The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1877-08-25

THE FOLLOWING are some ol tuO oPSeS"0S
at the Lunch given by Hon. S. G. Wilder on board
the Litelike. on Fridey the 18th inst. The Minis
ter of the Interior commenced the pleasant play
Of words by saying:
ask YOU, gentlemen, to join me in the toast to
the health of Mr.. Wilder, because l wlsn on ms
occasion, to pay him a merited tribute OF praise, IN
connection with this new steamer. Some weeks
since he left Honolulu upon a most responsible
mission-to finish mp a project which had occupied
returned bringing with him the result in the form
of this beautiful vessel, in whose comIortaoie CAP
aannpSoiptments for the comfort and accommodation
OF passengers and her adaptations 10 the Carrying
trade of our islands, will ana sure eiiclt our nigu-
est commentator. This steamer is q great I'M
movement upon our old one. Her advent, win
mark a new era in the safety and speed OF our inter
Island passages, and will make the crossing OF our
Tough cannels almost a pleasure trip. We have
now a vessel with which we may ever be pleased,
Commend to tourists and strangers, as one worthy
of challenging their most favorable criticism.
And now, gentlemen, while 1 believe that you
all will agree with me, that this steamer is a salts
factory and a suitable one for our waters, L want 10
say say w th1i; n 51bT so ape a largely indebted 'ae to Mr.. Wilder.
He has for a long time been an enthusiastic ana
persistent supporter OF improved s1eam c eDd 1abnr
argument and entreaty, and exertion both mental
and physical, from the inception OF the idea OF a
new steamer, to its realization in the present boat,
more than any man among US. He has labored at
il. without stint, when there was little prospect OF
success, and he has given personal attention, ana
nnwearied service to every detail, beyond the pur-
chasing power of a money consideration, and to his
enthusiasm we owe it, that the style and kind of
steamer, with its appointments and fittings, speci-
hcations of cost, and where and of what to build it
was put in such shape as to commend the project
to decision and approval.
the boat is too large. To this I must reply that if
shall readily accommodate ourselves-while in view
of our rapidly increasing inter-island travel and
trade, we are not likely to find reason to wish her
whatever therefore, gentlemen, of increased
--ra- -r HaNHar nd ~ orDarinr
comfort the public shall gain through this steamer,
the public, 1 am free here to say, are for it,
chiefly indebted to the energy of Mr.. Wilder. l
take pleasure in paying him here this tribute of
praise and to thank him, in the name of the public,
for his services, and shall ask you to join me in the
wish that, in ali his future business operations, he
may secure an equal success"
Mr.. Wilder responded in the following
words
GENTLEMEN If 1 were to say 1 was not CRATE
1 ah 70 my err ,1le for I aa ann my pSa t I and m nUt heart @aa 1i Is ,t full
to OVERLOOKING with pride for my friends and this
beautiful steamer; For more than ts four years l Ii have ave
influence of my friends, to induce the Government
TO assist me in building a new steamer. For eight
years I have managed the Kilauea,-and dur
ing all these years 1 could show any man that q new
boat was what we wanted. And now, gentlemen,
is my home, here have lived more than twenty
years. I have been associated with many enter
Iprises, 1 have had my ups and my downs, but in all
that time, I have never felt the gratitude that 1
| now IeGl U you my lTicDuS, y T Ii pTluO luoL IL III
my breast, that 1 have accomplished that for which
1 have SO earnestly struggled these many years.
owe it to those who have assisted me in build
ing this steamer to say publicly, how much l am
indebted, first, to Mr.. sorrenson, who has acted as
superintendent of the hull. Not a nail has been
SSea'e or piece of fJ plank put In position that he has not
watched it with an honesty of purpose, that de
Bulger, superintendent of the machinery, who only
acted as such at the request of our friends Messrs.
Williams, Blanchard 81 Co., l must say, that L do
take pleasure in acknowledging his kindness and
his value, and 1 shall ever count his friendship as
one of the many pleasant associations connected
with the building of this steamer. She will always
be considered q Pacific Mail Steamer, and 1 assure
ans, Blanchard & Co., felt as much pride In this
boat as do we.
OF the Dickie Brothers, who built this steamer, /
can only say, if 1 ever build another boat, and /
mean to, they shall do it; honest, upright men, who
their aged and honored father say to me, as he did,
.they are all my boys, and am proud OF them.
pHf s sead en- y0u wI Rap pee IT. hr, Editor ana l nope the
When I speak of the Dlckie Brothers,. L include
Mr.. Geo. Dickie, of the Risdon Iron Works. and
really no praise is necessary, in regard to the ma
chinery. It speaks for itself in its work. We left
San FRANCISCO qs GO on sn Sunday y,o August o 5. The On fri Monday tI%sy,
this for new engines is remarkable
Gentlemen ;aYou see the boat; lit plIeases this
you civility and care from her officers, and COM
fort and speed from the boat, Again do I thank
guests and particularly the stranger that is not a
stranger, my friend on my right, Mr.. Nevins Arm
strong.
Mr.. Armstrong replied in his usual genial
style, saying, in the course of his remarks:
That he had no doubt that Mr.. Wilder felt like
the sailor who, after a liberal indulgence in the
ardent, was carried off by his companions to be
buried in the fresh earth for the purpose of curing
his scurvy. The first convenient place found was
a graveyard where was a newly-dug grave. In it he
was placed and the grave was filled up to a level
with his neck, and in that position Jack peacefully
slumbered all night. In the morning some of his
shipmates happened along and discovering his head
protruding above the surface of the ground, in
quired in astonishment what the matter was
"Why.' says Jack, ats the resurrection day, and
I'm the first man on deck" In conclusion "by
virtue of a higher power than is possessed by King:
trade I hereby commission Mr.. Wilder as Commo-
dore of the Hawaiian navy"
It is not often that / volunteer to make a speech.
but on this occasion / do feel as if L should like
to say something. as have for SO many years tax
ton and I had the honor also to be a member of
His Majesty's Government when the money for the
new steamer was voted by the Legislature, and the
whole matter discussed.
You can hardly have an idea of the anxiety and
responsibility thrown upon any one who may I'M
dertake to provide a suitable steamer for an inter-
island trade. It is not like going over to San
sort, where ii you have the money in your peck
ct, all you have TO do is TO slip into a respectable
St@te avg %h guy we e. might eHt f SaVe se aG ' to h %ii9 the q SI porfs
chances are she would have turned out a failure
in some respect or other.
81 will further say this, that if 1 had remained in
His Majesty's government till now, you would not
probably have seen this beautiful boat here to-day,
for, for one thing, from where I should have felt
inclined to send to for a steamer, she could not
have been brought in the time, and 1 admit that
did not know that such a perfect steamer as this
one seems to be, could be turned out in San Fran
cisco or anywhere so near to US. l don't believe
that the San Francisco people themselves knew
that they could turn out such a boat, until Mr..
Wilder gave them this opportunity of showing
what they could do, for she is the first of her class
they have built, and I understand that after the
Likelike had proved such a success, orders were
given for two more boats and engines of the same
style. People then said, after seeing her, this is
just what we want for our c~oastiDg trade. In fact
the people of San Francisco, as well as ourselves,
stand mainly indebted to the steamboa experience
and to- the push and energy of the Hon. s. G..
Wilder for this admirable specimen of a coastipg
steam vessel. 1 will now propose a toast which /
am sure you will all join me in drinking, in wish
ing success to the Likelike.n
DIR. HOWARD, q distant kinsman of the Duke of
Norfolk, o Roman Catholic Peer and Hereditary
| Grand Marshal of Encland has latelu bean made q