Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1909-12-02


until I saw them frequently in Hawaii.
and he who has seen only the en-
trancing loneliness Of a day rainbow
after a storm has yet 10 marvel at
the witchery OF the pale lunar rain
bows OF the tropics. whose weird and
enchanted beauty brings a spell that
bafles description. Moreover, these
who believe that a pot o. gold is
buried at the end of each rainbow
ought to migrate to Hawaii, for there
both ends of half a dozen rainbows
may be seen at the same time. And
now, ye incredulous, for the final
stroke; l have seen the rainbow p
the street from wall to wall and I
have reached out of a window of my
apartments and fondled and played
with a rainbow.
Natives.
The native Hawaiian, while inclined
to the Incidence that characterizes the
inhabitants of all tropical climates, is
most amiable, cordial and generous.
He is slow to take offense, quick to
forgive and always eager to please.
His hospitality knows no bounds and
he will give to you cheerfully his last
possession. Physically he is very at.
t~ractiVe and is strong and 1.-THE, while
his sister is, in a great many IN
stances, beautiful and accomplished.
In general, they are above the middle
stature, well formed, with fine mus
cular limbs, open c~ountenances and
features frequently resembling those
of Europeans. Their hair is black or
brown, heavy and generally straight
as an Indians, but occasionally curly.
Their complexion is neither yellow nor
red, but a kind of olive, sometimes a
reddish brown, and 6 i~nfrequently,
almost black.
The Hawaiian child is taught to
swim at the same time he is taught
to walk, and a most picturesque sight
in landing at or leaving the islands is
the Kanaka boys waiting for the ships
passengers to throw pieces Of money
into the ocean that they may dive
for them. On the occasion of our
leaving Honolulu there were at least
two dozen of these fellows following
the ship and it was great sport to
get them all formed in a small circle
and throw a shining piece in the midst
Of the circle and see them all go down
for 1t at once. They never lost a
piece of money and one fellow in
the crowd, whom, OH account of his
superior prowess, we dubbed the dean
of the delegation, became so prosper
GUS on that occasion that both of
his cheeks were bullying with money.
1t therefore became his duty, under
their code, to do the grand act for
our amusement, and he climbed to
the topmost of the ships rigging as
she was leaving port and, shouting
"Aloha!" as a farewell salute, plunged
headforemost, more than a hundred
feet, into the sea. The nearly am
phibious life the children lead some-
times stands them in good stead, for
a short time before we reached the
islands a picnicking boat had been
wrecked three miles off the coast with
forty native children aboard. Every
one of them swan safely ashore and
were pleased with the experience.
The adults are, of course, equally
proficient in aquatic sports, chief
among which is surf-riding, or hee
nalu. In this sport is used a light
board made of koa ~(native mahogany
which is shaped like and is about
the size of a coffin lid. With this they
swim out to sea, diving under the
rolling pillows which they meet, until
they reach the outer line of breakers:
then, lying fiat on the board, usually,
they balance themselves upon the
forward slope of the highest wave and
ride with 1t. with the speed of a race
horse toward shore. l have seen them
at Waikiki coming in on those boards,
at break-neck speed, standing on
their heads. Their canoes, in the man
agement Of which they are unsur-
passed, are followed out of a single
koa tree. These are steadied by an
o~utrigger, a slender log c. light wood,
parallel to the canoe and fastened to
1t by curved cross-pieces. These ca
noes were for sport as well as utility,
and we often went out to the beach
and INDUCED with the natives in rid
ing the waves. Coming to shore in
one of those canoes at sixty miles an
hour with the ocean spray beating
into my face, is the most delightfully."-
exhilarating exercise l ever expert
enced.
Polo, played on horseback, is a pop
ular sport with them also, and we saw
them in this thrilling and dangerous
game defeat the crack team of the
United States soldiers stationed on
the island.
Baseball enthuses them also, but we
saw a Japanese nine clean them up
completely one.d day and then saw the
same Japs "skunked'' by a team of
Cinnamon. The bleachers, full Of
Celestial r~ooters, with their queues
bobbing up and down in the frenzy
of their excitement, was more inter-
esting than the game. however.
Among the whites, au%tomobiling.
strange to say, is the favorite pastime.
In Honolulu, where only 1000 of the
10000 inhabitants are white persons.