Evening star., 1921-09-26
SOUTH SEAS LURE,
HAWAIIAN PROBLEM
Bundles of Letters for ''Sott
Jobs" Pour In on Cham
ber of Commerce.

HONOLULU, T. H, September l.
The romantic lure of the south seas
has become so potent throughout the
world that the Honolulu Chamber OF
Commerce is faced with an increas-
ingly onerous and embarrassing
problem, it's officials announced here
recently.
For inhabitants of the Grass, cold
commercial world of the temperate
zone deSire-and make their desires
known in a pile of mail that VS. IN
creaSing constantly with each steam
er-to leave their unromantic dtnloS-
phere and come to Hawaii, the land
of music and flowers, where tradl-
tion has the golden moon always full
and where a persons life, according
to popular belief. consists of lclling
on the shaded beach at Waikiki.
famed by the cooling trade winds
and reaching up occasionally to pluck
enough fruit from the overloaded
boughs to afford sustenance.
All Ready to "Sncrifice."
The writer's of the last steamers s
mail ranged from stenographers, ed
ucators, chiropodists. ex-jockeys, to
schoolboys and countless others. All
emphasized the great sacrifice they
The only condition they impose about
the positions they hoped fo obtain
was that they be soft" according
TO Mrs. E. X. Stone, acting secretary
of the chamber.
That's all they want" she added.
The number of letters containing
the same request is increasing with
each steamer and some drastic meas
ureS will have to be taken soon to
cope with the situation. 1t can't go
on. or the chamber building will be
inundated"
One graduate of four leading uni
versities. with long string of de-
. grees capped with 'Ph. d." desired
: to come to some local corporation as
an efficiency educator"
Ready to Hemstitch.
Another letter asked whether hem
stitching was popular in the islands.
her sewing to Honolulu. A young man
in the backwoods of Maine offered to
travel 5000 miles to Hawaii to in
struct the residents in higher educa-
tion.
A girl in California referred to the
spell that the Hawaiian moon has cast
over her and wondered whether she
couldn't help out some business man
by doing lust q little typing."
Some of the letters show that the
wrlCerS nave at least q little knoWl-
edge about the islands, Mrs. Stone
said. Others are just as farfetched
as that written recently by man in
Il small Virginia town. He wanted to
know whether there were any nice,
warm tropical islands for sale in this
vicinity 1 answered that he could
find, without. any trouble, a real es-
tate firm that would sell him part of
this very island, but doubted whether
he could even obtain a lease on all
of it,
1000 Brides In England.
Another incident illustrating the
lure Of the tropics concerned a letter
that some friends of an army enlist
ed man stationed here wrote to a
, newspaper in Portsmouth, England.
signing the private's name without his
knowledge.
This is more or less lonely life
for a fellow in Honolulu, as white
women are scarce" the joking letter
read.
More than 1000 women in England
have written thus far, bffering to
marry the man, he said. recently. The
women range in age from fourteen
to forty, but all have felt the urge of
the south seas. The letters are so
numerous that postal authorities in
San Francisco tie them in bundles Of
fifty each. The man said: THE truth
of the matter is that I don't want a
wife, as can't support one"
Meanwhile the letters continue to
pour in to this man at the rate Of at
least 500 every steamer.