The Honolulu republican. [volume] (Honolulu, T.H.) 1900-1902, 1901-10-27
Summer in The Far South

white gowns che always wears She
fans herself placidiy with her MoEoc-
e0-bound feather fan. while she gives
household directions or talks to some
lifelong friend
I read In the papers about the
hot waves and sHnstrukes Of higher
attitudes she says. and / really be-
heve after all, that cur long-drawn-
out summer is as comfortable as any
The secret is In being used 10 a thing
and being fixed for it. When May
comes each year everything in the
house is changed round with view
TO GOODNESS and openness-
There is so much summer down
South In the language OF black
sage OF the land-a strong. young
sage not yet touched with cynicism-
It's hard TO keep Il down Seems like
everything want 10 Guido itself with
putin out and fowerin' and lookin'
pretty. stead of keepin' steady and
bearin' crop.
1T is his cotton and corn that the
sage has in mind when he says this.
his cotton that threatens 70 make all
stalk and leaf and his corn apt to
tower aloft al the expense of the size
of the grain But one recalls the
smile of everything outdoing itself
when passing through forest and
swamp where nature is at food-tide.
the main furnishings all complete, and
everything that has wings. fms or feet,
everything that grows. is decked on in
best apparel speaking out in such
fashion as ii may. and fourlshing to
the top of its bent
Summer time at the South means
boating parties and open air fetes and
moonlit nights besides. when earth
seems baptized anew and natures
pulses stir with something so near
akin to alteration that the mocking
bird wakens in her nest and Is moved
to sing about il. The mocking bird
knows it all, and trills it out almost as
eloquently in the broad noonday.
as at o'clock in the morning
to the tender mystery of the
moon. She sings it over in the
quarter and the black 6kinned lass
les and "mammies" come out of their
bed to listen, and the rough plough
men as well.
There is something in the Southern
summer night that forces wakeful-
ness. The negroes seldom sleep or
even lie down the entire night.
through. To use their own phrase
1.-The love to git up and stir bout
and this habit accounts for their
knowledge of wind and weather. their
weird prophesying. and talk about
iack-o-lanterns, queer something that
thew see: the meanings that they give
to the owls hcoting and the bull-bats'
behavior at certain times and under
certain circumstances.
One NAV have lived in Texas and
visited in Georgia. have had a glimpse
of Mississippi and Alabama and be
fully aware OF the variations In olime
and circumstance embraced in the
term South yet in writing of summer
in that region the particular slice OF
country or strip of shore where most
of ones summer have been spent viii
get the most attention II was evil
IDENTIFY meant that people should take
in things only in part. One may know
where the river rises and where it
empties and may have seen ii various
" as ii goes on it's course, but the
one little span of it that the eye can
grasp at once is limited, the rest is
only in the minds larger vision. So
summer in the South is associated
with stretch OF -girted shore with
surf warm and luxurious tossing on
the beach and palms and oleander
bushes set well back among white
mounds of heaped-up sand. and
houses blindfolded with awnings and
long-slatted piazzas-a place where
the breeze blows perpetually and the
sun shines remorselessly, and every
body eats and drinks and sleeps as
people must have eaten and drunk and |
slept in primeval times before cars
came into the world and taught that |
there was such a thing as indigestion |
and such bug-bear as insomnia.
Il had no idea that there was
spot as cool as this anywhere in the |
South" said little New Haven wo~
nan whose husband. a civil engineer. |
was engaged in Government work |
about this particular harbor 81 dread
ID so having to be here In the hot |
months and all my friends predicted /
hat I would suffer, but / have not |
,een uncomfortably hot a single min
tie.
And | have learned for the first
ime TO enjoy sea bathing" she added. |
/ have tried the surf on the Mas
achusetts coast and been so cold that
nv teeth chartered Some days there
We could not go in at all. Here the
gater IS so warm that one reve's in
/. yet It is cool enough to be refresh
ng. But" she went on. 81 never
new before that the sun could glare
o fercely. I wear this enormous
hade hat all the time, indoors and
ut and have grown so used to It that
am actually afraid I shall forget
ometimes and go to dinner with 1t
n
This was the verdict regarding heat
I Southern resort In midsummer.
those name locally is construed into
svn-nvm for hreeziness aud health.
There is another phase OF the pic
1re In mind. however. of closed-in !
ouses. or bedrooms where mosquito
ars large enough TO cover the great
r part of the apartment wend down
nd outsprsad from the central fea-
rre. bars lace bordered. lofty. capa-
lie OF taking in one crib or even two.
esiie the big bed. if there be toddlers
! the family Not that the little ones
! sht not have their OWE veiifBgs. but
ecause the getting out OF the tucked
/ arhors for the administering OF
oothsng syrups or nourfshnent.
'onid inevitably let in the tor
tents. lurking without The South
m r-,rp<rrfrs, &c -v fr~s-&ars - -