Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1917-02-16
Our Household
Conducted by
MISS LIZZIE O. THOMAS
ELxsIAN LAND AND CUSTOM.

Sometimes | think that our people,
those away from the Pacific ocean, are
not sufficiently acquainted with our Ha-
wstiiau possessions The city of Hon
oiulu, and surroundings. is rs near my
idea of an earthly Paradise as ] have
found i'm fact il is the fuliillmeut of
my ideal, combining beauty of nature
and the higher type OF mans coustruc-
tive ability.
l had been in the Far East six years
and had enjoyed the miniature trees,
the tiled or matched roofs of the
Asiatic houses. Had been in Eastern
Siberia and had been impressed with the
massive edifices. all walls three feet
thick by imperial decree, consequently
when l reached the beautiful city of
Honolulu. saw streets lined with rare
shrubs or Towering hedges / gave
sigh of rapture and literally basked in
its beauty.
The United States has botanical
garden in Honolulu that will furnish
free to any property owner all the seeds
and shrubs necessary for their prem
Uses. Think of not having to buy
flower seeds nor bulbs. l spent two
hours there and could have probably
put in a whole day but there were too
many other places of interest to visit
We were two weeks on the boat, from
Yokohama, Japan, to Honolulu. and that
is about as long as 1 have found
agreeable. Things began to get mo-
notonous, and this break in the three
weeks voyage from Japan to America
would be delightful if the city were only
ordinary.
But imagine sunshine that seems made
to order, the sort that we sometimes
have on perfect spring days. Then
imagine the water so clear that one can
see a piece of money twenty feet be-
low the surface, look away from the
water Immediately surrounding the boat
and you will see all the beautiful col
ors of an opal.
In all the land and on the sea there
seemed a calm that all the hustle and
stir that big ship failed to counterfeit.
Soda water and soft drinks are strict
ly American. and in all the far east for
years and years there was only one
soda fount. That one was presented
to our United States Seaman's home at
Nagasaki, Japan, by the Christian En-
deavor of some city in New Jersey.
Every ship that landed our people at
Nagasaki informed her passengers OF
the treat for them and it was source
OF pleasure and of profit.
At Honolulu there was, of course
plenty of ice cream and sundaes as well
as soda waters, and you should have
seen the stream OF people that made
a Decline for the drug stores. One
Englishman was in our party. he had
never tasted an american, ice" as they
are called in Europe. We had the pleas
Ure of seeing the look OF satisfaction
that dawned on his face after he got
over the shock of the first spoonful
heard that afternoon that he made six
trips to the American ice" parlor
our dinner was planned for in pa
-
place to see the surf riders. There are
no coral reefs TO break the force of
the waves and they break with great
violence.
These waves are the delight of the
surf riders. Each one has his surf board
w hich is simply a plank about an inch
and half in thickness eighteen inches
wide and eight feet long. 1t should be
~li-htly followed down the center and
a2s enc end rounded. They are frequent
- stained black. rubbed with cocoanut
oil and treated most carefully when not
IL use, being wrapped in cloth and safely
hung in the home - ....
Their clothing is as scant as any bali
players. They must be as much at
home in the water as we are on land
'!unging beneath the first wave, they
Use beyond IL and swim out TO sea till
hey meet another. in each case diving
Just at the right moment to allow the
bill0w to pass over them. If they mis-
calculate for one second the surf catches
them and dashes them shoreward. and at
such times they need to be good swim
mers or they will be battered on the
rocks Practice makes perfect and they
cften get beyond the swell into COM
-aratively smooth water.
Then is when the excitement really
begins. Their first care is 10 select
what they consider a winning sea-horse.
They calculate that every third wave
Is large one and will rush higher up
The beach. So they try to mount that
biggest" billow and go shoreward at
lightning speed. Should the rider fail
20 keep his place on exactly the right
angle on the crest of his green billow
he will be oyertaken BIZ the surf that.
follows and to avoid that surf he must
dive again and swim out to sea and
start again. Should he fail to select the
right wave it will break before it reaches
shore and out TO the open he must go
again, and in that event he must battle
for his life against the pitiless surf. But
10 the man of skill and judgment 1t is