--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Hewlett, Frank J. collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 12 number: 10 published: 1909-08 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'Frank J. Hewlett, "People and Places in the Orient—III. Cross-Roads of the Pacific," *Improvement Era* 12, no. 10 (August 1909): 823–828.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera12010unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera12010unse start_page: 823 end_page: 828 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1909-08) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera12010unse publication_year: 1909 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1909, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # People and Places in the Orient—III. Cross-Roads of the Pacific PEOPLE AND PLACES IN THE ORIENT. BY FRANK J. HEWLETT, DIRECTOR OF THE UTAH STATE FAIR AND PRESIDENT OF HEWLETT BROS. COMPANY. III.— CROSS-ROADS OF THE PACIFIC. "Aloha— Love to you, " was the royal welcome received on that bright morning, April 2, 1909. The Hawaiian band, playing sweet music, came out in a launch to greet their former Queen. The dock was thronged with people, and flowers of every hue could be seen, and we felt that the welcomewas intended for all of us. As soon as the ship was made fast at the wharf, the Queen's private secretary, who was waiting on the wharf with an automobile, rushed aboard, and a few minutes later, Cocoanut Palms, Honolulu. decked with Ms, carnation- wreaths of all colors, Liliuokalani was escorted down the gang- way to the waiting machine. The large crowd of natives assembled, with heads bowed in reverence, watched her in silence as she passed. There was no cheering or clapping of hands, but we fancied there were tears in the eyes of some of the ladies present to greet her with "Aloha, Aloha. " The tropical vegetation, the gently sloping, green sugarcane plantations,the cloud- wreathed mountains, and the black wave- washed land that we had discerned from the top steamer-deck be- fore reaching the harbor, made us doubly anxious to set foot on these mid-ocean islands. The graceful cocoanut palm trees lifting their tufts of foliage, on their slender stems, high above the sur- rounding vegetation along the shore, seem to plead with us for a better acquaintance. The geographical position of Hawaii entitles it to the name of "Cross-roads of the Pacific." All the steamers with one excep- tion, leaving San Francisco for the Orient stop here. The Brit- ish Columbia- Australian mail boats between Vancouver and the colonies, also stop once a month each way, and the American-Hawaiian line be- tween Salina Cruz, Hawaii, and San Francisco, make this port a stopping place, and in consequence thousands of per- sons visit Honolulu during Rice Field, Hawaiian Islands. every month. One can see from the numerous ships and steamers at anchor, that it is truly a commercial center, and will be the more important when the ad- ditional highway is opened by the completion of the Panama Canal. In the harbor now, are ships for Australia, and the Philippine Islands, launches, barges, fishing smacks, sampans, and two large Japanese battle ships, the Asa and Soya. To the westward are the placid waters of Pearl Habor, to be made into an important naval station by the United States Govern- ment. As the commerce of the Pacific is constantly increasing and soon to rival that of the Atlantic, it is natural that one is anxious to learn more about this important and convenient stop- ping place. Congress has appropriated $2,000,000 for a new dry dock which is to be constructed in Pearl Harbor for the Navy de- partment, $200,000 of which is made immediately available. The length of the dry dock will be 720 feet, and as designed will take the largest battle ship built or contemplated. The bids for the dock will be opened May 22. Uncle Sam has planned the structure in such a way that at any time it may be lengthened by addition to the inner dock. PEOPLE AND PLACES IN THE ORIENT. 825 Honolulu has many miles of macadam roads. Ttoce up-to- date daily papers, the Advertiser, Star, and Bulletin, besides several printed in foreign languages. The electric car lines now in operation cover twenty-six miles. They are conducted in a manner that would set an example to many cities in the United States. The motormen are mostly American, while the conductors are Hawaiian. They are neatly dressed in darK-blue uniforms with brass buttons, and are polite and obliging. Breakdowns and de- lays are of rare occurrence Transfer slips are given from one . . line to another, so that the entire city may be traversed for one five cent fare. 1 he connections which these transfers are made from are as accurately timed as at railway junctions. The cars are of the newest pattern, always clean, and the passenger touches the electric bell when he wants to get off, without burdening the memory of the conductor. The first trolley ride was to the Aquarium at Waikiki Beach, and the rainbow-hued fishes of all shapes and sizes were an inter- esting study. As we were about to leave, two cars packed with school children with their teachers came up. For a cosmopolitan crowd, I have never seen its equal, Chinese, Koreans, Japanese, Malays, Negroes, Natives, Americans, in fact it would take a master mind to tell of what nationality There were all were. both sexes, from eight to about fifteen years of age, laughing, Surf-riding Hawaiian Canoe, Waikiki, Honolulu. 