New-York tribune., 1911-02-19

hines breaks touO to show that the hula
still lives. II the breaking" Is in nublic
you probably will see the fraved ends of
the string being chivvied down 70 the citv
bastiie by couple OF motherIy eendarmes
And yet the ancient dance is not quite
dead; there are a few strings that will vet
give back a responsive chord If one knows
how to twang them. But don't think II will
he YOU Mr.. Tourist. | never heard of but
one man who CHANGED TO strike the Lost
Chord" and his fingers had been wander
ing over the worn strings for a year or
more before they twanged the right combi-
nation. l will write of this later.
The usual hula" that is arranged for
those OF the personally y-conducted-limited
to-fifty-all-eXpenses-p party" who are in
search of something delcously naughty IS
about as devilish as a quadrille at a Sun
day school picnic-a squad of portly IVA
hines" marching soberly through a half
dozen simple figures. But at every one OF
these performances a darkly mysterious
kanaka is sure TO slip quietly around
among the men OF the party and hint
vaguely of the real thing" that has been
arranged for that very evening. and to
"
so. Chilian. apiece Like half starved
trout to the first grasshopper of the season
they rise, and. with feicitous mutterings
OF "A chance of lifetime TO see a hula"
Last one ever TO he pulled off"-'Fancy
Fl occurring during our visit'-a party of
dozen or more. leaving it's distractedlv
envious ladies behind, is steered off from
the hotel into the scented twilight.
The subscriptions" are collected en- route
to a deserted thatch shack on the outskirts
of the town, where. by the light Of a cou-
pie Of battered ship side lamps the search
ers for local color see a dozen an9mic
frailties from the beach-dull-eyed. sad
looking ''vahines." lotsam and jetsam from
half the island groups OF the South Pa
cifc, with strong hints of elephantiasis in
Il cir heavy ankles and blotchy skins
writhe and wriggle for a half hour in ac-
ton more suggestive Of the popular stage
imitation of a portly dame trying to make
the hooks Of her princess gown meet than
a terpsichorean performance. The girls are
a shameless lot Of husses of the class that
dexterously approprates your scarf pin un-
der pretence of putting a flower in your
button hole. and when you discover the loss
about it.
And yet-what an indescribable lure there
is in the real thing" bait any time after
you have been bitten by the search for
local color" bug It would hardly be fair
TO have held the glass on the researches of
other Tahitan tourists without confessing
that l. also. was once greedy swallower
of the real thing bait and after the dis
illusionment I thought to get something for
my money q had bought dozen bottles OF
claret for the Gancers) by taking a flash
light picture Of them
So while W, my companion. chivvied
the reluctant dancers together and grouped
them in frozen poses l set up the camera
and put out the flashlight powder A suffi-
cent quantity Of the latter was poured
from a two-ounce tin box into the box's
cover and set on a rickety table. W be-
ing directed to light it at the click of my
opening shutter He lit the powder at the
proper moment. but confused the order 10
the extent of lighting the contents of the
nearly full box, instead Of the small por-
ton in the cover. There came an explosive
''whish," a binding fash and dense
smoke cloud. An instant later the light
bamboo wall behind the table was observed
to be afre and the room sprang into up
roar
The girls beloved for water and W
shouted for a quilt, while the natives
screamed back TO the effect that. as the
house was deserted and isolated. neither
could be had There seemed nothing to do
but get out aid let the old shack burn.
W was making for the door and / was
endeavoring to salvage the trampled frag-
ments Of my Photographic apparatus, when
my eye caught flash Of red in one corner
and my ear the twice or thrice repeated