The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1906-09-30

HiS01DSTS OF tnS lOnSDOdG
crew, however, weren't in the least
afraid. They had q swell cox'un, who
knew all about pace; they were in
the finest kind of trim for the race,
and they We're perfectly willing to de-
pend upon their experience and team
work to pull them through, as it had
pulled them through many hard
fought longboat battle in far-distant
waters the other side of the world.
The Fourth of July race between the
three longboat crews quickly develop
ed into a big betting affair. They're
an extremely gamblerish lot down on
the islands when they've got anything
to bet on. They didn't have much to
bet on in those days, for there was
no baseball or racing in Honolulu at
that period. So that three-cornered
longboat race gave the betting bunch
down there chance to unbelt on the
crew they liked. The Honolulu folks
couldn't exactly make out how any
mere man-o'-war crew could come
along and beat two crews of Kanakas
in boat race of any kind in the Ka-
nakas' own waters, and they evinced
disposition from the outset of the
betting to take one or the other of
the Kanaka crews. No less than six
hand books started up on the race
about the first of July and big money
began to show. The officers of the
Bennington quietly tipped off their
friends ashore in Honolulu there was
hardly a way in the world the Ben
nington crew could lose, and this caused
weight of heavy coin to flow into
the hand-books on the Bennington
crews chance-more than enough to
offset the betting on the two Kanaka
crews.
The blueiackets of the Bennington,
most of them were men whose time
was nearly out and who consequently
had plenty of gold piled up with the
paymaster, drew down punches of their
money and went ashore and spraddled
it on the chance of the Bennington long
boat crew Reports of the fine prog
ress being made by the Kanaka fisher
mems crew kept coming along, how
ever so that, two days before the race
the betting on the hand-books stood
this way: Even money and take your
pick between the Bennington crew and
the Kanaka fishermen's crew; to 1
and / to 2 the place against the Ka-
naka cops crew. Kanakas of means
from all over the island came down
to Honolulu to root for one or other
of the Kanaka crews and to get their
checks down. Most of them bet on the
fishermen crew, and this held the price
against the Bennington outfit steady
at even money The two Honolulu
papers were full of the preparations for
the race, with speculations as to the
proba BILE winner. and the handbook
makers We're out pencil after PENCIL
recording the wagers that flowed in on
the outcome.
On the I'd day of July, two days be
fore the race very beautiful white
steam yacht entered the harbor of Ho-
noIuIu and anchored. She was the
Eleanor. one of the most sumptuously
fitted yachts in the whole world. The
Eleanor was direct from Japan. Her
owner, 2 Rhode Island woollen manu-
facturer millionaire. Mr.. Slater, had
been on three years cruise of the
world with his young wife, who had
been his stenographer before their mar
rage, only a short time before the
cruise began. The. Eleanor was on way
to san Francisco and dropped anchor
in Honolulu harbor to enable the owner
and his wife to renew friendly social re
Iations with Honolulu people whom
they had met several years before.
The Eleanor had hardly been at an
Choir in the harbor for an hour before
a moon-faced guileless- looking blue
Jacket from the yacht boarded the