Foreign Correspondence

HoNoi.ri.r, H. I., Sept. 8th, '86. ■]u{ one year ago to-day I reachcd Honololu. Binoe writlng my last tutter, over six montli ago, I hive completccl mv first y'ear's work and enjoyed my ürst lunimer vaeation in the Hawaiian Islands and am now fairly starteil in the labor of aiother year. I dM not intend to tpan the readers of the Courier by indnlglng in go long a silcnee, bnt new duties and interest have kept my time well occupieil and poMibly tiie ellmate may have bagan to make me "tircd,"- at any rate, the correspondenoe fallad to be regularly forthoomlag as you know. Generally speakinr, uiy first impressions have been coiilirined by longer residence, althoagh, of course, the novclty of my suiroundings has quite worn away. Honolulú seems more like home than any other spot on eartli ; I have a real affeutlon for the place, tlie people, my work and soxroundlngs, and I feel a sincere f. r tourists who come to rem.iin Olily a lew weeks or moiiths. Perhnp thls sort of talk sounds rather extreme and in the r.ature of "gush," but I try to confine myself to plain statement ot (iiets, aKhoagh, if any plaee i" the world will admit of rapturous and entliudiatic detoription, that place is right hele, I often feel my inability to put thlngs s-tronjily enough, for I coldn't gush if I would. But, let me Kve some of the KWOU why I OODtlder the Islams ia gener.il and Honolula In particular one ot' the most, f not tlie mo-t, dellghtful of spols to be found o;i tlie globe. [il ihe tirst place, tlie climate is as nearly perfect as climate can be made. Slim.' eminent tonrist, who had seen all purta of the world, stopping here in his travels. said he had fouud wealher everywhere, but only here In the [slaadsiiad he fouud a real climate. lt would be easy to write a long letter on this topic alone, in fact, it is dillicult not to stop and dweil upon it in (uil detail; at some other time I may do so, but in this present letter I purpose merely to give a few general Statements. Here in Honolulú wliere it gets pretty warm, I have not seen the mercury above 87 F. nor below 64 P. ilost of the time tlie thermometer registers in the neigborhood of 75 F. Very rarely the mercury goes up as high 91) F. and as low as 55 F. The nights are always conifrtalle, though often very little covering is needed to keep warm. By golnjt up IntO the mountains, one can get any degree of coolness desired. At the topa ot Manna Kea and Los, one can lind snow and lee a lárffer portion of the year. At poluts 1000 feet above sea leve!, it is generally very comfortable; at a height of 2,500 feet, the uiglits are decidedly cool, nnd the air is very bracing. Above this lires are quite necessary at nijfhl tor comfort. O. ie can tind rejiions oí perpetual dryness or of al most constant rain; reiona of ever-blowing, vigorom wiuds, or mildest zephyrs or perfect calm. llowever fastidious one's taste may be in regard to climate, perfect satisfaction can be guaranteed. ''Yon pays your money and takes your elioice." A seeond reason why I like Ufe in the Islands is because I am in constant contact with the most delightflll society. I do not refer to native or Chinese society, but to that made up of the Americana resident here. I presume they constitute a society of 120(1 or 1800 people. They are intelligent, well educated, of retined tastes and uianners, broad and liberal mlnded, ireneroua, cordial, hospitable - in fine just such people as will make one feel comfortable, liappy and at home anywbere. There are few communities of the size containlng so many college graduatesas the foreign community of Honolulú. The people here give themselves up more to social enjoyment. All business closes at 5 p. m , leaving the evenings entirely free to be enjoyed at at will. Life is simpler, less formal, more social, more liearty, more thoroughly enjoyable, more worth living than anywhere else I have ever been. In my travels this Slimmer, where 1 was larrely thrown upon private hosiiitaiity, there being no hotels where I went, it seemed to me as if each one tried to entertain me mere kindly tlmn any one else d ld. From what I have said about the climate, it would naturally follow that the Island oujiht to be very healthful for resIdence and such is the fact. Many invalids come here to regain health and, while some succeed, others come only to die, as is the case at all health resorts. As concerns myself and forcigtiers in general, the climate has agreed with me excellent'y well and during the past year I have been free from trilling alimenta as nevir bef'ore. BonMwhat to my surprise, I found that people had colds here as well as anywhere else, but this is due, not to sudileu and extreme changes of weather, but to pare oarelessneM in most cases. One sees a grrat deal of the world by living here in Honolulú. This may sound somewhat strane to most people, who otMisiderthe Hawalian [slands as on the extreme verge of civiliaatlon and Isolated ti ■nu all til at is best worth living for. Jiut t h fact s Hint we really see more of and e,. me more IntO actual contact with, the jrreiit world miiHlde tlian any town in ihestRtesnf ttye tlmee the size o( Honolulú. Vértela are coustantly coming here from every part of the commercial world: Bteamer lirins peole from all the quarlers cf tlie globe, "tien very eminent people, to meet wliom is no small privilege. Another source of picasure in Island I life is tbe beauüful scenery by which we are surronnded on every hand. Behlnd us are the green mountain ranges, with theirjagged and fantattx peaks capped by clouds, their