Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1886-07-28
NEWS RROM HONOLULU

NEWS FROM HONOLULU.
We take the liberty Of publishing the
following extract from a private letter to
members of our family, from Miss Ger
trude Ellis, who is enjoying trip to
those pleasant islands of the Pacific:
HONOLULU. Hawaiian Islands, June, '86.
We left San Francisco May 10Th in the
ocean steamer Australia. with pleasant
company of about thirty on board.
stranger to all, we were not long
in getting acquainted, for think can
truthfully say, there is nothing that 80
brings one to common level as sea-
sickness. This was our introduction,
and after it passed we were all friends.
and more delightful days than the fol-
loving proved to be, l had never ex-
perienced. When at last we reached our
destination. we felt that the weeks
voyage had been too short. The name
Sandwich Island, to many is the
synonym of q semi-barbarlc country
whose one event of History is the muir.
der of Capt. Cook. will speak of the
saddest feature Of the island first. The
last day of our voyage. We peer anxiously
toward the southwest to catch the first
glimpse of land. From the waves in
the distance, one unlike the others do es
not fall and rise. This they tell us is
land, and as its rocky points assume
definite form, we see we are passing by
and not toward this island. 1t is with
4 feeling OF sorrow and dread that we
see its outline pictured in the distance,
for we know this is the far famed
Mo!okai, the home Of the leper:: Thirty
years ago, when the leprosy broke out in
rho q uOiior Io1OnAa RnnnnSinu IT to hQ
contagious, the government set aside q
tract of 6OO0 acres of fertile land on this
island as leper settlement. The place
Is naturally shut out from the rest of
the world, being guarded on three sides
by unscalable precipices and on the re-
naming side by the sea. The provisions
for the lepers have been liberal, and as
we look at their pretty white cottages
and remember that they have schools.
churches, labor and pleasures, we can
not help seeing the wisdom of the plan
that separates them from the rest of the
world. The disease is slow, painless
and fatal, and those who have worked
among them tell me that after the first
despair on finding themselves lepers has
passed, they often settle down to q patient
and happy life. The work Of segrsga-
ton on the Hawaiian Islands is much
better than in most countries where this
disease prevails. and stranger, unless
he makes an effort to visit their home.
may stay for years on the islands with
out seeing marked case of leprosy:
But turning from this scene of sadness
and death, let US look north west to the
large island of Oahu just coming in
sight. The first view is of tall, barren
cliffs. whose sharp peaks and corrugated
sides tell US plainly they are of volcanic
formation. At their base the dashlng
the fringes of aspiring cocoanuts. form
IS soon rounded and we find ourselves
in Honolulu. Honolulu, city of beauty
and refinement. where churches and col
leges speak of the north, and the vegeta-
ton and birds speak of the tropics.
Though the city contains nearly ~, 600
it has no street cars and the
reason for this is doubtless that this
mode Of riding would not be ind0lent
enough to suit the taste Of the people.
Large handsome carriages roll through
the streets continually, and will carry
you five blocks or five miles if you are
willing to sacrifice years income for
that purpose. There are many things of
interest in and about this strange city. the |
dusky king In his coral palace, the fish
market, where the tropical fish seem to !
rival the rainbow IN color, the majestic |
Pail, an immense cliff ever which 1t is |
said defeated army was once driven,
and, most interesting of all, the natives.
Yes, some of the women are quite beauti
full, but I do not think this their strong !
point, their skill as equestr ians and |
swimmers seems more interesting to me. |
Though surf bathing is thing of the
past, they still delight in the water. |
They cling to the old habit of decorating |
their bodies and hats with flowers. and |
4 more picturesque sight could not be
imagined than these natives present as
they flock into market Their straw
hats have disappeared, but to see them
eating one. two or three fingered poi out
of calabashes is still a common sight.
They are music loving people: and
quite skilled in the art. The band con-
certs are fine but there are times when
Native and Chinese try to
rival one another in volume of sound;
then 1t is that we sigh for solitude and
murmur some little poem like Had I
some bright little isle of my own
IWopld like to tell you of the noun
tains have climbed. the caves have ex
plored, and the craters / have visited,
but the two enemies life has In these
islands are at work upon me, namely
heat and mosquitoes. When the first
has reduced you to q jelly fish, the
second torturcs you back to your human
form.
There is one thing more must men
lion, for the boys and girls will be in
terested to know of this. I have been !
from bow to stern of the Morning Star"
now in port at Honolulu.