The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1897-02-12

rible." One burly passenger voiced his
opinion that il was "detestable. I" while
our friend, the poet moaned in an un-
der tone: Roll on. yer derned blue
ocean, roll" The crowd at the wharf
greeted friends. relatives and passen-
gers generally with a heartfelt grasp
OF the hand and tremor of voice that
seems TO say: Thank goodness. you've
safely crossed the watery chasm." The
people of Hilo have a perfect right
under the common law of modernized
Christendom. which is supposed TO pro-
tect life and limb, person and proper
ty, to raise their voices forcibly and
vociferously for some kind of a land
ing that appeals less 10 the venture
some spirit in mankind.
One of the first questions asked the
Honolulu visitor to Hilo is: What do
you think of Hilo?" This question is
thrown in the face of every visitor to
a new and developing country. 1t is on
much the same idea as the man who
goes into clothing store, comes out
newly clad and walks around among
his friends. asking: How do you
think l look?" This is a characteristic
of every new country, and it sticks out
everywhere and among all classes of
this country. Hilo people are always
anxious TO find out what the Honolulu
resident thinks of them, because they
seem to feel that Honolulu has spec
ial grudge against their town.
Hilo is a town of great possibilities,
and if its people were to go about the
matter in the right way the time might
be in the not far distant future when
the town might overshadow Honolulu.
When man starts in to find out what's
the matter with the town, why il does
not progress as il ought to, it is like
getting into the labyrinths of an unex-
plored cave. Every man has an opin-
ion. He's all right and the other fell
low is all wrong. 1t is strange, indeed,
that people so cordial, so hospitable,
so pleasant in every way, cannot, when
it comes to a political or public i'm
provement proposition, get together
and hold together. If any town ever
needed a wharf, Hilo does, but you ask
one man why the wharf is not forth
coming, and he says it is w. o. Smiths
fault; the next man tells you the Will
der Steamship Company doesn't want
it. still another says the cause Of moth
ing being done is due to a disagreement
among the factions as to location, then
one will say there are no factions in
the place These opinions each come
from good, solid men, who can get to-
gether and talk business on private
and verging their opin-
ions into a common plan of action
where all hands can meet, but in pub
lie measures they hold to individual
ideas with a tenacity that is really sur
prising because it is injurious to the
town.
Then there is the water front. A
more disgraceful lot of shanties never
graced the back doors of an Hawaiian
hamlet. 1t appears as if all the dirty
Cinnamon in the place had been
scooped up and put down in the most
prominent spot, there to do their worst.
The first thing that greets the eye to
say nothing of the nose of the visitor
to Hilo is the back doors of lot of
Chinese and Japanese shanties. The
ownership of the land is yet in ques-
ton, but even if this question cannot
be decided the Board of Health might
get in and do a charitable
act by demanding that the houses be
or replaced by more respecta-
Die looking buildings. Should any
department. of the Government be
for any reason in carry
ng out the work of determination
along the water front and on Bridge
street, the only scheme that seems fea-
sible as a matter of last resort is for
he people of Hilo to import firebug
md order the fire department to go to
sleep for a day or two.
A Hilo lawyer remarked recently
hat he thought there was more indi-
of opinion in Hilo than in
honolulu. Possibly this is true and
if there were less individu-
Atty of opinion, less of the disposition
IN the part of one side to condemn a
movement because it is set on foot by
he other side, the people of the town
would have less reason to grumble over