The Hawaiian gazette., 1906-01-30


The rcceiine shores shut out the hum
Of the busy world. the expanse Of
water soethea the eye BY ZEE very vast.
nest the breaking Of the waves IL
music 10 the ear. and there Ia medi-
cine for the nerves IN the salt sen
brecHes that invite 10 sleep At frst
one Ia dlsturbed--sometimes quite So
10y the motion OF the vessel. but this
passes away no completely that before
many days the dipping of the ship Il
really enjoyable. and one finds pleas
ure IN ascending the hills and descend
Ing the valleys into which the deck
sometimes seems to be converted
II enc has regarded the Pacific as
an Unknown or an untraversed sea the
irHpi ession will be removed by n glance
at "a map recently published by the
United States Governments map
With which every ocean traveller should
equip himself. on this map the Pa
cinc Is covered with blue lines indi-
eating the shortest routes OF travel
between different points. with the num-
ber of miles. The first thing that
strikes one is that the curved line In
dicating the northern route between
San Francisco and Yokohama is only
4hs9 u iles Ions, while the apparently
stra,gh. line between the two points
Is 419t miles long the difference being
explained by the curvature of the
earth although 1t is hard to believe
that in following the direct line
ship would have to climb over such
mountain range of water, 80 to
speak, as to make 1t shorter to go ten
degrees north. The time between the
United States and the Japanese coast
has recently been reduced to less than
eleven days, but the northern route Ia
not so pleasant at this season of the
year, and we sailed on the Manchuria
september 27th). going some twenty
degrees further south via Honolulu.
This route covers 5545 miles. and Is
made in about sixteen days when The
weather is good.
The Manchuria Is one of the levia-
thans of the Pacific. and is owned by
Mr.. Hartman, president of the Union
and Southern Pacific Railways. The
ships crew suggests the Orient, more
than three fourths being Chinese, all
wearing the queue and clad in the ma
tional garb. There is also suggestion
of the Orient in the josshouse and
opium den of the Chinese in the steer
age.
In crossing the 1S0th meridian we
lost a day, and as we are going all
the way around we cannot recover 1t,
as those can who recross the Pacific.
We arose on Saturday morning, Octo-
Der 9TH. and at o'clock were notified
that Sunday had begun, and the re-
mainder of the day was observed as
the Sabbath October Sth).
THREE OCEAN TRAFFIC CEN
TIERS.
According to the chart or map re-
ferred to above there are three CEN
tiers of ocean traffic in the Pacific. Ho-
nolulu, the most important of all, the
Midway islands, 1l60 miles northwest
of Honolulu, and the Samoan islands,
some 2200 miles to the south. The So
ciety islands, about the same distance
to the southeast of Honolulu. and GU
am, some 1900 miles from the mainland
of Asia, are centers of less importance.
Our ship reached Honolulu early on
the morning of the sixth day out, and
we had breakfast on the island. The
Hawaiian islands Gnhabited) number
eight, and extend from the southeast
to the northwest, covering about six
degrees of longitude and nearly four
of latitude. OF these eight Islands
Hawaii. the southernmost one, is the
largest, having an area of 1900 square
miles and a population of nearly $4,000.
Hilo, it's chief city, situated on the east
shore, is the second Hawaiian city of
Importance, and contains some 1000 in
habitants. The island of Oahu, upon
which Honolulu is situated, is third in
size, but contains the largest popula-
ton, almost $4,000, of which 10000
dwell in or near the capital. The is
lands are so small, and surrounded by
such an area of water. as to remind
one of a toy land, and yet there are
great mountains there, one piercing
the clouds at height of $4,000 feet
Immense cane fields stretch as far as
the eye can reach, and busy people of
different colors and races make large
annual addition to our country's
wealth. On one OF the islands is an ac-
tive volcano, which furnishes a thrill
ling experience to those who are hardy
enough to ascend its sides and cross
the lava lake, now grown cold, which
surrounds the present crater. Each
island has one or more extinct vol
canoes, one of these, called the Punch
bowl being within the city limits of
Honolulu. On one of the islands Is a
leper colony, containing at times as
many as 1000 OF the afflicted. During
campaigns the spellbinders address the
voters from boats anchored at a safe
distance from the shore.
GOING ASHORE AT HONOLULU.
AS the Manchuria lay at anchor in
the harbor all day the passengers went
ashore, and, dividing into groups, in
spected the various places Of interest.
BY the aid of a reception committee.
composed OF Democrats, Republicans
and brother Elks. we were able to
crowd great deal of instruction and
enjoyment into the ten hours which
We spent in Honolulu. We were greet
ed at the wharf with the usual saluta-
ton. Aloha" native word which
means "a loving welcome" and were
decorated with garlands OF flowers for
the hat and neck. While these gar