Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-08-17
Experiences of a Steamship Ride Of
Over Five Thousand Miles
on the Pacific Waters.
SIGHTS AND SCENES AT HONOLULU.
King Kslskaus Isn't Compelled to Sell Pea
nuta for Revenue, but He Makes
Hay in the Palace Yard.
A SUNDAY AS DRY AS In PITTsBURG.
The HIkad0 japanese Reporters and oddities Seen
N the RxhibItisn.
rcoRKrsroxDExC1 OF THE DrsrLrcB.


TOKYO, July 26.-The hotels in Tokyo
and Yokohama are not as full this summer
a. they have been on some previous tourist
seasons, although it was hoped that the great
exhibition of Japanese art and industry,
which was opened in this city on April 1,
and ia to close in one week. would attract an
unusual number of visitors. Two Of the
principal. hotels enlarged their premises in
this expectation, but they might as we'll have
saved the expense. The truth is Japan has
hardly entered into fair competition with
Europe as a summer resort for Americans on
their annual vacation. and has remained the
sporting ground chiefly of the regular globe
trotters who have not yet been able to turn
the tide by their unanimous opinion that
seeing Japan is the next best thing to visit
ing the planets Mars or Venus.
Erroneous notions regarding the climate
probably keep some from coming here in
the summer. No doubt il is warm in South
ern Japan after the rainy season has ceased,
about the middle of July; but there are numer-
Gus charming seaside and mountain resorts
where it is always cool and where the WELL
to-do classes go; and visitors who come to
japan in summer have the advantage of
details of domestic life, carried on in the
open air, so that they can see ard learn
much more than in winter, when the houses
are partly closed and the inhabitants
wrapped up in layer after lsyer of cotton
wadded clothing by way of compensating
for the absence Of freplaces, which winter
tourists also find source of great discom-
fort.
NOT A GREAT JOURNEY,
Doubtless, also, the trip to Japan seems q
more arduous undertaking to most Ameri-
cans than it proves to be on trial. The
distance between New York md San Fran
cisco can be covered in five days, and from
San Francisco (or Vancouver) the best
steamers of the Pacific Mail, the Oriental
and Occidental and tine Canadian Pacific
Companies make Yokohama in from IL to Is
days, or about the time it used to take the
average Atlantic steamer to go from New
York to Europe until a few years ago when
the ocean "grey hounds" were let loose.
The Vancouver steamers have an ad-
vantage in regard to distance of several
hundred miles over the San Francisco
steamers; but they are smaller boats than
the latter, and, being SO far north, are more
likely to encounter rough weather at all
seasons Not that the California steamers
are exempt from such experiences. On the
contrary, the trade winds, which make San
Francisco such q delightfully."- cool place in
summer, and keeps the water so cool there
that few battle in the surf even in August,
blow along the coast during nine months of
the year, SO that passengers must expect q
possibility of seasickness for two or three
days after leaving California, even in
the most favorable time of the year. But
after that it is apt to be smooth sailing in
summer-that is smooth for the unruly aud
ill-named Pacific" have repeatedly
crossed the Atlantic when its surface for
several days had the CLASSY smoothness of &
lake; but the City of Peking, which left
San Francisco on June IA, did not once run
over such q CLASSY surface, although she
went far south of the usual course in order
to touch at the Sandwich Islands, and al
though Captain Cavarly-a most courteous
and careful commGnder-assured us every
day of our quite unusual good luck in hav-
ing such a smooth voyage; whence we may
inter that the Pacific is rarely quite un-
rufled.
KING KALAKAUA's HAY CROP.
It is the custom of the Pacific Mail
Steamship Company to send q steamer
every three months via Honolulu. This
adds over 800 miles to the voyage, but few
OF the passengers regret it, as it ensures a
smoother trip and enables them 70 get a
glimpse of Kalakaus's kingdom. The Door
King is having hard time of il between
his debts and his small income, which pre-
vented him from visiting the Paris EI-
position last year. A frivolous young San
franciscan said that the King was now
keeping q peanut stand in front of the
palace, where every foreigner was obliged
to buy dollars worth, on penalty of hav-
ing his head chopped of. But we tailed to
see such stand, although we walked all
around the palace, which is an imposing
structure, with spacious grounds and
gardens. There is music stand on one
side, where q band of native musicians
holds forth occasionally; and single, soli-
tsry soldier guards the entrance to the
palace.
The King seems to have learned to be
economical, for the grass on bis grounds is
not allowed to wither and waste, but was
carefully moved and made into little piles
of hRv. 1t cannot be said that this hay was
made while the sun shone. for it rained
every ten minutes all day long, and the air
was as moist and warm as in a hot house,
with the same mingled odors of flowers and
leaves and moist soil. These flowers, which
seemed to grow by preference on trees, either
as tree blossoms or on creepers, furnished
the most delightful "local color" of the
place. The sombre, cool, cocoanut palm
groves were also inviting; but of the people
of Honolulu there was little to see, as it was
Sunday, which is strictly observed here, the
stores being all closed, and not . drink,
however harmless, being for sale anywhere
except at the hotel.
We saw but few Of the dusky maidens,
whose large black eyes, smiling faces, plump
figures and merry gambols in the breakers
or astride on horseback used to fascinate
travellers. But thev still 60 about in a calico
nightgown or Mother Hnbbards, without
even a belt around the waist, as their only
garment. 1t looks cool and not ungraceful.
A AGLoBE-TRoTTINe STAY.
To travel 1000 miles to an island famed
for its palm groves, flowers, sugar plants-
tions, pretty Polynesian girls, luscious
melons and mangoes, and ever-actlve
volcanoes, the grandest in the world and
stay only i've hours, as we did, was most
taDtaliZing, and made one seem worse than
g Nellie Bly, or George Francis Train.
But If any one had remained behind he
would have had no other chance to reach
Japan in three months, except backwards
via San Francisco. So we reluctantly
boarded our steamer again, and started on
the remaining 3, 500 miles of our heightened
trip. During the whole voyage of $500
miles we only saw one bark, and not
another sign of mans existence on earth
besides our ark-which contained American.
Japanese. Chinamen, sheep (for food) cows
(Holstein stock for Japan, the bones of
Cinnamon, and cargo Of flowers for Hong
Kong. Gulls followed us for week, and
we saw the beautiful snew-white tropical
birds. and every day few flying fish; and
that was all in three long weeks.
In the harbor of Yokohama many foreign
ships are seen among these native vessels
s--i.Ii.n A Arnnrinan Krnnnh Garrnan