The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1902-08-08
MATSON LINE
MAY COME HERE
Hilo Oil Steamers to Have Old
Warship as Supply
Hulk.


Francisco and Hilo. may come to Homo
lulu, and that this line. which has made
big success in that service, will make
an effort to capture a portion of the
Honolulu export trade.
| The Matson Company has purchased
the Kaimiloa, an old vessel which has
been half filled with water for some
time. from the Inter-Island Steamship
Company. and it will be fitted up to re-
eeive oil. It will be used as a lighter
| in this port to supply oil to the oil
burning steamers and chiefly to those
of her owners line.
| The Kaimiloa was lowed over to the
marine railway yesterday by the tug
Rover, and will be thoroughly over
hauled. The copper sheathing has been
torn from her bottom and her hull will
now be repaired. She has leaked a
great deal. and it will take a lot OF
cauIking to make her sound.
CAREER OF THE KAIMILOA.
! OF all the stories that the novel and
romantic South Seas have produced,
perhaps the most interesting could be
told by the Kaimiloa, once a Hawaii
an man-of-war, but now a sorrowful
looking old wreck, whose very name
has been beaten off her Prov and stern
by action of the elements. The man.
of-war was originally owned by firm
in Sydney and engaged in the copra
trade in the islands. In 1887 she was
purchased by King Kalakaua, and after
being fitted up as man-of-war, was
sent on a mission to Samoa. This mis-
sion was a failure. and for years after
her return the ship lay in the stream
in Honolulu harbor, with thousands of
specimens of sea life being added to the
mass of stuff on her bottom Then the
IInter-Island Steamship Company
bought her and tried to use her in the
island trade, and on June OF this
year she was sold by that company to
the Matson Navigation Company of
Hilo and will be converted into an oil
hulk.
No one knows how many sins were
committed aboard the vessel while
trading in the South Seas, but many
people have heard something Of the
story OF her remarkable cruise as a
man-of-war to Samoa King Kalakaua
had just returned from trip around
the world. sundry people at all the
places he stopped filled him with hot
air, and be wanted to be emperor of the
Pacific. On his return to Honolulu he
promptly set about the work of trying
to get control of all the islands which
had not yet been seized by European
rulers
His Prime Minister, Gibson, induced
him to fit out the Kaimiloa as a war
ship and send it on a diplomatic mis-
sion to Samoa, where Ambassador
med" Bush was instructed to either
Samoa to make treaty acknowledging
that Kalakaua was the supreme ruler
of "a Pacific Island confederacy. On
board the warship was Admiral Jack
son, Ambassador Bush, Henry Poor,
secretary CT the legation, a big crew, an
enormous quantity Of gin. a band. and
plenty of the Kings dreamy ideas of a
Pacific confederacy.
To this day the mystery of how the
vessel ever reached Samoa has not been
solved, and it is a wonder that she ever
got there at ell. for gin and other drink
never fiowe'l freer on private craft
than it did on the KainiIoa. Anbassa-
dor Bush went ashore at Apia to pay
his respects TO the King. Admiral
Jackson was non eompos mentis be-
cause of the pleasures" of the voy-
age. Then wild with the dissipation of
the voyage, the crew mutinied, and cap
turing Secretary Poor, chained him to
the deck The German warship Olga
was in the harbor at the time, and her
captain, noticing the row on the Ha-
waiian vessel, sent a longboat over, re-
leased Poor, and threatened to tow the
whole outfit back to Hawaii unless the
trouble subsidized. Meanwhile Bush
worked hard on shore, got the king to
sign the treaty and Apia celebrated in.
a royal and unrOyal fashion with luaus.
But the Samoan king got tired Of
things and wrote a letter to kalakaua
telling him that the Hawaiians had
taught his people bad habits and We're
worse than volcanoes in their effect on
mis- country. The story is related that
Bush had d tempestuous career as an
ambassador. On the occasion of the
German emperor's birthday he was in
vited 20 big celebration aboard the
warship. At the banquet, while every
one was eagerly gazing into stems that
cheeTed, Bush arose to give toast. He
was in happy-go-lUcky mood and
shouted: D the Emperor of Ger
many" One can imagine how Bush
looked as. attiTed in ambassadors dress
uniform, he escaped from angry Ger
mans into the Samoan thicket and re-
NAMED there for a while. Then Kala-
kaua got sore. He sent a peremptory
order to Bush to return and bring the
whole outfit with him. The vessel sail
ed out OF Apia harbor all right but
later put into PagOPago. and there ev-
cry movable thing of her equipment
was traded off to secure refresh
ments" Many of the crew deserted and
it was a matter of great luck that she
over reached Honolulu again.
On arrival here she was disnantIed