The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1902-06-10
LANDING or PRESIDENT.
ELECT PALMA IN CUBA
I....s +.t............4a.

IN sins BAN has consented tn she
- publication III past ~ n 80.
vate letter from his son NJ itifam
liinEham. it nov insiructinE ln HE.
toty % Harvard University. IN witch
hs Describes the landlnF ~ President.
elect Palma at 0ibarra. cuba, on
April goth. NJ bingham very recent.
~ took q vacation trip from Boston
90 Jamaica, aud Tor a part oi the voy.
age had AZ fellow passenger from
ola Point Comfort Go cuba her first
President. He was thus favored with
being an eyewitness 10 the memoir
able landing liis description viii
doubtless be- Of Interest 60 such read
ers ~ The Advertiser as are interested
In the welfare Of the new republic. lie
writes as follows.
There are four admirals In the feet
of the United Fruit Co. Three Of them
are named after the quondam heroes
OF our late war with Spain. 1t would
have been too pointed a distinction for
the Admiral Schley. the Admiral
sampson or the Admiral Dewey to
have had the honor OF taking to cuba
her first President. As matter Of
fact the actual flagship of the United
Fruit Co.'S fleet was the Admiral Far
ragut,' commanded by Commodore
Hopkins. Accordingly IL was both
reasonable and natural that she should
have been placed at the service OF
Sensr Tomas Estrada Palma, the Pres
ident-elect OF Cuba.
THE Admiral Farragut left Boston
at exactly o'clock on the afternoon of
Tuesday April 10, 1902. The weather
was perfect and the omens most
suspicious. There was hardly "A ripple
on the water. As we steamed down
Boston harbor ] was much impressed
by the number and extent of the for
tifcations which are completed and in
course of construction. Surely we are
trying our best to be a peaceful ma
ton, If that desideratum may be reach
ed by war-like employments.
There were few passengers on
board. hardly enough to occupy more
than half OF the seats at the captains
table.
After getting away from Cape Cod
We headed for the Nantucket Shoals
lightship and from there took straight
course to the mouth of Chesapeake
Bay. The weather continued fine, the
ground swell was so slight as to give
hardly any motion to the ship, and yet
the temperature was very cold and de-
manded winter clothing.
About 3 O'Clock on the morning Of
THURSDAY, we dropped anchor i'm Hamp-
ton Roads. not far from the dock at
Old Point Comfort. At the pilot who
had brought us In went ashore i'm his
boat and took IN" with him, so that
! could enjoy the delights of "A square
meal at the Hotel Chamberlin. After
breakfast he took me over Fortress
Monroe, an interesting old relic of the
Civil War.
Walking back to the dock we soon
heard the sound of martial music AS
a gaily caparisoned band came down
the street the swinging doors of the
Chamberlin were pushed noiselessly
open, and the little man who has been
chosen to be chief executive of the
baby republic stepped noiselessly forth
He was accompanied by his ministers
and few Anglo-Saxons, all In civilian
dress Arrived at the dock. Mr.. Palma
and his suite halted and faced about to
meet the attack of the band. He said
few touching words of sympathy
from the deck OF the steamer, the whis-
tie blew three blasts, not without send
ing a waterfall of steam tears on the
'''''N' u 'ii' p'iSSNliS'l's III lIpilllN
with the OCCASION and we We're off for
Cuba.
"A clear sky, a torrid sun, and no
wind made Hampton Roads very ac-
ceptable after the cold winter of the
north. But scarcely had we left the
historic battle ground of the Monitor
and the Merrimac and passed Cape
Henry before the temperature dropped
80 degrees and We grudgingly sought
our overcoats.
We had left the dock at about half
past 10 on Thursday morning, so that
there was plenty of time before night
fall to take preliminary survey of
the motley throng that we had taken
on with President Palma. No two of
them We're alike out of all the dozen or
less of his followers. There seemed to
be no prevailing type, but each ad-
venturer appeared TO belong in a class
all by himself.
"SenOr Palma was easily first in
grace of manner, pleasing appearance
and refinement of features. | found
him afable in conversation, speaking
English with a slight accent and in a
manner which reminded Inc strongly of
Joseph jefferson. OF about the same
height and not very dissimilar. there
We're numerous points in common be-
tween the grand old actor and the new
President Of the Baby Elephant.
Both are very fond of children, both
are kindly and sympat hetic, and neith-
er is peculiarly fitted by nature to hold
| the whip hand over mob of turbulent
Cubans. Senior Palma preached a sub
ject Of personal interest when he told
that he believed that all the South
American Republics, with the possible
exception of Chile and Argentina,
would before long be united i'm a con-
federation for the advancement of
trade and the promotion of foreign re-
lations.
While we We're talking the little boy
who had sat next to me at table since
we left Boston passed US. Very quietly