IN THE LAND OF ALOHA!

Evening Star, Issue 17926, 23 March 1922, Page 4

IN THE LAND OF ALOHA!

aous or cpiiOß asd szavit.

By W.FX

Our first sight of Honolulu was a couple of years ago, when the Royal mail steamer Niagara, on which wo wore travelling, stopped there on her way to Vancouver, and wo were privileged to get ashore for a few .hours in the evening, and again next morning. Tho place, fascinated us beyond measure, and after motoring through the citv. found the suburbs, out to Wailu!ii ( up to the country club, and tho Pali—'that wonderful wind-swept precipice. with its indescribable view-—we said that .some day,'if California ■ failed to satisfy, we would como back and make our homo there. And California, with all its charm, did fail to satisfy. Wo were fn_ search of fl climate and an atmosphere in' which wo would not be alternately roasted and chilled, dr perpetually roasted or perpetually chilled; and after a year and a-half in the Golden : Stnto we decided, after much deliberation, to depart from _ its shores to the land of perpetual epnug. A never-to-be-forgotten motor drive from San Diego to San Francisco was alt experience so exhilarating that the temptation to turn back on our tracks and do it all over again was with difficulty resisted. Wo had, however, taken our tickets by tho Matson liner, and decided to push on; so after ten rather dreary, rainv days in the big city we sailed away from the muddy streets and foggy saics of San .Francisco (you must say the name in full oyer there), and within six days emerged into tho sunshine and dancing waters of the paradise of the Pacific—that gem of earth set in an ocean of blue, a blue so lovely that I think it must have been made in heaven. In ever in all my days havo I seen such a b.i.c, with perhaps the single exception of a sunrise sky on a memorable t-np across Fovcaux -Strait when returning from Stewart Hand in the congenial company, of the late editor of this paper many rears ago. The gold and blue and limpid green of that sunrise was the most wonderfully beautiful bit of coloring in Nature T have over seen ; bub the water seen from tho deck of our vessel as we approached Oahu—the name of the island on which Honolulu is built—comes a good second. Who mixes tho palette and paints these colors ? Tho Divine Creator is surely first of all a. great artist, who delights to spread His canvas with colors so marvellous, bo audacious, as no mere human artist would have the audacity to imitate. And when you draw up to tho pier and pass the Customs officers, walk down tho gangway and get ashore, jump into yoin motor car and drive round to see the .streets and the houses and the people and ’’the flowers, what a delightful time you do have! Lord Northcliffe, who spent a day there when en route to New_ Zealand last year, gives a glowing description of tho place Tn tho London ‘Times.’ He says a world-iwido traveller who had seen moat places worth seeing on this had said to him : “ You may be disappointed with some of the show places of the world, but it is impossible that yon could be disappointed with Honolulu.” That certainly will be the verdict of all who are fortunate enough to spend even a few hours ashore on Hawaiian soil. How shall I describe its bewildering beauty, how paint tho glory of its thoiisand flowering trees and shrubs which line the streets and deck the parks and hills, their fallen blossoms covering tile ground with carnets of varying shades of red, purple, and vellow ? What words can give the faintest idea of the haunting loveliness of the mountains, their green slopes clothed to the summit with soft, misty clouds, which drape their delicate forms like angels robes ? Over and over again have we seen those ranges in the early morning or towards set of sun, mid felt sure their beauty would baffle tho skill of all but the greatest artists to reproduce. _ Then the first time you are driven up that wonderful mountain road to the Nuanna Pali, six miles from the city, where ‘‘ from -an .elevation of—l,2ooft, hursts upon one’s view a sweep of land and sea, serried- crag, rolling pineapple field,'and winding road that holds ono breathless anti enthralled,” what a thrill you get! It was over this awful precipice that, the hosts of the King of Oahu were driven by the army of Kamehameha tho Great, tho first Hawaiian monarch who, in 1795, brought permanently under one government all the islands of the group. After an eventful history the islands were annexed by tho United States in 1898, and Honolulu may ’ nhw he classed as a thriving, up-to-date American city, plus the fascination of its marvellous climate, its wealth ol tropic ■splendior, and its varied and picturesque population’ of some 83,000 people. Accordring to a recent census, in one of the public schools there were found to bo thirty-two distinct races and _ race combinations. These comprise, besides Americans,. British and Hawaiians, Japanese, Chinese, Koreans, Filipinos, Mexicans, 'Russians, Indians, etc. On the surface it would appear that here the racial problem has been solved. These peoples, of all nationalities and all colors, seem to live happily together, and if we respect our brothers’ Wight to live and pay at least some little* attention to the Golden Rule surely this racial problem is not such an unsolvaible one after all.

