The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1898-08-08
SIGHTS AND SCENES
IN BEAUTIFUL HAWAII.
A Land of Siestas and Sugar Cane
Picturesque and Beautiful

Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands, July 10
When Robert Louis Stevenson lived in
the suburbs of Honolulu in 1889 he
wrote telling London friend how to
come to see him, thus: go across the
American continent and at San Fran
cisco take the first turn to the left"
The Hawaiian, or as they are more
generally known, the Sandwich Islands.
are situated 2,100 miles southwest from
San Francisco, between the nineteenth
and twenty-third parallels of latitude.
They consist of twelve islands of purely
volcanic formation. Five islands only,
however, are at all inhabited and Gull
tivated. They are Hawaii, Maui, Oahu,
Molokai and Kauai. All the others are
sterile. black islets of volcanic rock
The whole group comprise about 1000
square miles, and are one-fortieth the
size of Texas. Oahu is the most pOpu-
lous and fertile island in the Hawaiian
archipelago 1t is about the size of
Delaware and is the seat of the metrOp-
oils and capital, Honolulu of Hawaii.
Maui is a larger island, and upon it the
greatest sugar plantations and mills in
the whole world are located. MOlokai
is devoted to rice and banana culture,
and is most famous for the two Ieper
colonies that are located there. The
two finest harbOrS in the Hawaiian
group indent Oahu. One is the beauti-
full but small harbOr at Honolulu. The
other is the harbOr, so famous in the
numerous congressional DEBATES con-
corning annexation of Hawaii to the
United States, known as Pearl HarbOr.
It is a land-IOcked harbor, and within
it the navies of the world may ride at
anchor.
The population of Hawaii is smaller
than that of any state in the union,
except Nevada and Wyoming. Accord
ing to the census taken last February,
it is but 109, 020 persons, of whom Y, SIT
are males. The population is not only
very mixed, but the dominating Amer
leans form a very small element of it.
The Hawaiians form the principal ele
ment, 31,000; they have decreased from
"a 500 in 1890. The Japanese number
"a $780, or double what they were in 1890.
Then come the Chinese, p, 500, who
have also increased largely. The POr-
tuguese number $4,000, or nearly dOu-
bic what they were seven years ago.
The mixed blOOds number $500. Then
come the Americans with only 3,0S6
souls, nearly two-thirds of them men.
The British number 1850.
The arrangement of the streets in
Honolulu reminds many Americans of
those in Boston or the older part of New
York. All the streets are narrow and
well kept, but with a few exceptions,
they meander here and there at will.
A dozen thorOughfares are crescent
shaped, and twist and turn when one
least expects it. All the streets are
smooth and hard under a dressing of
thousands of wagon loads OF shells and
lava pounded down and crushed by i'm
Francisco.
Since the republic was formed in. Ha-
wall the business part of Honolulu has
grown fast. A number of commercial
blocks worth $4,000 and $50, 900 have
been erected. Most of them are but
two stories high, for no one in this land
of rest and siestas is going to be in
duced to climb stairs; besides, land Is
cheap. The street scenes always inter
est visitors here. White duck suits and
Panama hats, the latter rtbbOned with
Ill. re-1fw
dresses. with -brimmed leShOrn
hats, are common among the upper
classes, and give an equatorial glamour
to the passing show. The prevalent
Kanaka male is picturesque in a straw
hat bound with flowers or peacock
feathers, a negligee suit with floral cir
clets hung about the shoulders, his feet
unshOd and his attitude supremacy rest
full. The female native wears a bright
colored Mother Hubbard gown, a
wreath of flowers which is called leis, |
and she, too, goes barefOOted. She is |
always neat and never without a
wreath of flowers or vines about her
head or waist No one accuses her of
prudishness, and she is likely to have
an indispensable appetite for poi, raw
fish and the hula dance.
Then there are on the streets people |
from every Oriental nation. japanese /
merchants and policemen; Chinese Ia |
borers, peddlers and hOrsemen; Siam |
csc fishermen, planters from Australia |
and the Philippine Islands; British and |
American men-Of-warsmen and tour |
lists from every civilized country There !
are hundreds whose nativity 1t is hard |
to trace Not infrequent1y intermar- |
rage occurs between Chinese and Kan /
akas Japanese and Portuguese, Amer |
leans and half-caste native women, and !
the issue is a, sort of composite which, |
it must be confessed, is often an i'm |
provement on the mated types.
The color line divides society in Hon |
Olulu The Americans are the top wave !
N COpintU The hest class of white |
pie are as refined, polished and accom- |
plished as those of any other capital in |
the world. and their hospitality is sup !
erb. In this society is a large admix- |
ture of the New England religious ele- |
ment, sprung from the missionary fam /
lilies which came here between 1925 and |
1850. To be sure, the men and women |
of this generation have lost about all J
the sternness and rightly of their Pur-
itan ancestors. Everyone changes some
what in this land of laSciViOuSneSS and /
early maturity. These descendants of
the missionaries are very proud of their
lineage. They support the churches and
back all religious and moral move
ments. Many of the half-caste families
are thoroughly educated and are fam
iliar with European capitals and Ian
guages They live in luxurious homes
filled with products of American. En-
gIish and French handicraft and art. !
At this time many of them are living
upon allowances, their thriftless mode
of life, now represented in mOrtgaged
estates having made it necessary to
put their affairs in the hands of trus-
tees In the winter seasons, when hun
dreds of American and English and
French tourists come here, there may
be weeks of picnics among the banana
and cocoanut trees, evening dancing at
the hotel, dinners and receptions at the
great roomy residences of the English
and Americans who came here a gen
Grafton ago, married Kanaka girls, in
herited from them a great amount of
land and got rich growing sugar and
rice for the United States.