The Hawaiian gazette., 1906-04-20
THE WHOLE CITY
WAITING ANXIOUSLY
Continued from page 81

NNpntnutu lToH page ~
among the little Hawaiian girls who
knew something had happened but
were I'm ignorance OF the real reason OF
the whispered conversations between
the teachers They saw climbing up
over Tantalus an immense black cloud
and to them II had its meaning, a
meaning which they could not explain
nor would they be quiet for many min
utes after it had made its appearance.
Yesterday when the first whistle blew
the announcement OF the sighting of
a steamer the public jumped to the
conclusion that II was the resumption
OF cable communication and when the
whistling stopped at the third blast
there was keen disappointment felt on
all sides. When the steamer was re-
ported as the Nebraskan 1t was be-
lieved a report OF submarine disturb
\ance would be made but the officers
said there was nothing unusual trans
pired on the voyage This seems
strange in view of the fact that the
record at the L. s. Magnetic Station
on Wednesday showed greater seismic
action than has been recorded in years.
While looking upon the dark side of
the affair II would be well for nervous
people TO keep in mind the fact that
Honolulu Is not New York and that
there are messages from the largest
cities in the world asking other cities
for the same information that the
people here are seeking and the big
places will have attention before the
l.. Go ooh 1a
telegraph office on the mainland, and
many in all parts of the world, is
crowded with kilograms bearing upon
the question Of the damage to san
Francisco. The difficulty In getting
cables around by Europe are multiplied
by the fact that there is always a
rush of commercial messages and add
to them the hundreds, perhaps thous-
ands, that have been sent on account
of the disaster and it is not difficult
TO imagine' the extent of the congestion
and the time required to break 1t.
At 4:2j yesterday afternoon mes
sage was received from the cable com
pany's extension at Hongkong to the
effect that the land telegraph system
throughout California is paralyZed
This would Indicate that the disturb
ance spread beyond the confines of San
Francisco.
Steps are being taken to secure finan-
cial aid for the stricken ones in San
Francisco and one of the first cables
to that place after the line is repaired
will be from Honolulu Aerie No. 14O
Fraternal Order of Eagles transfer
ring the sum of $500 to the sufferers
in the stricken city.
ALEXANDER G. BALDWIN'S RE-
PLY.
At o'clock Messrs. Alexander
Baldwin received an answer to theii
dispatch and while it was plainly
worded the belief is that it was mere.
ly n deduction drawn by the New
York agents of the firm The messag,
| read that the Office of the firm in SaI
Francisco had been totally destroyed
| but there We're no advices. Knowing
| the location of the office, and the are;
\ of the city most affected, it was cas-.
to tell that it was among those de
stroyed The case is similar to tina
of the japanese banker alluded t
above. The fact that the New Yorl
office had no advices bears out tn
wired information from China that tn,
land system is paralyzed.
There is q feeling among some o
| the local cable men that their asso
ciates at the san Francisco Office ma!
! have been injured or killed. The las
message from the operators at san
| Francisco was to the effect that the!
We're about to remove their instru
| ments from the cable office. The build
| ing may have collapsed immediatel!
| afterward and destroyed the instru
ments and the men.
Since the extension of the Pacifi
| cable Company's line to Shanghai from
Manila some of the best men from tn
Coast have been transferred to tn
| Far East and there is said to hav,
been but one man left in San Francise'
who could have connected up with tn
end of the cable in the hut near tn
| Cliff House. That man is McKennar
| The only other experts outside of Ho
nolulu, close to San Francisco, are II
New York and Nova Scotia. Ever
, with railroad communication intact T.
| the Coast it would require at least fou
days for experts to travel from the At
lantic to the Western Coast OF tn
United States.
| A HAWAIIAN VERSION.
An old kamaaina said yesterday tina
the Hawaiians had their own version o
the reason why destructive earthquake
visit other parts of the world ana d
not harm the Hawaiian archipelago
| Their principal reason was that Ha
waiians propitiated Pele and foreigner
never did. Red fish, a white chicken
ava and other things We're used b,
| the Hawaiians In the earlier days. am
of even the present day, to ward off
visitation of Pele's wrath. But tn
haoles scoffed at such things. In ad
dition the Hawaiians, long before III
white race invaded the islands he
lieved that goddess Pele had seve
sisters residing in other parts OF tn
world but that she, being the olde
| 81 ,.,,ial tb,,,, oil a.. ba