Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1902-08-06
A HAWAIIAN PLANTATION.
Calling the Picturesque Laborers To
WOrk-Cane Carried Miles
Through Fumes to Mill.

the New York Post. His home, ample
house of two stories, with broad
piazzas, surrounded by green lawns
studded with royal palms, algaroba
and mango trees, was charmingly To-
Gated on the edge of the fertile slope
that drops sheer off in black, jagged
cliffs to the blue Pacific, which dashes
itself to foam against the perpendicu.
lar wall-that black wall of ancient
lava, down which we had seen hun
dreds of waterfalls leap in foamy
Wilderness from the green thatch Of
cane-tields above, as, for hours, we
had steamed along the coast on our
way down from Honolulu.
l expressed a wish to share one Of
the managers days; to accompany
him while he performed his ordinary
duties as if he was alone.
That means getting up early" said
my friend. The night Waterman
starts the dynamos at three, so the
men at the stables can have light by
which to harness the horses and
mules; but l do not get up till five.
l will call you at a quarter after five,
and if you wish to see the beginning Of
my work, you must be at the front
gate by $780,"
On the northeast coast of Hawaii it
rains nearly every day of the year,
often several times during the day,
and not infrequently all day and all
night. 1t was raining gently the next
morning when, promptly at 5: Is, my
Pvt n 4 to
dark, but the turn of button lighted
the room brilliantly. AS I completed a
hasty toilet saw G-'s tall, soldierly
form passing, with his accustomed
rapid step, down the path in the dim
light that precedes the dawn. A mo-
ment later / stood beside him at the
gate in the shelter of an umbrella,
while in few low, quick words he
gave his orders to the lunas, or over
seers, who came up singly from the
dimness, and, having received their or
ders, swung into their saddles or went
off on foot as quietly as they had come.
In Is minutes he had assigned the
lays occupation for 1000 men. Then,
glancing at his watch, he raised his
finger, and it was sunrise, though
there were no signs of that luminary
anywhere on the horizon, and it would
still have been difficult to read by
the uncertain light. But the planta-
ton sun rises at 5:45 the year round,
regardless of the solar phenomena.
A man who stood rope in hand at the
| plantation bell, at once rang it loud
| ly. The gate stood at the meeting of
two roads. At the first sound of the
bell I was conscious of strange shapes
approaching from both directions
through the mist. In silent single file
they came, weird procession in the
gray dawn; Cinnamon, Japs, Portu-
guese, and few native Hawaiians,
vey few, for the ease-loving South Sea
islander does not take kindly to plan
| tation toll. Each wore an old oiled
coat and pair of blue denim breeches
wrapped tightly around the ankles,
and tied fast, carrying a noe over his
| shoulder with one hand and dinner.
pail in the other; all manner of head.
gear, from a ragged felt to the great
parasol hats of the Chinese coolies
1t was half-past six when we mount.
al x
ing for us at the gate. We rode to the
mill, which was perched on the face OF
the precipitous cliff, where a deer
gorge reaches the sea. On the north
ern side of Hawaii the rain is so abund
ant that artificial irrigation of the
plantations is unnecessary. The lanC
slopes gently back from the sea, ant
the cane from the fields is brought
down to the mills by water flowing il
open wooden troughs or fumes. TIL,
mill is, therefore, placed at some low
point by the sea, and to st converge
the hundreds of fumes that lie lil
spiders webs across the canefelds
and span the deep valleys on loft,
wooden trestles. Much of the cane i
cut miles from the mill and whirle,
down to it by the swift rushing wa
ter of the fumes.
1t is one of the exciting and some
what dangerous amusements of tn
plantations, to don an old suit, anC
sitting in one of the main fumes. ia
up in the hills, come whirling dow
with the rushing stream Woe be t
him who loses his balance while pass
ing over a high trestle, or catches
splinter at any point of his journe,
The cutting and grinding season usr
; ally lasts from February to May O
June. As soon as the crop is grount
and the sugar is in bags in the stor,
house, the mill is completely disma1