Around the world

Preface

In the years 1907-8 the writer made a trip around the world. He wrote to newspapers some sixty-seven letters in narration of what he saw. It has been suggested that these letters be republished in a book. This has been done in this volume. Its contents are the letters as they were written, with a few corrections and additions.

Table Of Contents

THE START—

I. Something of the journey and the reasons FOR IT 13

II. From Missouri to the Sandwich Islands. . 17

II. From Missotjri To The Sandwich Islands

It goes without sa3ang that no land is equal to ours. One of the comforts of a trip around the world is that one is confirmed in the belief. When we had finished the first five days of our journey, that from Missouri to San Francisco, we felt satisfied that we would behold nothing to surpass that which we had traveled over. It is a pleasure to be able, at the end, to realize that our opinion was correct. For where else are there such prairies, such woodlands, such rivers, such soil, such farms and cities, such products, such live stock, such enterprise and progress as in Missouri and Kansas? Where such cosmopolitanism and such manifestation of the progressive spirit of modern civilization ?

Where such scenery as that in Colorado and Arizona? Where such mineral wealth as that which lies embosomed in the Rocky Mountains? Where such climate, such prodigality of fruit and flowers as in Southern California? And where such another illustration of recuperative energy and indomitable pluck as that demonstrated in San Francisco, in its resurrection from fire and earthquake ?

We went by way of the Santa Fe Railroad upon one of its splendid vestibuled trains, with its observation, sleeping and dining and parlor cars, its electric lights, barber shops, a great hotel on wheels, running at rate of thirty miles an hour through scenery of unsurpassed beauty. No other experience more readily recalls the marvelous progress that has been wrought within the last half century as does the transformation of the Great American Desert into an abode of flourishing cities and smiling farms, and of the method of traversing it from the ox wagon to the modern express train.

The most noteworthy bit of scenery along the route is the Grand Canon of the Arizona, lying north of the main line of the Santa Fe sixty-four miles, which is reached by a branch railroad from Williams, Arizona. Nowhere have we beheld, nor do we believe there is a more wonderful, beautiful, sublime freak of nature. In richness of coloring, in curious and diversified conformation, in majestic grandeur it has no parallel. The Colorado river, by ages of erosion, has rent a defile in the earth two hundred miles long, fifteen miles wide and a mile deep. The earth has been cut into all manner of curious and fantastic shapes, until it resembles a vast field of architecture extending as far and farther than the eye can reach and it does not require an active imagination to fancy it a vast aggregation of castles and minarets, and towers and temples of every style of architecture. Upon a former visit we descended to the river, which from above, looks to be but a mere branch. But the trip requires a day, is tiresome, and not altogether free from peril. Our party was caught in a thunderstorm, and the writer came near being thrown over a precipice. The trip is not worth the risk. The best view of the canon is from the river. There is a fine hotel there, and the climate during the spring, summer and fall, is delightful. No tourist to the west can afford to miss a visit to this, the greatest curiosity in America, not excepting Niagara Falls, the Yosemite, or Yellowstone Park.

In various portions of Arizona and New Mexico are remains of the ancient cliff dwellings. We visited several galleries of

To the Sandwich Isles. 19

them in a cliff near Espanola, New Mexico, north of Santa Fe. Rising abruptly from a beautiful natural park of pines is a lofty hill of soft yellow stone, called tufa, out of which has been chiseled over a hundred feet from the base and for over a mile, many chambers, of which there are several tiers and which are accessible from anterior galleries. These are ten or twelve feet in depth and width and seven feet in height, and some of them contain several chambers.

Upon the summit of the hill are the remains of a large stone building of probably a thousand rooms, surrounded by a wall, and probably once used as a fort. The location commands a view of the plain for many miles and was probably selected as a protection against enemies. The dwellings, which were once occupied by Pueblo Indians, have been abandoned for many centuries. The fragments of broken pottery indicate the nationality and occupation of the inhabitants.

