"We sail the ocean blue, Our saucy ship's a beauty.
We're sailors good and true, And attentive to our duty."
So sang the jolly mariners on the good ship Pinafore, and so might have
sung the members of the Chicago and All-American base-ball teams as they
sailed out through the Golden Gate and into the blue waters of the
Pacific on the afternoon of November 18, 1888. Only at that time we were
not in the least sure as to whether the Alameda was a beauty or not,
pleasant as she looked to the eye, and we had a very reasonable doubt in
our minds as to whether we were sailors "good and true." There was a
long ocean voyage before us, and the few of us that were inclined to
sing refrained from doing so lest it might be thought that, like the boy
in the wood, we were making a great noise in order to keep our courage
up. We were one day late in leaving San Francisco, it having been
originally planned to leave here on Saturday, November 17th, and this
delay of one day served to cut short our visit at Honolulu. The morning
of our departure had dawned gray and sullen and rainy, but toward noon
the clouds broke away and by two o'clock in the afternoon, the hour set
for our departure, the day had become a fairly pleasant one.
At the wharf in San Francisco, a great crowd had assembled to wish us
bon voyage, conspicuous among them being my paternal ancestor, who would
have liked well enough to make the entire trip, and who would doubtless
have done so could he have spared the necessary time from his business
at Marshalltown. Here, too, we bade farewell to Jim Hart, Van Haltren
and others of the party who had accompanied us on our trip across the
country, and who were now either going to return to their homes or spend
the winter in San Francisco. Hardly had we left the narrow entrance to
the harbor, known as the Golden Gate, and entered the deep blue waters
of the Pacific before a heavy fog came down upon the surface of the
deep, shutting out from our gaze the land that we were fast leaving, and
that we were not again destined to see for many months. The steamer was
now rising and falling on the long swells of the Pacific Ocean, but so
gently as to be scarcely perceptible, except to those who were
predisposed to seasickness, and to whom the prospects of a long voyage
were anything but pleasant. I am a fairly good sailor myself, and,
though I have been seasick at times, this swell that we now encountered
bothered me not in the least. Some ten miles from the harbor entrance,
the steamer stopped to let the pilot off, and with his departure the
last link that bound us to America was broken.
Our party on board the steamer numbered thirty-five people, and besides
these there were some twenty-five other passengers, among them being
Prof. Wm. Miller, the wrestler, whose name and fame are well known to
athletes the world over, and who in company with his wife was bound for
Australia. Sir Jas. Willoughby, an effeminate-looking Englishman of the
dude variety, whose weakness for cigarettes and champagne soon became
known to us, and who was doing a bit of a tour for his own pleasure;
Major General Strange, of the English army, a tall, awkward-looking man,
with eagle eyes, gray beard and a bronzed complexion, who had for years
been quartered in India, and who had taken part in the Sepoy rebellion,
some of the incidents of which he was never tired of relating; Frank
Marion, his pretty wife and bright-eyed baby, the parents being a pair
of light comedians, whose home was in the United States and who were
going to Australia for the purpose of filling an engagement at Sidney,
and to whose ability as musicians and skill in handling the guitar and
banjo we were indebted for a great deal of pleasure before reaching our
destination; Colonel J. M. House and a Mr. Turner, both from Chicago,
where they did business at the stock yards, and who were hale and hearty
fellows, a little beyond the meridian of life, and who were making the
Australian trip for the purpose of business and pleasure; and last but
not least Prof. Bartholomew, an aeronaut, who hailed from the wilds of
Michigan and talked in a peculiar dialect of his own, and who joined our
party for exhibition purposes at San Francisco, and proved to be a
constant source of amusement to us all.
