Evening star., 1921-08-22
HONOLULU AWAITS
PRESS CONGRESS
Many Strange Sights and
Customs May Prove BeWiI-
dering to Newspaper Men.
By the Associated Press.


HONOLULU, 7. H, August 2I-
Mainland newspaper men. arriving in
Honolulu for the first Tine, to at
tend the World Press Congress ses-
sions here in October. will find it
hard to believe at frs, hat they are
treading United States territory.
For in idiomatic language, customs,
many foods, traditions. vegetation
and climate, this far-fiung outpost of
the United States differs from the
maipiand as night differs from day.
Honolulu Very Cosmopolitan.
AS BELTS its position-''at the cross
roads of the Pacific"-Horfoluiu prob
ably is the most cosmopolitan COM
munlty under the American flag.
Here are Filipinos Japanese, Chinese
and natives of all other Pacific ocean
lands and islands in profusion.
Bearded and turbaned HinduS stalk
majes;ically the narrow streets and
representatives OF practically every
other race and nation in the world
are seen in town or along the eX
ccptionaily We'll built and maintained
automobile bouievards that thread
the Island of Oahu, on which Homo
In is situated.
Visiting newspaper men will walk
through shaded lanes of giant royal
palm trees, crowned with punches of
green cocoanuts. In other districts
they will crunch fallen dates, which
carpet the earth They will cat
poi" to which is attributed the
mighty athletic prowess o. i1a%aiia4IS
Poi is made by crushing the roots
Of the taro plant, which resembles
the sweet potato or yam of the main
land. HawailanS eat it with their
fingers and the varieties range from
''one-finger poi to 'four-finser poi"
the variation being in the consist
r. Il
alligator pears. which are rare and
expensive luxury on the mainland,
common and comparatively cheap in
Hawaii.
Native Words Adopted.
But perhaps the greatest difference
between Honolulu and the mainland
is in the adoption by nearly all resi-
dents of several dozen native words
which are used in preference to Eng
lish equivalents.
No "kamaaina," or old time resident,
ever thinks oe saying Il am done: he
says, Il am Pau pronounced pow"
which also means to stop. Instead of
A Keep out" sign is never seen in
Honolulu. Instead it is "Kapu."
"a" Might End Courtship.
A literal translation of ukulele.
musical instrument of wide renown, is
the bouncing flea," as ''uku" means
flea and "leie" to jump. Anything that
is good is ''ono." but "ona" means in
toxicated. "Pua" is flower, but "puaa"
is pig. distinction which makes a
Hawaiian lover extremely careful of
his pronunciation.
Aloha" one of the widest known
Hawaiian words on the mainland. is
greeting and an expression of fare
well at the same time, circumstances
debating whether it means hello" or
goodbye"
If one thirsts and asks a Hawaiian
whether he has water mainland
visitor usually is downcast when the
Hawaiian seems to reply. why. no."
What he really says is. "Wai no."
which means that he has plenty of
water and that the questioner is well
come to help himself.
1t is expected that with all these
words of general use and many more
which are common the visiting news
paper men will return to the main
land with far greater vocabuIaries
than were theirs when they came to
Honolulu.