Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-09-22

WHEN We got there, my companion. Jim
Wv Mclean. decided TO have q try at black
Birding. or recruiting labor IN the South Seas
for Hawaiian sugar plantations. and joined the
brgantine Stormbird. commanded by Capt. c.
H. Tierney. Away he sailed, leaving defense
less John Cameron alone In Honolulu. Defense
less? Yes, because Mrs Mclean had got wind
Of Jim and sailed for Hawaii: she enlisted the
Bishop Of Honolulu, who set the police on Jim'S
trail. Their investigations brought the lady
no. thank Heaven, not to my door-to the Key
stone Saloon. where there was o barkeeper
named Mclean. Mr. Mclean" she demanded.
Present madam" responded the barkeeper.
Madam" she moaned. Man you're not my
husband!"
She possessed her soul In patience, however,
and soon the truant returned. all on edge for
the civilized delights of Honolulu, such as ice
and soda with his whisky. Back he went, a
broken wretch, to San Francisco. There saw
him again in 1888 and 1886. He was well
tanned, respectable, in fairly good circumstances,
but not my old crony; never again would he
have dared rob his wife'S stocking bank.
Life in Honolulu in those days was one long
holiday. The climate could not be surpassed:
the people, both native and foreign, were pleas
ant; customs were free and easy. Doors Of
residences were seldom or never locked money
or valuables could be left lying about house in
perfect security. In this paradise the one diver
sion was the arrival or departure Of steamer
When a vessel had sailed q depression settled
upon the city, isolated from the sinful remote,
yet still interesting world. Perhaps the exiles
longed for pine and heather instead of plumeria
ana ginger perhaps they merely yawned in
boredom.
I myself was far from tedium, but the sea
was calling and got a berth as second officer
on the brig Pomare. Capt Trip, which was
being fitted out by the Hawaiian Government
for blackbirding voyage to the South Seas.
The first mate was Dutchman named Ramm.
A fourth white man In the cabin was govern
ment agent named Degreaves. who was to be in
immediate charge Of recruiting. He was an
Englishman. hailing, believe. from the Channel
Islands. most valuable addition was made to
our crew when Degreaves shipped a recruter.
Jimmy Kerrigan, who had just finished his
work with the Australian schooner. Jimmy
was the son of an Irish father and Fiiian
mother. His father endowed him with deviltry
and biting w.t. and from neither parent did
he learn the meaning Of fear, as his nickname
Of Jimmy the Devil" amply attested.
Degrsaves arranged that the Devil and I
should handle the boats on all recruiting ex-
petitions, while the agent contented himself
with registering the names. sex and ages Of
the blackbrds, supplying them with numbered
tin discs, by which they could be identified, and
with clothing. which goodness knows they
needed For the men there were suits of denim:
for the women holokus, or gowns like Mother
Hubbards.
Little success was ours at first. The natives
were shy and suspicious Notwithstanding
Jin1mys pains to make clear what Hawaii was
and where; although he assured them that the
climate was like that Of the New HebrideS,
that the products Of the soil were similar:
promised them good wages, as compared with
what other agents were offering: guaranteed to
return them to their homes when their thee
year contracts had expired; and by way of q
conclusive argument emphasized that the King
and Queen Of Hawaii also were brown skinned.
That was the rub: the fellows feared they were
being sought as slaves.
HAVING combed Erromanga. We sailed for
Api, . well wooded island with much high
land. Fruit vegetables and fish were to be
had in abundance. at prices that seemed ride
ulous to one fresh from sophisticated Hawaii:
pipeful Of tobacco would buy q chicken or