We could not have had a more delightful trip than the one from San
Francisco to Honolulu had the weather been made expressly to our order,
the sea being at all times so smooth that one might almost have made the
entire trip in a racing shell, and that without shipping water enough
'to do any damage. It was blue above and blue below, the sky being
without a cloud and the water without so much as even a gentle ripple,
save at the bow of the boat where the water parted to let us through,
and at the stern, where it was churned into masses of foam by the
revolving screw of the steamer. But if the days were beautiful the
nights were simply grand, and the ladies were to be found on deck until
a late hour watching the reflections of the moon and the stars upon the
water and enjoying the balmy salt breezes that came pure and fresh from
the caves of old Ocean. The second afternoon out of San Francisco the
passengers were suddenly startled by the clanging of a bell and the mad
rush on deck of a lot of half-clad seamen, who seemed to come from all
sorts of unexpected places, and who, springing to the top of the cabins
and boiler rooms began quickly to unreel long lines of hose and attach
them to the ship hydrants, while a score or more of sailors stood by the
life buoys and the long lines of water buckets that lined the deck. That
the ship was on fire was the thought that naturally came to the minds of
many of us, and it is not to be wondered at that pale cheeks were here
and there to be seen, for I can conceive of nothing in my mind that
could be more horrible than a fire at sea. The alarm proved a false one,
however, it being simply the daily fire practice of the ship's crew, in
which we afterwards took considerable interest.
In spite of the fact that we were steaming along the beaten paths of
navigation it was not until our fifth day that we encountered another
ship, and then it was about eleven o'clock at night, and after the
majority of the passengers had "sought the seclusion that a cabin
grants," to again quote from Pinafore. Suddenly, as we plowed the
waters, the scene was brilliantly illuminated by a powerful calcium
light on top of the wheel-house, and by its glare we saw not far distant
a steamer that we afterward ascertained to be the one bound from
Honolulu to San Francisco. She had left San Francisco for the islands
before the Presidential election had taken place, and as the Hawaiian
Islands were not connected by cable with the United States, its
passengers were ignorant of the result. It had been arranged, however,
that a single rocket was to be sent up from the Alameda in case of
Harrison's election, and two in case of, his defeat. As Harrison had
been elected only a single rocket from our steamer cleft the blue,
leaving behind it a trail of fiery sparks, and this was answered by a
shower of rockets from the "Australia," that being the name of the
sister ship that we had met, after which her lights grew dimmer and
dimmer until they were finally lost to sight below the horizon.
With music, cards and games of chance of every kind and variety the days
and nights passed pleasantly enough on board ship, and if there was
anything that we had not bet upon before the ship arrived at Honolulu it
was simply because it had been overlooked in some careless manner by the
tourists. When it came to making up a poker party the old gentleman was
greatly missed, as "Pa Anson" had never been found wanting when there
was a card party on hand and a chance to wager his chips.
Before leaving San Francisco Mr. Spalding had met the Liverpool,
England, agent of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, a Mr. S. A.
Perry, and as a result of a long conversation it was agreed upon that
the latter should visit such European cities as the tourists might
desire to play ball in, and cable the result of his investigations to
Australia. III case he found the indications were favorable to our doing
a good business in Great Britain, where we were again desirous of giving
exhibitions, it had been about decided by Mr. Spalding and myself that
we should continue on around the world instead of returning directly
home from Australia, as we had first intended. The possibility of a
change in our plans we had, however, kept to ourselves, the newspaper
correspondents only being taken into our confidence. The matter was
allowed to leak out, however, during the voyage to Honolulu and the
proposed trip was greeted with great enthusiasm by the ball players, who
looked forward to it with the most pleasant anticipations, and who
talked of but little else until the details were finally agreed upon at
Melbourne and the proposed trip became a reality instead of a mere
"castle in the air."
The details of this trip had already been made public in the United
States the week after our departure from San Francisco, so that the
people at home were aware of what might occur even before the ball
players themselves had had a chance to realize that they were to become
globetrotters.
Owing to the fact that we had left San Francisco a day late we were a
day late in arriving at the capital of the Hawaiian Islands, where we
had been scheduled to play a game on Saturday, November 24th, but where,
owing to an unfortunate combination of circumstances, we were fated not
to play at all in spite of the fact that every preparation for our doing
so had been made and that King and court were more than anxious to see
the American athletes in action. The nightfall of Saturday found us
still plowing the blue waters of the Pacific 150 miles from the islands,
and as we sat on deck in the moonlight we could picture in fancy the
despair of our advance agent, Mr. Simpson, who had gone on ahead of us
from San Francisco and who was still in ignorance of the cause of our
detention.
