Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1901-03-23

MI warner OesslOuS commenced the
following letter to his parents Feb. 1O,h
while on the transport Grant between
Honolulu and Manila and mailed it at
the latter port
We are nearing Manila and | wisE to
get this off as soon as we land, sup,
pose You are worried about me, but |
assure you there are no grounds for it,
and was never in better health in my
! life ! could say | enjoyed the ocean
trip if we had had better fare. The two
days spent at Honolulu were among the
most enjoyable of my life. When we
steamed into the harbor fifteen or TWEEN.
ty Klnaka boys swan out to meet us. -
They are as much at home in the water
as on land 1t was great fun to see them
dive for the nickels pitched from the
deck, and they seldom failed to catch
them before they reached the bottom
We were given a 12 hours pass and
four of us started out to see the sights
The city is built on the beach and inst
behind a. e mountains /, 900 feet high. -
We decided to go to the top of one of
them and get a good view of the sur.
rounding country. After walking about
two miles we began the ascent and it
looked to be about 500 feet high. 1t
took two hours and ten minutes to reach
the top and we found ont afterwards we
had climbed 900 feet, We were very
tired.
Honolulu is by far the prettiest city |
have ever seen Oranges, bananas,
mangSes, figs and all tropical fruits
grow here to perfection. Sugar is the
chief export product. The foliage Of
the trees is so thick the rays of the sun
cannot penetrate them 1t was little
strange to see people dressed in white
duck suits and straw hats, when just
the week before we had left the people
in the states wrapped in oyercoats and
furs You can find people Of every
country on earth here, bnt the Japan
csc and Chinese are in the majority -
The natives are quiet and gentlemauIy,
about the color Of a mulatto, but that is
the only similarity between the two IA
ces. It is hard to realize that about tif.
ty years ago they were cannlbaIs.
About noon we began to feel hungry
after our long walks and high climbing,
but there were only fifteen cents in cur
squad and we decided to invest that in
bananas. Two of us went to the mar
ket aud we carried away sixty five ba-
nanas, as many as we could eat. After
suppor on the transport we went to the
Hawaiian Hotel to a musicale given hy
a Kaaaka band The hotel is the pref
test building ever saw. 1t is painted
pure white with a beautiful lawn IN
front, in the center Of which is "A band
stand with seats all around fer visitors.
1t reminded me Of the fairy tales in the
Arabian Nights There were immune
rable incandescent lights great tall
palm trees with electric lights in all co.
Tors shapes and sizes which, blended
with the natural beauty Of the place,
caused it to resemble the enchanted cas-
tie in " Aladdin and his Wonderful
Lamp. - The band was composed OF
kanakas and they made very good mu'
sic Two native ladies gave us duet.
They had excellent voices and though
we could not understand the words they
sang, we enjoyed the singing immense
w. The native women ave very pretty,
have black eyes and straight hair and
are lady like il their demeanor, 1t was
with regret we realized we would have
to leave this lovely spot and go back to
the poor quarters of an army transport.
After leaving the beautiful island,
there was nothing to break the monoto-
ny of a long sea voyage until last Sun
day morning, when we sighted voIca'
no. There was Il stream of smoke com
inc from it, but we would have liked 1t
better if it had been in full eruption. -
We are due to arrive in Manila Feb IL,
and will probably sight land to morrow
Gnr detachment will probably be scat
tered over the islan6s.
Arrived at Manila this morning and
was assigned to Co. Z, U. 5, Signal
Corps, Manila, and letters sent to that
address will reach me.
WARNER.