This cover was
mailed in Honolulu near the
middle
of the Hawaii's period as a republic (1893-1898).
It had been an independent Kingdom previously
and was annexed by the United States subsequently.
The first issues of the republic were overprints of the stamps of the
kingdom.
This stamp is from the first, and only, issue
printed expressly for the republic in 1894.
The 5c rose lake portrays a famous statue of King Kamehameha I (Scott
76).
The same design with 'cents' added between
the '5' tablets was issued in blue in 1899.
The Honolulu cancel used an oval of horizontal bars with a circled 1
for a killer.
The cover entered the United States January 10, 1896, in Tacoma,
Washington.*
That seems to have been a rather long transit time
but the holidays may have delayed shipping.
The Tacoma transit stamp was a duplex with a
small circle Paid All and 3(?) along with the Tacoma dial.
There appears to be another receiver which was probably New York on the
16th.
*Thanks to Bjorn Munch for catching the date typo.
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