The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1892-01-30
WE ARE SEVEN!
A Clever Capture-Prison- break
ers and Burglars Scooped In.


the prison gang, who had been nobly
serving their country by assisting
in the construction of the new Vol
cano road, became weary of the table
supplied by Sheriff Hitchcock, re-
signed their pickaXes, spades and
wheelbarrows, and-vanished. This
occurred on January 18th.
Captain Elderts, Deputy-sheriff OF
Puma, received notice of the flight at
p. NJ. on the 10th, the news being
brought by the cOnstables from Olaa.
On his way this man heard Of tracks
of bare feet on the sand-hills of Homo
lulu. / wonder how many of your
readers know that there is another
Honolulu besides the capital these
hills are on the flow of 1910. Steps
were taken as soon as it was light on
the 18th to look up the tracks and
follow them these were lost on the
hard pahOehoe. Meantime messen-
ger had been sent to OpihikaO to tell
the natives there to be on the alert.
While the family Of Mr.. Rufus Lyman,
who now owns the ranch at KapohO,
were at church, the seven escaped
rascals made descent upon the pre-
misses and laid in stock of worldly
goods at Mr.. Lyman's expense. They
ransacked the house most thoroughly,
turning over beds in search of ieWelry,
rummaging drawers, scattering the
contents of trunks and boXes-in fact,
behaving like seven Bare footed Bills.
They made haul in food, which
of course was natural, but in the
nf 1rao, fhaxv
ular. 1t was evident that once in
safety they intended to establish a
very highly civilized colony; or per-
haps they were going to start little
Republic of their own. Whatever the
end in view was, one of these astute
and far-seeing boys dOnned Mr.. Ly-
mans dress coat, and, to make mat
ters complete, he tucked an auto harp
under his arm, clapped q beaver hat
over his left eye and swung silver
watch as Il medallion round his neck.
Was this to be the regalia of the Pres
ident of the Future Republic? Or
was it to be the costume of the mas
ter of ceremonies at the bush balls of
their future home? \ meaner spir-
tied creature, Il leg evidently of
coarser fibre, marched OFF with rifle
and some cartridges. Does not the
succulent pig dwell in the bush. Who
would not yearn for roast pork after
battening upon Sheriff Hitchcock's
healthy, but somewhat mOnotOnous
cuisine? But | admire that dress
coated burglar the most. There is a
picturesqueneSs about him that capti- |
Yates me. l see him trudging through |
the traclzless wilds, Swimming DER |
the shining pahoehoe; the beacon of |
civilization in the wilderness. How |
the melodiOus chords of the autoharp |
must have cheered the weary heart as
the weary body got entangled in the |
vines and underbrush! Don't talk to |
me of Fra Diavolo, Jack Shepherd |
Morgan, Captain Kidd, Rob Roy, or
any other picturesque scamps of his
tory. | intend to cling to my Ha-
waiian burglar for life.
Leaving the Lyman premises, the |
festive party took look at Green |
Lake, (Wai-a-Pele), one of the most
picturesque spots in the district,-of |
course they wanted to take in the
again vanished.
Deputy-Sheriff Elderts was hastily |
and was quickly following
on their trail, but after mile or two
it was lost; not the fiutter of the
swallow tail could be seen, nor the
murmur of the harp be heard.
All Puma was by this time on the |
alert, but the fellows kept themselves
well concealed far up in the bush,
though, being Sunday, they bounced
on the tent of a surveying party and
carried off clothes, blankets, rain
cOats-everything.
Captain Elderts held the theory |
that they were making for the lands
above Kehina. His main object was
to cut them off there before they
should start for Kau and Kona. His
reasoning proved to be just and was
based on good grounds, viz: That
only one of the gang, KamOkalii, be-
longed to the district of Puma and was
with the upper part of the
woods. The others were KOhala and |
KOna men, total strangers to the al
most trackless intricacies of this
forest.
On the 18th party of seven men
and two constables went out scouting,
and came upon the trail again above
Mr. Rycroft's at Malama, but this was
lost on an old lava flow.
On the 10Th news were received that |
the fellows were hidden in cave.
This was the day of the great rain
storm, which poured necessarily for
fourteen or fifteen hours. In spite of |
the rain the place was surrounded, |
but no birds were there. However, a |
native who had been in the |
woods reported that he had heard a |
shot above Opihikao.
At daybreak on the Goth force of |
ten men, three constables and the |
sheriff, started, and dividing, one |
party went up from OpihikaO, the |
other from Kehina. The trail was |
found and holly followed on horse |
back for several miles, when, the |
trash becoming too thick, the horses |
were left and the party went on on |
foot. At last the ''sound of robbers |
carousing," as the stage direction |
goes, was heard. The gentlemen were |
resting under an orange tree and in |
augurating their first bush ball. The |
mellifiuOus tones were de- !
lighting their ears, the succulent pig |
was being discussed and the dress coat |
and top hat were in full play, when |
the pursuing party came into view. |
There was grand stampede and then |
q race for mile and a half through |
q country full of holes covered with |
vines, creepers, ferns and |
dense tropical vegetation. The charms |
of civilization failed to please in this |
supreme moment, and bundle after |
bundle was cast aside. The hat stuck |
in a bush, the coat adorned a |
branch, the autoharp came down
on the lava and gave forth a |
sound like "sweet bells tangled" |