The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-10-08
TWIN ADJUSTMENTS
OF THE HAWAIIANS
THEY ARE SURF RIDING AND
THE FAMOUS HULA DANCE,
A Description of Each as Given by
the New York Suns Correspon-
dent Who Accompanied the First
American Expedition to Manila.

uSht w lO nSSOiipohASu thS NASS
American Expedition to Manila.
OF all that Honolulu showed the sol
dier5 two things stand out particular
~. surf riding and the hula dance. Surf
riding is n sport for kings: as for the
dance-well, when you have seen 1t
you will know whether you want to see
it again or not. Surf riding is one of
the great sports of all the South Sea
islands. The natives are experts both
with boards and in canoes. White men
become expert with canoes, but rarely
with boards. The canoes are dug out
of big logs. They are very deep and
narrow and seats are stepped near the
gunwale so that they would tip over at
a glance If IT We're not for the cnor-
nous outrigCers they carry. Across
the gunwales are laShed two short
sticks, one fore and one aft, which ex-
tend about eight feet out on the port
side and curve down to the water
where they are fastened to a four-inch
log of an extremely huoYant native
wood. Getting Swamped is mighty
dangerous business, for the surf bOomS
in so rapidly and heavily that it is an
irpossiblity to bail out the canoe and
IT must be taken to the beach. task
of great proportions i'm a heavy sea and
one that demands that the mer with
the canoe shall be good swimmers
The canoes almost never upset, but un-
less comber is handled well it is like
ly to break over the canoe and fill ii
with water and then there is trouble.
The canoe is manned usually by
two big. dusky Kanakas. who can fair
ly smell a big breaker long before it
lifts it's head above the sea- Some of
the white men who were born in Homo
lulu are nearly as expert as the Kama
kas. l went out with Billy DmOnd,
who has spent nearly his whole life i'm
Honolulu, and as Tao-hai, one of his
Kanakas, says, is a ''Ner good man.
We padded along the beach to a place
where the surf was running high
about as it booms in along the Jersey
coast under a fresh breeze. Then out
to sea we went until we We're beyond
the line of the breakers. There We lay,
watching the sea, which was so quiet
that could hardly distinguish the
long. regular heave of the Pacific
swell.
THE FUN BEGINS.
Suddenly Mr.. Dmond began to shout
to his two men in Kanaka. Instantly
a feeling of wild confusion and excite
ment pervaded the canoe. The Kama
kas and Mr.. Dimond drove home the
broad paddles and shouted in the Ha-
waiidn language. The other passen-
gers and myself padded on as hard as
we could and shouted, too-anything
that came irto our hcads-we couldn' {
help it. Straight toward shore we
H. l., f,,-r 1,
out of the water. The long. broad
bladed paddles whipped through the
water. and the shouting was like that
when the cowboys repulse the Indians
at a Buffalo Bill performance. Three
other canoes were out near US. They
were working for the same breaker we
were trying to catch, and all were yell
ing as hard as they were padding. In
one of them Lieutenant Sidney a. Clo-
man, Fifteenth Infantry. the commits
\ sary of this expedition, was having mis-
first experience in surf riding. He
too, was the guest of Mr. Dmond and
old Twu-hoi was in charge of his ca
noe. The whole outfit of us were in
bathing suits, with pajama coats &c
prevent the sun from burning, and 3
Conglnmcratior of skull caps. toques
and straw hats for head gear The
konakas wore bright yellow sweaters
and gaudV bandanpa handkerchief
tied on thei' heads as turbans. The
cacoes were bright yellow, the color oi
the sweCtrys, trimmed with a olacl
limo at the gurWales. Tho day was
bright and fair, Win the usual storm
over Punchbowl, the moGntain back o
Honolulu. and little clouds hreakinl
\ TWay from it occasionally and drifting
\ down toward Diamond Head
ON THE CREST OF a BREAKER.
All abreast the four canoes shot /,
toward the beach. The paddles ripped
the clear, blue water. The spra,
dashed -oYec the bows. Everybnd'
yelled. No one looked behind, but al
knew that the big, rolling sea wa
overtaEins US. If we did not have suf
hcient way on the canoe the COmbe
would go by us and Ne should be lcf
tire objects CT GcrisiCn of all the yell
ing crews that caught us. How W
yelled mixture Of EanOka and Eng
lish, everybody shouting at full unj
power, the Kanaka eXrlamatiuns com
&s .;yith sharp. explosive force tha
contrastcG VIII the.iowiar7i> English liii
the crack OF siX-pOunders with th(sT2a
OF guns. ON We go, ana there's hardlS
time TO EotiCc that we are Just a nttl
ahead of the ether three canoes whoI
There she comas!" shouts Mr. Dl
mond. There is a sudden lifting of tn
stern of the canoe, m instant respons
in the yelis Of the crew. a lightning in
crease in speed ana we've caught tn
roller. The others have caught it also
ana all -four abr ,ast we dash ahead
Now paddles are at rest, and down tn
inShore side of the roller we slide, al
ways just ahead of and Just under tn
curling crest that breaks into foam al
most under the sharp stern of the ca
nOc. The speed is tremendous
Sccns as if We we're outrunning tn
Empire State express. Iucanias an
GreGt Kaisers never dreamed of sue
speed. From the sharp cut water @
the canoe the foam flies IN two line
back up to the crest of the roller Tn
spray da5heS over us iG streams. An
all the time everybody yels II Is lil1
the performance OF an amateur fire dc
partment trying 70 scare out a fire b
noise. 1t is half a mile 10 the beacI