The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1889-10-31
KING OF THE SANDWICH ISLANDS,
He Is in the Hands of Guardianship La
dies Wear Mother Hubbards.

Ex-Consul General Putnam in the
Chillicothe (O.) Leader: In what
shape did you leave your friend, the
King?"
'.Kalakaua? In rather an unhappy
condition. He has been reduced to the
condition of mere tigurehead. Pret-
ty much all power has been taken from
him by his cabinet-all save the veto
power. They thought they had stripped
him of that, too, but the courts held
otherwise, However, poor though he
is in authority, and without any mill
tarv backing to speak of-100 men or
so--hc gets a good salary and could
live nicely il he wasn't such an invet-
crate spendthrift."
What salary does he get?''
''Twenty-tiye thousand dollars year,
but he is of a cOnvivial turn of mind
and an incurable gambler, and could
squander many times $25, 600 if BE-
could get it. He got so reckless I'D 60
deeply in debt that his cabi- finally
appointed a commission 90 take charge
OF ms salary, pay '..s obligations, and
inana9eo it, LIS personal finances entire
Then he is in the hands of guard
ians?"
That's it, precisely"
Does the King run good establish
ment at Honolulu"
"A magnificent one. His palace is
finer than our White House-larger and
more imposing in every way. He lives
in fine style and gives brilliant parties
at his ma lace -
where and with whom does he do
his gambling?"
AT the palace generally, and with
whoever will play poker with him. The
Americans are not averse to sitting
in a game with his majesty when he
has anything to lose"
What portion of the export trade of
the islands do we get?n
Pretty much all of it. Last year
they exported some $4,000, 600 worth
of sugar-all of which, of course, went
through the consulate. Of this i'm
mense traffic the United States got 92
per cent. And. therefore, the United
States supply Honolulu and the island
with about all of their imports of every
kind.
How do the other nationalities rank
in numbers?"
There are $500 Americans on the
island; /, POO Germans, 1000 English,
100 japanese, 200 Portuguese, 5000
halfbreeds = the aristOcracy of the
kingdom-and 10000 natives"
What figure do the natives cut in
the affairs of the islands,"
None worth mentioning. They are
lazy, ambitionleSs, and not very intel
hgent, and are satisfied to live off
paste made by grinding up vegetable
they grow with little trouble This
paste they take up on their fingers,
and, after giving it a twirl or two,
take it into their mouths and swallow
it. And then they eat raw fish; in
fact, they depend largely upon nature
for a living, They are no good as la
borers, or very little. The Portuguese
are worthless, too-the scum of the ma
ton. They come mainly from the
Madeira and other outlying islands.
The Chinese are the laborers of the
islands, and they are absolutely neces-
sary to the welfare of the kingdom.
Are the native women at all hand
some?"
No: many of them are large, but
none of them are attractive. But the
halfbreed women are beautiful, much
like some of our fine types of octo-
rooms. They have magnificent COM
plexions, finely colored cheeks. black
hair, and beautiful forms. White men
of all nationalities in early days mar
ried the native women, and this half
breed population is the result. As |
have said they comprise the aristocracy
Of Honolulu. Some of them are styl-
ism. Pretty much all the women are
given TO wearing the 'holacue,' gar
ment exactly like the American Moth
er Hubbard. They wear this loose
about the house, and with belt when
they 20 upon the streets"