The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1906-03-28
MEMORIES
Of HAWAII
OId-Timer Talks of the
Islands in New
York.

| The Yonkers (New York; Statesman
of February Is prints the following
| eft of large audience in the East
Reformed church, last night, his boy
hood "Recollections of Hawaii" those
| Isles of the Pacific which, sweet with
the jasmine and the night-blooming
cereus,'' cast over him who has once
breathed their enchanted air some
magic spell. some subtle hypnotisln, so
that he can not Danish from his heart
the desire to return His lecture,
which was admirably illustrated with
stereopticon views, presented such
vivid and alluring picture of the Ha-
waiian Islands that there were doubt
less many in the audience who, like
the lecturer himself would fain return
to them again, even if only in imagi-
nation.
| Three native Hawaiians contributed
greatly to the pleasure of the evening
| by playing on mandolins, and singing
| island melodies. They were Mr.. Maka-
| koa. a student, and Messrs. Punt and
| Pika, members of the Hawaiian Royal
Quartet. The two last We're dressed in
| the costume of their quartet-white
duck coat and trousers, a broad Grim
son sash, and about their necks, gar
| lands of orange-coIored paper. They
| sang in voices well described by the
/ lecturer, as rich. sort, sweet--co
parable to the voices of negroes, but
sweeter and more plaintive.'
| James Pearce, NJ. b. the church or
ganist, gave some selections on the
organ. The stereopticon was operated
by Walter Blackburn.
In the frigid zone it is never hot, said
the lecturer, in the torrid zone it is
never cold. These are not recollec-
lions, they are. facts. The truly tenn
perate zone is to be found in the
latitude between 20 and p degrees,
where it is seldom cold or hot. There
lies the Hawaiian Archipelago-just
below the northern tropic, barely over
the threshold of the torrid somewhere
the strong ceaseless trade wind, sweep
ing down from the Northeast Pacific,
flowing in steadily moving and
mighty river of air, day after day ana
nearly every day brings both moisture
and GOODNESS on its bosom 1t seems
to me l hear even now it's ceaseless
rushing who-o-o-o, - nine months -
without once drawing breath.
In Hawaii, where the palm tree -four
ishes, is climate fit for Eden, having
an average temperature of rs degrees.
The only offices of clothing in Hawaii
are those of modesty or fashion and
both are a matter of convention pure
ly. My recollection of the climate is
that my school day attire consisted of
a straw hat, also linen waist sup
porting short linen trousers, supple
mented, on days when discipline was
expected to be administered, by an ex-
ira pair. In a country where the
schoolboys spent all their play-time IN
an artificial pond intended for their
Fairgrounds, simplicity of raiment was
desirable-for the lightning cnanse
artist got the most swimming. Hawai-
ians are amphibious. AS swimmers
and divers they are probably surpass-
ed by no other race, and men or women
in the saddle are centaurs.
To speak of facilities for swimming
leads US from climate to geography.
These islands are, as you know, of
volcanic origin-recent, as biologists
measure time, yet prehistoric. They
are, like Mauna Kea, the peaks of
lofty mountains pushed above the
ocean level by the force Of central fires
below it's bed. If we should measure
their bases on the ocean floor or their
height above it, these mountains rival
the utmost spread of base or altitude
of head of the Hottest peak of the
Himalayas. The coral polyp has built
about these mountains coral reefs en-
closing harbors, like that of Hilo, with
q natural breakwater. At low tide
in many places one may wade or swim
from beach to reef in shallow, calm,
crystal water. There the native pad
dies his artistic dugout, which has no
superior in its class.
Just out of Honolulu is the famous
beach of Waikiki, the watering place
of the metropolis, where many resi-
dents of the city had matched cottages
with the open veranda, known as Ia
mai. Behind it are the evergreen and
lofty mountains; overhead the waving
cocoanut leaves; in front, the rolling
ocean shines turquoise under a bril-
liant sun. To the left, thanking the
crescent of the sand Diamond Head, a
brown, ragged, SCARED and scanned
volcano-"rock-ribb and ancient as
the sun'-whose fire died out before
the memory of history. To the right
the city of Honolulu, hidden under
its branches of delicate acacia and mi
mosa, vivid with the green of the tam
arind tree; gay with the Pride Of In
dia, brilliant with the scarlet Poin-
ciana-such q city of verdure and
bloom as does not meet the hungry eye
in any Northern latitude. /
The various craters, extinct and ac-
tive, were described at length by the
lecturer. He said that the insinuation
was untrue that injustice to a poor,
down-trodden race was at the bottom
of the Hawaiian Revolution; and he
asserted that the influence Of Amer
lean missionaries had raised the race
in a single generation from the stone
age to q ciNiliza tom Sir,nrnln vet Ch,is-