California is ever interesting. It is unique. By which we mean that it is unlike any other State or country. Its scenery, its fruits, its climate are sui generis. Its fruits are bigger and different from those elsewhere, but we are not prepared to admit that they are better. With the exception of oranges they are hardly so good. They lack flavor. Its flowers are incomparable. There the possibilities of irrigation have been demonstrated. Unirrigated Southern California is largely a desert. What irrigation has done for California it is destined to do for New Mexico, Arizona, and all the arid plains.

Where else in America do we find any region so nearly resembling our conceptions of paradise as in Southern California? Where such profusion of fruits and flowers, as in Los Angeles and Pasadena and Riverside and Redlands and San Bernardino?

Where such health and pleasure resorts as Los Angeles, Pasadena, Santa Barbara, Monterey and Catalina ? No wonder that wealth, which gets everything good, has fastened its covetous eyes upon this beautiful region, and that in few sections of America, if in the world, there is a larger number of magnificent homes of the very wealthy than are to be found all over it.

From the time one enters California at Needles until he leaves it at San Francisco or the Oregon line the scene is one of ceaseless interest. The State is one great valley with ranges of mountains upon both west and east. Great fields of wheat and raisins and barley and alfalfa, mammoth vineyards, groves of lemon and orange trees, stretch to the blue sky on the mountain ranges upon either side, except where the arid desert lies, and here the beautiful mirage greets the eye, and one may easily fancy he discerns ships sailing over a placid sea and amid green islands, when all is in reality a sandy plain.

Bakersfield, Stockton, Fresno, Merced, San Jose, Sacramento, Santa Rosa, and many other beautiful and prosperous cities lie along the route, and not far from the coast, Palo Alto, the site of the Leland Stanford University, many of whose buildings were yet in ruins, is passed.

Among the most interesting features of California are the enormous stock ranches owned by men of great wealth. They may be found in the central and northern sections, where the rainfall is ample and the country does not rely upon irrigation. Immense pastures afiford grazing for thousands of blooded horses, sheep and cattle, and the life upon these ranches and the fortunes they yield their owners read like stories of romance.

When we reached San Francisco it was in the midst of its rebuilding from the great earthquake and greater fire. That

To the Sandwich Isles. 21

was over a year ago, and the scene of confusion was such that one took his life in his hands to find his way through the streets. But since then a new San Francisco has risen upon the site of the old one, and is about as different as 1909 is from 1849. Time will come when there will be no greater city in America or in the world. For is it not the gateway to the Pacific? And is not the Pacific destined henceforth to be the chief center of political and commercial activity?

Already the city is growing with rapid strides. Together with the adjacent cities of Oakland, Alameda and Berkeley its proportions have become enormous, and they will grow in the ratio of our rapidly increasing commerce with the Orient. The city has long since passed the era of the pioneer and the adventurer and is in every sense a great metropolis.

After a few days spent in San Francisco we sailed on October 16 upon the steamer China, once regarded the largest steamship upon the Pacific, but now the smallest of the Pacific Mail steamers. Several of the latter are nearly twice as large.

On board were several missionaries sailing to various countries in the orient, and about half of the passengers were bound for Honolulu, where they resided, and which we reached after a fairly pleasant and uneventful voyage of a week.

HAWAII.

III. A Paradise Of The Pacific

Honolulu, November i, 1907.

This is the name which travelers have given to the Hawaiian Islands. After a visit of eight days to one of them, the Island of Oahii, upon which the city of Honolulu is situated, I am prepared to confirm the wisdom and fitness of the name. Nowhere with the possible exception of Switzerland have we beheld such a composite picture of mountain, valley and ocean, and such a symphony of emerald color of them all. The scene is one of almost entrancing beauty. But what heightens its attractions is the delightful climate, the balmy air, the glorious sunshine, never too hot, and which alternates with almost daily rains, the latter giving a fresh and radiant hue to the vegetation to which the sun adds a yet more brilliant color. The soil is a bright red, which contrasts beautifully with the grass and flowers, plants and trees.

