Frank Coffee

“ And as a side remark I may say that if the price of sugar remains at its present high figure, I expect to find on my next visit to Honolulu more aeroplanes than in any other city of the world. Why not?
Honolulu might well be called the center-point of traffic on the Pacific. Visiting steamers generally spend the best part of a day there. Under normal conditions hotels and apartment houses are full of tourists. Stores and public buildings there compare most favorably with those found in cities of similar size in the United States. ”

“ The country passed through during the motor ride is devoted for the most part to the cultivation of sugar-cane, pineapples and bananas. Water used for irrigating the plantations comes through a tunnel eighteen thousand feet long and seven feet in diameter, which cost $2,000,000 to construct.
On all sides during the ride one sees the castor-oil tree growing, the oil from which is of great value. Being a vegetable oil, it will not burn, grind, or clog the delicate parts of machinery, nor will it freeze at high altitudes as will a mineral oil. ”

“ Hawaii does not find it necessary to offer premiums to induce visitors to spend winters there. In some towns of Florida the newsboys make no charge for papers on a day when the sun does not shine, so sure are they of Old Sol. Hawaiian skies are always clear and the sun shines every day—even when the rain is falling, and from this phenomenon comes the term "liquid sunshine." ”

“ Prior to the discovery of gold in California, the islands shipped wheat, potatoes, onions and other vegetables to the Golden Gate, but now sugar is king, the crop in 1916 returning $63,000,000, while pineapple plantations yielded $8,000,000, coffee $298,000, and rice $166,000.
When Captain Cook discovered the Hawaiian, or Sandwich Islands, in 1778, the native population was about 200,000. Hawaii was annexed to the United States in July, 1898, and created a Territory in 1900. A governor is appointed by Congress. The machinery of government is perfect and works very smoothly. ”

“ Hilo is a pretty tropical city. At a distance can be seen the highest snow-capped mountains in the Pacific, Mauna Kea, 14,000 feet high. In my opinion, the steamship company might have arranged for us to spend all forenoon in Hilo and still reach the volcano in plenty of time.
How to start or where to end in describing the greatest volcano on earth is a task for Dante. It is an enormous boiling cauldron which might keep busy a thousand invisible devils. ”

“ To aid cultivation of their crops, the Hawaiian planters maintain at their own expense laboratories equipped to assist in improvement of the quality of sugar, pineapples, coffee, bananas, etc. The Government also directs a farm for experimentation for improvement of crops and also to teach animal husbandry and kindred subjects. ”

“ In instances where the pressure from within proves too great, the lava will often break away from the main stream at the weakest spot. Again, the air quickly cooling the lava at this breaking point will strengthen the casing and the lava again flows on its straight course.
The city of Hilo, though on the ocean beach, and far away enough from the volcano, still was in the direct way of the lava flow. Great consternation spread everywhere. ”

“ However, it is the people who interest the visitor more than anything else, probably. Next to Singapore, there are more mixed races in Honolulu than can be found elsewhere in the Pacific. Besides the natives, one meets Spanish, Russian, Koreans, Chinese, Japanese, Filipinos, Costa Ricans, Samoans, negroes and other islanders, as well as various other white races, including the Portuguese. ”

“ In the center of this "mouth of hell" are islands formed by lava shooting up, the red-hot streams mounting to considerable heights. These islands rise and fall and lean at different angles, which indicate that they are afloat on molten lava. The main stream of lava moves at a rate of two to four miles an hour, out of which a gusher will shoot forth, now and then, throwing up snakelike tongues of red and white molten lava, and spreading over the sullen gray crust. ”

“ This is the reason that castor oil is exclusively used for airplane motors. The oil is extracted from the bean produced by the tree, the red bean being the most valuable for the purpose.
Trip To The Volcano Of Kilauea During the many years of my travel on the Pacific I had heard from Hawaiians and fellow birds-of-passage thrilling descriptions of this most famous volcano, but somehow I never had a chance to pay a visit to Kilauea. Not to visit this volcano while one is in Hawaii is like leaving Hamlet out of Shakespeare's play. ”

“ Thus they convey their meat to the Honolulu market. I learned that two-and-a-half-year-old bullocks will dress four hundred pounds of beef. Five other ranches on the islands are managed or owned by men from New Zealand, who left their own country many years ago. Why they should leave one of the most suitable cattle lands on the globe for a new and untried country is a puzzle to me.
We arrived at Hilo about seven o'clock Thursday morning. Breakfast over, we started out for the volcano, thirty miles away, where we arrived at about eleven o'clock. ”

“ Future generations of white Hawaiian Islanders have a great load of responsibility to carry if they are to maintain the reputation that the present generation enjoys for hospitality and geniality. Some of the visitors are certainly trying. ”

“ In order to see the city and its suburbs best while you have but the length of the steamer's stay in port to do so, it is advisable for passengers to arrange a party and hire an automobile to carry them to the places where everyone is supposed to go. ”