826 1MPR0VEMEN7 ERA. singing, romping on the grass, talking pretty good English; color or cast cut no figure with them, they were innocence, purity, home- liness, and beauty, combined in one group. A few minutes later they were in bathing, in the place world-famed for its beauty, the even temperature of its waters, and splendid surf boat riding. How tenderly the lady teachers handled the tiny tots while in the breakers which seemed like fleecy white clouds blown over the sea-foam masses of lace-like embroidery across the dark-blue waters. As I formed a picture in my mind of the teachers ovei our Junior classes, with our boys and girls all romping together on that beautiful beach, I regretted they were not present. A few yards away, tall cocoanut trees stand like sentinels, as if to Young Hotel, Honolulu. shield them from harm, surrounded by foliage rich in color and rare in fragrance. There are here at present about 60,000 Japanese and Chinese, 25,000 Americans, 25,000 Portugese and Malays, and 40,000 na- tives, but nearly all the business is conducted in English. Oriental people and ways are always full of interest. In Hawaii, the Orient and the Occident meet on the "cross-roads." Chinese and Japan- ese, Koreans and Malays, present by reason of the demand for labor, mingle with the other population of men, women, and chil- dren, the varied scenes in street and shop combine to make the Oriental quarters a place of constant entertainment. Here mav PEOPLE AND PLACES IN THE ORIENT 827 be seen a Chinese dealer with his little son as an assistant, patiently waiting on a customer, but never importuning anyone to buy. There is another one listening respectfully to the criticism of a woman engaged, Oriental fashion, in beating down his price, but it is a case of "no savey" with the Chinese merchant. Not far away a quartette of Japanese taking their breakfast, and a poor breakfast it would seem to a Utah boy or girl, a calabash of rice, a bowl of soy, and black coffee in little sake cups which they replenish frequently from an old black coffee pot; the contents are plainly cold. The Japanese quarter also abounds in book stores, few or none were to be seen on streets where the Chinese were in the majority. Most of the books had lurid paper covers, and treated of the late war. On the illuminated covers the Japan- ese and Russians were always in conflict, the men from the frozen north, of course, were always the under dog in the fight. In the large pictures for framing, Russian ships are being destroyed, and Port Arthur bombarded, all in very bad drawings, and most lurid and un-Japanese colors. The best shops in the Oriental quarters are along King Street, and these are patronized by Hawaiians and foreigners, as well as by well-to-do Orientals. The porcelains, grass linens, silks, and crepes, are of good quality, the price being higher than in China, as might be expected where cost of freight and duties are included in the price asked of the customer. There was a pretty little comedy enacted in one of these shops which left the onlooker in serious doubt as to its happy ending. A middle aged man, evidently a gardener or teamster, had brought with him a bright almond-eyed little maid about ten years old. She wore purple drawers faced with pink, a bright green jacket fastened with yellow buttons and loops, and her silken, jet-black braids were lengthened with rose-colored cords. The father was selecting an American hat for her with about the same success that an American father would have shown who endeavored to in- trude himself into this purely feminine sphere of activity. A large, dull-brown creation wa3 chosen in strict conformity to masculine ideas. The child shook her head violently and shrugged her shoulders while the hat was tried on. Even the Chinese shop- keeper protested. Then he handed out another, wreathed in a garland of deepest pink and brightest green. At this the child's face lighted up. The price was asked, the father shook his head and led the child by the hand from the shop. It was a tiny tragedy and one wondered how it ended finally, but the chief suf- ferer had already been schooled in Oriental stoicism. Her set countenance gave no indication of the disappointment that must have filled her heart with despair. Let us meander through the fish market. It is a large build- ing and is well adapted for the purpose intended, with abundant space, open at the sides, concrete floors that are flushed and scrubbed daily. All that goes on, the buying and selling is open to view, carefully watched by the city fish inspector. The fish for sale are of all hues of the rainbow, and some were pointed out to us as ka-hala, the ula-ula, and u-u. The latter with ula-ula and some others are all large fish. Recently a ulua was caught, a fish that is now shy and rare, which weighed 350 lbs. It was six and a half feet in length and was captured by natives outside the reef, at Waikiki. Various kinds of mullet —the prince of fishes to the Hawaiians — are The pau-a, a large grey fish, the sold. flesh of which is very dark, is much relished by the natives, eaten raw. As one goes through the roomy booths one could see fish of every color and description. On one of the most prominent corners may be seen dozens of natives, women and old men, with, you might say, cartloads of flowers, which they were threading on strings one at a time until they had hundreds of strands made, which they dispose of at a nominal figure. This is an extra busy day for them, the arrival of their former queen, the two Japanese battleships with fifteen hundred men aboard, and the S.S. Siberia, all would want flowers. As the old saying goes, when in Rome, be Romans, so, when in Hawaii, be Hawaiians. Flowers form a part of their lives. From time immemorial the custom has been to twine wreaths of blos- soms and sweet-smelling vines, called in the vernacular leis, and these are worn about the neck, around the hat, and on the hair as a crown by the women. But let us rush to the dock as we remem- ber the sign, "Siberia sails at five, sharp." Inside the harbor a bunch of eighteen amphibious native boys swarmed about the sides of the steamer like big, rollicking, brown frogs. They clambered up onto the top deck; then, into the life