The islands lie two thousand miles southwest of San Francisco and in the same latitude as southern Cuba, Vera Cruz, Mexico, Hong Kong, Calcutta and Central Africa. The climate is distinctly tropical and the heat would be great but for the trade winds which blow incessantly and preserve a temperature the year around which rarely rises above eighty degrees or sinks below seventy. They tell us that they bathe in the ocean on Christmas and New Year's and that the water is not much chillier on those days than it is on the Fourth of July. On November i we found sea bathing fully as comfortable as Missouri waters are in August.

VEGETATION AND HOMES.

The most attractive feature to a Missourian, who for the first time visits a tropical country, is the profusion and luxuriance of the vegetation. Stately cocoanut palms, banyan trees and numerous others give to the landscape a rich tropical aspect, while the beautiful flowers, which bloom perennially, and well-kept lawns add a variety of coloring that is highly attractive. The city of Honolulu, where our ship lands, contains some forty thousand people and is the largest city upon the island. It has many large business houses, wide and well-kept streets, but its chief beauty is in its dwellings, many of which are of the bungalow architecture and are surrounded by large and beautiful yards in which the trees and flowers grow in luxuriant profusion. There is much wealth among the white residents, many of whom have lived here many years and some of whom were born here. No expense has been spared by the wealthier classes in the adornment of their homes. As a place of residence, Honolulu possesses many features that are unique.

LOCAL INSTITUTIONS.

There are three splendid hotels, the Alexander Young, the Royal Hawaiian and the Moana, all owned by Mr. Alexander Young, and nearly without guests at this season of the year. We stopped at the Moana and have not seen its superior in America or Europe. It not only has a fine table and delightful rooms, but it is upon the seashore at Wakiki Beach, affording its guests the additional attraction of bathing in the surf.

Oahu College is an institution of learning attended by six hundred boys and girls, young men and women, and under excellent management. It has a large faculty presided over by Mr. Matthew Griffith, formerly of New York, and among the teachers is Miss Isabel Gregg, who graduated from Missouri University in 1887. The school has an endowment of over $300,000, has grounds covering nearly seventy acres, dormitories for girls and boys and several buildings for educational work. In company with Mr. P. C. Jones, treasurer and chief benefactor of the institution, w^e had the pleasure of attending chapel exercises and addressing the students and we were deeply impressed with the admirable equipment and management.

There is a large central church in which all denominations worship. But there are also Christian, Methodist and Catholic churches and a large native church, the oldest church building on the island. We attended services at the last-named church and were impressed especially with the music. The Hawaiians are natural musicians. Their voices possess a melody we have heard nowhere else.

A Queen's hospital, a large canning factory for pineapples, a penitentiary, state house and judiciary building, the latter the former palace of the king, are among other places of interest.

THE ISLANDS.

There are eight islands in the Hawaiian group. The largest is Hawaii, with an area of 4,000 square miles. Oahu, upon which Honolulu is situated, has an area of 598 square miles. The distance around all the islands is 957 miles and around Oahu is 177 miles. The total population of the islands is 154,000. Of these 60,000 are Japanese, 35,000 natives, 25,000 Chinese, 15,000 Portuguese, 7,000 Americans and 1,730 British. The total area of the group is 6,449 square miles, about one-tenth that of the State of Missouri. The chief industry is the growing of sugar, of which it is claimed twenty-six millions of dollars' worth are annually exported. Pineapples are also being grown considerably. I visited one plantation which is said to produce more pineapples than any other in the world. Rice is also produced in large quantities and among the fruits bananas and alligator pears and papia and poi, the latter three being popular native fruits, are grown in abundance. The poi is made from the root of a plant called taro and is very popular food with the natives. It is a pasty, fermented food, something like mush and when sweetened by sugar is very palatable. The natives live upon it largely and eat it without sweetening it. Papia is a melon and a sort of compromise between a cantaloupe and a squash. Oranges are not grown to any extent. There is a native orange but it is not popular. There are no apples or peaches, or in fact, any of the fruits of the temperate climates. Nor are there any of the cereals, as wheat or corn or barley or any of the grasses common to America. But the grass grown on the lawns is fully as green and tougher than our Missouri bluegrass. Riding on a railroad train through a large sugar plantation in the island of Oahu I asked a young man sitting opposite if he could tell me what manner of grass we were passing through. He answered that it was sugar and looked at me and smiled. I at once inquired of him if he had ever seen a wheat field or a corn field and he said no. I looked at him and smiled. We got better acquainted and mutually smiled. I confess I had never before seen sugar growing, although I have been in Louisiana more than once. Nor had I ever seen a pineapple plantation. 1 would not be surprised but that this volume has readers who never saw either. For the benefit of such I will say that sugar cane grows as thick and rank as rye does in Missouri and looks something like it. The stalk becomes as heavy as corn. It has to be constantly irrigated and fertilized.