When you are surfeited with the amazing fauna and flora of the island and the amazing variety of color and costume of the little people, if you want another thrill in the color line go down to Waikiki and see the Aquarium. Hero you will find a collection of fishes of incredible design and color, surpassing in grotesque and dazzling hues anything one could imagine in one's wildest dreams. Most of these little curiosities are no bigger than perch, and each new species oile sees in the tanks as one walks round the rooms seems to try to outdo the Other fellow in the funny camouflage ho lias adopted either to hide or distinguish him from the rest of the queer inhabitants of the sea. Again we ask; Who mixes the palette and lays on the colors? Is the great Artist a humorist as well, as an artist? I do not know what effect upon others a visit to this veritable riot .of color and to be seen in this unique aquatic collection has, but I came away trying to rearrange my concept of God.

Mention has been made of climate, and as climate cbnditions make up a large part of ouf_ comfort at cannot be disputed that Hawaii possesses aclimo pleasing to man and beast. Sere you tindl no fogs, or frost, or hurricanes, or blizzards, or continuous wet and cold, but soft, balmy breezes, bright skies, and a temperature rarely exceeding 85deg in the shade at the height of summer or falling below 60deg in the depth of winter* As for the sunshine, its joy day after day brings a sense of such perfect satisfaction that one feels ono has ‘‘got there.” It is paradise, or as near paradise as one can expect to bo oh- earth. Tom have no anxiety about the passing of time* The days and weeks and months go by—what does it matter? Those that follow will be the same, end you are content, happy, satisfied l ! As for the Hawaiian nights, they are indescribable* As dusk comes on look up through the waving cocoanut palms and see the stars come out one by one like gems set on a background of steel blue, or watch the moon rise over Diamond Head and fling a track of gold over a sea of silver. Hear the laughter of the bathers as they disport themselves for hours in the warm watprs, made secure from sharks by the coral reef by which the island is surrounded ; sit on your verandah, or " lanai,” as they call it there, and listen to the native, boys when they come round and serenade you with Hawaiian melodies to the accompaniment of the Ukulele, and toll me if you do not think you have had a little taste of heaven. Is it a wonder that a land like this has got a special word associated with it? That ‘word is "Aloha.” It is a wonderful word, meaning all aorta of things—"hearty welcome,” ‘‘friendly salutation,” " good-bye,” " my love to you,” and much more. I shall never forget the first time we heal'd it pronounced properly. The occasion, was a school demonstration in connection with tho rfloent Pan-Pacific Educational Congress, when various children of the many nationalities, dressed in their

native costumes, were brought forward to declare their allegiance to the Stars and Stripes and their love and devotion to their adopted country.* A sturdy Hawaiian, youth of about twelve years of age was entrusted with a recitation, each verso ending up with the word "Aloha,” which tho youth uttered with such fervor that tho very air resounded, as when a big gun is fired from tho deck of. a superdreadnought. Tho trees and shrubs and flowers are a constant, source of delight. You see them everywhere—hedges of pink and white oleanders, the hibiscus with its thousand blooms, bougainvillea covering entire cottages with its red and purple vines, tho night-blooming ccrous, a cactus which -flowers two or three times each summer on a mite ofhedge round tho Pmiahoo College} golden shower and ap-ple-blossom pmk shower trees line tho street by the score, while tho flnmo-rcd poinsotta, with its regal name and appearance almost lifts yon olf your feet. And everywhere are palms. Long avenues of stately royal palms, groves of coconut palms, with their feathery tops, date palms, hula palms, fan palms. I know not' where His islands lift Their trended l palms in air; I only know I cannot drift Beyond His love and care. Here surely we aro conscious of being very close to tho divine Creator’s love and care, fed by His fruits, warmed by His sunshine, uplifted by His beauty, made happy by His bounteous baud. I do not wonder that Nature-lovers like Robert Louis Stevenson, Jack London, and Mark Twain loved to go to Hawaii and stay there as long as possible. I do not wonder it haunted them and called them hack when they left it.

No alien land in all the world has any deep, strong charm .for mo but that one; no othijr land could so longingly and beseechingly haunt me sleeping and waking, through half a lifetime, as that one has done. Other things leave mo, but it abides; other things change, but it remains tho same. For me. its balmy -airs arc always blowing, its summer seas flashing in tho sun; tho pulsing of its surf-beat is in my ear; I can soo its garlanded crags, its leaping cascades, its^ plumy palms drowsing by tho shore, its remote summits floating like islands above the cloud rack; I can feel tho spirit of its woodlaud solitudes; I can hear the plash of its brooks,; in my nostrils still lives tho breath of flowers that perished twenty years ago.

Wc cannot improve upon these words of tho gifted author of Hucklcbury Finn ’; they sum up Hawaii; there wc will leave it, and say not farewell, but au revoir!