The evening times., 1898-07-09
A LETTER FROM HAWAII.
Enthusiastic Reception of the
American Forces.

The following extract, taken from let
ter written by an American now promi-
nent in Hawaiian affairs. will be of par
ticular interest Just at this time. as 1t
indicates clearly the joy with which the
news OF annexation will be received by
the islanders.
The extract follows:
Already the Pekin Australia and Sgd
ney have gone through with about 2.5oo
men. Such time as we did have. We
hear that the China has been brought
outright and for a time IT looks as If
we would have only the o. & o. steamers.
There are supposed to be 5000 troops
going through. Tonight's paper has an
advertisement for bids for a coal shed
for the United States Government. to be
built on the water front. This looks
like usurpation If not annexation.
'It was the grandest sight / ever saw
on the evening the three steamers came
into the harbor laden down with boys
in blue. just as the sun was setting. and
such cheering you never heard. We
had dinner at $50 and all rushed down.
got a small boat and wett out by the
lighthouse. N had arranged with
other Oregon men here to establish head
quarters for the Oregon troops in our Of
flee, with free cigars and place to reg
lister their names. He had bought a
dozen or so cheap umbrellas and painted
the word Oregon in white letters on
the top. for all to carry down on the
dock In the boat we each had an UNI
brella and when the Australia came
n nm nd sud dapix al = ie
breila that word caught the eyes of the
troops and such cheer as you never
heard went up and kept on and on. Our
boat went up close and N recognized
several fellows. ]. G. and dozen foot
ball men from the Multnomah Club soon
got together and gave their cheer. The
docks were crowded and the vessels also.
each one being covered with flags. and
there was such screaming OF whistles
and cheering of thousands of men. with
four bands playing 'Star-Spangled Ban
ner. and Hawaii Ponoi.' It just brought
tears to our eyes. IL was so grand.
Next day they began to land troops
about 9 a. m. half until o'clock and
the other half in the afternoon. Our Of
fee was jammed and they got away with
800 cigars the first day.
MIR. j said the beer saloons were
not going to get them all. so he walked
water works. ordering them to run free
for the soldiers. They had two extra
boys at work and served out l2o drinks
to the minute for some time. ]. II. was
afraid the fountain would break down.
Ten gallons OF cream were gone in no
time. but they kept il up for both days.
The cars were free TO the soldiers, also
the stationery Of the senate and house.
every desk being occupied by men writ
ing home IN official ma pfiCn
B supplied oranges. three boxes. big
ones. being emptied in no time. and my
stationery all went, every inch of space
being occupied by men writing. We soon
noticed most of the letters Were directed
to girls and joked with the men about il.
OF course they had American stamps
and were surprised to md them useless.
We agreed to give them the stamps free
and had our hands full. / went down to
G. p & Co.'S for a clean sugar bag and
started a mail pouch. Well. they filed
up two bags. but the foreign office came
10 our rescue and agreed to post them all
free. | had a rubber stamp made. For
eign postage paid by citizens of Honolulu.
American stamps good only after you an
mex Hawaii, and we put 1t on every let
ter.
Lots of them were without cent.
You see. they expected TO be fed and paid
a month in advance in San Francisco.
but. owing to the rush. they had to buy
their own meals on the way to San Fran
cisco and then they were not paid a cent.
so most of them were broke. The COM
missary had forgotten yeast on the sgd
ney. so there was no bread, nothing but
hardtack. Many of the men were hun
cry. No proper arrangements for cook
ing, so they had only two meals a day.
but not one word of complaint was heard
by anyone. R. c.. Portland fellow
worth 100000, said that he washed
dishes and scrubbed kettles for colored
cook in order to get few special bites
OF pie and stuff from the officers mess.
Money would not buy it, Well, Friday
the town fed them. and all of the execu-
tive grounds. that Is. from the gate on
Hotel Street to the gate on King Street.
was mass of tables. and the whole 200
were let loose at 10 o'clock: at o'clock
some were still feeding. As each table
full of men finished they stood up and
gave three cheers for Honolulu. Presi-
dent Dole was under one of the trees re-
ceiving. and most of the companies
marched up and were presented in u
body. the men giving three cheers for the
president. OF the second best republic.
Mrs. j had charge of the coffee. and
they drank 1850 gallons of homegrown
and homemade coffee As they left the
grounds they carried off cocoanuts. pine
apples and bananas. under their arms.
There were lots of girls, and. as one
fellow told me that he got away from
the home girls and stood off the San
Francisco girls without losing button.
but here he surrendered, and there were
only two buttons left on his uniform.
Leis were worn by the lucky ones. that
is. those who captured them from the
girls. and when joked one good-iooking
fellow about his lei. he said: Yes. I
got it out at the park. and. what's more.
l got a glance from two black eyes that
I'll carry to my grave.
They were the finest set of men you
ever saw. and not one disorderly case
during the two days. Notwithstanding the
fact that there was saloon dealing out
free beer. They had to be almost forced
to take things. preferring to pay their
way or go without. and / did not see n
man take two cigars at a time. Why put
box of cigars among the kanakas and
it would be emptied at once. Many of the
men did not even smoke.
We'll, the town sent them off delight
ed and we put 1900 cigars aboard three
steamers. Now We are awaiting eagerly
for the next lot. particularly the Eastern
men, for You see every American who sets
foot on Hawaiian soil and sees how
American the place is. becomes as an
nexationist.'
Hawaii Joins the Red Cross.
New York July 9-StaDhen F Rartou