The Log of the Empire State | Page 3

into our country a foreign insect that excludes them.

We were told that the captain's and officers' quarters were certified and
not counted when the capacity of the ship was figured, so the ship
seemed bigger than ever to us. Next we invaded the chart room, saw the
device that tells the whereabouts of a coming typhoon, listened to the
telephonic arrangement that proclaims the proximity of the buoy bells,
watched the little indicator that makes a red line depicting the exact
course of the ship on a circular chart, tried out the fire alarm system
that instantly rings a bell if a high temperature is registered any place
on the ship, from the bridal suite to the darkest corner of the hold. We
set the fog whistle to blow at regular intervals. We were told that the
searchlight could enable the pilot to discover objects about five miles
out, and by the time the gyro compass and numerous other devices had
been explained to us, we were ready to believe that the ship cost seven
million dollars, and that five thousand dollars was the daily operating
expense (two thousand dollars of which was spent for the one thousand
gallons of oil).
The mock trial was one of the features of the trip. Nearly everyone was
arrested, sentenced or fined. Mrs. F. Panter's and Captain Ruben
Robinson's trials were the most sensational. In spite of Carl
Westerfeld's efforts to save Captain Robinson from being convicted of
fox trotting with a certain charming widow, he was heavily sentenced.
Louis C. Brown was released upon the hearing of the eloquent
pleadings of his attorney, Louis H. Mooser. At the close of the session,
Commissioner Francis Krull imposed a fine upon himself for his
merciful tendencies as the judge.
When a crowd of us piled into the wireless room and asked the whys
and wherefores, the poor operator gave up trying to explain why the
messages were all sent at night, and settled the matter by telling us that
the atmospheric conditions were better then, and that the ship was
equipped with two systems, the spark and the arc, but that the arc was
given the preference. The Empire State kept its apparatus tuned to the
one at Sloat Boulevard, so if any of those at home missed us, just all
they had to do was to drive past that station any night, and, perhaps, at
that very moment, a message was being received from us.
When we saw land, the women immediately planned a meeting to
discuss what to wear and do when we arrived in Honolulu on the
following day. A. I. Esberg gave an address the evening before on the

meaning of our Commercial Relationship tour and the good-will that he
believed San Francisco would establish by this mission. Afterward we
danced, then followed a Chinese supper. Yes, we were eating again.
No alarm clock that was ever invented smote the ears with greater
animosity than did the ship's gong at 6:30 the morning we arrived at
Honolulu. If it had not been for the fact that the committee was there
(just outside our portholes, in yachts loaded with leis to welcome us) it
would have taken even more than that disturber of the peace to arouse
us, for sleep seemed the most desired thing after the Chinese dinner
dance that had lasted until the wee hours.
We were all at the luncheon given to us by the Honolulu Commercial
Club. Faxton Bishop told us of the seriousness of the labor situation
and asked our aid. We all remember how eloquently our much
lamented spokesman, A. F. Morrison, answered the address and said
that California's prosperity depended in many ways upon Hawaiian
prosperity and their problems were our problems.
Wallace R. Farrington, Governor of the Territory of Hawaii, said that
the labor situation must be solved to insure the prosperity of the
islands.
We were next whizzed to the Outrigger Club, and if everyone had seen
how hard Warren Shannon paddled to reach the crest of a wave before
it broke, they would all be convinced that he was the hardest working
supervisor we have.
John H. Wilson, the mayor of Honolulu, motored our party around the
island and gave us a luncheon at a hotel near one of the beaches. We
will remember this day as one of our happiest.

Chapter III

The first day out of Honolulu we were all discussing our impressions.
Most of us had passed the Honolulu schools at recess time and had
noted only one or two white-skinned children. It was, as Dr. A. W.
Morton expressed it, "Looks like a little Japan." Of course, everyone
knows of the vividness and great variety of the coloring of the foliage
in sharp contrast to the