It was just as the day began to break on the morning of Sunday, November
25th, that the cry of "Land ho!" from the lookout on the bridge echoed
over the steamer's decks, and it was but a few minutes afterward when
the members of our party had assembled next the rail to gaze at what was
then but a faint blur upon the distant horizon. An hour later the green
verdure of the islands and the rugged peaks of the mountains that loomed
up against the rosy tint of the changing sky were plainly discernible,
as were the white buildings of the city of Honolulu and the little fleet
of shipping that was anchored in its bays. The sight was a beautiful
one, and one upon which we gazed with delight as the steamer sailed in
past Diamond Head and slowed down in the still waters of the bay upon
whose shores Honolulu is located.
Nearing the shore we were met by a ship's boat containing Mr. Geoffrey,
the steamship company's resident agent; Harry Simpson, our advance
guard; Mr. F. M. Whitney and Mr. Geo. N. Smith, the latter a cousin of
Mr. Spalding, then residing in Honolulu, together with a party of
natives bearing baskets that were filled with wreaths of flowers called
"Leis," with which they proceeded to decorate each member of our party
as a token of welcome and good will. As the steamer cables were made
fast and we were drawn slowly to our berth at the dock we looked down
from our perch on the rail at a crowd of fully 2,000 people that
assembled there to bid us welcome, the King's band, "The Royal
Hawaiian," with dark complexions and uniforms of white duck, occupying a
conspicuous place and playing for our benefit such familiar tunes as
"The Star Spangled Banner," "Yankee-.Doodle," and "The Girl I Left
Behind Me," each and every one of them bringing out an answering cheer
from the Alameda's passengers.
The morning was a bright and beautiful one and the mountains touched
with the gold: of the sunrise, the plantations lying green and quiet
along the shores, and the rapidly-growing crowd upon the dock, all
combined to make the picture beautiful, and one that will never be
forgotten.
The officers of the U. S. Cruiser "Alert," which lay not far distant,
had given us a hearty cheer as we passed, while the cheers that greeted
us from the dock were almost incessant and told us in an unmistakable
manner that we were indeed welcome to the "Paradise of the Pacific."
Looking down from the steamer deck one saw people of almost every clime,
the dark complexioned, straight-haired and intelligent-looking natives
being in the majority, their white suits and dark faces adding greatly
to the color of the scene. Pretty girls, too, were very much in
evidence, and the eyes of many of our party strayed in their direction,
especially those of the unmarried men, which variety composed the
majority of our party.
Business in Honolulu the day before had been entirely suspended in
expectation of our arrival, and great was the disappointment when the
day passed without the steamer being sighted. It was then thought that
we would not put in an appearance before Monday, and so, when the word
went around on Sunday morning that the "Alameda" was coming in, the
entire city was taken by surprise and everything was bustle and
confusion.
King Kalakuau had set up a great portion of the night awaiting our
coming, and so disappointed was he when we failed to put in an
appearance that he accumulated an uncomfortable load, and this he was
engaged in sleeping off when he was awakened by his courtiers and
informed of our arrival.
Shortly after we had shaken hands with the members of the reception
committee and the steamer had been made fast to the dock we entered the
carriages that had been provided for us and were driven to the Royal
Hawaiian Hotel, passing by the palace of King Kalakuau on the way. The
streets were in themselves a novelty, being lined by stately palms,
cocoanuts and bananas, laden with fruits and nuts, while there were
flowers everywhere. The hotel, which stood in the center of beautifully
laid out grounds, seemed like some palatial residence, and we were no
sooner seated in the spacious dining-room, with its open windows
extending from floor to ceiling, than the Royal Band began a concert in
the music-stand beneath the windows.
This band was certainly a magnificent one, and one that has but few
equals in the world, or had at that time, it being then under the
leadership of Bandmaster Berger, a musician of the first class.
At breakfast that morning we were served for the first time with the
native dish of "Poi," a pink-colored mush that, to be appreciated, must
be eaten in the native manner, the people to the manner born plunging a
forefinger into the dish, giving it a peculiar twist that causes it to
cling, and then depositing it between the lips, where the "Poi" remains
and the finger is again ready to seek the dish. In eating in such a
fashion Frank Flint would have had away the best of it, and, as it was,
I noticed both then and afterward that men like Williamson, Ward and
others, who boasted of a base-ball finger, managed to get away with
something more than their share of the delicacy.
