The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1898-08-10
NOTHING 70 Do WITH IT WAS At A FLAG RAISING
SAW EXCHANGE RATIFICATIONS
IN RUSSIAN WATERS.
Captain j. A. King Describes an EX-
change of Islands Between Japan
and Russia in 1874.

Captain King, Minister of the Inte-
rior, was reminiscent mood this
morning and entertained a few fort
unate ones with a description of a
flag raising he witnessed in 1874.
II was in command of the Avatcha,
belonging to the Alaska Commercial
Company" said the captain, "and had
been making trading voyages to Ber-
ing Sea from the Islands. Frank
Pratt and c. \. Williams were with
me most of the time. | left here first
in the spring of 1870 and returned in
the fall. In November, 1870, we got
news of the wreck of the L. S. S. Sag
inaw on Ocean Island, and | was the
first to be dispatched to the wreck
The Saginaw was commanded by
Captain Montgomery Sicard, now Ad-
miral Sicard.
"We made trips to Bering Sea every
year in the Avatcha, which by the
way was the old Kona Packet, for
merly running from Honolulu to Ha-
waii. In the summer of 1874 we were
at the kuril Islands and saw the Rus
sian flag come down and the Japanese
flag go up. You see the two nations
had been quarreling over the posses
sion of the big island of Saghalien,
which lies off the entrance of the
Amoor river. The Russians had es-
tablished themselves on the north
ern part of the island and opened up
big coal mines. That was before Via
livestock was thought of as the ter
minus of the Siberian railway, and
the Russians were figuring on making
their Pacific headquarters at the
mouth of the Amoor. The japanese
held the rest of the island and had
numerous fishing villages scattered
along the southern end. An exchange
was finally agreed on between the
two powers by which Russia ceded to
Japan the Kuri islands, long chain
of small islands extending from Capt
Lopatka i'm the north to ESQ or Ho-
kushu, the northernmost part of the
Japanese peninsula. \ day was set
for the exchange of ratifications and
saluting the flags on two of the lar
gest kuril islands and on Saghalien.
We We're at Sumshu, the largest of
the kurils, in the summer of 1874,
when "A japanese and Russian man
of war came down from Petropaulov-
ski to hoist the japanese flag and to
lower the Russian. The ceremonies
were about the same as will be seen
here on Friday. Both vessels landed
detachments of troops and saluting
guns. The Russian flag was run up
and saluted by the battery and the
ship. 1t was then hauled down, some
kind of a proclamation was read and
the japanese flag hoisted and saluted.
That was all of it. The officials of the
ships fraternized over the affair and
everybody had a good time The
same ceremony was repeated on an
other island of the group, and at
Saghalien. At the latter island the
Japanese flag came down and the
Russian went up.
after this the warships went back
to PetropaulovsRi where we followed
them shortly after. This is the place
where a British force got whipped
by the Russians during the Crimear
war and the British admiral blew hi.
brains out in consequence. The in
habitants celebrate that victory tC
this day and it is one of the greatest
! holidays of the wear"