Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1899-04-25

The beautiful pictdres You SOS IN the
magazines Of palm avenues and lawns
shaded with nxuriant tropical foliage
are. however not ut all oyerdrawn.
The palm avenues, the parks and the
grounds about private residences are
lovely as fairyland The only things
the pictures do not show are the dust.
the hea; and the mosquitoes.
White people here, like Californians,
never weary Of extolling their climate.
who5e temperature ranges between %
and 80 degrees the year round. To me.
even in December. IL was ut first dis
tinctly relaxing Perhaps. though. that
was because between Oct. : and Thanks
giving | made jump Of SO degrees
from above the arctic circle 10 within
the tropics The lnziness wore of in a
we,I. however. leaving no more than
was ratcral Certainly the climate
agrees with Americans who live here.
Their compilations get soft and fair.
end they become generally good look
ing-better looking. that Is TO say,
than they were before Americans are
always good looking
The warmth makes frequent bathing
n necessity. To the betterment Of both
health and looks. New York city men
fiatt.r themselves that they are the best
groorned masculines in America Homo
luln Americans take quite as good care
of their bodies a. New Workers do. and
are nj the advantage besides Of having
their manly beauty set of by shining
white linen clothes. No finer looking
men can ~ found than some OF these
Honolulu Americans
Hawaiian Americans are inclined 10
apologize for whatever is not just right
in their country by referring TO depart
ed glories. like the southerners "befo
the wah. Mosquitoes. like the poor,
are always with rs in Honolulu. al
though in the evening the cool wind
generally drives them of the broad
yerandas, making il comfortable To
sit there. Tradition. handed down from
| old settlers. declares there was not for
merly a mosquito on the islands not
until the pesky things were brought
here by the whalesnips. Personally |
am inclined 10 think this fairy tale.
Mosquitoes do not sprout out Of polar
seas and icebergs
The tourist will miss roses from
among the flowers here. There is scarce
ly q rose on the Hawaiian Islands.
They tell us again this was not so for
merly; that once the queen Of flowers
hoarished in glorious luxuriance. One
i'll starred day, however, there came a
blighting beetle from Japan and de-
voured them all Itappeared in swarms,
like an army Of locusts, and from that
day to this there are no roses in Ha-
waii. Carnations thrive magnificently,
| however. Native flowers are found in
crimson. white and yellow varieties
These the natives thread together into
a string called 'lei and offer it for
sale on the streets. The word lei is
pronounced ''lay" The natives are ex-
travagantly fond Of putting leis around
their hats and necks when they 90 TO
church or on any other grand occasion.
Borrowing the custom from natives,
white people adorn friends with leis
on the occurrence Of special events, par
ticularly when the friends leave the is
lands Departing passengers are some
| times loaded down with leis till you
can hardly tell what they are made Of.
The more popular the individual the
more leis. He is a very poor sort of fell
low and friendless who cannot scare up
at least two or three Of these stringlets
around hat and neck.
How would the average American
like to live in a country where not an
apple, plum, cherry or real pear will
grow! Such country is Hawaii. A
few peaches are coaxed into fruiting,
but they are small and extremely tart.
n il protesting against being made 70
stay in climate that does not agree
with them.
Temperate zone fruits are easily
brought from San Francisco and Seat
tie, however. In true tropical abundance
flourish here guavas. mangoes. figs, Ia
nanas, treadfruit cocoanuts. pineapples
and alligator pears-whicb are not real
" pears at all But to one who has
eaten luscious plum or cherry on its
native heath. say Washington state.
for instance. there will always be
void these heather products cannot fill
Another fruit here is the papaia, which
grows upon large tree II has taste
something between muskmelon and .
squash. together with pleasant favor
all its own Queer country this, where
melons grow on treesl
Then there Is the taro plant, which
philosophers blame with being at the
bottom of all the native laziness OF the
Hawaiian race. because it furnishes him
abundant food with the least amount
of labor They are wrong. The Eskimo
Indian, inside the arctic circle, is quite
a. indolent as the Kanaka. though he
has hard work getting food The north
ern native is too lazy even to sit down
like q respectable man. He simply
squsts on his hams and feet. with his
hands clasped around his knees, and
meditates. Hour after hour he remains
thus, motionless as . dead limb His
friends and acquaintances Of both sexes
squat around to keep him company.
We used to wonder what they were
thinking about or il they thought at
al Laziness Is iAherent In the heathen.
You zee in the picture the taro plant,
ftom which il made the staple food ct
~ native Hawaiian. sspol." Il = not :
"A Hln n hoW0yw. y 0Gtinet oooup