Daily Honolulu press. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1886, 1885-09-05
THE ROMANCE or 4 HONOLULU
PRINTING PRESS.
An Old Missionary Refic-LandedM M Homo
iuIu IN 1Sf9-Its Yicissitudss- Nor
ia the Capital Of oregon


iim In Isf9-Its yicissitudss--No
IN the Capital or oregon
In the state house at Salem there is
one of the most remarkable historical
souvenirs that is in existence. Visitors
to that building cannot have failed to
notice the queer old printing press in
one of the rooms in the third story--a
dusty-covered and worn machine, the
relic of bygone era in printing, and
built in a time before men had learned
TO focalize the entire resources of their
deepest ingenuity in furtherance of the
art preservative. Its story is an inter
esting one, and trenches upon the his
tory of Oregon in its most momentous
days. | will narrate it as | have learned
it, through the medium OF scattered
newspaper scraps, mems recollections
and current traditions.
In very early days, before the coloni-
zation of Oregon had been dreamed of,
and while its interior was only known
to the world through the explorations Of
-. ----i--GlaxLe--..-a--.,c -danartad
from Boston bearing with her party
of Congregational missionaries on the
way to the Sandwich Islands to regen-
crate the degraded Kanakas Among
their stores they carried this identical
old printing press, then, for ought |
know, in condition of bran-newness
and unstained by contact with the very
toughest corners ofa rough world. In
1910 the vessel entered the harbor OF
Honolulu and the missionaries disem-
barked and began their chosen career
Of teaching religion to the unclothed
and nncouth barbarians that the islam
ders then were and their success was
very great in the course OF genera
ton the natives were all converted to
Christianity, nominally at least, and
scenes of cannabalism and savagery
which we're frequent at the beginning
of this century exist now only in the
recollection of the oldest inhabitant.
OF the part played in this drama of
wholesale redemption by the old press
we can know little except by conjec-
ture. But that it was extensive and
important | have no doubt, for the edu-
cation of the converts in all cases was
made to keep pace with their moral
improvement, and to-day the arts Of
reading and writing are general through
out the islands In 1889, the needs Of
the missions having outgrown the
Of the primitive press, new
and more extensive outfit was procured
from the eastern states, and the old
press, with its original apparatus Of ink,
paper, etc, the whole valued at $3.50,
was by its owners, the First Native
church of Honolulu, presented to the
then recently established missions ofthe
American board OF commissioners for
foreign missions, which were in the
territory of Oregon. These missions
were three in number, and were To-
Gated respectively at Walilatpu, about
twenty miles east of Fort Walla Walla
at Lapwai, on the Clearwater and at
Walkers Plains, short distance south
of Fort Colville. DIR. Marcus Whitman
was in charge of the first named post,
which was in the country of the Walla
Walla tribe of Indians Rev. H. II,
Spaulding directed the affairs of the
second and two clergymen, Revs.
Gushing Ellis and Elkanah Walker,
labored at the third. Each of these
gentlemen was accompanied and
assisted by his wife. 1t is the popular
impression that DIR. Whitman was in
chief authority over all the stations
but this is an error The missionaries
were in equal authority, and each had
charge over the affairs of his own post
The press, as said, came in 1889.
1t was taken to Lapwai and there used
to print portions OF scripture, hymn
books, etc, in the Nez Perce and Spo-
ane-Flathead tongues The effort to
teach the savages the art of reading
was quite successful, SO much so that
individuals of those tribes who sat
under the missionaries teachings still
remember the lessons they then learned
and actually in some cases preserve the
old and worn textbooks from which
they derived their knowledge of the
Christian way Of life. If now, after the
lapse of forty years, these Nez Perces,