Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-02-16
WHEN SAK1 Is IN CONTROL

| American eX-0Al1Or helaCcS nlS GX-
periences While Under influence
Of Japanese Favorite Drink.
Here's a curious instance of the work
| ing out Of the thing called the association
OF IDEAS" observed q sedate Washing
| tonian who used to be a man-o'-war's man.
and therefore. at that time. not any too
sedate. Every time 1 read, IS 1 read late
| ly, that Mauna Loa. the Hawaiian volcano
that Is ranked as the greatest of all the
spouters, is In state of eruption imme-
diately develop that katzenjammer feeling.
| l suffer from that cold gray dawn of the
morning after misery. ! have a head in
| brief You may not perceive the connec-
ton or association. but you will IL 1 can
hold you long enough to listen to this strict
| ly veracious narrative. For once spent a
day and a night right at the mouth Of a
| boiling. bubbling vocano-and the crater
was unprecedentedly busy at the time
without knowing anything whatever about
it-but I had personally conducted vol
cano right underneath my cap when l came
to.
IT'S the straight fact-a whole day and
night 50 close to the orifce of one Of the
could have tossed biscuit right down to
er--that place Of hot finishes; and yet I
didn't know any more about II than de-
ceased snowbird until 1t was all over. I
Saki-ed7 Well, you know. or know of. saki.
that Japanese booze, and when You COM
prehend saki. you will be able. in magma
ton. maybe. to savvy saki-ed.
THAT volcano that ! rested up against
without knowing It at the time was burn
ing lake OF Kilauea, 80 called, the side
partner of the big boy Mauna Loa, the boss
of them all. that is now doing the terrify-
Ing stunts On the main island Of Hawaii.
Nobody, not even the greatest mountain
climber, has ever reached the summit Of
Mauna Loa, which is close to $1,000 feet
high. But all hands visiting Hawaii take
| In the burning lake Of Kilauea. which is an
immense crater, busy a good deal Of the
time. on the ridge some thousands Of feet
below Mauna Loa.
Barred From Honolulu.
"It was in 1895 that made that landing.
The man-'o-war on which I was such an
ornament lost an apprentice boy from a
case of Asiatc cholera while our ship was
lying in Honolulu harbor. Quick fumigat-
ing and other sanitary stunts kept the
cholera from sweeping the ship. and none
Of the other hands went down with 1t. but
the fact that we'd had death from IT on
board settled US as far as our being per-
mitted to go ashore in Honolulu was con-
cerned. We had to up-anchor and cruise
all around the islands. and It was nearly
three months before either officers or men
OF the ship were permitted by the Hawaiian
authorities to hit the beach.
when this long period Of quarantine
was up we found ourselves In the road
stead of Hflo, on the main island OF Hawaii
and that's where we got our first chance to
stretch our legs after being cramped up on
board for such merciless length of time.
Il belonged to the starboard watch, the
fnJfl fknr oil to n In opII
and about forty Of us made up party
to take the stage ride up to the brink Of
the burning lake of Kilauea. where the
nervy Peter Lee kept the Volcano House.
with the help Of his pretty daughters.
''Our shore liberty was for three days, and
tho forty Of us chartered five stage coaches
for the ride up to Kilauea. We were to start
on the trip Immediately after hitting the
beach the following morning.
II spent the night before going ashore on
that occasion In meditation and in making
swell resolutions. I'd been on the water
there and to sidestep the ships brig. double
irons and all that. I knew that forty
heavy weather men that hadn't been on
the beach for matter OF nearly three
months were sure going to do whole lot
Of Indian work from the minute they hop
ped of the steam cutter. and made w my
mind that I'd let them do all of the monkey
stuff, while I'd do the heavy digniied thing
and be on hand to rig them over their big
heads when they came to-
THAT'S the way I had 1t all framed up
the night before, and went to sleep chuck
Kiiauea on the morrow. while the rest Of
'em wouldn't be able to see anything.
When the party made the beach the next
morning all hands scampered for the rum
chase a couple Of quarts Of 'swipes' each to
last them on the ride up. 'Swipes Is COM
bination Of wood alcohol. sweet chewing
tobacco and lava juice. and 1t sure has S &C
seized out to last them on their ride wasn't
in it with the stuff that I. like rube.
went up against.
First Acquaintance With Saki.
81 was regarding my shipmates and their
purchases with the superior grin of one
anchored to the aqua vehicle. when Lycur-
gus barkeep. an American. asked me II
wasn't in on the 'swipes' buy. l told him
that there would be nothing Transporting in
that direction for me-that it was me for
the higher and nobler until the wind-up Of
my cruise
without the culver of facial muscle. But
you'll need something sort o wet to cool
yourself off on the ride up Inc nrst
springs twelve miles up, and the air gets
pretty sultry and sulphury as you trudge
along toward the burning Lake. l guess
it'N be you for about three quarts OF saki.
he :.s =, ..,, "a heard . whole lot about
saki the Jap rice wine. as they call it. and
I'd never been up against 1t.
"'Too jolty isn't 1t, for a man riding the
water wagon l asked the barkeep.
"'why, nix replied that ruffian. And I
didn't know until afterward that he was
winking at the rest of the bunch while 1
wasn't looking. why, saki's dope for chill
dren. Jap kids drink 1t instead Of milk.
Tastes like the gooseberry wine your aunt
used to make. only it's even more harmless
than that. 1t stills the thirst-and you'll
have one Of those before you get anywhere
near the crater-and none OF that what-for-
dbl to follow
"'Wrap me up about four quarts Of that
Nipponese infant food, them said l.
'-Then we all hiked for the stable where
the Ave coaches were waiting, climbed on
board. and were OF for the burning lake Of
Kilauea with q CHATTER. The seven other
fellows In the coach I was riding in had
begun to nioble on their 'swipes before the
start, and by the time the stage was mile
out Of Hilo. on the way up. they were so
gay with themselves and with each other
that I could only sit and look EN- over
sadly and wonder why they hadn't made up
their minds to flag the hard stun, like me.
''It was, as the barkeep predicted, pretty
suitry going up. and when we got about