239 



In a few cases a tropical jungle had been attempted; in many 

 more there was an unheal thfully thick planting that was with- 

 out beauty, or seeming purpose, while in most there were 

 lawns badly "spotted" with palms and other plants. As to 

 the thick planting, the story was that things were put in when 

 small and that when they grew large, as everything soon does 

 there, the owners could not bear to pull them up — which is a 

 probable explanation, but a poor excuse. 



There are two "squares" which ought to be ornamental, and 

 of which only one can by the kindest of interpretations be 

 called so; and there is a large park that in most respects is 

 worse than any of the private gardens. But the superintendent 

 is now doing what he can for it, with meager appropriations, 

 and the people are thoroughly aroused, have ideals, and give 

 promise of so nearly realizing them that the conditions I have 

 described must soon be an old story, of which the truth has 

 passed. 



In fact, I do not ki'ow that I have ever been in a community 

 more thoroughl}^ saturated with "improvement" zeal, and alive 

 with "improvement" effort. There are multitudes of neighbor- 

 hood clubs — unfortunately more than one, sometimes, on a 

 single street; there is a Central Improvement Committee, 

 which is designed to bring the activity of the various societies 

 into association and harmony— and whose suggestion it was 

 that the government should secure from me a gv iieral plan, for 

 which and on which all might work for a better and lovelier 

 Honolulu; and there is an Advisor}^ Committee, made up of 

 local experts in gardening, horticulture and forestry, to w^hom 

 the technical questions are supposed tc^ be referred. Thu$ is 

 the movement not only far reaching, but well organized, and it 

 has the support of all classes of citizens and of the gove"nment, 

 local and territorial. The very vacant lots, in rase after case, 

 have well kept lawns. Honolulu, in the once far-away Sand- 

 wich Islands, might give points to most American towns even 

 today in its manifestation of the spirit of town improvement. 



Little by little, as one stays on the island — even though 

 one's thoughts be busy with other matters — the charm of the 

 place, its tranquility, its beauty, weave a spell upon one. With 

 little that is awe-inspiring or grand, and nothing that is colos- 

 sal, peace and loveliness dwell there, pervade all that one sees. 



