so, it will be permitted to
60 on. But the lesson which has been taught 10
the rebel sym ps,hizers will be a good one. No other
Government on earth would ever permit its press to
express sympathy for rebels in time ofcivil war.
l can barely allude here 20 the war news received
since the Murray sailed, and must refer the reader
to the extracts selected for the next page. The cap
of Mobile was what every one looked for. But
the blunder made by General Sherman in treating
Generals Johnston and Breckenridge was a
great one, wholly uulookei-for, and shows that 6
may be q good soldier but n poor d~iplomatist.
From the tenor OF the dispatches received, he has
been superseded by Grant, but will not probably be
wholly set aside. like Butler. Rosecrans. and others.
The Grit,h ship R1cctGnts follows this packet. f.