PINEAPPLES.

The growth of pineapples has not been as long continued as sugar, but it promises to be equally as profitable. The pineapple plant does not require irrigation, but has to be enriched with fertilizers heavily charged with iron. The plant resembles the old-fashioned Missouri flower known as the Devil's Darning Needle, and is set in rows several feet apart. The ground is frequently cultivated and kept free of weeds. It yields about $i8o worth of fruit to the acre and is a very sure crop. In few other places in the world is the growth of the fruit more successful.

FISH AND SEA FOOD.

An universal and delightful article of diet is the fish, crabs, lobsters and other of the aqueous tribe taken from the ocean. They possess an especially fine flavor. The fish are something wonderful. Probably the most interesting institution in Honolulu is the aquarium. Nowhere else in the world can fish be found of more remarkable and diversified shapes and coloring. It has to be seen to be appreciated. Green, striped, speckled, purple, orange, Hue, fishes of most grotesque and curious shapes, reflecting every color of the rainbow and of all shades and designs are to be seen. It is almost worth a trip to Honolulu to see this piscatorial marvel.

BEAUTIFUL SCENERY.

Several miles from the city of Honolulu is an elevated point 'Called the Pali, to which we were taken in automobiles and from which there is a magnificent view of the island and ocean. The scene is rarely equaled anywhere in the world. The mountains and valleys and ocean, in multiform coloring, present a scene of .;gorgeous beauty. The Pali overlooks a dizzy precipice, over which it is said Kimahamaha I drove thousands of an army when he first took possession of the island of Oahu over a century ago. The bones of some who were thus destroyed, it is claimed, can still be found in the valley below. Most of the island is mountainous and all was evidently of volcanic origin. Only the valleys are susceptible of cultivation. In the island of Hawaii, where the city of Hilo is situated, there is a large volcano still in eruption. Near Honolulu is the extinct crater of a volcano called Punchbowl, in the rear of which is a lofty mountain called Tantalus, from which there is a splendid view of the island. We took an excursion by rail around one half the island, returning by a different route, part of the way by carriage. We do not remember having seen in the same distance more attractive scenery.

RELIGION.

The Hawaiian Islands, while first discovered by Capt. Cook in 1778, were originally settled by the Christian missionaries, the descendants of many of whom are now among the wealthiest of the resident population. The development of the islands and their great wealth and commercial importance are the direct result of Christian missions. There are two hundred and seventy-six heathen and religious organizations of different kinds in the islands, with a total membership of sixty-seven thousand, three hundred and thirty-eight. But of these, forty thousand are Buddhists. Of the Christian churches there are one hundred and fifteen Catholic, containing twelve thousand members, and one hundred and forty Protestants, with a membership of fifteen thousand, three hundred and eighty-eight. The Protestant churches are divided as follows : Congregational, ninety ; Latter Day Saints, twenty; Methodist, twelve; Episcopal, ten; and Christian, five. In Honolulu there is a flourishing Y. M. C. A. organization under the supervision of Mr. Paul Super, formerly of Columbia, Missouri, who is doing efficient work. Moral conditions, so far as we could observe, are as wholesome as they are in the States.

