The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-11-22

thlsiastic over the condition of affair!
in the islands. He thinks they are {
great acquisition to the United States
The plantations" he said, are in {
very high state of cultivation and i'm
provement. One, as an illustration, ha:
| two nine-rolier mills of St. Louis manu-
facture. each with a capacity OF 1.10t
to POO tons of cane in every twenty
four hours This plantation Will pro
duce this year SO, 900 tons of raw sugar
It's sugar house is equipped with the
most modern machinery, and the value
of this property alone is s3,00O,OOO, con-
servatively estimated. In addition to
sugar house, a plantation Of this kind
has from five to seven irrigating pumps
at three or four different stations. with
an aggregate capacity of 5O,OOO,OOO. to
60, 600 600 gallons of water a day. 1t is
| the policy of all planters to irrigate
their cane. and it is plowed by steam
machinery to a depth of thirty inches.
The cane is growing and ripening
eighteen months before it is harvested,
therefore the yield is very high, often
ten tons of sugar to the acre.
1.-The islands produce nothing but
tropical crops, mainly sugar. bananas,
rice and cocoanuts, and in exchange for
these commodities they need everything
and purchase everything that may be
required for the successful propagation
of their crops. The principal laborers
in the islands at present are Chinese
and Japanese. who have given perfect
satisfaction, but the planters have now
begun to look for new help in Porto
Rico. Up to the time of my departure
they had brought over four transports
from there filled with Iaborers and their
families. I should judge there were
about 1000 to 1,5OO persons in each YES
sci.
Honolulu, the principal city of the
Hawaiian Islands, is one of the most
picturesque places have ever seen. 1t
is building up into a magnificent city.
It's present population is 10000, which
will doubtless be doubled in the next
decade. Business blocks of iron. steel
and granite. to the number of twenty
five or SO, are filed with the usual Of
fees found in our cities, all modernly
furnished and appointed, the products
of American skill and labor. The retail
stores as yet are in the hands of the
Chinese and Japanese. They carry
large stocks of general merchandise,
which compare favorably in quantity
and assortment with those in this cOun- |
try There are 159 miles of streets in /
the city district, or within the superin- !
tendence of the road overseer of Homo !
lulu. They will average fifty feet in /
width. and for the most part are COW |
cred with macadam or teIford. In the |
older portions of the town the streets |
are narrow and in places crooked. but |
IN the newer sections they are laid off |
mostly at right angles, the exceptions |
being only in the billy sections.
Modern architecture is fast taking |
the place of the quaint native struc-
-ures, the latter being still surrounded
1y palms. cocoanuts, bananas and other
ropical verdure. Fifteen years ago
here was, with the exception of two or
hree quaint stone or brick houses of
he older white residents scarcely a
dwelling not occupied by royalty which
Gould, save in stilted newspaper diction,
,e called a mansion without a suspicion
If irony. The prevailing type of dwell
ing, inhabited even by the wealthy.
vas that of the plain, down east farm
house of a generation back. Today
here are whole sections built up where
here were scrub jungle and burnt pas
ure, and built up in infinite variety of
lrban design, often ornate, but seldom
a yy-drU ~ % |
ng instead of the old-time rusty brown
nd tiresome whitewash. Houses. both
lately and picturesque. have in the
anne period frequently replaced the
ntiquated roof trees of the older resi-
lential areas.
"A noticeable impetus to Improvement
n mercantile construction was given in
$50 when it became necessary to rebuild
large area that had been swept by fire.
This principally lay in the part known
s Chinatown and It's borders. The
business blocks are equally as substan-
ial and modernly built as the ones In
he United States, but not to such
owering height Three or four stories
re the usual limit Elevators with cleo
ric power no longer astound the natives J
nd every modern convenience may be
ound in the city. Honolulu has an ex-
cutive building that cost $4,000 and
Their notable structures are the opera
ouse queens hospital, Masonic temple,
I. NJ c. a. building, public library, pub
&c market, the Hawaiian and Noana |
otels, and the Pacific club. In ecclesi-
stical architecture Honolulu has some
magnificent examples. The Central I'm
IN Congregational church is the most
IMPOSING. 1t is massive and built of
sland stone. Other denominations have |
plenoid places of worship"
japanese female BARRIERS attract the
ttention Of every visitor to Honolulu.
here are at least half a dozen shops in
he city where women are employed, and
have seen strings of men lined up on
ne sidewalk awaiting their turns to be
naved- The women attain remarkable
eEree Of proficiency in their trade
here are Chinese and japanese doctors
lthout number, and they have an ex-
'nS'Ye practice among the whites as
81 as the natives. using the root and !
ero remedies peculiar to their own
5untries. The natives are tidy and