The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1892-04-02

at home. In the little harbor, which |
glowed in the ruddy evening sun
shine, lay five great whales that /.
were being cut up and reduced to /
marketable products. The chunks
OF " blubber" are drawn up an in
clined plane like logs in saw mill
to the upper story of the factory,
where they are reduced by steam
heat in great kettles looking very
much like a triple effect The oil
is then farther purified aud put into
casks ready for shipment. Much the
greater part of the establishment,
however, is devoted to the working
up of the refuse into fertilizer, and
much ingenious and expensive ma
chinery is used for the purpose. The
offal of all kinds, flesh, scraps, bone,
ETC., is ground and dried and mixed,
and then ground again until it is
reduced to fine dry earth-like flour
with a reasonably endurable odor,
and very valuable fertilizing quail
ties. The whole process is interest
ing, but we were heartily glad to get
away from it, for the stencil was
something terrible, and 1 can't com
prehend how the workmen can en-
dure it. Everything in the neigh
bourhood is fairly shiny with grease
the stones on the shore, the boats,
the wharf timbers, even the water
itself has sort of cream of whale
oil on it, while the factory itself is SO
sticky and slippery that one must go
Il Az oa7fSnn Tho
whales, / need scarcely say, are
towed hither by the small steam
whalers, which search for them up
and down the coast and bring them
long distances. The establishment
belongs to one Iven Joyen, veteran
whale-fsher, who has made fortune
of about S1,O0O,000 out of it, which in
Norway is looked on as a lot of
money.
Throughout most of the trip | was
the only Anglo-Saxon on board, yet
1 found the company always enjoy
able, and had no difficulty in getting
along, for the reason that most of
the people could talk English. In
deed the educated Norwegians, and
they form very considerable part of
the population, seem to be veritable
polyglotts; besides their own group
of languages, including Danish and
Swedish, they can generally speak
with more or less fuency French,
English and German, and the ease
with which the general conversation
changed from one of these languages
to the other was remarkable, and to
an American rather humiliating. My
special companions during the trip
were two. First codliver oil manu-
facturer from Trondhjem, who how
ever was man of excellent educa-
ton as civil engineer, speaking
fuently several languages, Of wide
reading and liberal ideas, as we'll as
keen and successful business man.
Secondly, a young lady from some
obscure fishing village in the Lotto
tens, but lady of more than COM
mon accomplishments as a linguist,
pianist and vocalist, and withal of
simple, charming, hearty manners, so
that she soon became, especially as
our company got reduced in mum
bers, the very life of the ship.
And this leads me in conclusion to
say that I found the Norwegians
almost without exception a most
charming people, simple, honest, in
dustrious, large-hearted and genial
rightly enough proud of their conn
try, but singularly conscious of the
virtues and greatness of the nations
about them. and even of their owl
defects and weaknesses. l founC
them also very sensitive tt
kindness and warmly apprecia
tive of any words of praise
bestowed on their country, its institu
tions or people, and most kindly dis
! posed to help strangers to see anc
know their country to advantage
E and render their stay as enjoyable a
, possible; in short the very sam
! large hearted hospitality that char
: acterized the old-time Hawaiian AM
' still characterizes many of the bes
D of his lineal descendants. l regre
: to say, however, that there are sign
: of the realizations of the fear
! expressed by many of the bette
: class of Norwegians that the grea
g influx of summer tourists will spoi
the people, result very much to b
. regretted but apparently not to b
h avoided.
: That it is rapidly growing in fave
! as a field of summer travel and recrt
y alton is not to be wondered a
!, Everyone who goes there must com
:, away with the enthusiastic desire
:, go back again at the earliest oppol
= tunity, and in the meantime to sprea
= abroad the praises of the life an
:, scenery of that comparatively III
: known land To this rule I am 4
q exception, hence this account.
% j. M. LYDGATE.
! Worthwhile I am writing, l lear
- that the Hammerfest electric ligl
q =" water power is frozen up, that I'll
- town is consequently in darkness
: and the people are creeping abol
: the streets through the twenty-hor
=, nights with hand lanterns.
q S-A