A Ball Player's Career: Being the Personal Experiences and Reminiscensces of Adrian C. AnsonAnson, Adrian C. (Adrian Constantine)
History
A Ball Player's Career: Being the Personal Experiences and Reminiscensces of Adrian C. Anson
Anson, Adrian C. (Adrian Constantine)
Baseball
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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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