Mexico Missouri message. (Mexico, Audrain County, Mo.) 1899-1918, 1905-11-09
FROM JAPAN
A Former Audrain County Lady
Writes Of Her Trip tothe "FlOw-
cry Kingdom"
The following appeared 10 the
Vandalia Leader last week.

My dear Mother and Father
Well, we landed Friday morning
about nine O'Clock after one Of the
smoothest passages ever made and
on a record breaking trip so far
as passengers for Honolulu were
concerned. We had eighty-three
for this place, the largest number
ever landed here at one time be-
fore. Mr.. Hopper and a number
Of other members of the church
were there TO meet us. After a
few introductions at the wharf
Mr.. Hopper brought us to his
home where we still are and bid
fair to be for several days yet.
They have so many things planned
for us that they won't hear to our
looking for a house yet They keep
four servants, two Chinese and two
japanese, so company doesn't mean
to them as it does to people at
home. They have two acres and a
half in the yard and a great, big
commodious ~ house is complete
ly hidden in palms and pepper
trees twenty steps from the door.
You can drive down long streets
here aud scarcely see a house, the
yards are so big and the foliage
so dense. 1t is simply beautiful,
beautiful, beautiful, no description
that we read half way does the
place justice. Half the trees are
Towering bright reds, yellow, pinks
etc., that makes the places just
one mass of vivid changing, uneud-
ing color. And the leaves a great
many of t h m are just as
vivid. The o. G n d e r s.
grow to be great trees, and l saw
them yesterday as shade for barns
and outhouses. Even the poverty
here is pictureque. l saw little
tiny one room Japanese homes
here yesterday that were perfect
bowers Of beauty. We are living
in China, Japan, Honolulu and
America all at the same time. At
the wharf the natives were there
selling leis as picturesque as you
please with the leis around their
neeks and wreaths on their hats.
The boys swan out likes fishes to
the ship and dived for coins that
were thrown them. The coin never
reached the bottom, they were so
quick to dive that they got it be-
fore it touched the bottom.
The Chinaman with his queue is
a common sight, but more in rvi-
denee than any are japanese. The
little smiling Japanese woman
trOtting along with a baby on her
back is the commoneSt Of all. These
people are always at work, always
accommodating and always smil-
ing. Quite a contrast to the PEG.
pie who do physical labor in the
States.
stopped yesterday morning to
go W t b party of TWEEN
ty-One to climb Mt. Tantalus. We
climbed up, had a picnic dinner
and good time all day and came
down late in the afternoon, having
walked a distance of ten miles and
it wasn't any granitoid sidewalk
walking either. There was mar
row rough, steep trail made slippery
most Of the way by fine rains Git
rains on the mountain every day.
and / tell you the last third
of the way was hard pull. But
the view we got at the top more
than repaid us for the hard
work getting up. In one direc-
ton we could see seven ranges
of mountains rising tier above
tier, and green to their tops, and
in another we could look across
the beautiful Manoa valley and see
Molokas and Lanai. two other is
lands, family defining themselves
in the blue distance Of the Pacific.
Right down in front of us we could
look into two old craters. the
Punehbowl and Diamond Head,
the FIRST just back Of the city, and
the other just a little to one side.
The city itself looked like a bi0