On the balconies after breakfast we again listened to the sweet strains
of the "Aloha Oe," the welcome song of the native Islanders, with which
we had been greeted on our arrival at the docks.
As we stood on the balconies taking in the beautiful sights by which we
were surrounded, we were informed that his majesty, "the King of the
Cannibal Islands," as some members of the party irreverently referred to
him, would be pleased to receive us at eleven o'clock at the palace. An
invitation from a King is equivalent to a command, and so we at once
made ready for the reception. When the appointed hour arrived Clarence
Duval, clad in the full regalia of a drum major, took his place at the
head of the Royal Band, which had formed in front of the hotel, and
behind the music, headed by United States Minister Morrill and Mr.
Spalding, were the members of the two teams in double file, the ladies
following in carriages. In this order the procession marched to the
palace, where the King and his cabinet were awaiting our arrival.
The grounds surrounding the palace were beautiful, indeed, and as we
reached the massive portico at the entrance the band formed on one side
as, with hats off, we filed up the steps, being met on the landing by
members of the King's Cabinet, and by attendants, who directed us to the
blue room, where we deposited our hats and canes. We were then requested
to follow Minister Morrill, who took Mr. Spalding's arm and led the way
across a great hall hung with pictures of the Island's dead-and-gone
rulers, and into the throne room, the latter an imposing apartment large
enough for several hundred couples to dance in, where the King, arrayed
in citizen's clothes, stood before his throne with a Gentleman of Honor
in court costume on either side. Minister Morrill introduced Mr.
Spalding to the King, and he in turn introduced the other members of our
party as they filed in by him, be bowing to each of the party as the
name was mentioned. After the reception was over we wrote our names on
the court register, and then, after being shown through the palace, were
escorted back to the hotel by the band.
King Kalakuau was by no means a bad-looking fellow, being tall and
somewhat portly, with the usual dark complexion, dark eyes and white
teeth, which were plainly visible when he smiled, that distinguished all
of the Kanaka race. Somehow, and for no apparent reason, there came to
my mind as I looked at him the lines of that old song:
"Hokey, pokey, winky wum,
How do you like your murphys done?
Sometimes hot and sometimes cold,
King of the Cannibal Islands,"
and I tried hard to fancy what might have happened had we landed on
those same islands several centuries before.
Sunday amusements of all kinds being prohibited by an old Hawaiian law,
a relic of the old missionary days, made an exhibition by the members of
the two teams an impossibility, although the members of the Reception
Committee, backed by many of the native Islanders, petitioned that we
should do so, offering to bear any and all of the expenses incurred by
us should any trouble be forthcoming. Couriers bearing petitions to the
same effect were also sent around the city, and soon over a thousand
names to these had been obtained. The risk was too great a one to be
taken, however, as in case anything did happen we were almost certain to
miss our boat and be detained in Honolulu for a longer period of time
than we could afford to spend there. Our refusal to defy the law and
play ball anyhow was a great disappointment both to the American
contingent and to the natives, they having been looking forward to the
game for weeks with most pleasant anticipations. They took their
disappointment good-naturedly, however, and proceeded to make our stay
among them as pleasant as possible. The most of our time was devoted to
sight-seeing, some of the party going in one direction and some in the
other.
In company with several others, Mrs. Anson and myself drove out to the
Pali, viewing the magnificent scenery to be found there from the
plateau, where, according to the tales of the natives, it rains every
day in the year between certain hours. I was not there long enough to
swear to the truth of the story, but as it rained the one day that we
were on hand I am willing to assume that it rained the other three
hundred and sixty-four, and let it go at that. We then drove through
many of the city's most beautiful avenues, past the Royal mausoleum,
where sleep the former Kings and Queens of Hawaii, from Kamehameha to
the Princess Like Like, who was the last of those that had been interred
there at the time of our visit. The parks and roadways of Honolulu are
of rare beauty, and many of the principal residences and public
buildings of a kind that would do credit to any country in the world. At
the residence of the Hon. A. S. Claghorn, where we stopped for a few
minutes, we were introduced to the Princess Kaiulani, a really beautiful
Hawaiian girl, and one who was the possessor of rare accomplishments and
of a most winning manner. We also paid a visit to the residence of one
Hon. John H. Cummins, one of the Hawaiian sugar kings, where we were
entertained in a most handsome manner. The time spent in driving around
passed all too quickly, and, reaching the hotel, we began to prepare for
the grand Luau, or native feast, that was to be given in our honor by
King Kalakuau and Messrs. Samuel Parker, John Ena and George Beckley,
and which proved to be one of the most novel and delightful features of
our trip.
