The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1911-04-04
TALES BY TWO TOURISTS, ONE
DELIGHTED WITH HAWAII AND THE
OTHER AN ELOQUENT KN0CKER
The KNocKER.

THE kNOCkER.
Oregon Journal: An intimate story
of life in the Hawaiian islands as
caught by the observant eyes Of
Portland man is contained in a letter
to The Journal from Honolulu. it
was written by J. A. Workman, Of
1922 Minnesota avenue, after spend
ing three months in the islands. He
tells of little CRAFTS practiced upon
newcomers, treats of the conditions
on the sugar plantations, and narrates
numerous interesting incidents of trav-
ell This is the letter.
ARRIVING here the first part of De-
demBer, we found the temperature
about sc, and humid atmosphere,
sultry, close, stuffy, sticky, ciammy
feeling-iust like before a thunder
storm in the central states in July.
Even the bed felt damp and clammy
at night.
"They advertise only 10 degrees
variation in "a year; we saw it drop
az degrees in three hours in January.
February a at 6 a. m, it was 81, by
noon SO, change of 81 degrees in
six hours. February 20 at a. m, it
was e.; at 4 p. m, 80 degrees.
"A few days after we arrived it
began raining, and kept it up more
or less until February II. They have
Oregon beaten more than a mile for
rain. The caretaker of Nuuanu val.
ley reservoir makes the statement
that it rained seven inches in So min.
utes about a year ago.
"At a place near Hilo Hawaii, it
rains 264 inches in year. l was told
d. in Hilo by citizens that 1t rained 80
: inches in "a hours about FIVE years
= ago. We saw it pour down while in
t Hilo until it ran nearly knee deep in
: the streets.
e Mosquitoes Are Urgent Creditors.
"There are two kinds of mosquitoes
t here They presented their bills as
n soon as we set foot on land, and have
n been presenting ever since One is
black fellow, and comes only at night
z The other, striped fellow, works day
= yellow fever in the south, but as he
t has never been inoculated with that
= deadly germ here, he is harmless save
for inflicting a few welts like that Of
bee sting. They advertise that
r there are no poisonous insects or
reptiles in the islands but / have seen
centipedes three inches long, and
people who have been stung with
them say their hands swell and feel
very sore Outside of bees, and cen
tipedes, believe the islands are free
from poisonous insects or plants
Planters and Labor.
We have seen women working
A., alongside of men cutting cane with
4 only a skirt tied around the waist ana
barefooted. Eighteen to twenty dol.
lars a month are the wages paid
While the laborers are not compel
. led to buy at the plantation stores,
they never have any money TO buy
anywhere else. The planter seldom
owes the men anything when they
:. quit the plantation.
p Daniel J Keefe visited the plan,
r. tations and saw them go to work IN
+. the morning and watched every move
q all day long, securing valuable infor-
o nation for his report on labor con
ditions in the islands, but he secured
, the enmity of the planters, for, unlike
all other government officials sent
b. here, Keefe would not be wined and
p. banqueted by the planters from the
time he arrived in the harbor unit
he left, as other officials have been
Keefe told the sugar planters behind
J closed doors before he left that they
h were responsible for labor conditions
p in the islands All reporters were ex
cluded from that meeting. for fear the
~ truth might creep out before KeefC
left the islands.
" THE native Hawaiian has beer
ID grated by the white yultures uni
20 all their best lands have been taker
S from them; they mortgage theil
property for booze with no realiza
y ton of the fact. that they can never
l. pay off the debt, and the houle (whit,
mani soon gets their homesteads. The
l. grafters have now turned their at
tention to grating the tourist an,
n malahana (the newcomer). It is
IL common saying in Honolulu that !
8. you would prosper in the islands vol