Mountain Home bulletin. (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1888-1889, 1888-10-06
WORTH A WILTON.
The Het.,na yellow ROYAL 6i.ah of the
I<aneiianeha Dynasty.
j don't care: wouldn't wear T.

that cost a million dollars" said the
stout man IN satirical tone that indi-
Gated that the woman he addressed was
his wife.
The pair had stopped before The royal
feather cloak from the Sandwich Islands
That II spread out fan-shaped III a case
in the National Museum. This cloak is
computed to have cost in labor II .0Oo,-
600. The native name for it is mans
In the days when "A Hawaiian beau or
belle wanted little clothing, but wanted
that gorgeotlsly colored. this cloak or
mantle would have been considered Of
more value. msthetically and intrin-
sically, than "A shipoad Of Worth cos
tunes. and its happy possessor might
truly be said to be in high feather
Since the natives have adopted wide
trousers, lawn-tennis shirts and four-in-
hand ties, its value lies chiefly in the
traditions that surround it. The man
tie, which Ii semi-circalar is feet
long or deep. ard it is II - feet wide
at the bottom and % inches at the top
where il goes around the neck. The
entire outer surface is made of feathers
appearance of plush. The prevailing
colors are red and yellow or orange
The body is decorated with large fig
ures. crescent-shaped, Of either red or
yellow feathers. The upper and lat
eral borders are corded and decorated
u ,,f Il
yellow feathers.
A legend on u label states that this
feather cloak formerly belonged
to kehuarkalani. one Of the high
est chiefs of the Sandwich Islands
After the abolition of idolatly In
1919 that chief rebelled against the
| reigning king and attempted to re-estab-
fish the ancient religions. A sanguin-
airy battle was fought and Kehuarkalani
was slain, and this cloak. which
he then had on, fell into the
hands of the conquerors and
thus became the property Of King
kemehameAa, by whom il was present
ed to Captain j. II. Aulick, Z. $. ~.
| in 1871. The cloak is now the property
of Captain Aulick's grandson. Rich
| mond Ogston Anliell, who deposited it
in the National Museum. The great
| value Of the cloak is due to the long
! time required to secure the feathers that
compose it and to manufacture the
| cloak.
The foundation is IA net-worh of olona.
or native hemp. and to it are attached
by fine thread Of the same material the
feathers Of birds found only in the
Hawaiian Islands, and very rare there
| Recent writer's have declared that the
bird Is now extinct The feathers are
woven in SO as TO lap each other and
| lie flat, forming Il smooth, plush like
| surface. The inner surface is without
lining and shows the olona network
| and the quill-ends of the feathers The
| cord OF the upper margin is prolonged
SO rs TO serve as Il fastening at the
throat. The yellow feathers are OBJ
tanned from the 90 or Tho, and us stat
I'd, ARE of great value, Us the bird is
rare, very shy and difficult to capture.
and it has but very small tuft of these
feathers upon each shoulder. The
black feathers are from the head and
back of the same bird-its general
plamage being glossy black. The 90
is caught alive by means Of bird lime:
the yellow feathers are then plucIsed
and the bird released. The red feathers
are from the body and neck of the Dire
pants Coceinet, the most abundant bird
Of the Sandwich Islands,
The Hawaiian Spectator. newspaper
published in 1889, refers to this, or i,
similar mantle. as follows: "kaw-
keauli has the MAINS, or feather war
tloak of his father, Fe-Meha- Meha. It
was not completed until his reign, hav-
ing occupied eight preceding ones in its
fabrication. A piece of nankeen
valued at one dollar and n half, was
formerly the price Of five Of the yellow
feathers. BY this estimate the value Of
The cloak would equal that of The pufest
diamonds in several OF the European
teealia, and. including the price of the
feathers. not less than IA million dollars
worth Of labor was expended upon it III
he present rate Of computing wages.
A bunch Of the yellow feathers called
hula Was received BY the king from his
tbieets in payment Of IA poll tax, and
/ required many years to collect tbs
material and manufacture one Of these
mantles. Until recent years these
inantles were the royal robes of state
and considered the principal treasures
Of the crown, but European clothing
has entirely superseded them and they
are not now manufactured. A beauti-
flll head-dress for women, called lcis
was made Of these feathers.
Another authority states that two
yellow feathers only are obtaincd from
each DO and these are found under the
wings. When the murh-prized feathers
are plucked the bird is set at liberty
The price of the feathers, according /,
this authority. WAS one dollar and Il hall
for three, and the time occupied ii
making the cloak WAS estimated from
fifty to one hundred years. Washington
Star.
A noted Hoston physician. while
returning from Cincinnati recently,
rested over night at Buffalo on his way
home. Here he met "a son of a dear
friend of his childhoods days in dis
tress and lent him $50. After he had
received the benediciions OF this I'M
fortunate youth he discovered that his
gold watch and his railroad tickets
We're missing. The young man disap-