The San Francisco call., 1896-07-30
AROUND TIE CORRIDORS.

AROUND TIE CORRIDORS.
"There is peculiar, powerful and very big
crap found on the Marquesas Islands. 1t is
known as the cocoanut crab, and measures al
OF eighteen inches across, including its claws.
IL ruins large number of cocoanuts by crush
ing tie thick shell between its strong mandi
bies after getting good hold in one of the
eyes of the NUT
II was q. L. Kennedy. merchant of Nuki
hiVl,who was speaking and he was entertaining
q lew persons at the Occidental with some oi
the peculiarities OF the islands where he has
lived Tor nearly five years. and from which he
arrived yesterday with his wife after forty
nve days passage in the brigantine Papeete.
ne VIII remain here about week purchasing
goods.
But that is not the only pest" he continued.
I'VE have rats by the hundreds. They climb
the cocoanut trees and gnaw holes in the
young nuts, letting in the water and running
tneih. but fish; you should see the fish
FINEST you ever ate and in great variety. One
IN particular, the vara, sort of shellfsh-
looks Ike centipede, is articulated, lives in
lhe swallow water of the coral reefs-well, 1t is
the greatest eating imaginable. You boil it
and the meat is as white as drifted snow, and
rlcn. An ordinary vara is from eight to
twelve inches in length and each joint is about
an inch across. If they ever do bring
any TO this market the epicures will
go WHO over them. The Marquesas group is q
french possession. There are about eighty or
ninety Islands in all-many of them very
small. My experience has been that the ma
yves pay their debts better than the Euro
peans. Well, the French Government made
them. The chief products OF the islands are
cocoa, cotton, vanilla and sugar. They export
a good deal of sea-island cotton, copra, pearl
vanilla ic m
ior home consumption. 1t is good place to
make money, but poor country for social life.
Ihere are not over TWEEN ty-fve Europeans on
the whoIe island where we live"
"The standing army of the republic of Ha-
wan consists at present of two companies of
regulars or one hundred men. They are quar-
tered in the basement: of the Government
building which it is their duty to guard" re-
marked Captain E. o. White yesterday ct the
Occidental
Captain White is himself military man at
donolulu, where he has command of one OF the
SIX militia companies maintained and regu-
larry drilled in the island capital.
THE regulars receive the highest pay of any
soldiers In the world. Privates get $50 a
month, corporals $35 and sergeants $40 and
$50 month. Recently the regular army was
reduced TO its present size as matter of econ
omy.
"Ihere IS salaried colonel in command, and
ne Is at the head of the regiment of which the
SIX militia companies form part. He is on
duty all the time in the Government building.
There are no soldiers on the other islands, al
though each island has what is called the
nome guard. These guards on the different
islands have frequent friendly shooting
matches, the results of the target scores being
communicated to each other by mail. There is
no Tear OF an attack from the royalists but of
course there is the same talk that has been
heard for long time"
"on the average, five men die in our camp
eacn day., said D. Muir, who is in charge of
Dig refinery in the new oil regions on the
Island OF Sumatra, whittier he will start to-day
on the China with his wife and family, who
came TO the Occidental recently from their old
home in Titusville, Pa.
Ihe trouble is the land is low and level and
good deal OF 1t is covered with stagnant
water about foot deep. The weather is hot, the
average temperature ranging from 80 deg. all
the way 10 lis deg. Vegetation is rank. We
have 5000 natives. half-castes and Chinese
employed about the wells, the sawmill, the
box factory, the can factory and the refinery,
which make up the complete oil plant Fever
is common and affects the Chinese the worst
OF all. They live in such an unhealthy way
anyhow. But we are getting more Chinese all
the time 10 take the places of those that die off,
Europeans can't stand the climate very well,
either. They stay six months or year per-
haps, and then they have to get away for q
change. l nearly died when first went down
there, but then ] got acclimated. 1 don't
drink, and that makes it easier to stand the
climate. When lett there in May cholera
was in the camp, and men were going at the
rate of from eight to twelve day. Well, if my
family can't stand it Pll send them right home.
Everybody talks Malay down there. 1t isn't
like Chinese. For instance, you count up to
five; ii is: Satu, dua, tiga, ampat, lima. su-
matra is bigger than most people think. 1t
is about 900 miles long, and comes pretty near
being as large as California