A LEPER ISLAND.

On one of the islands is a leper colony, where are some one thousand lepers. The disease has been brought from the Orient, but the number of lepers has been reduced nearly one-half by efficient treatment. The disease is not regarded contagious, nor is it always hereditary. There are institutions on the islands for the children of leprous parents and many of them never develop the disease. The disease is incurable, but its effects are greatly mitigated, and it is said, hopeless as are the conditions of the lepers, they are about as happy as other people. The United States will soon erect an institution called a Leprosarium, upon the island, in which indigent lepers will be treated, and scientific men are making strenuous effort to discover an antitoxine to destroy the germ which has already been clearly defined.

A UNIQUE EXPERIENCE.

It is a novel and interesting experience to observe how a busy and prosperous population gets along with but one mail in one or two weeks and but one method of reaching the outside world, two thousand miles away. Think of waiting two weeks for the mail or to go away or to get a daily newspaper and you will probably be better satisfied in not living on a main line of railway. A pathetic story is told of the period when there was no cable communication with America. King Kalakaua had been upon a visit to this country and was expected to return upon a certain steamer. A great festival had been prepared and the city was decorated and a public holiday given in honor of the event. A large concourse of people had gone to the wharf to receive him, when to their consternation and horror the steamer arrived bearing not the live king, but his corpse. He had died in San Francisco only the week previous. Rude shocks often come to those who live in these isolated places.

ANGLO-SAXON DOMINATE.

The island also illustrates how the Anglo-Saxon race will dominate all others, even in isolated conditions. While there are not over eight thousand Americans and Englishmen on the island, they are practically in control of all the business enterprises and sway nine-tenths of the social, political and religious influence. The natives are a kindly disposed people of dark complexion, but they do not possess great strength of character, have the easy-going and self-indulgent natures cormmon to the tropics and are gradually diminishing in number and must ultimately be absorbed by the dominant race or disappear. The Japanese comprise by far the largest part of the population, but are chiefly utilized as laborers and do not undertake to cope with the white race in the control of the government or in commercial affairs. There are not so many Chinese, but they too, while liked and regarded more trustworthy than the Japanese, are a subordinate and serving class. I do not remember to have seen, in proportion to the size of the population, more college bred men. The intelligence and ability of the white population, their social position and their moral and religious influence is of a high order.

A UNITED STATES TERRITORY.

For ten years or more these islands have belonged to the United States. Mr. Cleveland opposed strenuously the effort to annex them and they were acquired under the administration of Mr. McKinley. It must be admitted they were a. valuable acquisition.

They hold the key to the Pacific and when the Panama Canal shall have been finished, they will be of great value to our country. It behooves the United States to fortify them and to establish such a means of communication with them, to make them so accessible as to render impossible a seeming present menace that any other nation, especially the Japanese, shall get control of them.

The government is territorial. There are a governor and other territorial officials and a system of courts appointed by the President of the United States and a legislature elected by the people. Laws are enforced and conditions are quiet and peaceful.

We left this Ocean Oasis with deep regret, doubting whether in our circle around the world we would find any one spot that is more interesting and attractive. Yet, beautiful as they are they do not hold out attractions to men of moderate means, or to laboring people. The land is practically all owned by a 'few large syndicates, while the labor is monopolized by Japanese and Chinese. There is practically no room for more people, for large corporations have a monopoly of nearly, if not all, the arable land.

IV. The Teip Across

When we boarded the good ship Manchuria at Honolulu and waved our adieus to its hospitable people, who in accordance with a beautiful custom had, as we departed, garlanded us with flowers, we realized for the first time that we had cut loose our moorings from native land, and were indeed upon our journey around the world. We could not repress a sigh of regret in bidding farewell to that land of flowers, lovely climate and delightful scenery which we scarcely expect to see surpassed.

As voyages across the Pacific are not as familiar to most people as are those over the Atlantic, a somewhat detailed story of our trip from Missouri to Japan may be of interest.

