The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1895-01-10
Especial Correspondence

Especial correspondence
Honolulu, Dec. I2.-How delicious
and fragrant is the kona as it blows
softly across these islands, 1t lulls you
to half sleep. carries you to the land
of waking dreams. and it brings to
your inhaling strange. grateful aromas
that it has gathered from the spices of
farofF isles. and it swells out the sails
of great ships that are laden with prod
uce from all parts of the world and
sends them along on their journey. Kona
Is a god who IS at once mighty, gentle
and strong. The natives, who have given
him his name, speak well of him. He is
the great trade wind. Konal How fine
it sounds!
Honolulu looks as if it were town
of modern western civilization that had
come within the sway of a softening,
calming influence. A suggestion of Ash
attic 1anguor hangs in its atmosphere. 1t
is as if the soul of the east lived in the
body of the west There is blending
of opposing principles of civilization
But the east dominates the west, even
as the soul dominates the body. You
dream and think, and think and dream.
Truly is this the land of reverie! Beauti-
full images arise i'll your imagination.
They beckon to you to come. And the
kona kisses your cheek softly.
According to the latest researches. the
Hawaiian people, and indeed the whole
Polynesian race, of which they are part,
had an Aryan beginning somewhere III
Asia Minor or Arabia
They are utterly distinct from the
great Malayan branch of the human
family 1t IS assumed that they were
brought into contact with early Cush
ite and Characterization civilizations.
Ground is given this assumption by the
discovery OF the fact that there is sim
ilarity between the ruins of ancient tenn
pies in Arabic. and the ruins of temples
that are to be found on many of the is
lands of the Polynesian archipelago
There are also grounds for the belief
that in the long, long ago there existed
4 vast POlynesian continent that was
rife with life and civilization per-
haps mightier and nobler than our own.
Who shall tell? Infinite must have been
the cateclys1r that burst this continent
asunder Well might man believe IN
the power of gods.
l thought OF all these strange and
ancient thing5 yesterday as l looked out
and over to the mountains. How sol
emn and grand they looked - these
mountains of Oahul How calml All
day long L had been wandering through
Waikiki, the suburb of Honolulu.
How shall l describe Waikiki? I know
not. I cannot tell. | only know that it
Is dreamy and beautiful and has about
it the simmer and lustrous softness of
the orient. 1t is as some magic place
told in glowing Arab tales. [ was in
thralled, carried away 1 had seen
beautiful girls misunderstanding NOV
ing, sensuous dance to a sweet, soft mu-
sic. Did you ever read the verses of
Omar Khayam, the Persian poet, he
who thrilled the east with the nerve of
his love strain? If you have, and have
come under the full spell of their magic,
you will know something of what felt.
The Hawaiians have a literature of
their own which tells of the doings of
their heroes and the vicissitudes and
life of their race as far back as the sec
Ond century. 1t Is a beautiful literature,
dreamy and full of atmosphere, and is
in the form Of folk stories, traditions
and legends. These were carried on from
father to son through the centuries.
Kalakaua collected them together and
put them into book. Reading it gave
me a pleasure III which there was a sad
ness, for | could not help feeling the
force of the contrast between the pres
emit Hawaiiaus and those of their race
who were famous and mighty III the
long ago. Now they are dying away, as
all races of another civilization die
when they are brought into contact with
us Our civilization is indeed the dom
inant civilization. All others crumble
before it. l often wonder as to who the
hordes or powers will be who shall
crumble us. Truly we are at present
impregnable and possess the easy sheer
that is born of impregnability, but in
time the force of air and wind and wa
ter wears even adamant to nothing.
Hardy sailors were the Hawaiians
In their strange craft they braved the
perils of unknown great waters, and it
is well for us present day folk to re-
member that the dangers of the deep
were greater for ancient than for mod
ern sailors. They had neither charts
nor subtle, cunning instruments to guide
them. They braved the unknown with
nothing i'll their favor but their stout
hearts and the shining stars.
The women of Hawaii are often most
beautiful. and even those who are not
so favored possess an ease and grace of
bearing that is a fascination in itself.
They have large, soft eyes, oval faces
and figures supple and perfect.
The men of Hawaii have lost their
spirit. They are of race that is dying
away. They are falling like leaves that
are withered before the rush and crush
of that tarri hla vanor7ard IF o,7,.s oo,,,-
merce; that thing whose soul and es-
sence is the lust for gold; that thing
whose mercy is the thrust of cold steel;
that thing whose logic is the incontro-
vertible Ieaden logic of the bullet ]
might speak of the politics concerning
these islands, but have said enough in