Norwich bulletin., 1921-12-01
IN THE DAYS NEWS
Hawai-.


 and most important strategicaly of the lands of the Pacific, Is no talone interest | Ing because of its military and naval | value to Uncle sam" says a bulletin | from the Washington, D. C.. headquarters | of the National Geographic society.
 Tt Is in many ways literally an island | paradise. Scarcely anywhere else in the | world may one roam through tropical | jungles with never a thought of poisonous | insects or snakes. Such creatures do not l exist in these fair islands. Even poison | though in the edge of the tropics, Hawaii has a cooler temperature by 10 degrees than any other land in the same latitudes. | Moreover, one may change his climate at will by a journey of few miles; for the.I northeastern half of each island, swept by the trade winds. Is rainy and heavily wooded, while just over the mountain ridge Is a drier, warmer region
 %In a way. the United States may well thank Boston and its daring traders and missionaries of the early days for the fact that Hawaii now flies the Stars and Stripes rather than ffie tri-color or the British Union Jack. A Spanish navigator first discovered the islands in 1855 but his country laid no claim to them and they were practically forgotten. The British Captain Cook visited the Ha- waiian group in ITS and named them the Sandwich Islands. Still the islands were practically unknown. Then, follow ing the close of the American Revolution, American ships began to sail the seven seas in growing numbers. and in 17Se the first ship flying the Stars and Stripes from Boston-visited the Hawaiians It was the first Of many from the same port, carrying traders, whalers and ad- venturers; and soon the natives had learned of the republic on the continent to the east. and came to consider
 United States and Boston synonymous
 'HThe Boston traders found each of the islands under a separate king, with two rival rulers on Hawaii, the largest of the islands One of the latter obtainer fire arms and ammunition from the traders and got their assistance in building a
 navy With this American help he be- came the Napoleon of the Pacific con- quered the other islands. and as Kane hameha l ruled over the consolidated
 Kingdom.
 The Americans found the Hawaiian trade good thing. They sold the king and his nobles everything from clothes and jewelry to billiard tables and steam yachts, and in return carter away ship
 loads of valuable sandalwood. Strong liquor was not forgotten among the i'm ports, and ia Honolulu amcng the nat l urally light-hearted natives the Ameri- an sailors contributed to the creation of gay Pacific resort, sort of forerunner
 of San Franciscos Barbary Coast of later | decades. Deserters from American ships, In the delightful haven of barbarous | paradise. helped to heighten the fame or | the infamy of the Honolulu of those days. The situation became such that in ] 1920 President Monroe sent an agent to
 reside in Honolulu and look after Ameri-
 can interests in regard to commerce and l seamen.
 "A shipload of missionaries, also from 1 Boston, arrived in the islands in 1920. | much to the disgust of t.I traders as well as those who had deserted the sea
 to tread Hawaii's primrose path. The complaint of the traders was that the mis- sionaries taught the natives the value of | things and so made trading unproftable. | American ways and teachings at tleir
 best made a great impression on the
 more thoughtful Hawaiians and when
 they reshaped their government they
 made the Ten Commandments the basis of their laws.
 More and more Americans visited and settled in the islands and the Hawaiians
 looked upon America as their best friend
 among the nations. When pioneers from
 the United States were pushing west to-
 ward California, just before the Mexican
 war which added that state to the union
 a British naval commander in the Pa
 cif1c. realizing the strategic importance l, of the Hawaiian group. seized the islands but his country promptly disavowed hi. act. After some difficulties with Franc,
 over the islands in the '4os the United l States declared a sort of Monroe dpctrin, toward them. As early as 1851 the island government, fearing trouble with othe, nations, provisionaily ceded the islandl , to the United States. But the cessfo1
 was not accepted and numerous effort l to become a part of the United State i were made in the following half century "In 1887 the United States obtained ' a concession for the use of Pearl Harbo 5 for a coaling station When Queen Liliu okalani attempted to abolish the consti tution in 1893. the constitutional parey l led by American settlers, brought abor 3 a revolution and dethroned her. One 0 1 ! the first acts of the provisional govern r ment was to apply for annexation to tn f United States. Germany was seizin } islands right and left In the Pacific, an l the Hawaiians wished to get under ! sheHerirs wing. Politics in the Unite 7 States delayed action and In the mean
 time the republic of Hawaii was organ f fzed. Then in 1898. during the Spanish Q Anellcdu WEI, ,COnkEcsS SuuucHlS Nohc 3 to make Hawaii American territory. e Though the Hawaiian Islands ar g known as the halfway house of th : Pacific In realty the distance from Sa t Francisco to Honolulu Is only about ha
 that from Honolulu to Australia. tt n Philippines or Japan. All the islands ar r of volcanic origin, but coral has grown Q : the shores of many of them The disiI a tegrated lava has formed a rich so y Which responds uberally to irrigatio' 2 Only Cuba and Java produce greater t It tai crops of sugar, and the per acre yiel 6 of Hawaii Is the greatest in the world D four tons without irrigation and six tor 3. with. The sugar crop for the year ende tt June 30, 1920 was worth s7s,5o0. 900. IT 8 pineapple crop, second in importance, vi e valued at s1s,5po,o0Q.
 7, One of the most interesting featur, g in regard to Hawaii Is the racial maker l. of it's population- The country had g 1t all-Hawaiian population believed to nul d Der several hundred thousands when e first became well known to American
 The diseases of civilization, irr'udir Q measles. killed off large part the 1t in the years following, and in 19zJ the ie were only 22,o00 fluff blooded HawaiiAl ,e in the islands and about 1e,0oo of mix, f blood. The two groups constitute le e than 15 per cent. of the 255,9 peep m living on the islands in 1920. The Anne l. jeans and northern Europeaps made d about 10 per cent, the Portuguese a, s pToximately g 1-2 and the Porto Rical
 l and Spaniards about 1-2. zhe tot