The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1889-06-18
LECTURE ON JAVA.
Rev. n. q. Porter Gives an Inter
estlnS TalK on the Dutch East
Indies

There was large audience in the
Y. NJ. c. A. hall yesterday evening
to hear Rev. +. G.. Porter, of Lex
ington, Mass. lecture on Java. Mr..
S. D. Fuller, General Secretary of
the Association, introduced the
lecturer in neatly chosen phrases,
saying that what this community
lost in quantity of visiting talent,
from its isolated position, it seemed,
from the record of that platform for
the past few years, to have gained
in quality.
Mr.. Porter prefaced his lecture
with remarks on the popular notion
that travellers are to be envied for
the pleasure derived from constant
ly coming upon new scenes. They
had to pay penalty, however, in
the importantly with which they
were asked for information regard
ing their experiences. But when
complimented by the attendance of
such large crowd as this, he would
be ungrateful if he did not be pleas
ed at the opportunity of telling all
he knew.
The island of Java is very popu-
lous, having 21,000,000 of people,
or two-thirds the number populating
the British Islands-this vast num-
Der being crowded into territory
from 80 to $50 miles wide and
about 600 miles in length. The
population is mostly Malay, speak
ing different languages, the foreign
ers speaking scarcely anything but
Dutch. The island is not unlike
Cuba in appearance and climate.
1t is of volcanic formation, there
being 40 or so volcanic peaks. A
dozen of these peaks are still active
volcanoes, so that as one travels
along he can almost always see q vol
cano smoking. The climate is very
warm yet tempered by sea breezes.
He was surprised to find that the
heat was not so great as in Boston
or New York in summer. While
often in the nineties it seldom
reaches hundred degrees, while
in Hankow, China, he met with 105
degrees. There was large proper
ton of moisture in the air, however,
which bred mould on everything.
In consequence it was necessary
to keep the houses well white-wash-
ed. The Dutch houses were very
neat, no less so than the bungalows
of India. Not only was the island
most populous but it was extremely
productive. 1t yielded $50, 100000
annually to the revenue of the king
dom of Holland. Coffee is leading
staple and large share of it finds
its way to America. The best cof-
fee for ordinary purposes is the
Java, but the most delicate is the
Mocha, while the best cup of coffee
obtainable is combination of both,
whether in Paris, New York or Lon
don, and London always gives the
worst coffee. But they will gener-
ally give you better cup of tea in
the British Colonies than in Java.
The people of the latter make their
coffee in a curious way. They pre-
pare an extract of coffee and bottle
it up, and in every house and hotel
they have bottle of the extract,
and they bring you hot milk to mix
with it. We had much better cof-
fee in the Hawaiian Islands than any
he had got in Australia or New
Zealand. We were to be congratu-
lated on the quality of our coffee,
and he did not see why we should
not have large expectation of the
article. He knew that the Brazilian
coffee was considered good, but he
had never regarded it as equal tc
the Java.
There are nearly 100000 China
men in Java and they are all busily
at work in trade and industry. Nine
tenths of them come from Annoy anC
few of them ever 60 back. Their chill
dren are brought up as Chinese anc
not as Javanese. The largest Chi
nese resident is at Batavia and he il
called the "Major Chinaman," t.
whom all difficulties among China
men are referred-the same as thu
Arabs who have Captain" whit
is responsible for the good conduc
of all Arabs. There are few Ar
menians in Java who are very cleve
in trade. The largest proportion o
foreigners dressing like US ar
Dutch, and as all talk Dutch yol
might suppose you were in Holland
There are three classes Of railwa
carriages, the first class hig
enough, the second reasonably mod
crate, and the third marvelousl
cheap. The lecturer commende'
this provision for the poor travelling
cheaply, in comparison with Austria
liza where it was taken for granite
there were no poor, and the sam
with America. The cheap fare
largely increased the revenues G
the railways. Batavia was wei
equipped port with fine stone pier
and iron buildings, The wealth
Dutch tended to move back into til
country, where they had establishe
parks, tramcars, pleasure drives
and beautiful bungalows. Batavi
was the old name for Holland in til
Roman era.
Mr. portar baard a nond do,