The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1894-04-02
The General at School.

EDiToR BuLLErIS:--
am at a loss to understand the
opposition OF those councillors who
objected To Colonel Soper receiving
his regular pay during absence at O
military school. The modcsty Of the
appropriation seems tn mo to stick
out OF the item GU every side. Think
for a moment what IL must cost (fuf
q man who is candid enough To get
the President Of the Republic" to
inform the Legislature that he has
not had military training), to be
e, cached" into q state OF efficiency
that will enable him to handle th.
national army Of Hawaii, in com.
papy, battalion, aud regiment. The
United States estimate the cost oi
the education aud keep Of a cadc,
from the time he enters the school
Of the soldier, till he becomes lieu.
tenant, as little short of two thou.
SAID dollars, aud the tilno occupied
is about five years. Hawaii's only
Sopcr is expected to return in a few
weeks (did the President say Gve) a
iull.nedged, real live commander.
in-chicf with or without u diploma
that is ii he survives the process
VI examining which such a light
ming rate Of speed in the new pro
cess of soldier-making must involve.
To mast r the thousand aud one
movements in echelon and evolution
II infantry aud artillery, To say
nothing Of cavalry, in a few weeks,
seems like boy in the rule Of three,
suddenly starting in To climb the
hypothenuse Of Euclid, and To mas
ter comic sectious before breakfast.
II Mr.. Soper will survive his pro.
posed five weeks cram and return
To us full hcdged commander.in-
chief, he will be entitled To rank
with the prodigics Of the age.
Should the revolution" bust up
aud its chief actors deem il prudent
to play the Da Cana act, why the
glorious memory of the provisional
epoch would survive in Soper, and
he at least would bo in possession Of
his professional spurs and able to
rally the revolutionary tendencies Of
his compat riots yet again, and some
of the monarchy-cursed peoples of
the Pacific possibly New Zealand-
may, in such an event, be blessed
with the benign influence Of Soper
n Co.
Should the fates frown to the
extent OF scattering the happy com
bination, Soper would still, for a
certainty, prove a survival Of the fit
test and carve his way into the front
rank Of living curiosities. In any
side-show between Dan aud Beer
sheba, the general Of the Hawaiian
revolution would command posi-
tion equal TO the paltry pittauce
that Councillors Morgan aud Emne-
luth objected to, and the calf with
two heads, or the burro with nine
tails would not be in il rs an attrac-
ton, under any canvas where the
military hero OF Hawaii posed. The
chances are even now, that Thurston
has corralled our commander-in-
chief and has already a blood-curd-
ling lecture ready Of the exploits OF
Soper during the revolution" This
OF course is mere hypothesis. A
cynical versifer who knew Soper in
San Francisco sends me the follow
ing. He says our genius was always
a first t-class caulker:
lie was carpenter bold from Mare Island
And COmmander-in-Ghief Of Hawaii-land
But he wanted Ia 80
To the Pres dio
To learn the gOose-step from Weyland,
Just think what a relief il will be-
to our beloved President to feel as.
sured that Soper will return to the
bosom OF the provisional family in
five weeks, walking encyclopedia OF
militaryiSm. Hereafter Soper's pres
ence will be sufficient. No royalist
dog will have the gall to bark after
the five weeks general returns, and
surely that alone will be ample
value for our money gilt to Hannibal
Soper.
The following lines are almost a
literal translation from the Greek
poet Brian-bo-room, There must
have been a doleful Smithson an
Kingly eclipse in his day, when the
local Damon gave his Pythias = fatal