The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1869-11-17
Packing Up
rron ,he Lanaea s..urdag Rsyisw.

his summer tour simply as ne stoou-
With hat and an umbrella he would have
cheerfullv started for the Caucasus or No
va Zembla. if his whim took him there; he
certainly did start with this somewhat
meacre outfit for ioscow and the Gala
briaS. To use his own phrase. he packed
as be went along" A handbag was snatch
ed at Dieppe, Paris yielded a razor and
a toothbrush, the necessaries Of civilized
repose got hiiched on at StratShurg, a
comfortable wide-awake marked his stay
at Dresden, his railway rug bore the stamp
! of Viennese extraction. He would fling
down his burden when he reached home
again. and declare he needed no Murray.
( Every article of his accumulated belong
I ings had its separate history, Its memories
and associations. As he unpacked his
carpe,-bag he unpacked his diary. The
carpet-bag itself was one of the most no.
table events of his tour. Its desireable-
ness had doomed on him as he parted from
/ the Italian lakes. Its necessity forced IL
/ self on him at Rome The idea struck
me as | stood on the Capitol" he would
say, that | must have a carpet-bag. At
Naples, with the great blue circle of the
bay before me, | saw 1t, l had it" The
very incongrnity of the collection, as ii
strewed the floor framed itself into q sort
of mosaic of his travels, There was Ger
man heaviness about his overcoat, Swiss
force about his stick. an Italian grace in
the loose splendors of his necktie. Pa
risian precision in his gloves. Il am" he
would comment rehectively, all l have
seen and heard
4 certain cosmopolitan richness and va
riety was about the man when spring
brought him home again. Like some old
en- conqueror, he brought back the spoils
Of every nation he had visited. Il have
touched nothing be would muse rehec-
lively. which has not served to adorn me. "
There was a new life, he would add, in
coming thus naked into the world Of trav-
81. As q rule man knows nothing of the
real nature of the social forces which clothe
and drape and dress him. He grows up
in q circle Of Sartorial traditions, amidst a
domestic ritual that prescribes the nature
of his boots, amid mystic numbers that
dictate the extent of his oollarly and shirt
| ly resources. The whistle of his train used
to free this man from this oppressive des-
potlsm of routine. He started on voy-
age. above all. of self-discoyery. Every
step brought him nearer to the decision
of the great question over which Judges
shake their heads eoniounded-what is an
essential part of a mans outfit ! He came
back defiant of q host Of '-unnecessaries, >
but with q grave and profound reverence
for whatever time and trial had declared
to be indispensable. And even above this
scientific object there was in its highest
intensity the pleasure of purchase. The
world was turned for him into Burlington
Arcade, where his very conscience encoar-
aged him to buy at every shop. 1t was in
vain that one urged that all travellers
bought, and spread before him the gems,
the photographs, knicknackeries that had
so swollen the bill Of ones tour. There
was little pleasure, be would reply. in pur-
ehases such as these, made avowedly as
mementos, mere side-hghts Of travel: the
true joy Of purchase lay in the sense of
necessity, and when in bowling to the yoke
of necessity one drank all the joy of gain
ing on association. Moreover no little
fragmentary dips in knicknackery shops
could rival the completeness, the continui-
" Of his acquisitious-the delight of bar
gaining rolling in, wave after wave, on this
mans life.
1t Is not given 10 every man, of course,
to ascend into such a seventh heaven of
liberty as the heaven Of our eccentric
friend. and there were undoubtedly some
of his hearers, specially those over forty.
to whom many of his reflections seemed
some what forced and unreal. But there
was one who did not own that he had at
any rate disposed satisfactorily Of the pur-
gatory through which common mortals
pass into the paradise of holiday ramble.
He had no packing-up to do. 1t is only
by little quiet thought that We can re-
alize what such q freedom means. No
man in his sober senses ever deliberately
contemplated packing-up, and then, having
contemplated. set about it. We drift into
it, We are lured into it, We are forced and
driven into it. 1t is not till We have made
our engagements. till we have written to
distant hotels, till we have bought our
Murray, till we have promised our wife.
that the necessity of it dawns on US. We
say the necessity of packing. because its
aesthetic and contemplative side has long
been familiar to Us. We have deliberately
discussed the question of costume with
Jones at the club. We have dawdled with
him over the shelves of the well-known
Alpine Emporium" Jones. has warned
Us sternly against the peril Of taking too
much. Then he has warned US as sterny
against the folly Of taking to little We
strive to remember the precise number of
superfuous ounces that will inflict on US
the cost of another mule. We plunge
deeper and deeper into an abyss of doubt
Take arnica with you, whatever YOU do"
our friend counsels and then he adds in
a solemn Whisper. ~and don't forget a nee
die and thread" We know it isn't twice
in our lives we cut our fingers we know
that we couldn't sew button on if We he'd
q wilderness of needles and thread. Ex-
perienced travellers are indignant at our
indecision, but there is a certain pleasure
in it after all. So long as you are doubt
ful what you buy. you are master of
the shop; the moment you have settled,
all interest in your proceedings ceases.
There is an infnitesimal amount of self
importance even in being an object of at
tention on the part Of shopboy.
As yet, indeed, packing has not really
dawned on Us. We are still dabbling our
feet at the brink The plunge comes
when the question faces US, what do you
really want ?" All dreams of that porta-
bic bath that does for mattress at night
and q portmanteau in the morning die
away. We dwadle no more over camp
stools that can be converted into Alpine
stocks at the shortest notice. We sum
marily cut down the list Of "necessaries''