The distance is 7,873 miles, or nearly one-third that around the globe. It consumed thirty-two days. It could have been made in twenty. We stopped twelve days en route.

There was no delay or accident or discomfort. We were not sea sick. The accommodations were all that could have been desired. The officials were uniformly courteous. The trip was made in October and November and the weather was uniformly pleasant.

While the steamships upon the Pacific may not be as luxurious as some of the larger ocean liners on the Atlantic, they are fully as comfortable and the larger ones equally as steady. We had no storms to test the vessels, but do not believe that the Manchuria, upon which we made most of the trip, would have tossed ITS about very badly.

(34^)

Acros's the Pacific. 35

We were upon two ships en route. We sailed from San Francisco upon the China, once regarded the largest steamship upon the Pacific, but now the smallest of the Pacific mail steamers. It is 440 feet long. Twenty years ago there was not a ship upon the Pacific that large.

We left that ship at Honolulu and after remaining there eight days, took the Manchuria. It is what might be called a floating palace. It is 640 feet long, has a capacity of 27,000 tons, and can carry two thousand people, 350 first class, 1,400 steerage and its crew, which consists of 273, of whom 46 are white and 227 Chinese and Japanese. It is a twin-screw steamer, and its two shafts, to which are attached the propellers, are 265 feet long and eighteen inches in diameter. It consumes 170 tons of coal daily and leaves with 3,663 tons of coal and 3,000 tons of water. The officers are courteous and the service throughout is excellent. The fare is all that could be desired. The speed of the vessel is between fifteen and sixteen miles an hour. The distance from San Francisco to Yokohama is 5,580 miles. The trip was made in 17 days.

There were one hundred and twenty cabin passengers aboard. Most of them were from the United States, but there were English, Chinese and Japanese. Some were returning to their homes in Asia, some were going to take official positions in foreign consulates, some were globe-trotters like ourselves, and there were twenty-five who expect to engage in missionary work in foreign lands. It was a cosmopolitan, congenial and interesting company who employed themselves in reading, music, garr^es, conversations and in amusements improvised aboard.

There is no rest like that of an ocean voyage. Its isolation and quiet and its pure and invigorating air, as well as the restfulness imparted by the limitless and ever sounding sea have a tranquihzing and health-imparting effect unequalled by any other experience with which I am acquainted.

In this busy age when we are so tired and torn by business there is inexpressible relief in the emancipation of ocean travel.

A trip of twelve days with people of so many nationalities, of diverse experiences, of high intelligence and broad information is a rich contribution to one's stock of knowledge, and if the time is properly utilized in extending acquaintance with fellow passengers, the results are of incalculable value.

In crossing the ocean we lose one day. This takes place at the i8oth degree of longitude and it makes up for the time lost between Greenwich and the i8oth degree. Therefore, when we had spent Sunday night we woke up on Tuesday morning. Monday we cut out. So we have lost one day out of our lives. Unfortunately, however, it is not the only day we have lost. We wish it had been, for the others were lost through our fault and not by reason of the calendar.

Our experience upon the Pacific, different from that upon the Atlantic, is its utter loneliness. Between San Francisco and Honolulu we descried but one ship, while from Honolulu to Japan in a trip of twelve days we did not see one, and besides an occasional bird and a few flying fish not a sign of life. Some of the passengers claim to have seen a whale or two, but these have practically abandoned the track of sea ships and the journey from the Americas to the Asiatic coast may be said to be one unbroken monotony of sea and sky.

Among those aboard the Manchuria were Mr. Mitsui, the Rockefeller of Japan, and Mr. Masuda, his secretary, who is said to be the highest salaried man in Japan. They were traveling around

Across the Pacific. 37

the world. Mr. Mitsui is said to be worth over a hundred milHon of dollars and to own coal mines, banks, steamship lines and other properties without limit. Dr. H. M. Hamill, formerly of Mexico, Missouri, now of Nashville, Tennessee, was among the passengers. With his wife, he was en route to Japan to remain some months in Sunday School missionary work.