The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-05-30


thing for me, and ! ain I going to com
plain so long as the BOYS are enjovino
| themselves. And what did one of the
= boys do but stsn outside and bnv
her a large box of candy. whereupon
she thanked them so long and nrofuSaIy
that it nearly stopped the show.
BUSY ALL THE TIME.
Perhaps one of the secrets of the
| fine behavior of the men al San Fran
cisco was the fact that the entertain
Hent committees had something going
| on Tor their benel.t every moment they
| were ashore. There were automobile
| rides, ear rides, entertainments and
| dances for those who cared to STAY in
| town, and trips to the country for those
who wanted to get into the fields. 1t
| must be remembered that the same Off
GERS are entertained time and time
| again, but every day a new lot of sail
! ors come from the ships in search of a
good time. If they find it. and meet
with good reception they are as pleas
| ed as a lot of school children, if they
don't they will drift to the only place
| where one is certain to find company of
some sort-the saloon. And so those
towns which complain of the antics of
the sailor boys might well cast the
beam from their own eye, and ask
| themselves whether they entertained
the sailors or allowed them to enter
tain themselves.
AS one sailor puts it who returned
from trip to Vallejo with five hun
dred other men who went on a day s
excursion, "We've had such a good
time that nobody wanted to get drunk. -
That is a remark which the good citi-
zens OF such towns as Santa Barbara
might puzzle over, and in it they will
find the explanation of some of the
acts of which that town complained.
HOW TO SPEND OUR MONEY.
1t does not seem to be going too far
to say that if the larger part of the
money raised in Honolulu is expended
for the entertainment of the sailors,
the entertainment as a whole VIII be a
success. The officers are surfeited with
attention, so much so. that seldom do
they have an opportunity to attend the
small private functions with their
friends on shore, which the majority of
them prefer to the official receptions
and dances; and as the latter have
come with unvarying frequency at
most of the ports many of the officers
would prefer to stay on the ships just
to get an opportunity to rest.
In arranging for the various enter
tainments for the enlisted men, the San
Francisco committees found it advis-
able to issue tickets for nearly every
thing, with full directions on the tick
cts, and the time of departure if any
trips out of the city were taken. Fur
thermore, small dodgers were printed
with the days program, and men were
stationed at the landing places to give
these out to the sailors as they came
ashore, thereby Immediately aequaint-
ing the men with the days scheduled
"doings," and giving them an oppor-
tunity to choose from among several
things the one which struck their
fancy. Whenever tickets were given
out a number were always reserved. as
some of the officers and men were sure
to turn up with their tickets left be-
hind
I have touched only upon the enter
tainments given to the men, but in clos
ing, a word is certainly due them for
their efforts in entertaining the citizens
who visited the vessels. For days the
ships were overrun with thousands of
visitors, many of them being from the
country and never having been on
board a ship before. and while the men
were many times seriously inconven-
fenced, throughout it all they were the
most genial and painstaking hosts, and
with fine and courteous consideration
they did everything possible to show
their visitors about, and in doing so
did everything from extricating maid
ems from the breeches of the big guns
when they peered in and their Merry
Widow hats stuck, to answering fool
ish questions and explaining just why
the Admiral's quarters were not open
to general inspection.
AFTER THE BIG TIME.
AT present writing the ships have
departed for the North, and the old
town is again settling down to its daily
duties of rehabilitation. The flags and
decorations are coming down, and the
takers whose shows lined the water
front have folded their tents and 'hik-
ed to the North, or else are remain
ing here to fling their coin about before
they depart for new sheep pastures
1t is, naturally then, time for retros
pection, and for talking over the results
of the weeks of preparation and the
days of excitement. "The fleet has
came and went" as one newsboy ex
pressed it. There is no complaint from
anywhere. Visitors are satisfied be- /
cause they saw the greatest armada
they may ever hope to see in life
time. Merchants are satisfied because |
the old town received a stirring it has
not received since the earthquake; even
the National Guard and the officials on
the Governor S sta1f are satisfied; they
had more opportunities to wear gold
lace and bedecked uniforms than an
admiral would have in twenty cruises;
and even the citizen militant rubbed
his hands in glee as he gazed admir-
ingly at the great white fleet as 1t
steamed from the port the other day
and said in an undertone, 'fDoesn t
hat made you want to hit Jap in the
eyef"
THE FLEET ORDERS.
UNITED STATES ATLANTIC FLEET
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