The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1910-12-21
STREETS MUST BE
BETTER POL|CED
Otherwise Fifth Horse Will Not
Take Part in Floral Parade
in February.

If Honolulu wants the Fifth United
States Cavalry to take part in the
Floral Parade next February a guaran-
tee must be given that the streets will
be properly policed. Unless such as
surance is Forthcoming from competent
authority. the troops will stay in their
post at Leilehua.
Moreover the officers of the regiment
want suitable place in town set apart
as camp site for the three or four
hundred men and their mounts which
will form the squadron which will be
sent down if any at all come.
Director Wall and the other members
of the Floral Parade committee receiv-
ed quite a jar last week over the pros
pect that the Fifth would not take part
in the parade This intimation came in
form Of letter from Lieut.-Col. H. w.
Wheeler now in command of the regl-
ment, to Chairman Willard t. Brown,
of the committee on military. The let
ter came in form Of reply to one ask
ing for the participation of the cavalry
troops in the parade, and stated that
it would be 'impracticable for his
men to do so. There were some polite
reasons given about ''depletlon' of
the strength of the garrison and pres
sure of work. but that was all.
Then it was that the Floral Parade
committee sat up and began to take
notice. An investigation was started
and little by little number of grlev-
anves on the part of the soldier boys
against Honolulu began to be discov>
cred They hadn't liked their treat
ment in the previous parades which
they had helped to make successes, but
being polite as well as game, they had
! taken their medicine and hadn It kicked.
| OF course, it may be stated right now
! as well as later. that all this Will come
| as a big surprise to the members of
previous Floral Parade committees. But
/ then the members were all ''civilians -
and didn't know any better.
/ The great big kick on the part Of
! the officers as well as the men. it seems,
arose from the poor policing of the
streets during the parade. No officer
who has any pride in his command likes
! TO see that command all shot to pieces
! by so prosaic a thing as a cavortine
streetear just when the troops are max
ing their best appearance as column
of platoons. Neither does he feel any
better if, instead of streetcar, it
happens to be an automobile driven by
a high territorial Official which frisks
| through the column and otfends the
sensitive nostrils of the horses with
pungent gasoline fumes. 1t is bad
enough to have to worry about how
many crippled children You are going
to leave in your wake because the
police can t keep the crowd from press
ing out into the street.
Besides these troubles which every
body connected with the command feels
the troopers had their own particular
grievances as we'll It isn't any fun
to ride fifteen or twenty miles the day
before the parade, go into camp in q
field of lantana and mud out near Fort
Shafter. which is 50 far from town
that you have to be in the saddle short
ly after daylight the next morning in
order to get in in time for the parade;
and then after four or five hours OF
unpleasantness from heat and dust, ride
back out to the muddy lantana field
again. 50 far away from town that
after you have groomed your horse and
Yourself it is too late to think of see
ing a little of the city. Then the next
morning to get the mud and burs out
of your mounts name and tail, and
ride back to Leilehua.
These things and more were gradually
drawn out by the committee from of
ficers who didn't want to be called
! llicllers. hut who felt that it was not
Justice to themselves or their men tC
be expected to do strenuous work under
difficult and unpleasant conditions, anC
especially since the public which went