10 Conservative *
SAN FKANCISCO TO MANILA.
If wo did not make trouble , how much
easier life would bo ! Oonutless imagin
ary obstacles obstruct onr way , but
when we reach them , the shadows only
linger. Wo smile and pass on to dream
of more ; and such will always bo the
condition of most ordinary mortals.
Sunday morning , Oct. 1st , I stood by
the United States pier number one ;
along side woe the steamer Glenoglo , an
old ocean tramp , and when she became
useless as a freighter , I suppose they
turned her into an army transport to
carry the best America can give , across
the deep.
I do believe that Sunday morning was
the longest I ever spent. Would the
boys never come ? Had something
turned up and they were checked off
until some future date ? Sitting there
upon the dock , I sweated , waited and
fretted as the hours went by. At lost
they came down the street. Marching
along in the rear was Brown , the cook ,
a big hearted , red whiskered fellow ,
with his face all covered with dust and
perspiration.
As I came up he said , "We are going
this time sure. What a ride it will be !
Traveling is what strikes me. " I quite
agreed with Brown , and together we
walked down the pier , up the gang
plank and aboard. Then I went below
and tumbled into the nearest bunk. I
could breathe freely once more. What a
relief it was 1
Four bells rang out. The tug boat ,
Albert , was made fast to our bow. The
bowsers creaked and slipped. The ship
began to move along the shore. San
Francisco bid us farewell and wished
everyone Godspeed. I can never forget
it , for one seldom finds a city where
people , with one voice , cry out , "We are
your friends , ask what you will. "
The surgeon-major stood on the hur
ricane deck with a pair of marine glasses
to his eyes , watching his wife until she
disappeared in the crowd. It was a look
of long farewell. She followed him
shortly eight thousand miles across the
Pacific , only to find a poor lifeless body.
Back she went to her native land , alone
with her sorrow and her dead.
The Gulden Gate.
I watched the city until it passed be
hind the hills. Looking around I found
myself almost alone. To the right and
left were great mountains of jagged
rock ; it was the Golden Gate. The sea
was getting rough. Over the starboard
side , the waves brokB into blinding ppray.
At daybreak the ship was running at
about twelve knots ; the compass pointed
southwest by south ; the barometer was
going down ; land was nowhere in sight
and we were truly at sea.
I venture to say one might take a
voyage of a hundred days on ship board
and if land was not sighted and the
weather continued fair , you could not
recall a single day ; you only remember
that once you wore very sick and that
now you eat enormously and are very
happy ; and so one day breaks into an
other and time flies on.
I do remember the long rows of
berths , made with simply a piece of
canvas , stretched from two beams , with
kuapsacks and blankets scattered every
where. To the right and left were the
port holes , through which the water
came one night and drenched us all.
The boys would sit on the main deck
under great sheets of white ducking ,
playing cards , reading or telling stories.
In the evening the baud would play for
an hour or more. I would listen to
sweet music , watch the spray break
over the forecastle head , feel the trem
bling of the propeller shaft ; look over
an endless plain of liquid green ; ah ! it
makes one feel how small he is. I can
not recall much else , but those were
happy days.
One afternoon I was lying on top of
the sky light when I heard a shout ,
Look , fellows , there's land. " Sure
enough , in the distance indistinctly rose
a line of darker green. Before night we
rounded Oahn , one of the Hawaiian
group , and now I will take a few words
from sketches made at the time.
Honolulu.
Oct. 8th On every hand are high
mountains and nestling down at their
feet I gaze for the first time on Honolulu
lulu , while the hills seem to whisper ,
' 'In dreamy Hawaii. ' ' As soon as break
fast was over , I started out to see the
place. I expected to find a semi-bar
baric city of thatched roofs and bamboo
poles , but imagine my surprise when I
found myself in an intensely modern
town , electric lights , trolley cars , and
paved streets. But the shock was yet
to come , for in going round a corner ,
there appeared in great red letters upon
the fence , "Use James Pyles Pearliue ,
for Easy Washing. " Sitting down on
the curbing I lit a cigarette and tried to
collect my scattered senses. Down the
street upon a sign board I recognized a
familiar face , which underneath read ,
"Don't fail to see Olay Clement in his
great play , 'The New Dominion' "
where won't washing compounds and
theatricals go ? I don't remember what
else I saw that day surprise sometimes
robs a person of memory , and I had but a
short time off , for now 1 was cook in
the ship's gallery.
Oct. 9th. I went out this p. in. to see
the beautiful side of the city. I looked
for beauty and found it. Broad drives
and parks were every where long ave
nues of cocoa , palms , palmettoes innu
merable , banana trees in blossom , myr
iads of tiger lilies and other flowers.
Around many of the residences were low
stone walls , bidden by creepers. To
wards evening I climbed the mountain
side and looked over the city. It made
me think of a mighty green house set
down beside the sea.
I went down town that night , the
band of Honolulu gave a concert. It
was composed of fifty pieces and the
harmony was perfect. I never listened
to better music. At the close , one of
the dusky maidens sang a song like this ,
"I Love Somebody Just Like You" .
Her face was far from beautiful , but
she possessed one of the sweetest voices
I ever heard.
In returning to the ship I passed the
queen's palace ; a low , gray , stone build
ing. At the gateway lay a form in
kakee brown. I recognized him at once
as one of company O. Taking hold of
his shoulder I tried to make him get up.
In a little while he opened his eyes and
in a husky voice said , "Gee Bill , but I
feel good. " It took me over an hour to
walk that fellow back to the ship a
quarter of a mile.
Oct. 10th. I was told this morning
the coal bunkers were nearly full. The
little blue flag floats from the main
mast. That means the ship leaves port
in twenty-four hours.
Going ashore I spent the day in
studying the people , Krtnakees , ( the
name given the people ) . They are hard
working , intelligent people , with a ten
dency in middle age towards obesity.
Japanese and half castes control a great
portion of the business. Prices were
very high but the population .appears
well contented , especially the younger
generation , who paddle in the water all
day. In every creek or water hole , one
is certain to see a dozen 01 more little
black heads popping up here and there.
Sometimes the little fellows would lie
for whole hours in some shady corner ,
without moving. They reminded me of
a lot of aligators I saw down in the
Florida everglades.
In passing a large , stone mansion , that
morning , I saw several soldiers in the
yard , and they motioned for me to join
them. In their midst sat an elderly
lady by a table which was covered with
small tumblers. As I came up she said ,
"I invite all the boys to drink with me. "
Then she pressed the juice from a small
pod into a glass of water , sweetened the
same , and handed it to me , saying ,
"Drink , yon will find it splendid. " I
did so. It was splendid , tasting very
much like coco cola. As I thanked her
and handed back the glass , she said ,
"You are the fifteen hundredth Ameri
can who has drunk at my table this
week. See , here is my tally book. "
This is the way she amuses herself from
year to year.
It was time to prepare dinner when I
went on board. Part of my work waste
to make the coffee. Going to the tank ,
I found the old grounds had not been
thrown out. Being in a hurry , I tried
to dump it all at once , through the port
doorway. I shall never know how it
happened , but strainer and all fell over
board. Here was a nice mess. The
water was over six fathoms deep. Se
curing a grapple , I tried to hook it , but