The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1896-01-23

THE CITY OF HONOLULU-A BIT OF
IT'S HISTORY AND A CLIMB UP
TO THE "PUNCA BOWL"
Honolulu dates its existence as
town from 1916. Before this date it
was a mere fishing village. At the
time mentioned there were several white
men on the islands, among them one
John Young, whose romantic career
almost rivals that of Captain John
Smith. Young had been mate on
the American vessel Eleanor, and had
been captured by King Kamehameha
together with a sailor named Davis
from a little schooner, The Fair Amer
lean. The commander and all his
crew, save Davis, were killed by the
savages, Kamehameha sparing Young
and Davis only because they were ex
pert in the use of fire arms. When all
of the islands had been brought under
the control of Kamehameha, John
Young was made governor of Hawaii,
the largest of the group.
Young was man of more than Or
binary ability. He became true sub
ject of kamehameha, and his successor
on the throne. In 1875 he advised
the erection Of fort at Honolulu, to
command the harbor. He was given
full power TO direct its construction,
and, early in January, 1916, the fort
was begun and completed the same
year. This fort was nearly square,
measuring between three and four hum
dred feet on side, with walls about
twelve feet high and twenty feet thick.
1t was built of hard rock and had EN-
brasures for cannon. 1t stood on the
seward side of what is now Queen
street, and across the lower part of
Fort street. About forty guns-six,
eight, and twelve pounders-were after
ward mounted. and the fort placed
under command Of Captain Beckley.
In November, 1920, the king moved
his court to Honolulu, Mr.. Thurston
and his wife, two pioneer missionaries,
accompanying him. Ever since Hon.
olulu has been the seat of government
for the islands.
In the afternoon Of the day of my
arrival decided to take stroll about
this beautiful little city of the tropics
and "see the sights
These "sights' are we'll worth cross
ing a continent and an ocean to see.
They are such as no pen can describe,
no camera depict, no painter place on
canvass. The beauties and blessings
which nature has SO abundantly be-
slowed on these islands must be seen to
be appreciated.
Perhaps the most beautiful tree in
the world is the Royal Palm which
grows on the Sandwich Islands. In
her forthcoming book, entitled
"Around the World with the White
Ribbon Mrs. Mary Clement Leavitt
says:
1.-The Royal Palm, introduced here
from the West Indies, combining the
beauty of architecture i'll its perfectly
symmetrical, highly polished and beau
tifully colored columnar trunk, with the
swaying grace of its long plume like
leaves, easily takes a place second to
none in the world"
Her description is neither overdrawn
nor incorrect. So smooth and SYM
metrical are these "columnar trunks"
that gentleman who was with me,
asked citizen if they did not scrape
the bodies of the trees, or sand-paper
them.
There ale few residences in the city
which are not surrounded with palms.
The city is rich in vegetation. The
houses are not usually grand or inpo-
sing, but veIy picturesque. and the
grounds are ample. The Honoluluan
thinks more Of his lawns than of his
house. The approach to the house is
generally through a veritable flower
garden. Usually there IS an avenue
OF palms, between which are numerous
plants, or shrubs, crimson, vermillion,
and gold. A tall cactus often reaches
the height of twenty feet, with flowers
OF every hue, and the banana spreads
Its broad leaves before you. Oranges,
dates, and figs grow in the yards and
gardens. Almost everything is trop-
ical. A few plants, trees, and flowers
may be seen which grow also in colder
Cline, but they reach such gigantic
DrODOrtiOnS and are of cuch -.....