The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-05-20
4 TRIP AROUND THE GLOBE
The Earth Encircled in a 330-Days'
Voyage.
The Cruise of n BROOKLYN MN Made
in Bnrk-Only FOrty-tyvO Days
Ashore During His TravcIs-Hono-
lulu Described as "a suburb of san
FrnnciscO.

1t is seeming paradox that man witt
no feet should be called ..webfooted'
sen of Neptune, but having been around
the world, during which trip We crossed
! the equator four times l could now claim
the honor.
Our vessel, the bark Obed Baxter, Of
900 tens burden, left New York on April
II of last year for a voyage to Honolulu,
Hawaiian Islands, and l joined her as
purser. so as TO be on the ships articles.
| With variable winds we crossed the equa-
tor in thirty days in company with a Ger
| man ship bound out 10 Java, with whom
we exchanged signals (ours being j. r. Q.
| M, and after bidding one another good
| by we set our course toward the South
American coast, which We sighted on May
! o. where we corrected our chromometer
and steered for Falkland Islands, some o.
| 500 miles away.
There is a decided sameness to a sea
voyage by sail, only broken by spells of
| bad weather, during which the reefing and
furling of sails breaks the monotcny 10
a considerable extent.
Our voyage had been quiet one until off
the River Platte, where | had my first ex-
perience Of seeing a sailing vessel hove to-
and, while We experienced this condition of
affairs many times after, the first occasion
was never forgotten, as We lay to" for
nearly three days, and as l lay in my berth
l could look through the skylight on top of
the house and occasionally see the horizon
through the windows, besides hearing the
heavy seas hit the ship, the report of
which sounded like the firing of the awk-
ward squad OF a militia company We final
ly arrived off Falkland Island on June %,
and had now really commenced to round
Cape Horn. e., from fifty degrees south
latitude in the Atlantic to the same degree
in the Pacific. We dashed matches and bar
rels fast, caiked up all skylights and win
dows, and steered our course for Staten
Land, which we sighted on the afternoon of
the S0th, the mountainous, dreary, snow
covered Capt st. John. We were becalmed
for the afternoon, during which time / en-
joyed my best days shooting on the whole
voyage. My rifle was of forty-five callbre,
but was a Parlor rifle in so far as effect
was concerned. / put three bullets in a
seventyfoot whale at fifty yards distance.
which only seemed to make him enjoy lis
siesta the more. but killed an eight foot
hair seal, besides several albatross and
Goney's birds. Our efforts to lower a small
boat to get the seal for a souvenir were
futile, as he sank almost Immediately after
being killed.
On the 4th of July we were hove to"
about one hundred miles south of Cape
Hora. Our riggings and sails were frozen
solid, with the barometer at go, and the
thermometer stood at ten degrees below
zero, but neither wind nor weather pre-
vented our displaying our patriotism, for
c: noon We hoisted the Stars and Stripes,
saluteG it with three discharges of the
ships gun, while i played America on
a mouth hermonica. AT night we fired off
a couple Of two pound distress signal sky
rockets and burned blue lights for the
fireworks exhibition, and grogget the crew
in honor OF the day.
We reached Honolulu September z 143
days from New York and having sailed by
the log Gil miles l was so glad to see the
land, l literally jumped for joy, as result
of which | cracked one of my artificial
legs. Instead Of finding poor harbOr and
a still poorer people, found well laid
out city of about $4,000 inhabitants, fine
docks, brick warehouses. and streets that
for cleanliness would put Brooklyn to
shame. AS our vessel was being mooTei
was gazing at a few native Kanaka girls.
who were watching the proceedings, when
! was hailed by newsboy singing out
'Rubberneck' to me. He went off whist
ling Hello ma Baby Both song and
slang expression were new when l left !
New York; thus proving that the people
are most decidedly up 20 date.
/ found Honolulu to be practically SUI
burb of San Francisco. / was informed
that out of s5,000,00G imports, nearly 81
00C. 600 comes from the Pacific Coast, and
most of that from Frisco, leaving only !
about 100000 for the rest of the whole
world. The climate is a continual summer
and averages about ~ degrees. ranging |
from 50 degrees highest to "a degrees as |
the lowest temperature.
The island OF Oahu on which Honolulu is |
situated is a veritable wheelmen's para
disc; the roads are made of lava rock, |
which, being porous, absorbs the rain, so
that a person can ride almost Immediately /
after storm. Ii was an amusing sight to |
see the Japs and Chinese riding through |
the streets and wearing no shoes, although |
their wheels were fitted with rat-trap ped !
ais.
At Waikiki got my first view of the Ka- |
naka in his element that of canoeing and |
surf bathing. coral reef extends entirely |,
across the harbor, save some 800 feet at |
the channel proper, and while the sea out |
side this reef abounds with sharks, none |
can get inside so that they have no fear on |
this score. IL was, indeed, interesting to |
see naked boys standing on top of the surf |
boards and watch them as a sea would roll |
up behind them and washing or carrying |
them to the shore, a distance of quarter |
of mile. / was tempted to risk similar !
trim in one Of their native canoes, but |
doubted my ability to swim in case of the |
boat being upset by the heavy roller. 1 |
found the people most hospitable, and re-
mnding one Of our Southerners of former !
years before the influx of SO many foreign
ers They are musical and highly edd- !
Gated as education is compulsory, and one
has TO look in the interior of the smaller
islands to find person unable to read and
write the English language. While re-
llinding me of our mulatto as to color,
there is not that apparent dullness or shift
lessness In their ways, and / was favOrably
impressed with the ease and grace with
which the women walked the streets in
tieir loose holokus, or Mother Hubbard
wrappers, showing their full figures to good
advantage and looking the personilication
Of health.
After a pleasant stay Of seventeen days
at Honolulu we cleared at the custom
house September "a. and with the fair
nor'east monsoons still blowing. set our
course TO the westward for Hiogo (kObe),
Japan October 90 we fell in with ty
phoon and our troubles began. With an
incompetent mate and two Japs who could
lOl fsHRilsu we were
handed, and, the vessel being in ballast,
we were at the mercy OF a ninety mie-an-
hour gale for an hour, when we finally got
her hove to under lower topsails, and she
ay pitching and tossing all the twenty-four
hours. / had often steered the ship in
pleasant weather but this was my first
hard experience of the voyage, and life
On the ocean wave" at that moment was
,ne not to be envied With the seas strik-
o,, bar NJ thu how and cpminp nm hoard |