The Hawaiian gazette., 1910-04-15
THE HOTTEST PLACE ON EARTH
BY Robert j. Burdette In Los Angeles Times.

hills and mountains with regal magnih-
cence, and when Mark Twain came
to see what had been wrought he was
inspired TO declare this dimple of beau.
ty in mid-Pacifc "The loveliest fleet
of islands anchored in any sea- And
there is no other description that so
beautifully and truthfully pictures Ha-
waii Territory.
"Took long timefv Yes, thou
sand, ten thousand or a million years,
I've forgotten which. But il was worth
it. Takes a long time and lots of
patience and a soul full of lows to make
Christian out of pagan; Jerry Me-
Cauley out of penitentiary bird and
professional thief; John B. Cough
of drunkard, to make man out OF
wreck But il can be done. 1t has
been done, every year in every genera
tion, ever since volcanoes roared and
hissd out of the seethng waters of the
ocean, or ragged in smothered fury in
the souls of men, 1t can be done, and
every day it is done.
But il keeps the wardrobe woman and
! the property man and the scene painter
and the stage carpenter mighty busy.
After nature got through with the vol
canic mountains and the lava beds, the
missionaries came along to teach the
human actors their new lines and re-
hearse them for their parts in the great
drama of Life ut its best and noblest
/ And tell you what, my son, when
you compare the two jobs, Nature had
a mighty easy time of it.
| know little about volcanoes, and
n little more about men. And there
will come time when every crater on
this planet will be extinct, and there
| won't be an active volcano on earth.
About that time / look to see all the
fires of foul passion die out of the souls
of men, and all the evil-seething pits of
sin crystal pure as Crater Lake.
Take long time2 Yes; but what of
thatf Aren't we going to have all
eternity to wait inf What's your
hurry9
Do You know what they are growing
| on the old lava plains and in the old
lava valleys of Hawaii and Maui and
Oahuf Where the ground was crimson
and black with desolation and death,
where the poisonous gases Knocked at
any thought Of lief Where the nox-
ious steam clouds hid the sun and tho
rivers of lava scorched the seat
1 Sugar. Hundreds of thousands of
acres of it. Thousands of tons of it.
And in some districts, coffee also.
Good Kona coffee. There, let the lady
at the queen Is end of the table pour
| you out another cup, nice and amber
clear, and hot. Put in another lump,
man. Don't be afraid Of it. There .
plenty more down at Wailuku. Now
! you've got the right combination
sweetness and strength.
i Well, that all came out of old vol
cano lands. Took ages of patience, and
faith, and hope to bring about the
transformation. You don't go out on
a lava bed with pair of 1400-pound
horses and prairie pillow, just as soon
as the lava is cool enough not to melt
the shoes off the horses feet. Oh no.
You have to wait at least couple of
weeks after the volcano quits below
ing.
/ Now, it takes more than grace and
! patience and faith and hope to keep
you "sweet and strongo every day and
all the day. One more ingredient
Love.
| So I don t care, man, how volcanic
you used to be. Somewhere in the
world there's tsugar planter ''--if
you are not blessed and happy enough
to have her in your home already-who
can make you the real man, crowned
} with sweetness and girded by strength,
that God meant you to be.
And I haven't said word about
; "The Volcanofn
} Well, I've been talking about You,
!, haven't II
49,.