The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1905-02-07
SHOULD GO
TO K|LAUEA

Come and see."
With this biblical passage Mr.. ]. T.
Wilkinson of Vancouver, B. c.. an old
newspaper man, tells the story of his
own experiences In coming to Hawaii
and visiting the wonders of the volcano
Kilauea.
Can anything good come out of Ha-
wall? would add" said Mr.. Wilkin-
son last evening at the Hawaiian Ho-
tel. II came here to see and I will
say that nowhere have I been so i'm
pressed with natural wonders as on
my recent trip to Kilauea. wouldn't
have missed 1t for anything and you
may be sure I will be a promotion
committee for the Hawaiian Islands
when 1 reach the coast again.
II have never before in my life found
so much true, sincere hospitality to the
stranger as here in the Hawaiian Is
lands. I have travelled all over the
world and my comparison is therefore
a strong one. 1t is good to come to
these islands just to find the hospitali-
| ty.
IT came here from Alaska, where the
thermometer was twenty, thirty and
forty degrees below zero. I came to
| Hawaii and In the middle of January
find a beautiful, balmy summer in
fair islands Of the sea- I find myself
in the midst of flower garden, with
soft zephyrs prevailing. 1t Is the place
to come to when the wintry blasts of
mate less rigorous.
| ,t,ft 4. H.
to remember. I had been told that it
might not be worth while to see now,
because Kilauea was not active-that
the Inter-Island steamers were tossy
little seasick vessels. But went. True,
the channels were choppy and l had
to cling to my berth at night with both
hands, but the experience is worth
something. When we reached the Vol
cano House we were received with
open arms by Demosthenes Lycurgus.
He did everything to make our stay
pleasant and it was so. We had peo-
pie in our party from many sections
Of the United States, and they We're de-
lighted. One can go away from the
Volcano House feeling satisfied. Ly-
curgus. as mine host at the Volcano
draw people here. Meals-well, / have
pleasant memories of them yet, as
served by Demosthenes.
But the volcano! That vast dead
sea of lava, which once heaved and bill
lowed and then became cool with the
pillows still in place, is grandeur by
itself. Think of riding for miles across
a stretch of lava in an old crater and
knowing 1t was once seething mass
of molten mother earth. Kilauea may
not now be very active, but there Is
heat enough from the cracks to drive
one away. We scorched cards over the
cracks and some lighted cigarettes. I
have stood on the brink of Vesuvius,
but its grandeur is puny beside the
magnificent vistas afforded at Kilauea-
Then I had an opportunity to see at
first hand the magnificent stretches of
cane and agricultural lands and the
great cattle ranches on the western
coasts and slopes of the Island of Ha-
wall. ] had the pleasure of driving
part of the way with Judge Sanford
B. Dole. Then 1 saw something of the
home life at Robert Kinds, at Olding's,
at Sam Parker's great ranch, with it's
thousand and thousands of acres and
thousands of cattle. Eben Low escort
ed me over much of the country. I'm
agine thousands of acres of land, with
cattle thriving, and not a sign of water
anywhere. If l tell that to people on
the mainland they will regard me as
a sort of lunatic. But that is true,
of course.
| drives q al nf 10
wall form series of continual changes
and surprises. There are flowers, a
wealth of varied vegetation and fields
of cane. stretching for miles and miles,
1t is rich country and filled with a
warm hospitality, which I, as a strang-
er, can never forget.
The stranger coming here, the one
who wanders about the earth, merely
tills the soil on his first visit speak
ing figuratively. After an absence he
feels the desire to revisit the islands
and see the crop.
This is my second visit to the Is
lands. 1t has been a delightful one
In some way or another some amuse-
ment or entertainment has been en-
countered at the hotels and in other
places to fill up ones time pleasantly.
while in l<ohala attended a recep-
ton to minister. That was one of
the biggest surprises of all. There 1
found at night dozens of carriages with
lights attached to them, as If they were
waiting in San Francisco for the thea
ter to let out. And then the way the
people dressed for the reception.
might have imagined myself back in
the midst of big mainland capital
never for a moment imagined COM
ing In contact with anything of the
kind on the slope of a mountain, of
what appears on the map OF the Pacific
Ocean to be a tiny pinhead dot of an
island"
Mr.. Wilkinson leaves for San Fran
cisco on Tuesday.