Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-07-01
A POSTPONED SPREE

"The recent Kicking up Of Mauna Loa the
| L. 0ssi-footer OF a volcano down the main
rsIand of Hawaii of the Hawaiian group,
reminds me of an expedition made about
four years ago by bunch of biuejackets
from my ship to KilaHea, the burning lake
about three-auarters OF the way up to the
volcanoes crest. said naval officer now on
WASHINGTON duty.
.tOer ship. after long period of cruising.
during which there had been shore lib
erty for the men forward. pulled into the
harbor of Eilo, the main town on the island
Of Haws,ii-.Hilo is again threatened hy the
big volcano. / read recently.
'.The burning lake of kiiauea is always
active and doing business, and Il was de-
cided to give all hands shore liberty in or
der that they might have chance 70 take
! the really fine trip up to the lake of flre-
which, by the way. is just about as close
in resemblance to cur IDEAS of the het-fin-
ishing place as anything ever want TO see
WORD was passed around the ship for ard
that liberty would he given at Hilo. and you
can picture the hilarity of crew that had
been sewed up on board without liberty for
matter of nearly three months
Every man had three months pay saved
up the books, and. although the idea
wasn't expressed in many words. this eX-
petition TO the burning lake of kilauea was
devised and intended to be about the most
colossal drunk in the history of that ships
company. The men went about smacking
their lips in anticipation. and 1t was DEAD
easy to see that they intended TO apply not
and rebellious rum to their blood from the
beginning of the liberty to the end thereof.
THE whole starboard watch, about $50
men, went ashore about I O'Clock IN the
morning, and just about four minutes after
the gang hit the beach each man had two
big black bottles slowed in the slack of MS
mastering shirt to be consumed on the
ride UP 10 the burning lake.
The master-at-arms assembled the whole
gang at the livery stable a Hid whence the
start was to be Immediately made When
the buejackets reached the stable no man
had more than three or four drinks under
his belt on account of the necessarily hur-
ried preparations for the start.
AT the livery stable they found fourteen
nice-looking American young women walt
ing for buses to take them up to the burn
ing lake.
Now these bluejackets hadn't seen
American omen for a long time and the
sight of them was good for sore eyes. They
all saw at once that as the young women
they were all school teachers from Detroit.
Cleveland and Cincinnati. who had dubbed
together for a vacation in Hawaif-were
bound up to the burning lake the projected
drunk would sure have to be called of Tor
the present.
The master-at-arms. who was going
along passed the word around to this eff
feet and then a remarkable thing happened.
Every man jack of the bunch of bluejackets
deposited his two bottles in corner of the
livery stable, subject to claim when he
should return to Hilo from the trip up to
the burning lake. The men had Intended TO
blast holes in the sugar plantations on the
ride up and such-iike. but, out OF Difference
to the young women from their own land,
they simply passed the drink up
THE seven-hour trip up to the volcano
House. which sits close to the edge OF the
burning lake was made by those schooi
teachers under circumstances which they
are not likely to forget. for they had all the
way a deferential guard of 100 strapping
American bluejackets, who kept their as
lance and yet performed all sorts oil KIND
nesses for the American girls.
Not drop did man of them drink that
day or the following day. on the afternoon
of which they escorted the young women
back to Hlo, after all hands had seen the
appalling lake Of fire.
when the young women left the buses
at Hilo the spokeswoman of the party made
neat little talk to the bluejackets. THANK
ing them for their 'knightly conduct, telling
them that their noble behavior toward wonl-
en- in a strange land had completely upset
all of their preconceived notions as TO sea-
wanderers ashore, and all that sort of thing
The jackies grnned during the speech OF
the little lady, and some of them winked
solemn!y at each other. y boats crew was
made up to row the party of girls off to the
steamer that was waiting to take them back
to Honolulu.
of the Hilo beach than that postponed
drunk began to happen. For three solid
DAYS Hlo became a sort of Cripple Creek
Devils Gulch and Deadwood rolled into
one The gang simply took the town apart
and fired a volley over it. They put the
cops on the run, and hundred special Off
GERS Kanakas, were sworn in to preserve
order
Twenty minutes after they'd been sworn
IN the biuejackets heard of it, and then the
whole layout of kanaka marshals took to
the mountains and stayed there TIL 1t was
all over. Chain guards of marines We're
sent ashore from the ship to gather in the
riotous gang but the sea soldiers no sooner
hit the beach than they Joined the gay, glad
throng of bluejackets, and the devil was to
pay. sure enough.
AT the end of three days the whole port
watch was sent ashore to gather in the
whooping starboard watch and the next
morning about 125 bluejackets and marines,
many of them with broken faces and heads.
and all of them permeated with that tired
feeling, had to face the skipper at the stick
1t was the most fatigued and funny-looking
lot of returned liberty men that ever I
looked at, and I've seen the aftermaths of
bluejacket drunks in good many corners
of the earth.
But they postponed the drunk out of
Difference to women. all right, and l guess
that wasn't an instance of the civilizing and
uplifting influence OF the American girl in
a strange land"