Bidés cut nto by ferlile Talleyi of exceeding beauty and often grandeur. These niouutains and valleys never grow tame to the sight but are, indeed, a "joy forever." In front of ai II the liinitless expanse of the deep, blue Pacific wrinkled by fresh breezesawd broken into a line of dazzling white surf alODg the shore. About us are all the beautles of tropical rtgetatlon In trees, vines and llowers. I niight mentlon nuiny other things that go to make life pleasant here; but I hear some one ask, "are there no disadvatges ? " Well, this isn't quite heaven on eartb, tliotigh a pretty close approximation to it, and there are, of eourae disailvantuges connected with Island life, the chief of wbieh I must not pass over Inallence if I would present tliings as I IímiI thein. The firstdisadvíintage that would occur to one wlio liad never been here would doubtless be tbe isolatlon of the Islands froin the rest of the world. As 1 have stiited in one of iny foriner letters we are a long way from auywhere, San Francisco onr nearest neighbor being 2,100 miles distunt. We have mails regularly twice a inonth and an extra one occasionally. Perhups the thouglit of this inight nuike one loni'some who is accustomed to getling dmIIi cvery day one or more times, but it is Mirprtellig liow quickly one can adapt himsclf' to the grent ohange and be verj' content. As a matlur-of-fact, one does not teel the isoluiiuu here in Honolulú vtry innch, if at all; and, iu any c se, one soon buconu 8 accustomed to the condiiions incident to the teniporary separation lïom the rest of the world and ts trou blesome affairs. Ho wever, we are liable at any linie to have cable comnniDlcatloD and theu the last fi-eling of isolation will be removed. During my yeai's residence in Honolulú I have not for a moment feit myself out of the world. Ontside of Honolulú the sense of isolation is greater. A disadvantage of no insigniticant chtructer is the expense of living, whicb s pietty high. Most food stufFs are imported from California, for the Islands do not attempt to raise much beside sugar cane. I thlnk there is a tendency in most people to live rather better than people of tlie same circumstances at home. Labor Is high and salaries are good, but money goes very easily. At present the government Í3 not in a vcry satisfactory condition ; the tendency is to t'xtravagauce aod waste of funds ia sueh directions as miy administer to His Majesty's special happineas without any particular reference to the good of the niiUuii. Tlio general sentiment is that King Kalakaua would Uo his race and kingdom the best service he haa ever rendered by dying pretty soon. One other disadvantage of living here is the pliysical enervation that takes hold of one after several years; there is, no doubt, a decided tendency to get lazy. but, for tho8e who have the means and leisure, this eau be avoided by taking occasional trips to the states or to colder regiont of tl. e Islands. Tbeabove are the principal advantnges and disadvantages of living here in the Islands or more particularly in Honolulú, as seen in my experience and observations. Othcrs mlght see some things quite differently if their experience differed from mine; but as for me, my lincs have fallen in truly pleasant pluces and I beartily enjoy life ia the Hawaiian Islands. I would say further that my happy experience is precisely that of the majority of the people who come here from the state?. Some of the points that I have inerely Untad at in this letter 1 may enbrge upon at some future time. L. L. Van Sltkk. We are notsatlsfled wlth the state valuation of Leiiawee county. Itdoesan lDjusllce and a gross one. We do not (hink I luit old I .ruim .-f Kbould play second flddle to Wnshteoaw, Jackson or Baglnaw. It isa better and rlcher county than elther of the above, tliough about on a par wlth Waxhtenaw whlch Is valued at 30mllllons. Wedlsllke to read the valuatlons, and flnd Lennwee set back to the slxth place, when it by rlghts Is entltled to thlrd. We belleve tho taxpayers prefer ti pay the extra share of taxes cuan to le crowded to the rear by thls public proclamatlon of lack of wealtn. Lenaweeis weallhy, und we are proud of itt and It íh a stiaine that the county is not equalized where It bolones. Wedon't conslder ft a proud thing to show the state valuatlon to partles outslde the state. It lsn'l polioy to bellttle value of one'H county. It lsn't public enterprlse, mul we ratlier pay the extra share of taxus than to be bi'litllcd.- Adrlun Press. When pcople pet to going down hill, how they do whistle tokeep their courage up. We thouglitLenawee oughtto stand at least on a par with Waslitenaw but come to talk with ineinbers of the state board of equalizution we flnd tlint Le nawee is on the decline. Though having eoine 30,000 more acres of land, yct there is mach of it marsh, swamp, and uselcss; though with moro population they are not is tlirifty; Adrián has lost her car shops and is at a stand still ; her farmers have not near the fkrmiog implcments o-nd machinery to work with ours have; her personal property is much less than Waslitenaw; In fact there is a general kil of decay all over the county. This was news to u, ofcourse, but it is aceording to representations imule. Trince Bismarck is probably one of the milest of European statesmen, but when he sits quittly down and allows Itatsia to absorb Bulgaria without object ion, meiely to iplte Enjfland, he certainly makes a mistake. Hussla is a groter entmy toOrmany (hun England ever bas been or ever can be. Ocruiany shüuld beware the encroachments of Kussia.