The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1910-09-22
A Day in Old Lahaina
BY H. NJ Ayres.

The first people up o mornings in
Lahaina are the fishing folk. Lon.
before the first flush of dawn lights the
eastern SKY their power Sampans cbug
away from the landing to the fishing
grounds. 10 be gone until niehtfau
Then the sun ge.s up and the lunas
horses canter down the street and dogs
innumerable stretch themselves laziIy
and becake themselves to the cutters
in search Of possible overnight rit-bits.
The town has all sorts and degrees Of
dogs. ranging from rlstocratic-looking
pointers OF blood 70 the japanese bar
bex~s kink-tailed eur.
= Outside Of fishing and plantation
work no one seems 70 do any serious
WORK in Lahaina, and there is little
life on the solitary street till nearly
eight @ clock. Then the shoe polishing
brigade puts in an appearance on the
hotel lanai and small boy or two ar
rives. laden with green eocoanuts which
appeal strongly to the stranger in the
land.
Along about nine 0 clock the children
troop down the road 10 school They
are the pre5tlesr, happiest children i'm
agiuable and Of all races and every
conceivable shade of color. There i
certainly no immediate danger Of race
suicide n Lahaina.
At ten o'clock court sits in the
quaint old courthouse and eases, usually
of very minor nature. are disposed of
with fitting dignity ana generally with
large leaven Of mercy Ne one IS
really bad in this town Of sunshine
and palm trees and. as far as their
practical necessity Is concerned, the
court and the 'calaboose house. IS
the jail is called by the natives, are
merely show places where one may visit
pleasantly for five or ten minutes.
Sometimes during the morning a
launch arrives from Lanai with a pas
senger or two and occasionally an our-
of town automobile dashes up to the
hotel. Otherwise morning in Lahaina
IS hot. lazy and eventIess.
From noon till the Inhabitants en-
iov their siestas. 4 custom which be-
came los to Hawaii in the dust of the
march Of commerce Al three o clock
the water Of tile lagoon Is peopled
with bathers, principally women and
children, who aispor5 in the surf for
hours at 4 time There ism better
bathing place in the islands than the
( lagoon at Lahaina for the water Is
always clear and the bottom composed
/ Of the silkiest Of sand
/ The arrival Of the inter-island steam
/ ers Is the event of the work and there
: always d great foregathering on
these occasions. From every direction
come autos and rigs, their occupants
presumably bent or receiving THEN
mail. but equally eager to meet old
friends and acquaintance of the
countryside or who may chance to be
passing through
Then does the lanai Of the hoter
fairly hum with gossip and greetings
ana then does Host Freeland fairly
radiate hospitality from every inch OF
his SIX feet SIX inches and from every
ounce of his three hundred and fifty
/ pounds
When the lights of three steamers
brighten the r0adstead and the moon
! throws the island of Lanai into bold
relief. there are few prettier sights than
that seen from the landing at Lahaina.
The sun sinks behind Lanai and a
long twilight intervenes before dark
ness shuts out the siIhouetted palm
fronds and heraIdS the welcome breeze
from the sea which comes at the close
of each suItrv day. Twilight Is beau
tiful everywhere, but nowhere Is it
more 50 than in a place like Lahaina
which Is practically a scattered plauta-
,ion Of cocoa-palms.
And with the twilight the scent Of
The oIeaHders seems 10 wax stronger
and the breath Of the spider lilies to
become more fragrantIv subtle; for La