Camas Prairie chronicle. [volume] (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1901-1917, 1916-10-13
Interesting Letter
From Hawaii

The following letter from ]. l..
Gardner, formerly manager of
the local light plant. will un-
doubtedly be of interest to our
readers:
Honolulu, T. H., Aug. 81, 1916.
Mr.. John Hoene,
Cottonwood, Idaho.
Dear Friend:
have been in Honolulu just
month and half today and l expect
you think it is time had formed a few
impressions regarding the island. l
have not been around the island yet and
have great many things to find out
yet, however ! will try to tell you few
of the things l have learned so far.
First, let me say that the trip over
here was very pleasant. came on the
Niagara from Vancouver, B. c. 1t is a
fairly large boat and fully equipped. l
was only sick one day. l. think it was
the fourth day out On the fifth day Il
of US each bet shilling (25c) on the
mileage the boat would make that day
and won the pot, which was a sover-
elgn and shilling. We played quoits,
bull-board, etc on deck during the day
and had concerts and dances at night.
There were six pianos on the boat.
When we landed on the morning of
seventh day Cecil Phillips met me at
the wharf and proceeded to show me
the town. He and another man bought
a second hand Ford with nothing on it
but four wheels and an engine l
thought my old car was pretty well
stripped but this one had mine beat a
mile. Well, as l started to say, he
took me all over the town and around
it.
The thing that impressed me the
most when first landed here was the
number of different nations represented
here. Of course had heard thatsHon-
olulu was the most cosmopolitan city in
the world but didn't realize how it
would be till got here. l believe there
are more Japs here than any other ma
tionality. Then there are lots of Chi
Fnese and Koreans, Portuguese and Ha-
waiians, or Kanakas as they are called
here. Besides these there are people
of any nationality you may look for.
supposed the Japs would all be on the
plantations and in candy stores, etc,
but they have gotten into every bust
ness on the island. Everywhere you go
there are Jap plumbers, carpenters,
electricians, machinists, etc. The Ha-
waiians have gotten in the same way
but not to such an extent.
On account of so much cheap labor /
find that wages for mechanics are not
what ! expected unless man is above
the average and can get to be a fore
man of some sort. got a job wiring
the same day l landed here but only got
So per day to start on. After about
month, however, the boss raised my
wages and put me in charge of a gang
of eight men installing a street light
system at Fl. Ruger.
You will not find any sky-scrapers
here. believe the tallest building here
is the Alexander Young hotel which is
six stories high. One thing l noticed
was that nearly all the buildings have
permanent awning or marquet of sheet
iron. This is not allowed on the coast
on account of fires in tall buildings, but
makes it very nice here when the sun is
Inning or when it rains. By the way,
rains little here nearly every day
but no one pays any attention to it as
it doesn t last long and does not rain
hard.
Living as do, don't find it very ex-
pensive. 1t costs me about 75c a day
for meals and by rooming with another
fellow it only costs me $3.50 a week for
room rent. On the other hand, eggs
are selling now at Coo dozen but vary
from 40c to soc at different times of the
year. Milk, if am not mistaken, is
selling at Sc pint. Meat is high, al
though l can't say just how high. But
ter is about the same-selling for 30c
and 35c. Bananas can be bought for sc
and 1Oc dozen and pineapples are SC
to 10c each. Tomatoes sell for Sc to SC
pound the year round. Papaia seems
to be the most eaten fruit on the is
lands and it certainly is good. have
gotten so that l must have it for break
fast every morning.
The street cars here are modern and
run to all parts or the city. They do
not look like the cars in Spokane or
Portland however, as they are all of the
open air type and people get on or off
on either side. There is only one rail-