This feast was given in the Queen's grounds, in the center of which was
placed her private residence. As we drove past the King's palace and
through an avenue lined by towering palms and came unexpectedly upon the
brilliantly illuminated-grounds, with their magnificent groves of
banana, date, cocoanut, royal palms and other trees and plants of a
tropical nature, the scene was a never to be forgotten one. The spacious
enclosure was literally ablaze with light. Japanese lanterns of all
colors, flaming torches of oil gleaming close together among the
foliage.
As the uniformed officers at the gates made way for us we entered the
grounds. Minister Morrill, Mr. Spalding, Capt. Morse of the "Alameda,"
and the ladies leading the way and walking toward a great tree near the
center of the grounds, beneath which stood the King, the Hon. John
Cummins, and the members of the King's Cabinet. At the birth of each
member of the Royal family, according to custom, a tree was planted upon
royal ground, and as this tree flourishes or decays it is supposed to
foreshadow the future of the child for whom it was planted. King
Kalakuau on this occasion stood beneath his own birth-tree, planted
some, fifty years before, which at that time gave no indication of the
fate that a few years later was to overtake him in a strange land.
Greeting each of his guests cordially he bade all make ourselves
thoroughly at home, a thing that we proceeded at once to do without
further ceremony, wandering about the grounds and seeing whatever was to
be seen.
An hour after our arrival the King, offering his arm to Mrs. Spalding,
led the way toward the grove where the banquet was to be served, he
being followed by H. R. H. Lilino Kalani, the King's sister, Prince
Kawanonakoa, Mr. Spalding, Capt. Morse and the rest of the party. The
tables were laid upon blocks elevated not more than six inches from the
ground, in the shape of a letter U, and upon each side lay long strips
of matting, upon which we sat cross-legged, like Turks, while shapely
Kanaka girls in flowing robes of white stood over us moving fans of
gorgeous colors. Poi was given to us in huge calabashes, while upon the
big platters that were set before us and incased in the long,
coarse-fibred leaves in which they had been baked, were portions of
beef, pork, veal, fish, chickens and other viands usual to a banquet
in our own land. Bands of native boys with stringed instruments played
continuously' during the feast, making music of a peculiar character,
that rose and fell as the busy hum of conversation and mingled with the
joyous laughter of the men and maidens that were gathered about the
table.
At last silence was requested, and as the noise died away the King's
Attorney General, speaking for his majesty, expressed the pleasure that
the Hawaiian ruler felt in entertaining such a representative body of
Americans in his own islands. To this speech President Spalding
responded in well-chosen words, thanking both the King and the residents
of Honolulu for the hospitality shown us, after which, at the King's
request, Lincoln entertained the guests with his satire on after-dinner
speeches, his "A B C" orations, and his mixing of a soda cocktail, all
of which provoked roars of laughter. After the banquet the King and the
members of his court and family held a levee beneath his birth-tree,
where, just before nine o'clock, we all filed by to bid him farewell,
Clarence Duval having danced for him in the meantime to the patting of
hands by Burns, Pfeffer, Ryan and Williamson, a performance that amused
his majesty greatly, a tea-dollar gold piece being the reward that he
gave to the little coon for his performance.
At the outskirts of the grounds we paused to give three cheers for King
Kalakuau, three more for our Honolulu friends, and three more for the
ladies, after which we were driven to the hotel and thence to-the
steamer, which was to sail at ten o'clock. At the dock another great
crowd had assembled to see us off, and as we swung out to sea there came
to our ears the sweet strains of the "Aloha" song, from the members of
the Royal Band, growing fainter and fainter as the distance between the
steamer and the shore increased, until at last it died away altogether
as we rounded the headlands, and it was heard no more.